Kōdō

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Kōdō ( Japanese. 香 道 , dt. "Way of the scent", also: 香 あ そ び , kaori asobi , for example: "Scent game") is a traditional Japanese art for appreciating scents and incense in connection with special rules of conduct, which are in the Kōdō Ceremony. It is unclear whether Daoism or Confucianism was the first religion to use incense, but in Asia it was just as much a means of reaching the spirits of heaven or gods.

Kōdō encompasses all aspects of smoking, from tools ( 香 道具 , kōdōgu ) to activities such as the Kōdō fragrance games, of which two types can be distinguished: on the one hand, the kumikō ( 組 香 ), like the genjikō ( 源氏 香 ) and on the other hand the monkō ( 聞 香 ). Kōdō is one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement, along with Kadō ( Ikebana ) as the art of flower arrangement and Sadō as the art of tea or the tea ceremony .

Kōdō ceremony

The Kōdō ceremony originated in the 14th century (the Muromachi period ) and its underlying philosophy is close to Zen Buddhism. Kōdō became popular again in the Edo period . During the ceremony, the master of ceremonies (or hosts) and their guests "listen" to the "sound of the fragrance". In the course of time different types of ceremony have developed, some of which are quite playful. There are some ways in which the participants in the ritual have to guess which fragrances are being burned (e.g. with the kumikō or the genjikō ).

Equipment needed

Historic porcelain incense burner, approx. 1800

The smoking utensils or equipment is called kōdōgu ( 香 道具 ). A number of such kōdōgu are available, which are available in different styles and with many motifs for different events and seasons. All tools for the smoking ceremony are handled with great care. They are carefully cleaned before and after each use and before storage. Similar to the objects and tools used in the Japanese tea ceremony, their use is a fine art.

Some of the most important components are listed below:

  • Incense cup ( 香炉 , kōrō )
  • white ash
  • Charcoal
  • Ash press
  • Tweezers ( 銀 葉 挟 , ginyō hasami )
  • Metal chopsticks
  • Metal pliers
  • feathers
  • paper

literature

  • Susanne Fischer-Rizzi: Message to Heaven. Application, effects and stories of fragrant incense. Munich 1996, ISBN 3-453-15504-1 .
  • Christian Rätsch: Incense. The breath of the dragon. Aarau (Switzerland) 2009, ISBN 978-3-03800-302-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c 香 道 . In: ブ リ タ ニ カ 国際 大 百科 事 典 小 項目 事 典 at kotobank.jp. Retrieved January 15, 2015 (Japanese).