Imperial Scholar's Focus Incense

49 premium ingredients, sourced from the wild grasslands of Mongolia

Both traditional Chinese medicine and Mongolian medicine emphasize the importance of dàodì—authentic, locally grown ingredients. Just as “oranges grown south of the Huai River are sweet, while those north turn bitter,” ingredients thrive best in their native environment. The vast, sparsely populated Mongolian plains produce some of the finest medicinal herbs. Growing freely between heaven and earth, these wild plants embody the purity and dedication required for imperial-grade incense.

A unique incense-making method—balancing timing, location, and human skill

How intricate was the process? The perfumer employed a palace technique known as mì bù tiào, which involved ten steps: baking, stir-frying, smoking, boiling, soaking, simmering, resting, dripping, feeding, and hanging.

While other incense might involve more steps, few were willing to align so meticulously with the forces of nature. Ingredients like gastrodia tuber, licorice, and fleeceflower root were ground and mixed with soil from wild magpie nests, then sealed in jars. On a Jiazi day (first in the 60-day cycle), the jars were buried at the foot of a northwest-facing slope to absorb natural energy. Meanwhile, ingredients such as schisandra berries, ginseng, poria cocos, cypress, and vanilla grass were ground and shaped into incense blocks, then left to mature undisturbed for over 100 days. 

On a Gengzi day, all prepared materials were finally blended into the finished incense. This entire process took more than a month from start to finish—resulting in the one and only Imperial Study Pavilion Incense.