The Incense Book by Kiyoko Morita. Chapter 4
4. The Way of the Warriors: The Birth of Kodo
The end of the Kamakura period (1185-1333) marks another significant step in the history of incense in Japan. The term “incense” began to mean mixed incense (in Japanese “nerikoh”), but now people have returned directly to burning incense in itself as the main and only component. It was in the subsequent period of Muromachi (1336-1573) that the enjoyment of the aroma of a burnt piece of incense wood in accordance with established rules and principles became known in Japan as “listening” to the aroma.
This set the stage for the creation of Kodo, which begins with the shogun Asikaga Yoshimasa, a great patron of arts such as the tea ceremony, floral arrangements (Ekibana), and No drama (a type of Japanese drama theater) that asked for his trusted vassal and main military Advisor Sino Soshina evaluate and classify all incense that they used. Soshin organized and set the rules for this form of highly aesthetic practice with the help of Sanjonisi Sanetaki, an outstanding scholar, poet and minister under the shogun, who was also responsible for everything related to incense at the imperial court. Together, they classified the specimens as “The Shikun Ashikaga Collection of 120 Designs,” “Incense Chosen by the Emperors,” “Shinto Family Collection,” and the like. They also developed games and rules for incense parties.
The social elite of the time — warriors and male aristocrats — often had incense parties during which they could hone their aesthetic perceptions. (Incidentally, some military leaders ravenously collected a precious fragrant tree to boast of their wealth, which testified to the great value that society attached to incense.)
Around the fifteenth century, Japanese Kodo connoisseurs began to use the term "listen to incense." Why not "smell incense"? The Japanese themselves often ask this question. One scholar of the Edo period (1603-1868) wrote in response to an amateur question:
“Listen to incense” arose in Chinese and there was no such expression in Japanese. The word “sniff” was considered a traditional and beautiful word. So, a certain person “smells” the aromas of objects and mixed component incense also “sniffs”. For example, Kokinshu poetry refers to the “sniffing” of the aroma of blooming citrus-orange flowers. In addition, in the chapter entitled “Umegae” (plum branch) in “The Tale of Genji” it is written: “inhale (literally“ smell ”- to smell) the depth of the smell of incense mixed by different people.” We cannot find such an expression as “listening” with respect to aromas in our ancient texts. People today, without proper knowledge, take it for granted that the expression “smelling” a fragrance is vulgar, but it is by no means correct. Saying “listen to incense” is now simply popular and fashionable and it’s not at all a really sophisticated phrase. ”
This scholar claimed that the Chinese expression wenxiang, listening to incense, was imported from China. Since he was a Japanese language specialist, he most likely considered using the borrowed word somewhat vulgar or simply pretentious. But if he had traced the primary source of the phrase “listening to incense,” this scientist would have understood the rationale for the choice of this phrase by connoisseurs and they really made a rational choice, and not just followed quirks.
In fact, the idea of “listening to incense” can be traced even further, to the Mahayana Sutra in Buddhism, which consists of fourteen volumes. There, in a dialogue between the bodhisattva Monju (a Buddhist saint of wisdom and intellect) and Yuima-kitsu (a wealthy Indian Buddhist layman, also known for his wisdom and intellect), Yuima learns that everything in the world of Buddha is fragrant like incense, including the words of Buddha . Fragrance and incense are synonyms, and the words of the teachings of Buddha are incense. Therefore, bodhisattvas listen to the words of the Buddha in the form of incense, and do not smell them. When the use of incense for Buddhism was introduced in China, the Chinese seem to have used this expression as follows: incense is what everyone listens to, not sniffs.
In Japan, as incense wood became more popular than mixed incense, the Japanese kept the literal meaning of the wen xiang characters, but changed the grammatical order so that the Japanese phrase became “koh wo kiku” or “mon-koh” (listen to incense). Whatever its historical roots, given how valuable and exotic incense should have been in Japan in the fourteenth century, we can imagine how the expression “listen” should sound more attractive to classes of men’s warriors and aristocrats in expressing their practice “Kodo” ".
