上古無香，亦無香爐，有自漢代博山爐始。其器造型，爐身為山形，四圍環盤盛水，取海中仙山意象；焚香之際，煙霧繚繞，令人神飛意馳，有出塵之想。明代遺民董說（1620-1686）歷甲申之變（1644）而隱遯出家，其間撰有《非煙香法》一書，一改焚香為蒸香，並自行設計新爐，名為「博山罏變」。關於其香法之變，前人研究大抵置之於遺民框架中討論，或謂乃治憂鬱之方，或謂以寄黍離國破之悲，甚或謂其變焚香為蒸，乃焚之意象不啻烽火亡國之痛，凡此種種看法皆持之有故、言之成理。然深入爬梳《非煙香法》文本，恐並非必然如此。蓋文本關於香法之變，念茲在茲最關切者，乃「身體之感」與「身體之需」，唯有以蒸易焚、水上火下，方能水火既濟、形神和諧。身心之調適上遂，才是《非煙香法》「變焚為蒸」之關竅。本文將探討範疇回歸《非煙香法》文本，試圖釐探其香法之變及「博山罏變」所隱含之意蘊。

In ancient times, there was neither incense nor censer; there
was the hill censer since the Western Han (202 B.C.E-23 C.E). The shape
of the censer is like miniature mountains, surrounded by plate that holds
water. The image was taken from the fairy mountains in the sea. As the
incense was burned, the smoke filled the air, making one feel beyond the
mundane world. Dong Yue (1620-1686) in the latter period of the Ming
dynasty then became a monk, away from the crowds, after the Battle of
Beijing (1644). Meanwhile, he authored “Feiyan Xiangfa”, changing
the burning incense to steaming incense. Then he designed a new censer,
called “the Change of the Hill Censer.” As for the change of the incense
method, the past studies mostly discussed it within the framework of
the Ming survivor in the Qing dynasty, or regarded it as a treatment
to heal his melancholy, or as an expression made for his sorrows
of the destruction of Ming dynasty. Moreover, some contended that
the change from burning incense to steaming incense seems to recall the image of burning the incense, which is tantamount to the image of the
fire of the country’s demise. The aforementioned statements made by
earlier studies are plausible and valid, but as we further examine the text
of Feiyan Xiangfa, we can contend that it is not likely so as the earlier
contention suggests. As for the change of incense method, the most
concerned contention is “the sense of body” and “the need of body.”
Only by steaming incense rather than burning incense can one achieve
the harmony between body and mind, or in I-Ching’s words, water above
the fire, and the balance between water and fire through the hardship. The
adaptation of body and mind serves as the key to “the steaming of the
incense rather than the burning of the incense” in Feiyan Xiangfa. Hence,
this paper aims to explore the framework of the text of Feiyan Xiangfa,
and attempts to elucidate the implications from the changes of incense
method and the “change of the Hill Censer.”