Chinese Folk Incense Burning Rituals
中国用香与西方人用香有着本质的区别。
There is an essential difference between the use of incense in China and Western countries.
西方人用香是要消除或冲淡因大量食用肉类和自身散发出的体味，当然还有身份的象征等其它用途。西方人用香亦如西方文化般直意表述，制成香水喷洒。
People in Western countries use incense primarily to eliminate or mask odors resulting from the consumption of large amounts of meat and their own body odors, as well as for other purposes, such as a symbol of status. The use of incense in the West is straightforward, much like Western culture, often made into perfumes for spraying.
中国人用香的目的首先便是道德的自律和养生养性。香气在中国的传统观念中是美好、高尚、道德品质的象征。是人和天、人与社会高度和谐的结果。儒家的“修身、自省、仁”和道家的“无为”都是人格完善的重要途径，而戴香、用香也是对自己到达预定目标的标志和提醒。除了戴香之外，我国最主要的用香形式是熏香，是通过焚烧或对香的加热而使香气飘在空气中，让人在环境中去感受香。人们用香的过程，不仅是作用于人，同时还要改善人们居住的环境。从五行的角度来讲香有生扶阳气的功效。
The purpose of using incense among Chinese people is moral self-discipline and health cultivation. In traditional Chinese thought, fragrance symbolizes beauty, nobility, and moral character. It reflects a high degree of harmony between humans and nature, as well as between individuals and society. The philosophies of Confucianism and Daoism are important pathways to personal development, and wearing or using incense serves as an external expression and reminder of one's goals. Besides wearing incense, the main form of incense use in our country is fumigation, where incense is burned or heated to release its fragrance into the air, allowing people to experience it in their environment. The process of using incense not only affects individuals but also improves the living environment. From the perspective of the five elements, incense can help enhance YANG energy.
中国民间为何烧香？Why do Chinese people burn incense?
在中国的节日是用祭祀烧香达到祈福、寻求平安的目的。一般从一年的阴历腊八开始，“腊日祭”或佛祖成道日，是古代中国庆祝丰收、感谢祖先和神灵（包括门神、户神、宅神、灶神、井神）。腊月二十三日，又称“小年”，是民间祭灶的日子，也是需要烧香；除夕之夜、正月初五迎接财神、正月十五上元节、二月二日，还有寒食节、清明节、翻经节、七夕、盂兰盆节、中元节、鬼节、地藏节、中秋节、重阳节、祭祖节等等众多节日，都是祈福烧香的日子。
During traditional Chinese festivals, people burn incense to pray for blessings and seek peace. This practice generally begins on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, known as "腊日祭" or the day of Buddha's enlightenment, which is a festival to celebrate the harvest and express gratitude to ancestors and deities (including door gods, household gods, and kitchen gods). The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, also known as "Little New Year," is the day for worshiping the Kitchen God and burning incense. Other important days for incense burning include the 30th day of the 12th lunar month, welcoming the God of Wealth on the 5th day of the 1st lunar month, the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, the 2nd day of the 2nd lunar month, as well as numerous festivals, such as the Cold Food Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Scripture Chanting Festival, Qixi Festival, Yulan Festival, Zhongyuan Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, and Ancestor Worship Festival, all of which are days for praying and burning incense.
除了特殊节日，人们在遇有红白喜事、孩子初生、建房淘井、科举得中、合同立约、天灾人祸、发财丰收等，是一定要举行相应仪式的，烧香则是仪式上必行的程序之一。当然有些人家或商户里供奉财神或是其它神位也是要烧香的。
In addition to special festivals, people also burn incense during significant events such as weddings, funerals, childbirth, house construction, educational achievements, contract signings, natural disasters, and prosperous harvests. These occasions require corresponding rituals, and burning incense is an essential part of these ceremonies. Additionally, some families or shops that worship the god of wealth or other deities also burn incense.
民间烧香都有哪些形式？What are the forms of burning incense in folk practices?
中国人对烧香的态度是双重的。一方面是对宗教的敬畏，不敢随意冲撞；另一方面，求拜烧香是为了请神保佑。
Chinese people's attitude toward burning incense is dual. On one hand, there is a reverence for religion, leading to a reluctance to act carelessly; on the other hand, burning incense is a way to ask for divine protection.
烧香，在香港台湾地区常称为拜拜，是最常见的敬神方式。点起香烛，向神拜拜，更虔诚的人会跪下叩头，同时心中默默祝愿。
In Hong Kong and Taiwan, burning incense is commonly referred to as "bai bai," which is the most common way to show respect to deities. Lighting incense and candles, people pray to the gods, and those who are more devout may kneel and bow their heads while silently making wishes in their hearts.
民间的烧香有许多习俗，其中一个是烧头香，也就是第一炉香，尤其是新年的第一炉香。老百姓认为头香，效力最大，可以获福最多，所以常常争着烧第一炉香。如果是新年（农历正月初一）烧头香，虔诚的香客常常在除夕的午夜就开始等在庙前了。
Folk practices of burning incense include many customs, one of which is burning the "first incense," especially the first incense of the New Year. Common people believe that the first incense has the greatest efficacy and can bring the most blessings, so they often compete to light the first batch. If it is the New Year (the first day of the lunar month), devout incense burners often start waiting in front of the temple at midnight on New Year's Eve.
除了烧头香，某些地方的民众还有烧十庙香的习俗。就是在初一早上，连续烧满周围十座庙。其意思和烧头香相近。
In addition to burning the first incense, in some places, there is a custom of burning "ten temple incense," which involves continuously burning incense at ten nearby temples on the morning of the first day of the lunar month. This practice has a meaning similar to that of burning the first incense.