Incense wrappers (3)

Yet More Chinese Incense wrappers. These examples were collected around 2014. 

財神進寶香

"God-Of-Fortune enters [with] treasures  incense" 

A change from the Buddhist deities previously featured, this particular wrapper depicts the god of Fortune財神 . Symbols of wealth and Power float on clouds by the sides of the title. They are 

(Right hand row) -- A Jue 爵 (Goblet with three legs), a pair of ingots (元寶Yuanbao), a Calabash, a Pair of coins, and a ruyi 如意 scepter. 

The left-hand row contains the same objects, but placed in a different order. 

金旺來

富貴旺來香 

Golden "Pineapple" 

Prosperity and fortune incense

The name of this incense wrapper is a pun-- The chinese for pineapple 黃梨(Huang Li) or 王梨 (Wang Li) is very similar to the phrase 旺來 Wang Lai-- "Prosperity comes". This similarity is even more stark in Hokkien.  So the brand Golden pineapple may be interpreted as " Golden prosperity comes"

In any case, the makers of the incense have taken this to heart-- The label's background is entirely comprised of gold foil, applied by hot stamping.Alas, this brilliant gilt does not show up well on the scan. 

Book Cover-- Guandi Mingshen zhenjing 關帝明聖真經

 Below is the cover of the Guandi Mingshen zhenjing 關帝明聖真經-- Lord Guan's true scripture. This book was found in 2018 in Singapore. There, it is a custom for religious books to be freely distributed to the Public. To that end, shelves are placed in public areas, for such books to be placed. The book below is one such example. 

The book is bound in the Traditional Chinese manner, with thread, and the delightful wrapping-paper cover glued to the spine to form a wrapper. The book's creator has written the title 關帝明聖真經--Lord Guan's true scripture in a neat hand. In a smaller hand, to the botton left of the book is written 贈送品--  For Free distribution. 

The book is attributed to Lord Guan. 關羽 Guan Yu , The celebrated Chinese general. He is depicted to the right in a frontispiece. These illustrations were probably taken from a printed book. 

The first page of the text

Now we come to the most astonishing feature of the book. The text of the book is a photocopy of a Manuscript. By contrast, most books distributed in such a manner are typeset, and printed by large printing-houses. The production of this book must certainty be a small, cottage operation, reflecting the devotion of its creator. 

The second and third text pages of the text

The faint black frame around the texts comes from the Chinese Foolscap paper, that the scribe used to write this book on. The consistency of the scribe's handwriting must be praised. 

In addition to the photocopied portions, one of the book's owners has added a section in manuscript, written in Blue ballpoint pen. These manuscript sections are presented above. They are short religious invocations

The author will, in a future post, upload scans of the entire book, in hope that its creator's singular act of devotion will be perpetuated, as well as to provide material for students of the Chinese Folk religion.

In the meanwhile, if any reader may provide a more precise description of the book's contents, the author will be most delight to receive it.

以上的文章是介紹一本手抄的《關帝明聖真經》。這本書是在新加坡發現到，如果有讀者有有關這本書的知識或資料，請通知筆者。 謝謝。

Wrapping paper

This piece of wrapping paper was collected in 2015. It displays a pattern of bees, butterflies, and flowers, arranged in stripes. Such rather garish designs are common in wrapping papers 

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. 

Joss paper 2: Clothes

In Singapore, makers of joss paper sell sets of papers, containing all the necessary offerings for a particular spirit or divinity. The following pieces of joss paper come from such a set, intended for worshiping one's ancestors. They represent clothes.

The clothes come in an elegant pattern of key-frets and foliage. They come in red and green, as seen below.

Although these examples are patterned, some examples are plain. Joss paper makers also produce smaller versions of such clothes, intended as an offering to those who died in infancy. 

Envelope lining 4

This is the lining of an envelope, made by the UK company Tallon. It is a simple pattern of blue, straight lines. The maker's name is printed along the pattern

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. 

Buddhist Prayer-sheet

Continuing with the Buddhist theme, I shall exhibit a Buddhist prayer-sheet.  This sheet is fairly old, dating perhaps from the 1970s-1980s. I found it in Singapore. Buddhist devotees there often sponsor the printing of Buddhist tracts, to gain merit. These tracts are then freely distributed. They are placed on shelves located in public places, for the interested to take home and study. Occasionally, prayer sheets like this one pop up. 

The prayer-sheet is a single piece of paper, printed on one side. What you see here is the top half of the sheet. On the right, we see an image of Guanyin, a Bodhisattva. She is sitting on a lotus, in the midst of what appears to be a pond. A child sits at her feet, and a small bird flies overhead. The caption reads 白衣大士神像 Baiyi Dashi Shen Xiang  "The image of the White-Robed great One". 

On the left of the sheet, is the mantra associated with Baiyi Dashi, written in Chinese characters. 

