The Aroma of China

Text by Guo Dan Translation by Madeline Weng Illustration by Pan Zi

The Aroma of China

Text by Guo Dan Translation by Madeline Weng Illustration by Pan Zi

Summer arrives with all species of insects. If you take a walk in the countryside, where the mosquito repellent seems to lose its effect, you are guaranteed to accumulate all sizes of itchy bumps on your skin.

A Taoist nun back home used to give me two bags of fragrant powder that consisted of chypre and Tanarius major, which can help to deodorise the air.I got one out, and hung it on top of the bed. At this time, I noticed that the one I hung during the last Dragon Boat Festival hadn't been taken off, yet it still emanates a light fragrance.

The fragrance gave me a relief. How nice it was to live here year after year! Nothing seems to bother me when I look at the petals fallen on the moonshaped fan by the quiet window.

Although perfume is an imported good, China actually has a long history of producing spice and fragrances. As early as 494 BC, the emperor of Kingdom Yue paid tribute to the emperor of Kingdom Wu, and gave him two beauties - Xi Shi and Zheng Dan. The emperor of Wu even built a palace for them. “Wu set up a pepper house that has curtains made of fi ne string beads...”

A “pepper house” smells subtly sweet, since its walls are painted with a kind of plaster that is blended with ground pepper. Apart from the fragrance that repels insects, “pepper” also carries a good meaning - fertility. Since then, “pepper house” has become another name for empresses and imperial concubines. For instance, the main hall of Weiyang Palace, where the empress of Han Dynasty lived, was also named as “Palace of Pepper House”.

In ancient times, smelling good has also become a shared feature for famous literates and belles.Princess Shouyang was said to use the plum blossom perfume, Emperor Li Yu favoured tambac,while Princess Taiping used Yuhua perfume.A poem of Li Qingzhao's mentioned “cicada silkworm eaglewood”, which was a famous tribute at that time. When the Princesses travelled outside the imperial palace, they would hang the perfume satchel on the chariot, which left behind an elegant fragrance along the way. This is where the phrase“a fi ne horse carrying a cart of fragrance” came from, which has an extended meaning of “an ostentatious display of luxury”.

There are countless stories about Chinese fragrances and their lovers, yet I believe Xue Baocai is among the very top of the list. Xue is a famous character in the Chinese classic novel A Dream in Red Mansion. One day, when Xue was admiring Jia Baoyu's jade, Jia smelt a “delicate cool and sweet scent”. It was nothing like what he used to smell before. Xue smiled and told him that this is actually a pill, instead of incense.

Kallen Guo Senior filmmaker,socialite and bestselling author,authored Don't Fall in Love with Zurich, the winner of The Best Foreign Language Novel.郭丹资深影视人、名媛、畅销书作家。代表作包括最佳外语小说奖获得作品《别爱苏黎世》等。

中国香

香水是舶来品，但其实中国的香料史既长且雅。早在公元前494年，越王向吴王进贡了西施和郑旦，夫差为此特地修建了馆娃宫。“吴处以椒华之房，贯细珠为帘幌，朝下以蔽景，夕卷以待月。”

椒房，是用花椒磨成粉末掺到胶泥里粉饰墙壁的宫殿。椒房会释放出温和芬芳的香气，不仅防虫且意喻“椒聊之实，蕃衍盈生”。椒房殿是汉皇后在未央宫的正殿，故椒房后亦用为后妃的代称。花椒末和花椒花末涂在墙壁上，不仅香气扑鼻，而且可以让墙壁呈现迷人的粉色。

古代擅制香，这是名士和美人的标杆之一。寿阳公主的梅花香、花蕊夫人的衙香、李后主的帐中香、太平公主的玉华香……都是其中的代表作。李清照最有名的诗句“瑞宝消金兽”，瑞脑香是古代达官显贵最常提起的，又叫蝉蚕香，是交趾国的贡物。

还有辟邪香、瑞麟香、金凤香，这三种香都是其他国家的贡品。古代的公主乘辇车出宫，把此香挂在玉香囊中，满路都香了起来，“宝马香车”的典故由此而来。

与名人和经典相关的中国香很多，但是把香玩得最玄最雅的那个人，恐怕要数薛宝钗了。那一回，薛宝钗观看了宝玉的通灵玉，贾宝玉欣赏了薛宝钗的黄金锁，又闻到了 “一阵阵凉森森甜丝丝的幽香”。遂问：“姐姐熏的是什么香？我竟从未闻见过这味儿。”宝钗笑道：“我最怕熏香，好好的衣服，熏得烟燎火气的。”宝玉道：“既如此，这是什么香？”宝钗想了一想，笑道：“是了，是我早起吃了药丸的香气。”这丸药便唤作“冷香丸”。