焚香 spans religious worship (Buddhist temples, ancestor altars), Daoist ritual, and a refined literary practice - the literati ideal of
焚香操琴 'burning incense and playing the qin' is shorthand for cultivated solitude. The four aristocratic pursuits
焚香、
点茶、
挂画、
插花 (incense, tea, scroll-hanging, flower arrangement) defined Song dynasty taste.
