Mosquito incense has a long history and is the earliest insecticide used. As early as thousands of years ago in the Southern Song Dynasty, similar mosquito repellent sticks made from traditional Chinese medicine appeared. In order to prevent the harm of mosquitoes, people gradually invented mosquito nets and mosquito coils. The invention of mosquito-repellent incense may be related to the hygiene customs of the ancients during the Dragon Boat Festival and the custom of burning incense for sacrifice. In the early years of the Dragon Boat Festival, in addition to putting mugwort at the door, they often soaked realgar wine and applied it on their bodies. Doing so may freshen the air, and also prevent mosquito bites. In addition, the invention of mosquito-repellent incense may also be related to the ancient custom of burning incense for sacrifice. As we all know, our country has long started the custom of burning incense and offering sacrifices.

The mosquito-repellent incense of the Song Dynasty was further improved in the Jiangnan region of the Qing Dynasty. There is a relevant record in the book "A Residence among the Chinese" by Robert Fortune, an Englishman who came to China to collect tea seeds in modern times. In 1849, this British horticultural scholar was on his way from western Zhejiang to Wuyi Mountain in Fujian. Due to the hot and humid climate, he and his entourage were bitten by mosquitoes and could not sleep a night. Later, his entourage purchased a mosquito-repellent incense used by some locals, which was very effective in repelling mosquitoes. Later, when he brought this information back to Europe, it aroused great interest among Western entomologists and chemists, who all asked him what kind of substance this mosquito coil was synthesized from. Later, he learned about the formula of the mosquito-repellent incense in Dinghai, Zhejiang, and found that the mosquito-repellent incense was composed of rosin powder, mugwort powder, tobacco leaf powder, a small amount of arsenic and sulfur.

Although mosquito coils already existed in ancient China, it was regrettable that it was foreigners who first carried out technological innovation and industrialized commodity production.

Modern times

In 1885, the Ueyama family in Arita City, Wakayama Prefecture, known as the "Orange King" (Wakayama is rich in oranges), had a graduate of Keio University, Ueyama Eiichiro (24 years old at the time) ), In 1888, Eiichiro Ueyama invited craftsmen who made incense sticks and spent two years developing the world's first stick-shaped mosquito repellent incense. However, this mosquito-repellent incense, which looks like a thread incense, can only last for an hour at most. If it is lengthened, it is easy to break. My wife who went up the mountain suggested changing it to a whirlpool shape. After repeated experiments, he went up the mountain to figure out a manufacturing method of using a round rod as the center and rolling two thick mosquito-repellent coils into a swirl shape. This hand-rolled manufacturing method lasted until around 1955, when it was fully mechanized. Although the shape problem has been solved, there is still a drying problem waiting. Because if the rolled mosquito coils are placed on a wooden board to dry, the two mosquito coils will stick together and cannot be divided into two swirl-shaped mosquito coils; if they are hung up to dry, the mosquito coils will lose their original shape. Fortunately, my wife's suggestion worked this time, and the drying process was carried out on a wire mesh instead. This approach continues to this day. In 1902, the swirl-shaped mosquito coils that lasted for more than seven hours were finally officially launched. In 1910, Eiichiro Ueyama designed the trademark as a rooster head and named it "Golden Bird Mosquito Repellent". In 1954, after Shangshan added allethrin to mosquito coils, which was more effective than pyrethrum, pyrethrum became just an add-on to add fragrance. Among the ingredients of current mosquito coils, 0.3 to 0.6 are allethrin, and the rest are sawdust powder, starch, and nan tree powder. The smoke when burning mosquito coils actually has no insecticidal effect. The effective ingredients are evaporated from the small section before the burning part. Although most modern urban households use liquid electric mosquito coils, the demand for linear mosquito coils still exists.