The study room is a small world for literati. In addition to functional hardware such as the collection of classics and history and the Four Treasures of the Study, there are also various small objects to decorate and embellish this world, together forming a literati space full of "leisure". Therefore, study rooms often gather numerous elements, such as "watching swords under the lamp on autumn nights, and playing the qin on the wall in the spring breeze" (Guan Yunshi's "Sending Friends from China"), which are all moments full of elegance in the study. In addition, there is a steaming incense burner on the table, miscellaneous items to play with, and flowers inserted into the bottle, all of which are the pleasures pursued by literati while reading. The fun of the study room covers a wide range, including eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind, color, sound, fragrance, and touch. It exists and blends in the same space, forming a kind of "synesthesia" fun as a whole. Ancient literati not only tried their best to make study rooms "interesting", but also attempted to turn all these "busybodies" into knowledge. For example, bottle flowers are not only a touch of color on the table, but also a withered and flourishing world nurtured by literati on their desks. The flowers bloom into scenery, and the flowers become poetry, with each branch and leaf being carefully crafted. Wu Zimu of the Southern Song Dynasty quoted a proverb: "Burning incense and tea, hanging paintings and arranging flowers, meddling in other people's affairs, should not exhaust the family." (Dream Liang Record, Volume 19) The term "exhaust the family" is opposite to "experts" and refers to outsiders. Although it was clearly a 'busybody', it developed a specialized and systematic knowledge system, forming a cultural circle that only experts could play with. This is also a very interesting phenomenon in the material cultural history of the Song Dynasty. As the foremost of the "four types of busyness", "burning incense" naturally became increasingly professional during the Song Dynasty. With the continuous expansion of land and sea Silk Road trade, the Song people became more familiar with foreign fragrant materials, further clarifying the herbal names and material characteristics of spices. Taking the commonly used agarwood as an example, the Song Dynasty compiled the "Four Names and Twelve Characteristics" (Ding called "Tianxiang Zhuan"), and agarwood can be divided into three categories based on density: submerged, semi submerged, and non submerged; According to the form of oil formation, it can be divided into yellow wax, Kunlun Meg, Wuwen Ge, Maoye, Umbrella Bamboo Grid, Partridge Spot, etc. The Song Dynasty divided the imported dragon brain (a natural resin crystal of camphor plants) from Borneo and other places into more than 20 varieties, such as rice brain, slice brain, plum blossom brain, etc., with a complex system; Regarding frankincense originating from Arabia, Somalia, and other regions, Zhou Jiazhou's "Fragrant Vehicle" records thirteen varieties. In such a complex system, to play incense to a high level, it is necessary to have a great expert. At the same time, literati during the Song Dynasty also made certain modifications to the framework of "Shen, Tan, Nao (dragon brain), and Musk" since the Sui and Tang dynasties, based on their interests, forming a "literati fragrance" system with Song Dynasty characteristics. In the process of the formation of this system, cultural leaders such as Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Ding Wei, Han Qi, Mei Yaochen, Lu You, Yang Wanli, etc. participated in the construction and transformation. In addition, emperors such as Emperor Huizong and Emperor Lizong of Song actively responded. As a result, the fragrance culture of the Song Dynasty had a profound and extensive influence, and the peak of the development of ancient Chinese fragrance culture appeared during the two Song dynasties. Reclaiming Lan Hui: The "retro" trend in Song Dynasty's fragrance culture, like all "spice civilizations" in the world, was the earliest use of local spices in traditional Chinese fragrance. The words and phrases in the Book of Songs and Chu Ci that describe beautiful women as poetry and plants as weaving are mostly about local fragrant flowers and herbs. Zelan, Huilan, Gracilaria, Bai Zhi, Mulan, Qiuju, Lingling, Huoxiang, and the pine and cypress, which were considered spiritual at the time, were the mainstream spices of the pre Qin period. The life of the aristocrats in the pre Qin period was accompanied by fragrance. They bathed in orchid soup, carried herbs, and even drank the dewdrops of magnolias in the morning and the fallen petals of chrysanthemums in the evening (Qu Yuan's "Li Sao"). This is partly due to the innate preference of humans for beautiful scents, and partly because ancient people associated external aromas with internal virtues and fixed them as cultural symbols. During the Han and Wei dynasties, there was an important change in China's spice system. With the prosperity of