Traditional Chinese incense can be splitted into single scent (单香) and blended scent (合香）by its ingredients, which as its name, indicates if the ingredients that dictates the fragrance of the incense stick is of single type or a combination of multiple items. The blended scent is called “hexiang”, and is also the most common type of incense stick right now.
The Two Types of “Hexiang”
“Hexiang” can be written as “合香” or “和香”, where the difference comes from the first character. Although pronounced the same way, the two characters still have a slight difference in its meaning as well as key differences in its origin.
In the first way of writing, the first character “合” takes the meaning of “汇合” (converge), indicating the simple action of combining multiple items together in one place. This is also the more common way of writing seen in modern chinese, as the incense sticks made right now do not always embody the core meanings from the second way of writing.
In the latter way, the first character “和” not only matches the meaning of “and” in english, but also has a strong underlying meaning of being harmonious and balanced, whose meaning is used in the word “和谐” (harmonious) in modern Chinese.
The Significance of Incense in TCM
In TCM (traditional Chinese medicine), incense also has some medicinal effects with the correct combination of ingredients. Moreover, the production process requires the right timing, right location and the conscious mental effort of the person making incense, requiring not only the harmony of ingredients, but also harmony with the outer world. Such practice is rather rare these days as manufacturing equipments are introduced into the process, and shifting to an simpler and more direct meaning might be the two main push behind such shift from “和香” to “合香”.
Despite the change of manufacturing process and deeper meanings behind, the common combinations of ingredients balancing effect and favorable scent are able to be preserved and still widely used in today’s incense making.
Examples of Incense with Blended Scents
You can find two of them here: Immerse and Refresh, both created by the famous poet Shi Su from the Song dynasty, who is also known for his passion and creativity in incense creation:
- Immerse: using the recipe of “二苏旧局”. The name can be directly translated as “old location/house of the two Su brothers”, which is in memory of the scent created and commonly used when Shi Su and his brother Zhe Su meet their friends at home. The scent is a combination of jasmine and honey on the basis of agarwood, sandalwood and amber, which is a common base in Chinese incense
- Refresh: using the recipe of “雪中春信”. The name can be directly translated as “letter of the spring in the snow”, which is a poetic description of plum blossom, a type of flower original to China and only blooms during the coldest time of winter. The scent adds dried plum and Wuli pine (a type of pine tree) on the basis of agarwood, using the snow water from the pistil of plum blossom to blend the dry ingredients, fully immerse the incense with the refreshing floral scent
Is blended scent better than single scent?
Even just looking into two recipes, one can easily tell that Hexiang takes a lot more effort than single scent incense, yet does that mean single scent incense is not as good as hexiang?
Not quite. Single scent incense amplifies the specific ingredient being used, meaning that the quality of such an ingredient is the key to the quality of an incense stick.
The most common single scent incense is agarwood, as each agarwood has a slight difference in its scent even from the same region, and the most precious and high quality ones can be way more expensive than a blended scent incense.
If you’re a big fan of a particular type of wood or flower, then single scent incense is definitely your go-to choice. Yet because the amount of ingredients used in a single scent incense is of larger amount to ensure discernable scent, TCM (traditional chinese medicine) would consider it an imbalance intake of one ingredient if used for a very long period of time without variation.
There is no clear line of better or worse when comparing single scent incense with blended scent incense (hexiang), but rather a choice of preference. Both types create an amazing sensory experience as long as it’s the scent that appeals to you, and can suit a variety of occasions depending on personal choice. Ultimately, using incense is a journey to inner peace and a time secured just for oneself. Whether you’re the fan of a particular ingredient or are open to try the experience from a carefully crafted recipe of multiple ingredients, let the scent from nature guide your mind and calm your body.