Aug 18, 2026 · 1 hr · 10 segments
This week, Aatif Rashid discusses Eileen Chang's 1943 novella *Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier*.
Aatif RashidHost
As I said, one of the things I love about her work and this novella in particular is the way she evokes setting.
So in this novella, she uses setting details, specifically the settings of Hong Kong.
in such a dramatic and interesting way, in particular to reflect the evolution of our protagonist, Wei Long, who we will discuss.
But if we look at the beginning, this novella is actually framed by an interesting device.
So let's read the beginning just to note the frame of the entire novella, and when we get to the end, we'll see the ways in which this frame becomes thematically significant to the story at hand.
She begins by saying, Go and fetch, will you please, a copper incense brazier, a family heirloom gorgeously encrusted now with moldy green, and light in it some pungent chips of aloes wood.
From before the war, when your incense has burned out, my story too will be over.
So it's this sort of almost device that's used to frame the story, to say, burn a little bit of aloe's wood, burn a little bit of incense, and as it burns, right, I will tell this story.
This idea of something burning out, this idea of a piece of fragrant wood burning to nothing, burning to ashes, I believe is a reflection of the journey of our protagonist.
I think it's actually meant to be a very evocative symbol of the journey that Wei Long goes through, the quite sad journey that she goes through, her life essentially burning out to nothingness by the end of this.
And this will have more significance, of course, when we get to the ending and we discuss where she ends up.
Now, the primary conflict that's set up at the beginning of this story, the primary conflict is, of course, it's very straightforward.
Because the primary conflict is our protagonist, Wei Long, has come to her aunt's house, her aunt Liang.
She represents life in Hong Kong through this kind of sexual freedom, but also the moral corruption of this life.
And In the context of the story, her aunt, Wei Long's aunt, is not looked positively upon by her family, but she is wealthy.
So Wei Long comes to her to essentially ask for her help in getting situated to life in Hong Kong.
One of the interesting kind of details, though, at the very beginning, you're not just focusing on the external conflict of a story, but you also want to focus on the thematic conflict.
As I said, one of the things I love about her work and this novella in particular is the way she evokes setting.
So in this novella, she uses setting details, specifically the settings of Hong Kong.
in such a dramatic and interesting way, in particular to reflect the evolution of our protagonist, Wei Long, who we will discuss.
But if we look at the beginning, this novella is actually framed by an interesting device.
So let's read the beginning just to note the frame of the entire novella, and when we get to the end, we'll see the ways in which this frame becomes thematically significant to the story at hand.
She begins by saying, Go and fetch, will you please, a copper incense brazier, a family heirloom gorgeously encrusted now with moldy green, and light in it some pungent chips of aloes wood.
From before the war, when your incense has burned out, my story too will be over.
So it's this sort of almost device that's used to frame the story, to say, burn a little bit of aloe's wood, burn a little bit of incense, and as it burns, right, I will tell this story.
This idea of something burning out, this idea of a piece of fragrant wood burning to nothing, burning to ashes, I believe is a reflection of the journey of our protagonist.
I think it's actually meant to be a very evocative symbol of the journey that Wei Long goes through, the quite sad journey that she goes through, her life essentially burning out to nothingness by the end of this.
And this will have more significance, of course, when we get to the ending and we discuss where she ends up.
Now, the primary conflict that's set up at the beginning of this story, the primary conflict is, of course, it's very straightforward.
Because the primary conflict is our protagonist, Wei Long, has come to her aunt's house, her aunt Liang.
She represents life in Hong Kong through this kind of sexual freedom, but also the moral corruption of this life.
And In the context of the story, her aunt, Wei Long's aunt, is not looked positively upon by her family, but she is wealthy.
So Wei Long comes to her to essentially ask for her help in getting situated to life in Hong Kong.
One of the interesting kind of details, though, at the very beginning, you're not just focusing on the external conflict of a story, but you also want to focus on the thematic conflict.
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