Silk Road trade, a large amount of spices from outside the region entered China. Spices such as agarwood, sandalwood, dragon's brain, Suhe, benzoin, and frankincense wrote brilliant poems on people's noses, quickly conquering the discerning senses of nobles and literati. The concept that natural spices are not made of sandalwood or sandalwood, and that sandalwood or sandalwood are natural spices is gradually becoming popular. More than 100 volatile aromatic substances in agarwood constitute its calm, warm, and varied temperament. Starting from the Han and Wei dynasties, for nearly 2000 years, Easterners have not found a completely substitute for it. It can be said that high aromatic compounds such as agarwood furan and sesquiterpenes had a "dimensionality reduction impact" on Chinese local spices at that time, gradually occupying the mainstream position in China's spice system. In his preface to the He Xiang Fang, Fan Ye of the Southern Dynasty listed the shortcomings of various spices, such as "shallow and vulgar Jia Jian", "deficiency and dryness of zero huo", and "dullness of jujube paste". Only when it comes to agarwood, Fan Ye believes that "solid and easy to mix, with no harm to the weight", which shows his favoritism. In the following Sui and Tang dynasties, the traditional Chinese incense industry established a "four in one fragrance" system with "sinking, sandalwood, dragon, and musk" as the skeleton. The frequency of use of fragrant materials such as Jia Xiang, benzoin, Su He Xiang, and frankincense ranked second, which was undoubtedly the result of people's loyalty to their own olfactory preferences at that time. The Tang Dynasty was a splendid world empire, and the Heavenly Khan was rich in the sea. The western city of Chang'an mixed the most luxurious smells in the world. From the traditional incense formulas such as "Tang Kaiyuan Palace Fragrance" and "Du Shi Temple Yam Fragrance", a clear secularization tendency can be seen. Tang people tend to use the "best smelling" spices, such as Chen, Tan, Long, Musk, and Jia Jian, in large quantities. The aroma of Tang incense is gorgeous and thick, just like the large metal incense burners used in the Tang court. In the underground palace of Famen Temple, the "Gilded Sleeping Turtle Lotus Flower Pattern with Five Legged Flowers and Silver Incense Burner" has a huge shape, complex lines, and magnificent momentum, giving it a sense of wealth and prosperity. The incense burned naturally matches it. Du Fu's poem goes, 'After the morning, cigarettes fill my sleeves' (from' Fenghe Jia Zhi She Ren Zao Chao Da Ming Palace '), while Wang Wei says,' Cigarettes want to float beside the dragon '(from' He Jia She Ren Zao Chao Da Ming Palace '), describing the scene of the court using incense at that time. The magnificent fragrance fills the large space of the court meeting, and these poems are likely to be reciting' incense in Tang Kaiyuan Palace '. When Zhou Jiazhou of the Ming Dynasty talked about the obsession of people with incense, he said, "Those who wear gold in the frost are not more expensive than those who wear black and sweet incense on their pillows; those who wear red dust on their horses are not happy with the blue seal script in the furnace." (Preface to Xiangcheng) Relatively speaking, the Tang people had a more direct understanding of "black and sweet incense on their pillows," pursuing a simple sensory enjoyment. However, during the Song Dynasty, the olfactory aesthetics dominated by literati showed a distinct tendency different from that of the Tang Dynasty. Firstly, the Song people knew how to make incense more "fragrant", and they made mixed incense more meticulously than the Tang people. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, when it comes to agarwood, there is only one title, "agarwood". However, in the Song Dynasty, the "Yong Wen Che Lang Zhong Ya Xiang" used three titles when referring to agarwood in a single fragrance recipe. The spice part says, "One or two each of agarwood, sandalwood, stack incense, nail incense, and yellow ripe, and half or two each of dragon and musk." (Chen Jing's "Chen Family Fragrance Genealogy") "Agarwood", "stack incense", and "yellow ripe" are agarwood of different densities, and agarwood with a high oil content can sink in water, called "agarwood" or "sinking water"; The "stack fragrance" has a medium oil content and is semi heavy and semi floating, while the "yellow ripe" is completely floating on the surface of the water. The use of all three indicates that the Song people were well aware that mixing different agarwood together not only had a higher cost-effectiveness, but also provided a better olfactory experience. This is consistent with the contemporary art of making agarwood, which is listed as an intangible cultural heritage. The fragrance culture of the Song Dynasty did not continue to advance along the magnificent and vibrant path of the Sui and Tang dynasties, but instead decided to "rebel" against the previous generation's aesthetic sense. One of its specific manifestations is the extensive use of