Voyage Through Tibetan Scents: Hometown Cypress and Pine
May the great earth be wholly pure, may the mighty rivers and mountains be wholly pure, may the fourfold families of awareness be wholly pure, may the celestial gods of the sky be wholly pure. Let all that is impure be cleansed: seen from without, it is luminous within; seen from within, it is luminous without, even as a crystal sphere shines through and through.
This excerpt comes from the Bon ritual text *The Fox Smoke Offering* (ཝའི་བསང་།), a manuscript on smoke offerings produced at a Bon monastery. Regarding the title's use of "fox," several readings exist: some maintain that fox fur was employed in the offerings, others hold that the fox serves as an envoy of the gods, and still others contend that the word should not be taken literally as referring to the animal. As for the term "ཀླུང་།," it is commonly taken to denote mountains, rivers, and territories.
During the Tibetan Empire period, a legend recounts an odd calamity befalling two families. Some scholars, however, maintain that a certain term is a scribal error, with "ཀླུ་" (lu, serpent spirits) being the intended reading. If so, the smoke offering would correspond to the celestial deities (lha), the subterranean lu spirits, and the earthly nyen spirits, the last of which often appear as mountain and lake deities.
In ancient Tibetan texts discovered in Dunhuang and in certain regional folk traditions still practiced today, anyone who kills a clan member or relative—male or female—is called *dri chen* (དྲི་ཅན་). After such a person becomes a vengeful spirit, the male is termed *dri bo* (དྲི་བོ་) and the female *dri mo* (དྲི་མོ་). For instance, a man from one family murdered a relative, then ended his own life; his uneasy soul turned into a vengeful spirit and began harassing a pregnant woman in the household.
These spirits, burdened by having taken the life of a relative, give off an unspeakable stench. A separate set of terms is also used: *me bo* (དམེ་བོ་) for male wrongdoers and *me mo* (དམེ་མོ་) for females. If the curse is not lifted through specific rituals, there is a high chance the family's newborn would not survive.
To address the situation, the child’s parents invited nine *bonpo* (ritual specialists of the indigenous religion) to perform rites aimed at invoking deities and lifting the curse. A total of three *torma* (གཏོར་མ་; ceremonial offering cakes) were set out, with one placed on the left for the deities, another on the right for the spirits, and the third in the center for the ancestral and territorial deities.
Within the swirling smoke, the pollution caused by *me* (དམེ་; kin-slaying) was purified. To welcome the deities, *sang* (བསང་; smoke purification) was carried out without interruption during the whole ritual. In addition, the two families made offerings of an arrow decorated with colored silk, butter, gold and silver valuables (usually turquoise or coins), *tsampa* (or flatbread), alcohol, and a goat's head.
Within the indigenous religious tradition, kin-slaying is counted among the “nine impurities” (examples include intra-clan marriage and widowhood), and purification is achieved through *sang* (བསང་མཆོད་; smoke offering). Though *sang* and incense burning (སྤོས་སྤར་) are both cornerstones of Tibetan aromatic culture, they differ in origin and form.
Most *sang* texts, apart from a few Bon scriptures and terma works such as *The Sacred Blue Water* (mentioned in the first article of this series), do not provide detailed material lists. This is because descriptions of *sang* center on the ritual act itself and the theory of internal and external relationships, stressing indigenous origins, whereas descriptions of incense burning focus on the incense's composition and formula, the blessings it produces, and the universal Buddhist practices, which are more shaped by South Asian offering traditions.
The materials employed for *sang* (smoke purification) fall broadly into two types: *sang* trees/branches (བསང་ཤིང་།) and *sang* substances (བསང་རྫས་). To discuss these materials is essentially to examine the indigenous aromatic system—the pre-Buddhist guide to aromatic substances in Tibet. This stands in contrast to the numerous incense-making texts (སྤོས་སྦྱར་), which present recipes from various lineages (e.g., the Nagarjuna lineage, Atisha lineage, and Kashmiri master lineage) along with their ingredients, mostly foreign aromatic substances.
