Chinese Incense History: The Renaissance to the end of Imperial Rule (Ming and Qing dynasties)

The prevalence of incense at the end of the Middle Ages not only continued but increased through the subsequent two dynasties, the Ming 明朝 (1368–1644) and the Qing 清朝 (pronounced “Ching” dynasty, 1636–1912). From the Ming through to the High Qing era (1683–1799), China had a relatively stable and prosperous society, where the population boomed from 60–70 million people at the beginning of Ming, to 450 million at the end of Qing. China was also the world’s biggest economy for significant portions of this time. Incense, as an industry and daily practice, continued to flourish under these conditions. As we’ve written before, traditional Chinese incense use has thousands of years of history, so as usual, we cover only a short time period in this article — the 14th- 20thcenturies, corresponding roughly to Renaissance and the Modern period in European history.  <a href="https://medium.com/@kinobjects/chinese-incense-history-the-renaissance-to-the-end-of-imperial-rule-ming-and-qing-dynasties-805d8088f050">Learn More</a>