Wu Zetian (December 16, 624-705), the only orthodox female emperor in Chinese history (reigned from 690-705), is also one of the oldest emperors to ascend the throne (67 years old) and one of the longest lived emperors (82 years old). Wu Zetian is the second daughter of Yu, a knight under the governor of Jingzhou. At the age of 14, he entered the harem. He was a talented man of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and was given the name “Wumei”. In the first year of Tianshu (690), Wu Zetian established herself as emperor, changed the country name to Zhou, and set Luoyang as the capital, known as the “God capital”, and established Wu Zhou. Before and after Wu Zetian’s reign, she wantonly killed the clans of the Tang Dynasty and raised “cruel official politics”. But she is “observant and judgmental”, has many strategies and can use people. It also rewarded farmers, reformed the administration of officials, and paid attention to the selection of talents, so there were a large number of talents. In his later years, he gradually became extravagant and arbitrary, and gradually led to corrupt politics. Wu Zetian paid more attention to her beauty, health and fashion since she married Li Shimin. Li Shimin paid more attention to Buddhism, and the Tang Dynasty began to pay special attention to the development of incense culture. When Empress Wu became emperor, she was very extravagant. It was difficult for ministers to share good spices. (Zhang Chen, a lover of jiangzhenxiang collection, wechat: zhangchen1233). So Cao Tang, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote an article:
Cao Tang? (Tang Dynasty) “send Liu Zunshi only three imperial edicts to the que court”
Red dew wants to pour out wine to prolong her life, and the plain smoke thinks it will bring true fragrance.
There are no words beyond five thousand words. What more words are given to the emperor of Wu.
Wu Zetian has such a long life and made great contributions. Only Wu Zetian can enjoy the good luck, health and happiness brought by jiangzhenxiang, the first of all incense. However, Wu Zetian likes incense. Wu Sansi, her beloved nephew, followed Wu Zetian’s preference and created a precedent for fighting incense. According to the Qing Yi Lu written by Tao Chen of the Song Dynasty, “during the reign of emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty, empress Wei and the brothers of emperor Chuke, Wu Sansi, Ji Cune, etc. each carried a name of incense and compared the advantages and disadvantages, which was called Douxiang.” Perhaps only the competitive Tang people will refit the gentle and affectionate elegant thing of burning incense into a full-fledged event. So the Tang Dynasty was very particular about using incense. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the fumigation stove, there was also a kind of incense device that could be placed in the bedding, which was also very popular. This appliance is called “lying mattress incense burner”, “quilt incense burner”, “incense bag”, “incense ball”, “gold smash” and so on. It is used to dispel the air of dirt and fragrant bedding. Its shape is usually a hollow round ball made of metal. The upper hemisphere is the cover and the lower hemisphere is the body. The two are connected by hinges and the child and mother mouth are buckled. There are two concentric flat rings and an incense burning bowl in the lower hemisphere. The two flat rings and the holding ring and the incense cup are connected by a vertical movable shaft, and the outer ring and the ball wall are riveted together. The holding ring and the incense cup can keep the cup surface parallel to the ground with the action of gravity. Therefore, no matter how the ball rotates, the cup surface will always face upward. When the spices contained in the incense cup are ignited, sparks will not leak out, and the burnt incense ash will not scatter and burn the bedding, It is a miniature fumigation furnace with extremely exquisite design. Among the gold and silver wares of the Tang Dynasty unearthed from the underground palace of Famen Temple in Fufeng, there are two gilded gold and silver sachets, one large and one small.
Wu Zetian likes incense, and Wu Sansi likes it, and likes to come up with tricks. Wu Sansi flatters people with a set of records. Wu Sansi was appointed by Wu Zetian because he was her nephew. He progressed from general Youwei to the Ministry of war and the Ministry of rites, and supervised the revision of national history. Wu Sansi is domineering and good at flattery. Xue Huaiyi, Wu Zetian’s earliest male pet, often rode a horse and bumped into the street with the favor of Wu Zetian, wounding countless people, and no one dared to take care of it. Whenever Xue Huaiyi rode out of the palace, Wu Sansi and Wu Chengsi waited beside him. One holds the saddle and the other holds the reins. He keeps telling: “master Xue, be careful, master Xue.” More obedient than a slave. Later, Xue Huaiyi fell out of favor and was killed. Wu Zetian took Zhang changzong and Zhang Yi’s brothers as her male favorites. As in the past, Wu Sansi and Wu Chengsi flattered the Zhang brothers in every way. If two horses ride, they compete to match the saddle and follow behind the horse; If two people take a bus, they compete to drive the shaft, whip and shout, and flatteringly call Zhang Yizhi Wulang and Zhang Zongchang LIULANG. The purpose of flattering Xue Huaiyi and Zhang brothers is to please Wu Zetian, so they flatter Wu Zetian in every way. In order to please Wu Zetian, Wu Sansi found the best spices in the world for Wu Zetian to enjoy. Honglu wanted to postpone her life and drink wine. The plain smoke thought it would bring true fragrance. There are no words beyond five thousand words. What more words are given to the emperor of Wu. Naturally, a large number of Wusi friends have made friends.
Wu Zetian lived to be 82 years old. After her death, Wu Zetian’s grandson imitated Wu Zetian and wanted to live a long life, dispel poisons and ward off evil spirits. Through historical sources, it was proved that the divine bird of Taoism is a crane, and the Lingxiang is a descending fragrance, so it is called descending fragrance. The effect of jiangzhenxiang on human health is evidenced by poetry:
“To Taoist Zhu” Tang Dynasty. Bai Juyi
White appearance, shangxianlang, square inch Qingxu inner Taoist temple.
The two wings metaplasia took medicine, and the three corpses lay dead as rest food.
Jiaotan north to the night zhandou, bedroom east to open early to receive Yang.
There is nothing more to do between the windows in the end of the day. The only thing to burn is the real fragrance.
This poem is briefly analyzed to make it easier to understand: Taoist Zhu is a friend of Bai Juyi. It is said that Bai Juyi believed in Taoist family upbringing, so he was in good health and lived for 75 years. He lived a long life in the Tang Dynasty. This poem is proof of his point of view.
“A fairy Lang with white appearance” praised Taoist Zhu for his appearance. He looked like a young man with fair skin and was a first-class immortal. Taoism says that immortals have nine grades, and the first grade is immortals.
From the second sentence, it explains the reason why he can have such a face.
“Square inch pure and empty inner Taoist field”, said that he had a good mental state: calm, calm and calm, with no distractions in his heart and one mind to the Tao. Square inch refers to the heart, which comes from Liezi xiuni: “I see the heart of the son, and an inch of land is empty.” Nah, Nah, hold on. The heart is quiet and empty. It is so quiet that it can be used as a place for chanting scriptures, practice and Practice (Daochang).
“Two wings turn into health due to taking medicine”, two wings come from the story of the northern black emperor, one of the five old heavenly kings in the early days of Taoism. The black emperor in the north, whose surname was Hao and whose character was fuming, met a great famine at the age of 12, and the Chinese people starved to death. One day fuming came to the foot of Dijing mountain and met a huge victory. He picked food and gave it to the hungry people. He took rescue several times a day and saved thousands of dying people. He picked as he went and won as he was born. He hasn’t been there for three years, but others can’t find him. Fuming was so lucky and tired that he finally died at the foot of the mountain. The emperor of heaven knows, paijin