The juniper (ཤུག་པ་) ranks as the most significant *sang* tree among these. It is counted among Bon's "four eternal symbols" (representing the origin of all things), and deities are believed to briefly alight on its branches. Within indigenous usage, this same tree is known as the divine tree (ལྷ་ཤིང་།), the cosmic/world tree (སྲིད་ཤིང་།), or the branch of radiance (འོད་ཟེར་འདབ་ཅན་). Its lush form—with branches broken and burned, and birds flying overhead—stands as a collective emblem of prosperity.
According to tradition, a blue cuckoo is said to have circled above a juniper tree prior to the birth of Tonpa Shenrab, the founder of Bon. The tree's leaves are traditionally described as having two kinds—golden and turquoise—though some classifications list three or four.
Juniper species commonly used for *sang* in Tibet include *Juniperus tibetica*, *Juniperus pingii*, *Juniperus recurva*, and *Juniperus saltuaria*, among others. The origin story of Reting Monastery—covered in the first article of this series—demonstrates how indigenous reverence for juniper trees also influenced the creation of Buddhist historical narratives. Moreover, numerous Bon monasteries and sacred sites regarded as auspicious were constructed in places where "turquoise-needled junipers flourished in groves.
Now classified into seven types are *sang* substances: grain *sang* (usually *tsampa*), medicinal *sang*, fur *sang* (e.g., yak or sheep wool), floral *sang*, liquid *sang* (e.g., pure water or alcohol), silk *sang*, and precious *sang*. Despite regional differences in preference, however, enthusiasm for juniper remains strong, since its scent is thought to cleanse every impurity and soothe the deities and spirits dwelling within people, easing their anger and unease.
In addition to juniper, other *sang* trees/branches frequently used include: 1. ** Pine family plants **, e.g., *Abies spectabilis*, *Picea likiangensis var. linzhiensis*, *Pinus densata*, *Pinus bungeana*, and *Cupressus torulosa*. This demonstrates that, in contrast to incense burning and perfumery, *sang* prioritizes a functional relationship oriented around 'cleansing impurities.
Juniper stands for the origin of everything, and pine represents lasting vitality; in classical sources, the two together are referred to as thang shug (ཐང་ཤུག་). The resin (ཐང་ཆུ་) of pine is sweet-smelling, and the dark smoke from its burning is thought to soothe the tsen spirits that roam the world. 2. Rhododendron family plants, including Rhododendron anthopogon, Rhododendron cephalanthum, Rhododendron laudandum, and Ledum palustre.
Frequent disasters, failing crops, and suffering among people and livestock are consequences of pollution of local deities. Wisdom deity pollution is often associated with speechlessness, immobility, and mental stagnation. Rhododendron plants are believed to calm and purify these wisdom deities when used for *sang*. 3. Aster family plants, including various species of *Artemisia* (e.g., wild mugwort, *མཁན་པ་*).
Classical texts frequently pair these plants with juniper under the name *mkhan shug* (མཁན་ཤུག་), and their use in *sang* is held to purify the local deities (གཞི་བདག་; territorial spirits). Apart from such commonly used *sang* trees, Tibet's various regions possess their own distinct *sang* plants, each accompanied by its own origin stories.
As an illustration, the region of Lhoka makes use of peach trees—specifically *Prunus mira*, which were covered in prior articles concerning fruit—for *sang*. At the same time, the area's deep historical and cultural legacy yields a wide range of interpretations, including the tale of the Yarlung fruit trees that dates back to the Tibetan Empire period.
Aside from the present article on native aromatic substances, the author has previously looked into the standing and symbolic significance of common fragrances—sandalwood, agarwood, musk, saffron, myrrh, cardamom, and frankincense—within Tibetan fragrance culture. At the same time, Tibet's own fragrance tradition has held onto its distinctive charm despite welcoming outside aromatic influences, as seen in sandalwood (purifying celestial deities' impurities), birch (སྟག་པ་ཤིང་།; purifying ancestral and clan deities' impurities), pine, and juniper.
Translated from Suolangwangqing's blog, this piece marks the final installment of the "Journey Through the Fragrance of Tibet" series. While earlier articles offered a brief introduction to Tibetan incense-making techniques, the author now delivers a thorough examination of both the historical and material dimensions of Tibetan aromatic culture. Stay tuned, and may the world forever be filled with auspicious fragrances!