Xiangsheng 香乘

Xiangsheng 香乘 "A history of fragrances" was compiled during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Zhou Jiazhou 周嘉胄 (1582-c.1658), courtesy name Jiangzuo 江左, from Yangzhou 揚州, Jiangsu.

The first version of the text, finished in 1618, had a length of 13 juan, and had a preface written by Li Weizhen 李維禎. The usual version with a length of 28 juan was finished in 1641 and bears a preface and afterword written by the author himself.

Figure 1. Odorous substances or incense pressed into decorated round bricks

From the chapter Yinxiang tu 印香圖. Siku quanshu 四庫全書 edition.

Fascicles 1-5 present an overview of various types of fragrant substances, with more than 180 entries that provide information about material nature, characteristics, application, the place of origin, and their history. In the chapters 9 and 10, fragrant substances are classified according to their nature, namely "astronomical" odours (tianwen xiang 天文香, like wind, rain or dew), "geographical odours" (dili xiang 地理香, like wells, earth, etc.), substances of plants (caomu xiang 草木香), such made of animals (niaoshou xiang 鳥獸香), such in buildings of palaces (gongshi xiang 宮室香), of the human body (shenti xiang 身體香), for diet (yinshi xiang 飲食香, like spices), and for tools and objects (qiju xiang 器具香).

The Xiangsheng is a very rich collection of information on various types of fragrances, organised in a clear way and a comprehensive matter.

The book is included in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and the Biji xiaoshuo daguan 筆記小說大觀.