herbal spices such as Gansong, Lingling, Huoxiang, Baizhi, and Xuanshen in Song Xiang, and even the fragrance of Zelan, which does not taste very good during smoking, has re entered the vision of Song people in choosing spices. In other words, the Song Dynasty chose to surpass the Sui and Tang dynasties and directly inherited some spice traditions from the pre Qin period. This choice was related to the overall ideological trend of the society at that time. The political and military situation of the two Song dynasties was relatively passive, and the weak military and political situation gave rise to an urgent need for self proof. The Song Dynasty advocated retro culture in culture, which is also reflected in the fragrance culture as a "leisure activity". The incense burners of the Song Dynasty were mainly made of porcelain, with simple lines and pure colors. In addition to traditional shapes such as Boshan furnace, Yanxing furnace, and Suanni incense burner, the most mainstream incense burner shapes of the Song Dynasty were mostly taken from bronze ware of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties: ding style furnace, li style furnace, gui style furnace, box style furnace, etc. To a large extent, the Song people swore their "orthodox" cultural status by using the shape of sacrificial vessels from the pre Qin period to carve porcelain and make tripods that were blue in water "(Yang Wanli's" Seven Words on Burning Incense "). In terms of the aroma of incense, the Song people praised "Qingyuan" and valued the clear and lofty mountain and forest atmosphere. The literati and officials maintain a complex attitude of both closeness and estrangement towards secular power represented by imperial power, and the mountains and forests where they are born are the temporary abode of their souls. Huang Tingjian's evaluation of the "Deep Tranquility Fragrance" in the "Four Fragrances of Huang Taishi" is "this fragrance is serene and lonely, not favored by the world", while his evaluation of the "Han Wei Gong Nong Mei Fragrance" is "as tender and cold as dawn, walking among lonely mountains and fences". Huang Tingjian was a core figure in the "Fragrant Circle" of the Northern Song Dynasty, and his comments largely represented the olfactory aesthetic tendency at that time. The literati of the Song Dynasty were naturally immersed in the "black sweetness on their pillows", but they would deliberately create scents that were different from their predecessors, making the fragrance "extraordinary" and pursuing olfactory aesthetics that deviated from general preferences. Looking at the fragrance formulas of the Song Dynasty, people sometimes used spices such as black ginseng, sorghum, and peony bark to create a "medicinal" feeling in the fragrance, interweaving sweetness and slight bitterness; Sometimes sweet pine is used to add fragrance, and the sour and pungent "fermented soybean flavor" of the Baijiang family is used to give the aroma a richer connotation. These seemingly "unpleasant" odors showcase the solitary and independent group personality of literati in the Song Dynasty. The literati of the Song Dynasty, who believed in worrying about the worries of the world first and enjoying the pleasures of the world later, deliberately avoided immersing themselves in the pure and beautiful atmosphere, so much so that they could not hear the sound of folk suffering knocking on the window at midnight. 'Retro' is the specific way they choose, and the ancient names inherited from the pre Qin period themselves give people a sense of traditional identity. Grass and wood spices are naturally related to 'mountains and forests', so they have become an important source of fragrance for' literati fragrance 'in the Song Dynasty, and' retro 'has become one of the key tones of Song Dynasty fragrance culture. There is a famous "Zhongxing Retro" incense cake in the Changzhou Museum, unearthed from the Southern Song Dynasty tomb in Qianxiang, Wujin Village, Changzhou. According to expert research, this incense cake is an imperial household incense. The four character seal of "Zhongxing Retro" clearly indicates the tendency of Song incense to value antiquity. From ordinary scholars to the nobles, they are all included in a "retro" trend, which can be seen from incense utensils, incense formulas, and incense evaluations. This fragrance should be unusual: the "novelty" in Song fragrance. Song fragrance culture values antiquity, but it does not mean a replica of antiquity. The social and economic foundation of the Song Dynasty had undergone tremendous changes compared to the pre Qin period. As scholars have pointed out more than once in their discussions on the "Tang Song Reform Theory", the "prosperous society" of the Song Dynasty was based on developed maritime trade and commercial development. With the influx of a large amount of materials from outside the country, spices, as the material carrier of fragrance culture, are of higher quality and richer than ever before. At that time, people's sense of smell and aesthetics could not naturally regress