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and colour powder. The colour powder is either mei-hong-fên (rose red powder, *) which is red in colour, or chiai-huang-fên (mustard yellow powder), which is yellow in colour. As these joss sticks are coated only five times, they are called Hsiang-ts'ai, literally meaning "little joss sticks" (f).
Besides these, some thickly coated joss sticks are also produced. Joss sticks of lengths 9 ts'un, 1 ch'ih 2 ts'un and 1 ch'ih 5 ts'un are sometimes wrapped with seven coats of incense powder and are called Ta-hsiang (large joss stick, ). For such lengths sawdust is often used in lieu of fragrant incense powder, and the joss sticks produced are called "longevity joss sticks” (ch'ang-shou hsiang, EBA).
The prepared joss sticks are then collected and spread under the sun for drying. This process is best accomplished under the sun, as the sunlight, in evaporating the water content of the incense powder, keeps the scent and the colour of the sticks. Drying takes 5-6 hours under bright sunlight and 8-9 hours on cloudy days. Halfway through the drying process, an odd-job man will collect the joss sticks and dye the handles of the joss sticks with red paint. The dyed sticks are then spread out once again under the sun for drying. Finally, quality control is done by the joss stick worker so that joss sticks which are crooked, broken or stuck together are rejected.
Nuo-hsiang Method ()
The second method by which joss sticks are fabricated is by the Nuo-hsiang method, that is, rubbing against a wooden slab. In contrast to Lin-hsiang, by which joss sticks are mass produced, manufacture of joss sticks by the Nuo-hsiang method requires individual attention to each stick. Moreover, the dyeing process for Nuo-hsiang is done before any of the manufacturing processes, unlike in the Lin-hsiang method. The scrutiny of the bamboo canes is also stricter since those bamboo canes which are flattened or which are not uniform in their width cannot be rubbed under the wooden slab. Meanwhile, glutinous incense powder and fragrant incense powder are mixed with water and kneaded to form a dough. These joss sticks are made by rubbing the incense paste onto the surface of a bamboo cane, then colour powder is rubbed onto the outer surface. A slab is used to smooth over the roughness.* In contrast to the lin-hsiang method, by which several coats of incense powder are put onto the sticks in several stages, joss sticks manufactured by Nuo-
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