I learned so much from this piece! I mean, I feel like I went through time and space (and deep into the underground). Your writing and research and storytelling is a portal! The whole time I was reading, I was remembering the strong scent of Cinnabar perfume, an 80's scent by Estée Lauder. That spicy scent made such an impression on me as a kid, the memory just flooded back as I was reading. I have now imprinted that scent with that firey, amazing bright red you described. As a kid, I thought Cinnabar was the name of a place, an island where cinnamon came from, and the scent was a way to evoke the spirit of travel. Today I learned a whole new truth. Mercury + sulphur?!
Thank you so much for telling me about cinnabar perfume! I had no idea. All I want to do now is find a sample and smell it. The place where color and scent meet... it's so evocative, isn't it?
katy, this was a brilliantly written + researched essay as always. i just adore your writing so much because i always learn so much from it—things i would have never known otherwise! your essay topics (and you) are a treasure.
Loved reading this piece-- I'm always learning things from you and smiling along the way. Your Kelleherian turns-of-phrase are awesome ("a key ingredient in many Chinese immortality elixirs, a practice that resulted in dozens of untimely deaths"), and thanks for the dropping in that sweet Titian caption.
PS. Am I the only one who got confused about cinnamon and cinnabar as a kid? I remember thinking it was some kind of candy : (
This is such a great comment, thank you. And yeah, I did think cinnamon and cinnabar were related! I also tended to think that poisoned candy would be a big problem in my life... so far, I've yet to encounter any
I learned so much from this piece! I mean, I feel like I went through time and space (and deep into the underground). Your writing and research and storytelling is a portal! The whole time I was reading, I was remembering the strong scent of Cinnabar perfume, an 80's scent by Estée Lauder. That spicy scent made such an impression on me as a kid, the memory just flooded back as I was reading. I have now imprinted that scent with that firey, amazing bright red you described. As a kid, I thought Cinnabar was the name of a place, an island where cinnamon came from, and the scent was a way to evoke the spirit of travel. Today I learned a whole new truth. Mercury + sulphur?!
Thank you so much for telling me about cinnabar perfume! I had no idea. All I want to do now is find a sample and smell it. The place where color and scent meet... it's so evocative, isn't it?
katy, this was a brilliantly written + researched essay as always. i just adore your writing so much because i always learn so much from it—things i would have never known otherwise! your essay topics (and you) are a treasure.
Loved reading this piece-- I'm always learning things from you and smiling along the way. Your Kelleherian turns-of-phrase are awesome ("a key ingredient in many Chinese immortality elixirs, a practice that resulted in dozens of untimely deaths"), and thanks for the dropping in that sweet Titian caption.
PS. Am I the only one who got confused about cinnamon and cinnabar as a kid? I remember thinking it was some kind of candy : (
This is such a great comment, thank you. And yeah, I did think cinnamon and cinnabar were related! I also tended to think that poisoned candy would be a big problem in my life... so far, I've yet to encounter any