The bottom half of the sheet is occupied by a large grid of circles, 25 long and 24 wide. The upper half of the sheet explains this curious feature. The mantra is to be changed 12 000  times. There are precisely 600 circles. After saying the mantra twenty times, fill in one circle. When all 600 circles are filled in, you know you have chanted a sufficient number. 

The right-hand text shows a list of dates. Upon these dates vegetarian food is to be consumed. This is often done by those who wish to gain merit from abstaining from slaughter, but for whatever reason cannot be fully vegetarian. The dates mentioned are according to the Chinese Lunar calendar. In addition to these fasts, People often fast on the 1st and 15th days of each month. This is alluded to in the sheet as  The New and Full moon days of each month.

Below I transcribe the contents of the sheet. I have kept the line breaks of the original. Text in round brackets is printed in a smaller typeface. I have added line numbers for ease of reference. Here is the Chinese Baidu article upon this mantra. This is a youtube video of the Mantra being chanted. 

There are several differences in the 2 texts. The baidu article ends line 2 with the words  摩诃萨, Mo he sa, which are absent in this text.  

In line 4 of the prayer sheet, we find the phrase 旦只哆,Dan zhi duo  whilst the text in the Baidu article reads 怛垤哆.dá zhí duō.

Attempting to translate the Mantra itself would be difficult, owing to its esoteric significance. I will instead transliterate it into pinyin as best as I can. If any reader may find errors in my text/interpretation, I will be glad to know of them.

*********************************************************************

[Above illustration of Guanyin] 白衣大士神像
Bai yi Dashi Shengxiang

1/ 南無大慈大悲救苦救難廣大靈感
觀世音菩薩   （三稱  三拜）
南無佛  南無法 南無僧 南無救苦救難
觀世音菩薩  旦只哆  庵  伽囉伐哆 伽囉伐哆
5 /伽訶伐哆   囉伽伐哆  囉伽伐哆 娑婆訶  天羅神
地羅神  人離難  難離身   一切災殃化爲塵
南無摩訶般若波羅蜜

（誦二十遍，點一圈：圈滿共一萬三千遍。
10/  印送一千二百張爲一願，所求必應. ）

1/Nan mo da ci da bei jiu ku jiu nan guang da ling gan
guan shi yin pu sa ( Recite thrice, Bowing after each repetition)
Nan mo fo, Nan mo Fa, Nan mo seng, Nan mo jiu ku jiu nan
guan shi yin pu sa.  Dan zhi duo, an,  qie la fa duo  qie la fa duo5/ qie he fa duo, la qie fa duo, la qie fa duo, suo po he, Tian luo shen
Di Luo shen, ren li nan, nan li shen, yi qie zai yang hua wei chen
Nan mo mo he buo re puo luo mi 

(Recite this twenty times, and fill in one circle; Once all circles are filled,[one has recited it] a total of Twelve thousand times.
10/  One thousand Two hundred copies have been printed for free distribution for [ to fufill??]  one wish;  Ask and you shall receive a result.

[in catrouche] 【白衣大士神咒】
1/齋  期

正月初八   二月初七初九十九
三月初三初六十三   四月廿一
五月初三十七   六月十六十八十九廿三
5/ 七月十三  八月十六
九月十九廿三  十月初一
十一月十九  十二月廿五

每逢朔望閏月同前

1/ Vegetarian fasts
8th day of First lunar month                  7th, 9th and 19th of the Second Lunar Month
3rd , 6th and 13th of 3rd lunar month   21st of Fourth lunar month
3rd and 17th of Fifth lunar month         16th, 18th 19th and 23rd of Sixth Lunar month
5/ 30th of Seventh Lunar month               16th of Eighth Lunar Month
19th, 23rd of Ninth Lunar Month         1st of Tenth Lunar Month
19th of Eleventh Lunar month              25th of Twelfth lunar Month

The Full and New moon days [of each month]. [For an] Intercalary month, [proceed] as the previous month.


[After grid of 600 circles]

鐘氏贈
Presented as a gift by Mr. Zhong.

*********************************************************************

Unlike most tracts/religious publications I came across, this object performs a far more active role in devotion. In most cases, the prayer-card, etc. is merely a substrate for the religious text, which the devotee must perform by reciting. In this case, the object itself actively participates in the recitation, by being used as a counting-device.

" If this text gets picked up by web crawlers and becomes searchable, and if this is the only form in which it survives, [...] I will feel that my blog entry will have served a useful purpose, if only a small one. And if we had the time and resources to treat the countless pieces of ephemera in our libraries similarly, surely that would be a job worth doing."

(Source: David Helliwell's fascinating blog)

Blue crinkled paper.

The following decorated paper is found on the cover of a pocket notebook purchased in Singapore, around the year 2014. It is a flat, printed with a rootlike pattern on a blue ground. If I recall correctly, the pattern was also printed on Yellow and Green grounds The pattern seems to be a photographic reproduction of some texture, indeed, another piece of decorated paper.  Perhaps an imitation of morocco leather? 

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 paper

A New year, and finally a new post. Here is a fine floral wrapping-paper. For some reason the design incorporates deer.