Editing Censer (section)

==Chinese use==
{{Main|Tiangong censer}}
[[File:Qilin-shaped incense burner 1 CAC.JPG|thumb|A [[Qing dynasty]] [[qilin]]-shaped incense burner]]
[[File:Tian Gong Lu of Yuanbao Temple 01.jpg|thumb|200x200px|A [[Tiangong censer]] to worship the [[Jade Emperor]]]]
[[File:Japanese - Incense Burner ("Koro") - Walters 49466.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Late 17th century Koro, [[Kakiemon|Kakiemon ware]], [[Walters Art Museum]] ]]

The earliest vessels identified as censers date to the mid-fifth to late fourth centuries BCE during the [[Warring States period]]. The modern [[Chinese (language)|Chinese]] term for "censer," ''xianglu'' ([[Wikt:香|香]]爐, "incense burner"), is a [[compound (linguistics)|compound]] of ''xiang'' ("incense, aromatics") and ''lu'' ([[Wikt:爐|爐]], "brazier; stove; furnace"). Another common term is ''xunlu'' ([[Wikt:熏|熏]]爐, "a brazier for fumigating and perfuming"). Early Chinese censer designs, often crafted as a round, single-footed stemmed basin, are believed to have derived from earlier [[Chinese ritual bronzes|ritual bronzes]], such as the ''dou'' 豆 sacrificial chalice.

Among the most celebrated early incense burner designs is the [[hill censer]] (''boshanlu'' 博山爐), a form that became popular during the reign of [[Emperor Wu of Han]] (r. 141–87 BCE). Some scholars believe hill censers depict a [[Sacred Mountains of China|sacred mountain]], such as [[Kunlun Mountains|Mount Kunlun]] or [[Mount Penglai]]. These elaborate vessels were designed with apertures that made rising incense smoke appear like clouds or mist swirling around a mountain peak.<ref>Erickson, Susan N. (1992). [https://www.jstor.org/pss/20062588 "Boshanlu: Mountain Censers of the Western Han Period: A Typological and Iconological Analysis"], ''Archives of Asian Art'' 45:6-28.</ref> The Han dynasty scholar [[Liu Xiang (scholar)|Liu Xiang]] (77–6 BCE) composed an inscription describing a hill censer:
<blockquote>''I value this perfect utensil, lofty and steep as a mountain! Its top is like [[Mount Hua|Hua Shan]] in yet its foot is a bronze plate. It contains rare perfumes, red flames and green smoke; densely ornamented are its sides, and its summit joins azure heaven. A myriad animals are depicted on it. Ah, from it sides I can see ever further than Li Lou'' [who had legendary eyesight].<ref>Needham, Joseph and Lu Gwei-Djen (1974). [https://books.google.com/books?id=TTHGp0euKmoC ''Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology; Part 2, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Magisteries of Gold and Immortality'']. Cambridge University Press. p. 133.</ref></blockquote>

Another popular design was the small "scenting globe" (''xiangqiu'' 香球), a device similar to a [[pomander]], but used for burning incense. The famed inventor and craftsmen, [[Ding Huan]] (1st c. BCE), is believed to have made these with [[Gimbal|gimbal supports]] so the censer could easily be used to fumigate or scent garments. This is described by [[Edward H. Schafer]]:
<blockquote>"Censing baskets" were globes of hollow metal, pierced with intricate floral or animal designs; within the globe, an iron cup, suspended on gimbals, contained the burning incense. They were used to perfume garments and bedclothes, and even to kill insects.<ref>Schafer, Edward H. (1963). ''The Golden Peaches of Samarkand, a Study of T'ang Exotics''. University of California Press. p. 155.</ref></blockquote>
Other Chinese censers are shaped like birds or animals, sometimes designed so that the incense smoke would issue from the mouth. During the medieval period when censers were more commonly used in [[Chinese Buddhism|Buddhist]] and [[Taoism|Daoist]] rituals'','' hand-held censers (''shoulu'' [[Wikt:手|手]]爐) fashioned with long handles were developed.

