香事書寫如何展現世界？以晚明《香乘》為主的探討

How do Writings on Incense Represent the World?A Study of the Records on Incense (Xiangsheng) in the Late Ming Dynasty

晚明出現中國歷代最為完備的「香譜」，即周嘉冑所撰《香乘》。周氏藉焚香、酣睡以遁世，似欲隔離財富、權勢的競逐與滄桑；然而財富和權勢，偏偏又與「香」的流動、持有，存在千絲萬縷的聯繫。其所以傾注畢生之力纂輯，非僅嗜癖使然，更可視為個人嗜癖牽掣於香品流動、持有機制的對策。按其所述，名香除了寺廟以外，大抵唯有最高集權者足堪享用；至於隱居在野者，唯能以「書寫」囊括「嗜物」。此與十五世紀前期「鄭和下西洋」，乃至十六世紀以降全球趨向整合的劇烈變動，是否或可能存在何種關聯？這些遠域香物與產香之地，又如何織入中國世俗見聞、知識的系統？縱使官方與部分士人一度主張「禁番香」；然而西洋香物不僅深入士人生活，更堂皇接榫中國雅正文明的譜系。

In the late Ming dynasty, the Records on Incense, the most comprehensive of the "treatises on incense," was composed by Zhou Jiazhou. By burning incense and sleeping soundly to withdraw from the world, Zhou seemed to want to give up the struggle for wealth and power and to escape from the vicissitudes of life. However, wealth and power were inextricably linked with the circulation and acquisition of incense. And so, he devoted his whole life to this compilation, not only as an obsession, but also as a countermeasure against his own obsession with the circulation and acquitision of incense. According to his account, aside from temples, only the most powerful could enjoy high-quality incense, while those who lived in seclusion could only fulfill their obsession with it through writing. Was there any type of connection between this phenomenon and the voyages to the Indian Ocean by Zheng He in the early 15th century or the dramatic trends of globalization in the 16th century? And how did information on aromatic substances from faraway lands find its way into Chinese conventional knowledge of the day? Even though officials and some scholar-gentlemen once advocated banning foreign aromatic substances, western aromatics pervaded the scholar-gentlemen’s life, blending into the traditions of Chinese high culture.