Sandalwood Ritual The Su Brothers' Reunion Incense | Chinese Blend - 1.06 oz

In the autumn of 1098, Su Dongpo — exiled to Danzhou on the island of Hainan — lived in a thatched hut, cut off from the world. His brother Su Zhe's sixtieth birthday arrived. The two brothers were separated by a vast strait; they could not even see each other's face. Su Dongpo obtained a piece of Hainan agarwood carved into a miniature mountain and sent it across a thousand miles, with his Ode to the Agarwood Mountain: "Firm as gold and lustrous as jade, with the bones of a crane and the sinews of a dragon." He was praising agarwood — but also his brother, and their shared fate: born of the wilderness, yet unbowed in spirit.

Nearly a thousand years later, the poet Chen Yunjun blended a commemorative incense named Er Su Jiu Ju — "The Su Brothers' Reunion." Agarwood and sandalwood as backbone, frankincense and amber for resonance, bound with refined honey, crowned with jasmine petals. The opening breath is jasmine's quiet grace; as the floral note fades, the sweetness of agarwood surfaces, and the lingering accord carries the herbaceous whisper of old book pages — gentle and refined.

Su Dongpo was not only one of China's greatest poets — he was also one of history's most romantic perfumers. His celebrated formula "Spring Letter in the Snow" captured the scent of plum blossoms opening in winter cold. He reportedly spent seven years refining it. Later, his close friend Huang Tingjian — a "fragrance addict" — obtained the formula and was furious: "Su Shi knew perfectly well I have a fragrance obsession, and he never told me! Some friend!"