The Fragrance of Faith: Tibetan Incense Culture in the Mountains
The distinctive culture of Tibetan incense is the subject here. If you are interested in obtaining our Tibetan incense, it can be bought through this link, including the traditional Derge Dsongzar Tibetan Incense Sticks. From the Rubin Museum collection comes a late 17th-century piece titled "Riding on a Lion, Vaisravana Heaven and his Attendant Followers," with a detail showing a monk donor carrying bundles of incense and a khata. In addition, a "Wooden Auspicious Symbol Incense Mold" dating to the 19th century, from the Western Tibetan region, is held in the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Various scriptures mention more than twenty types of molds.
Held in the Zanabazar Fine Arts Museum in Mongolia, the "Metal Double Deer Dharmachakra Style Multi-use Incense Box" dates to the first half of the 19th century. This box is used for holding and burning thread-like incense, known in Tibetan as "pos gzhong" or "pos sgam". In Tibetan, combination incense burners from South Asia and East Asia are called "pos phor" or "pos sprok". Incense pouches for carrying incense powder or stick incense are termed "phyer pur ma" or "pos snod" in Tibetan.
Both burning incense and simmering sang serve as the primary expressions of "incense culture" in the Tibetan region. Whereas burning incense is commonly thought to have come from South Asia, simmering sang is understood to be a native Tibetan custom. Burning incense is frequently connected to Buddhist beliefs, whereas simmering sang brings the Tibetan region's indigenous belief system to the fore. In the current popular account, Thumi Sangbu Zha is associated with both burning incense and making incense.
Tibetan incense culture is characterized by "multiple sources and variations," with distinct long-standing traditions upheld by different regions and sects. Within these traditions, the understanding of "incense" and the methods of preparing and blending it differ considerably. Nevertheless, Nima County is widely acknowledged as the origin of Tibetan incense and incense-making culture, and is recognized as the homeland of Thumi Sangbu Zha.
In the Tibetan region, there are currently more than a dozen well-known incense-making traditions, each with its own specific recipes and techniques. Meanwhile, as a symbol of the 'Five Sensuous Offerings' (འདོད་ཡོན་ལྔ་), incense and the sense of smell have gone through a lengthy localization process in Tibetan incense and fragrance culture. The Tibetan text "Gan zhu er" includes Nagarjuna's writings on incense production, for example the "List of Incense Formulations" (སྤོས་ཀྱི་སྦྱོར་བ་རེའུ་ཆར་བྱས་པའི་ཐབས་བཤད་པ།).
In the region, countless folk traditions for making incense exist alongside those observed in monasteries. These traditions include the Adzi tradition from southern Asia, the Time Wheel tradition, the Intensive tradition, and local practices such as the Shigatse tradition, the Minzhulin tradition, and the Panchen Monastery tradition. Incense burning is regarded as a means of purification and the establishment of a sacred space, while incense making is seen as a distinctive form of spiritual cultivation and offering.
Owned by the Hahn Cultural Foundation Collection, "Mindrolling Trichen Dechar Rinpoche / གཏེར་བདག་གླིང་པ་" hails from the 18th century. Through his writings on incense burning and preparation, Dechar Rinpoche reveals the passion of "Incense Culture" in central Tibet. In a private collection, "The Great Master Jigten Sumgon Offering Incense / འཇིག་རྟེན་གསུམ་མགོན་" dates to the late 15th century and is broadly considered a foundational text on incense-making in the Tibetan area, associated with offering and incense-craft practices.
In Tibetan areas, incense burning methods are commonly categorized into five types based on their shapes: line-shaped, pagoda-shaped, circular, powder, and square incense. Among these, the line-shaped and circular varieties appeared at a relatively late stage. Meanwhile, the artwork titled "The Eight Bodhisattvas: Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva" is a mixed-style piece from the Kang region, dating to the late 18th century, and is now part of the Rubin Museum collection. Its detail portrays monks and laypeople making incense sticks, capturing at least seven steps in the process: gathering ingredients, mixing, grinding, rolling, shaping, packaging, and testing the fragrance.
In works of art, we can even trace the history of its dissemination. Incense containers and burners of various kinds also exhibit a "multi-source" characteristic, including South Asian incense bowls, East Asian combination incense burners, Central Asian tall hanging incense burners, and locally made multi-functional incense boxes meant for placing line-shaped incense.
In Tibetan regions today, the 'Incense Making Guide' (སྤོས་སྦྱོར་ལག་ལེན་) is frequently consulted as a comprehensive reference for the craft of incense making. A particularly thorough treatment of the subject appears in 'Detailed Explanation of Skilled Craftsmanship' (རིག་པ་བཟོ་ཡི་གནས་ཀྱི་ལས་ཚོགས་ཕྲན་ཚེགས།), authored by the eminent Tibetan lama Deuma Geshe (དེའུ་དམར་དགེ་བཤེས་བསྟན་འཛིན་ཕུན་ཚོགས། 1672-?).
The production of incense described here involves a sequence of ten distinct stages: first, wood such as cypress is chosen; second, the wood is ground, either with water or through burning; third, the resulting powder is blended with other ingredients to create a paste; fourth, this paste is formed into blocks and left to dry; fifth, the dried block material is combined with further components; sixth, a mold or tool is employed to give shape to the various incense types; seventh, the shaped incense undergoes a second drying phase; eighth, it is bound or reshaped as needed; and ninth, the finished incense is tested.
This artwork, titled *The Twelve Venerable Disciples of the Buddha*, belongs to the Gakhama Gachik School of Painting and dates to the late 18th century. It comes from the private collection of the Rubin family. In the detail, the censer’s rising smoke unveils the Western Pure Land.
The 19th-century work "The Shakyamuni Buddha and Various Elders Arhat," held in the TH Museum in New York, includes a detail drawing attention to the incense bowl at the far right of the altar. In contrast, "The Ninth Dalai Lama Lungtok Gyatso with Various Masters of the Gelug Tradition," dated to the 18th century and in a Private Collection, features an attendant with a tall hanging incense burner and a brocade incense bag. Most incense bowls of this kind found in the museum's holdings originate from South Asia.
The materials used for Tibetan incense, along with the vow of the trade, also display a tendency toward localization. Certain plants, woods, and stones not found on the plateau are substituted with locally sourced alternatives from Tibet. These ingredients are required to follow Tibetan medical theory and Buddhist symbolism. The completed incense is said to embody seven kinds of wisdom, with colors as lovely as jewels, shapes as graceful as ceremonial implements, and aromas that permeate the space—leaving no impurities on contact, offering healing qualities when breathed in, and producing a haze akin to celestial realms. It brings enlightenment to gods, demons, monks, and laypeople alike.
Incense was frequently exchanged as a good and given as a present across East Asia and North Asia. In ancient eras, distinct organizations handled its transport and commerce. Numerous poetic and literary pieces celebrating the craft of incense production have survived from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Meanwhile, incense-stick makers always remain true to their professional vow: genuine ingredients, impeccable skill, and devoted commitment.
This incense burner, featuring a carved metal design with an auspicious Vajra top cover, dates to the 15th century and originates from the Kang region. It is held in the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art. The text herein is a translation of a piece from Sorang Wangqing's blog.