"Incense burial" ritual in the traditional culture of East Asia: from literature to inscriptions

Within the outburst of interest to national traditions as a counterbalance to current globalization processes the culture of incense (香文化) currently experiences a renaissance in East Asian countries. Each of the national variants of its development is the fascinating historical cultural phenomenon. One of the most striking phenomena in the development of the culture of incense in China and Korea seems to be the «incense burial» ritual 埋香 (Chin. maixiang, Kor. maehyang ), which is likely to be related to the funeral ceremony in the ancient times (when a dead body was surrounded by aromatic timber chips). Later in China this ceremony altered: since the Tang and Song periods this phenomenon was mentioned in the literature as «to bury a beauty» (埋葬美女). For nowadays Chinese culture of incense, this term received its narrow sense as the combustion of aromatic powder in a vessel followed by burying it in ashes. Perhaps the only monument of maixiang in the territory of modern China is a stone monument that was erected in the years of emperor Xianfeng (1851-1861), coinciding with the reign of Emperor Wen-zong of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, in the park Taorangtin (陶然亭 公园 ) in Beijing. This building is located in the burial mounds of the Imperial Tomb and it is engraved with a poetic inscription in an elegant literary style. The front surface of the plate bears calligraphic carvings 香 冢 xiang zhong which is literally translated as «Fragrant tomb». In Korea, the 埋香 ritual formed in the Koryo period (10-12th cent.) under the effect of the Chinese culture of incense it, however, acquired specific features with time. The ritual itself consisted in burying or burning aromatic timber chips. On the incense burial place a memorial stela 埋香碑 mae hyangbi with a hieroglyphic record about the time, purpose, and place of the ritual performance was erected. Similar rituals are associated with the cult of Buddha Maitreya in which it is believed that incense smoke provides the onset of the epoch of universal love and harmony. The ritual incense burying strengthened the life of the community and also held out hope for the onset of the «new world». At present, South Korea preserves about 20 of these epigraphic monuments, the study of which makes it possible to reconstruct the features of the ritual and everyday behavior of medieval Koreans. The investigation of the specific features of the 埋香 ritual and more generally the culture of incense provides great opportunities for comparative studies in various fields, including archaeology, history, cultural anthropology, arts, and medicine.