The cardio-protective properties of Agarwood(particularly Kynam) had been recorded in chinese medical literature for many centuries, with written accounts from many historical chinese physicians. In the traditional Chinese/Han medicine that Japan practices, there is a fabled 速效救心丹 (cardiac rescue pill) that uses kynam as one of its key ingredients. Traditional chinese medicine users in Hainan… [Read More…]
Scent classification by the Chinese
I’ve had a copy of this diagram for quite a while, a common diagram used by the chinese when it comes to perfumery and other scent related applications. Decided to spend the past week translating it so that more people can get access to the information.. so here it is!.. Basically, they had… [Read More…]
How to Blend Incense
Apologies for the lack of updates for a while, Singapore was hit by some kind of bad haze due to forest fires in Indonesia, I hope the gaharu trees are still safe!! The haze was probably caused by oil palm plantation owners clearing land, forest or old plantations by setting everything on fire. Theoretically its… [Read More…]
Incense and fragrance for therapeutic purposes
Both scent and taste are sensed by a family of transmembrane proteins known as G-protein coupled receptors. But sparing you the boring science, I thought that this article could be a good follow up to the Rikkoku post I had last week, where agarwood notes are described as tastes. In principle the best way to… [Read More…]
Perspectives on the Rikkoku Gomi
The Rikkoku Gomi set was first assembled around the 15th Century with the establishment of a formalized “way/art” of the Incense by founder Sanjonishi Sanetaka (1455-1537 AD), a noble under the Muromachi Shogunate of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa. Without the benefits of modern logistics, and being more isolated from the rest of the world, agarwood import… [Read More…]
Philosophies of the Way of Incense
The philosophies and ideals of the way of incense is very seldom talked about in online media (perhaps also due to the lack of translations?). Most of what is being said about the Way of Incense (ko-do) is generally process orientated, on how to heat wood chips, make incense trails, kneaded incense balls (which has… [Read More…]