臥房可以點香嗎？ Can we burn incense in our bedrooms?

一般人對「香」的觀念，大都認為用於宗教祭祀，是禮佛、敬神、祭祖、廟會的用品；香，因此被賦予一種不可褻瀆的神聖性。而中國人對「房事」則有著很難啟齒的情愫，甚至認為「性」是不潔、羞恥及罪惡的，只能用於傳宗接代。在神聖與不潔的相互牴觸下，很多人認為臥房點香對神明不敬，其實古人早有臥房點香的用法。

Typically, people associate incense with religious rituals, and thus incense has been regarded as something sacred or inviolable. And, particularly in the opinion of most Chinese, sex has been an embarrassing topic and considered filthy, shameful, and even sinful; as a consequence, sex is only essential to carry on the family line. That is why many people assume it is improper to burn incense in their bedrooms. As a matter of face, ancient people used to burn incense in their bedrooms for various purposes.

古人的焚香器具中，有一種稱為「香球」的香具。球體上有繁麗細巧的鏤空花紋，可讓香氣緩緩散出；其內部巧妙地利用重心原理，無論香球如何滾動，內部的小圓缽皆能保持水平，香料及燃炭不會傾翻落下。香球是當時人們放在被窩中熏被的器具。

Ancient people had many containers, with which they put incense powder in; one of them is called “incense ball”. The sphere-like container is delicately carved to allow the aroma to permeate into the air gradually. Thanks to the wonderful design, no matter how the incense ball rolls, the small bowl-like container inside the incense ball can still stay balanced and horizontally without spilling any incense powder or ashes. Back then, such a thing was often used under their quilts for a pleasant scent.

                        

 還有一種垂掛在床四周的香囊。《孔雀東南飛》是漢代一首長篇的樂府敘事詩。詩裡講到「紅羅複斗帳，四角垂香囊」，就是描寫在蚊帳四角垂掛香囊，香囊裡裝上一些香料，讓香氣增添房內的浪漫。

Ancient people also used incense sachets and hung them on the beds. Back in the Han Dynasty, a Chinese poem, entitled “A Peacock Bound for the Southeast” was written to describe that incense sachets were hung around the mosquito net of a bed to better the atmosphere in the bedroom.

宋朝女詞人李清照是香的愛用者，在〈鳳凰台上憶吹簫〉提到：「香冷金猊，被翻紅浪，起來慵自梳頭。」狔，是狻狔，形如獅，喜煙好坐，因此常做為香爐造型。點香之後，金獅吞煙吐霧，頗有意趣。可見臥房點香是古人的一種生活方式。

In the Song Dynasty, a female poet, named Lee-Ching-Jiao, was also an incense lover. In her poems, she depicted her passion for incense and revealed the fact that burning incense to add a great atmosphere to the bedrooms was a part of life to many ancient people.

古人點香有一定禮制，不同空間會使用不同形式的香爐，例如「鬲式爐」由於穩重雍容，一般用於書齋雅室；而「魚耳爐」象徵夫妻的魚水之歡，只可用於臥房。我們固然無須如古人般繁瑣，但若能為一般空間如客廳、書房、臥房等準備專用的香爐，就更能從內在生起對香的敬重與喜愛！

However, ancient people had sophisticated rituals while burning incense. They used different containers depending on the space they were in. The three-legged round containers were used in their studies, while the fish-shaped ones were used in the bedrooms to symbolize the romance of a couple. That being said, we do not have to pay attention to so many details, but if we can prepare different incense containers for different purposes, it can be a token of our respect and enthusiasm for incense!

                       

魚耳爐

鬲式爐

目前，香的形式與作用，已更具多樣性，這類香品可稱為「生活用香」，已脫離祭祀用香的範疇。臥房點香，可增進室內芳香；有些香品則添加有助夫妻「性福」的中藥材，能增進夫妻間的情感，締造美滿的家庭生活！

Nowadays, we have developed diverse kinds of incense to satisfy our need to improve our daily life. These products have nothing to do with religious beliefs and can be used to give off pleasing fragrance to the bedrooms. Some kinds of incense even consist of the herbs that can boost sexual relationships. In short, incense can be definitely used anywhere to improve your living quality!