Archeologists have excavated several censers from [[Han dynasty|Han]] era tombs that contained aromatics or ashen remains. Some of these aromatic plants have been identified as ''maoxiang'' (茅香 "[[Imperata cylindrica]], thatch grass"), ''gaoliangjiang'' (高良薑 "[[Galangal]]"), ''xinyi'' (辛夷 "[[Magnolia liliiflora]], Mulan magnolia), and ''gaoben'' (藁本"[[Ligusticum]] sinense, Chinese lovage"). Scholars speculate burning these grasses "may have facilitated communication with spirits" during funeral ceremonies.<ref>Erickson (1992), p. 15.</ref>

According to the Sinologist and historian [[Joseph Needham]], some early [[Daoist]]s adapted censers for the [[religious and spiritual use of cannabis]]. The Daoist encyclopedia ''Wushang Biyao'' (無上秘要 "Supreme Secret Essentials", ca. 570 CE), recorded adding cannabis into ritual censers.<ref>Needham and Lu (1974), p. 150.</ref> The [[Shangqing School]] of Daoism provides a good example. The Shangqing scriptures were written by [[Yang Xi (mystic)|Yang Xi]] (330– {{Circa|386 CE}}) during alleged visitations by Daoist [[Xian (Taoism)|"immortals"]], and Needham believed Yang was "aided almost certainly by cannabis".<ref name="needham151">Needham and Lu (1974), p. 151.</ref> [[Tao Hongjing]] (456-536 CE), who edited the official Shangqing canon, also compiled the ''Mingyi bielu'' (名醫別錄 "Supplementary Records of Famous Physicians"). It noted that ''mabo'' (麻勃 "cannabis flowers"), "are very little used in medicine, but the magician-technicians ([''shujia''] 術家) say that if one consumes them with ginseng it will give one preternatural knowledge of events in the future."<ref name="needham151" /> Needham concluded,
<blockquote>Thus all in all there is much reason for thinking that the ancient Taoists experimented systematically with hallucinogenic smokes, using techniques which arose directly out of liturgical observance. … At all events the incense-burner remained the centre of changes and transformations associated with worship, sacrifice, ascending perfume of sweet savour, fire, combustion, disintegration, transformation, vision, communication with spiritual beings, and assurances of immortality. ''Wai tan'' and ''nei tan'' met around the incense-burner. Might one not indeed think of it as their point of origin?<ref>Needham and Lu  (1974), p. 154.</ref></blockquote>
These ''[[Waidan]]'' (外丹 "outer alchemy") and ''[[neidan]]'' (內丹 "inner alchemy") are the primary divisions of [[Chinese alchemy]].

During the [[Tang dynasty|T’ang period]], incense was used by upper-class people for personal hygiene, romantic rendezvous, and deodorizing the interior of edifices. These included places of worship, dwellings, and work-spaces. Dating back to the seventh century AD, the ''kuanhuo'' (changing of fire) ceremony took place, where people would cleanse their homes with incense. However, in some parts of East Asia, incense burners were used as a way to tell time

In the Far East, incense was used as a way to tell time because it was a simple mechanism and generally not a fire hazard. Time increments were marked off on each incense stick to show how much time had passed, then placed in a ritual tripod vessel known as a ''ting''. During imperial coronations, incense sticks would be used to tell how long the ceremony was. Other variations of incense is the spiral incense coil. The spiral incense coil was used to measure time for longer durations. One spiral equated to one night. This type of incense was mainly used by the five ‘night watches’ of the community. The length of their shifts and breaks were determined by the time increments marked off on the spirals.<ref>Bedini, Silvio A. The Trail of Time = Shih-Chien Ti Tsu-Chi : Time Measurement with Incense in East Asia . Cambridge ;: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Print.</ref>

[[Tiangong censer]]s are used for religious reasons in China<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guandu Temple-Deities: Guide to Worship |url=http://www.kuantu.org.tw/GDT_E_01_02_14.html |access-date=2023-03-09 |website=www.kuantu.org.tw}}</ref>