Contribution of writer Li Yu to the development of incense culture in 17th century China

This article examines the life and work of famous Chinese writer Li Yu (李渔, 1611-1680), who made a great contribution not only to the development of literature, drama and painting, but also wrote entire essays about incense culture. Analysis of his activities and literary works gives reason to consider Li Yu as the most prominent representative of the wenren intellectual community and a great incense connoisseur. His aesthetic concept of using incense as an important tool for personal self-improvement and ‘nurturing life’ (养生 yangsheng) is studied, using his philosophical essay ‘An Accidental Haven for Idle Thoughts’ (闲情偶寄 Xianqing ouji) devoted to various areas of everyday life. Li Yu’s aesthetic views are further illustrated with essay excerpts presented in the translation by the author of this article. Publications of Li Yu’s works continue to be widely published both in China and in the West. Essays devoted to his work, categorized as literature on psychology, philosophy and art are also very popular. All these factors give rise to the relevance of the study of the multifaceted creativity of Li Yu, as well as other representatives of Chinese intellectuals (文人 wenren) at the turn of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) eras, who by their activities, significantly developed various types of traditional culture, including literature, aesthetics, aromatherapy and arts and crafts.