Amongst all different types of incense found online and offline, there are a variety of lengths designed, from somewhere as short as 10cm (~4 inches) to as long as 48cm (~19 inches). Incense from Japan or Japanese-inspired incense made by personal fragrance and home fragrance brands usually make their incense around 15–16cm (~6 inches).
However, INCENZO incense sticks are created at 21cm (8.27 inches) not only for an extended period of peacefulness and groundedness, but also because of the Taosim traditions behind.
Before getting into the rationale behind, one needs to understand the Chinese unit of measurement first. Traditional Chinese units includes Chinese inch (cun, 寸), Chinese foot (chi, 尺) and Zhang (丈), where 10 Chinese inch is one Chinese foot, and 10 Chinese foot is 1 Zhang.
Originally, the smallest unit Chinese inch is measured by the distance between one’s wrist and the end of the palm, which is basically the part of your wrist that bends. The word itself also has the indication that the item is small or minimal.
Over different dynasties, the exact length that the measurement equals to changes along and fluctuates between 3 to 4 cm (1.18–1.57 inches). The most recent official definition can be found in Hong Kong laws and regulations, although no one actively uses this measurement in daily life. Here, one Chinese inch (寸) equals to 3.33 cm (1.3 inches).
21cm converted using the measurement above is 7 Chinese inches. As incense is commonly used in spiritual and religious occasions and locations in Ancient China times, it is important that the length of the incense also bears positive meanings like all other setups.
It is required that the length of incense should be both a masculine number (阳数), and a lucky number (吉数). Odd numbers are considered masculine numbers, while even numbers are considered feminine numbers, so 7 checks the mark here.
Then how are lucky numbers measured? It’s found in the Luban Ruler (鲁班尺), a carpenter’s ruler made by the famous master architect and inventor Lu Ban. Lu Ban lived from 507 to 444 BC during the Zhou Dynasty, and is revered as the Chinese Deity (Patron) of builders and contractors.
Luban Ruler (shown below) is one of his inventions, where it clearly marks whether a particular length is lucky (in red) or unlucky (in black), and is therefore also called Fengshui Ruler.
The modern Luban ruler has the traditional Chinese unit of measurement on the top and the International System of Unit (metrics for centimeter) on the bottom, with the indication of Fengshui in the middle. To use the Luban ruler, one should refer to the top portion as it’s used for objects used by living beings, not the bottom portion that is designed for dedicated to passed-away beings.
If we locate 7 on the top row, it falls in the category of 大吉, meaning that 7 Chinese inches is a most lucky length.
Therefore, 21cm is one of the most common lengths in Taoist incense, which follows the local religion of China — Taoism. Other common length has their designated purpose as well, including:
- 24.5cm (8 Chinese inches, 9.65 inches): used at home for a stable house and a healthy body, falls in the category of 进益, indicating the progression in studies, morals and wealth
- 39.3cm (13 Chinese inches, 15.47 inches): used for worshiping ancestors, and is usually in the hope of a better grade in examinations in past Chinese dynasties, calls in the category of 登科, literally meaning being selected in imperial examinations
- 48.5cm (16 Chinese inches, 19 inches) above and falls in a red numbers: used for worshiping gods
Lighting an incense stick in traditional Fengshui means that one has a message to the gods and spiritual beings, and thus a carefully designed length ensures that the message is sent with a clear purpose and can be sent successfully.
In the hope of bringing luck into the daily rituals, we hope that INCENZO’s 21cm incense stick grounds your mind and body with its innate abundant and fortunate meanings.