"Paozhi" is an ancient technique for processing spices in the making of incense. The process of making incense is similar to cooking; just as cooking requires frying, sautéing, and stir-frying, the raw ingredients of dishes are just raw vegetables and meat, which need to be processed to become delicious. The same goes for incense; aromatic woods and herbs grown from the land need to be processed before they can become the delicate fragrance that fills our homes. This process is called "paozhi."
The analogy of cooking is drying, cautery, frying, washing, soaking, bleaching, steaming, boiling and so on. The purpose of different treatment methods is to remove impurities and facilitate use. The second is to guide and cure the inverse, and to manage its fragrance. If the processing is suitable for spice, just like the chef turns materials into delicious food, can remove the unsuitable ingredients of incense , enhance the flavor of spice, strengthen the performance of incense medicine, so that the advantages contained in incense materials can give full play . According to the requirements of compatibility, the medicinal properties of incense wood can even be changed by specific processing methods.
For example, the processing of sandalwood is to remove fire and acrimony. The smell of sandalwood is fragrant, warm and delicate, with milky fragrance and sweet flavor. However, because it grows in hot areas such as India and Australia, it has a strong fire. The taste of native sandalwood is mixed with spicy, which makes people get fickleness easily. After certain processing, it can remove its fire. In fact, it is very easy to understand that when cooking fish、shrimp and other seafood, it is often necessary to add wine to remove fishy smell.
Thus, it can be seen that the paozhi of incense medicine is an important part of traditional incense making. There are many particulars regarding the duration of paozhi and the quality of the containers used. These technical requirements need us to settle down, slowly explore and summarize with a focused artisan spirit, and accumulate a wealth of experience. Only in this way can we make good incense.