Incense wrappers (2)

Here I feature more examples of Chinese incense wrappers. 

平安觀音香

"Peace guanyin incense"

This is a simple plastic wrapper, for holding a small bundle of joss sticks. The seated figure on top is Guanyin, the buddhist goddess of mercy. 

大吉大利名貴雪梨香

Great fortune, Great profit famous snow-pear incense. 

H&M督造

Made by H&M

The pineapple is an auspicious symbol. Its chinese name 黃莉, Huang li  sounds somewhat like the Chinese word for profit 利. 

We are told the incense was made by a company called H&M. The inscription on either side of the pineapple reads " Customers please recognize / The golden pineapple is our trademark" 

2828 

平安檀香

" 2828 Peace Sandalwood incense" 

The seated figure with many arms is the Thousand-armed form of Guanyin. 

Book cover: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms

These covers belong to an edition of the celebrated Chinese Novel Romance of the Three kingdoms. They were collected in Singapore in 2018, but were published in Hong Kong sometime in the past century.

A previous owner has written the numbers of the volumes on the set. The one on the right has 二 Volume 2 (near the prow of the boat), and the one on the left has 四, Volume 4 ( Near the arm of the reclining figure).  In traditional Chinese bookbinding, it is not uncommon for an longer work (like this)  to be split up into smaller volumes of "Fascicles"

The two covers are done in a charming style that is seldom encountered today. Both covers bear the same three lines of Chinese text: 

繡像仿宋完整版

三國志演義

香港五桂堂書局印行

(Illustrated, Imitation Song complete edition)

THE ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS:

Published by Wu Gui Tang bookshop, Hong Kong. 

This requires some explaining. The word translated as "illustrated" is 繡像 xiùxiàng literally meaning "Embroidered". Chinese novels often had illustrations of the characters. These illustrations were rendered in line-work, and hence figuratively referred to as 'embroidery'. These illustrations comprise part of the book's "Front matter" , and would be found in volume 1 of the set.   As I possess only volumes 2 and 4, I cannot show you the illustrations (if they existed)

The "imitation Song" probably refers to a family of Chinese typefaces, in which the book is set. 

This image (and the next) are the first two pages of the fourth volume of the set. The text shown is the first part of the 91st chapter of the novel. Like many Traditional Chinese books, the text here reads Right-to-left, in vertical columns. The title of the chapter, (1st line from right) and the first word of the chapter ( topmost character in the 2nd row from the Right) are set in larger type than the rest of the novel

The text is densely set. Unlike in modern texts, The only punctuation used are dots. 

Chinese Decorated paper 5-- Box

The following pieces of decorated paper covered a box. The box contained a set of fairly mysterious gaming-tiles. The tiles themselves are shown here 

The upper cover of the box. It displays a trellis pattern of chrysanthemums and Lotuses.  Round medallions bear a text in Chinese. Written in the archaic seal-script, it reads 花開富貴 -- "[may] the Flowers open, and prosperity arrive" 

The bottom part of the box displays a fine floral pattern, printed in red. 

Chinese Incense wrappers

One of the offerings at Chinese temples are sticks of incense, or "Joss Sticks" as they are known in the west. There are a huge variety to choose from. The sticks  come in different lengths and thicknesses They can be  as thin as a straw [ the most common] , to as thick and long as a man's arm [only found at large festivals] . They are also sold in bundles of varying size, each containing a few tens, to massive loads containing  hundreds. There are many brands. Each has its own label.

The incense sticks are typically wrapped in yellow cellophane, with a paper label under the cellophane showing brand information. Such an arrangement, albeit without the incense, is shown here. 

AAAA 正檀香-- AAAA Zheng Tanxiang 

AAAA brand Authentic sandalwood incense. 

The paper label, removed from its cellophane.The female figure is Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of mercy. Below is an inscription in [I think] Vietnamese. I will be glad if any reader will tell me what it means. 

佛緣富貴檀香- Fo Yuan Fugui Tanxiang 

" Fo Yuan" prosperity sandalwood incense 

Fo Yuan, 佛缘 is presumably the brand's name. Fo yuan is a Buddhist term of art, signifying [roughly] the relationship between the practitioner and the Buddha. [ Chinese article on the subject]. 

Again, Guanyin is depicted on the label.  The eight objects floating on clouds below her are the symbols of the Eight immortals of Chinese mythology. They form a border round the name of the incense. 

The horizontal text on the bottom says 香細烟少-- Xiang Xi, Yan Shao. "This incense is slender, and produces little smoke" 

 萬和行/ 觀音香王  Wan He Hang/ Guanyin Xiang Wang 

Wan He company/ Guanyin King of Incense. 

The name Wan He means "Myriad Harmony" in Chinese. Its English name, Wan He Joss paper trading is found on the bottom of the label. Again, Guanyin is depicted on the label.

Four Chinese characters are found in the bottom-right corner. They are 環保健康-- Huanbao Jiankang "Environmentally friendly and Healthy"/ 

Floral towel

Once again I stray from the usual decorated papers to give you this charming motif:

It comes from a towel. It is a crude motif of flowers. Its simplicity, and lack of pretence makes it beautiful.

Joss paper 1- "Cloth"

According to Chinese tradition, one may send gifts to one's ancestors ( clothes, money and even whole houses) if paper representations of these things are burnt as offerings to them. Such paper articles are commonly known as "joss paper" .
  Many of these papers are most curious , if in their own gaudy way, and I shall be presenting more of such things in the future.

The present article of joss paper is a square sheet of thin Chinese , or "Rice" paper. It is printed with a elegant pattern of flowers and scrollwork. It is intended to represent a piece of patterned cloth-- presumably for ancestors who prefer making their own clothes.

 

This paper is printed off a woodblock, as seen from the black gouge marks in the upper left corner. This is somewhat surprising, considering that this paper was bought around 2011.This sheet was once part of a stack of sheets. All bore the same pattern ( as here) but were printed on different colour of paper -- green , yellow  and white in addition to this pink colour.

 

 

Butterfly paper, 2013

The paper that is shown here forms the bottom of a Chinese paper lantern. Such lanterns are often sold around this time of the year, being the Chinese mid-autumn festival. Such paper lanterns are made of rice paper, but with cardboard tops and bottoms. This card is covered with a decorated paper. For some reason, this decorated paper ( of which there are several varieties), always features butterflies. This one is a more elaborate example.

As you can see, a repeat in the pattern can be made out, but it is by no means complete. By my calculations, the pattern repeats itself every 14 centimeters.

Chinese decorated paper -1

It is evident that the pattern we see here is an imitation of brocade or silk. Indeed, it may very well be actually be a photograph of some silk.. Judging from the pattern and the thin paper it is printed on, it is of Chinese manufacture. It is of recent date, around 2011.