For thousands of years, incense has been used in China not only for religious ceremonies but as Chinese perfume and an artistic element in folklore. Since Neolithic times, Chinese people burned stones and wood for aromatherapy. After more spices were introduced to the country through the Silk Road, incense was widely used in daily life. They gave clothes a better smell and were used in traditional medicine, meditation, wedding bed, and religious rituals. To use incense was considered elegant. During the Song Dynasty (960-1279), appreciating incense was considered one of four “graceful daily things” to do, along with tea tasting, flower arrangement, and setup paintings.

Over the centuries, incense art almost vanished in China. But in Japan, kodo remained popular and eventually spread to Taiwan, from which it returned to the Chinese mainland several years ago. Today in China the art is called xiang dao, meaning “skill of making incense.”