Cinojad (上官玉哲) is the house of the independent Chinese perfumer Jaden, which he founded with his mother, May. Its first collection, "Echoes of the Silk Road", came out in 2025: five eaux de parfum, each tied to a people and a region of China, from Xinjiang to Jiangnan.
A family house under the sign of jade
Cinojad brings together two generations. Jaden composes the perfumes; his mother, May, founded the house with him, and both say they pool their knowledge of Chinese culture. The project starts from a material that has no smell: jade. In Chinese tradition, and among scholars in particular, jade is the stone of quiet elegance. An old Confucian saying compares the virtue of a gentleman to jade, and it is this aesthetic that the house wants to translate into perfume.
The house's Chinese name takes the form of a person's name. 上官 (Shangguan) is an old two-character Chinese family name. 玉 (yu) means jade, 哲 (zhe) wisdom or reflection. 上官玉哲, Shangguan Yuzhe, therefore reads as a personal name placed under the sign of jade and wisdom. The house does not say whether it is a real name or a pen name, and we stick to the meaning of the characters.
Its motto is three words long: "Scent · Sound · Image". Cinojad presents itself as a house that crosses the arts and sets East and West in dialogue, with perfume as only one of the project's forms.
We should be honest on one point: Cinojad is a very new house, barely documented outside China. We found no entry in the major perfume databases and no published interview in French or English. What we write here comes from information provided by the house and repeated on our product pages. We give no biographical details about Jaden beyond what the house publishes.
Jaden and raw materials
According to the house, Jaden works with natural raw materials of strong character and goes as far as extracting some of his essences himself. It is a trait found among some independent perfumers who want to master a material from the plant onward.
What stands out most when reading the formulas is the way each note is placed on the map. Nearly every material carries a location: Turpan mulberry, Ili marjoram, Lugu Lake fir, Xishuangbanna borneol, Burmese rosewood, Tarakan agarwood, Corsican pomelo. There are also plants rarely used in perfumery: houttuynia, a green, peppery herb from the cooking of southwest China whose Chinese name 鱼腥草 literally means "fish-smell herb"; wild calamus, an aromatic root; sophora flower; camphor tree blossom.
Several perfumes contain accords, that is, blends of materials that evoke a smell without necessarily containing it: the Sulima rice wine of the Mosuo, desert grape wine, the Yanqi grassland. These are the perfumer's constructions. Do not expect to smell a drink realistically, rather the impression it leaves.
The "Echoes of the Silk Road" collection
The collection is called 丝路回响 in Chinese, "Echoes of the Silk Road". It follows the ancient route as a cultural thread, from migration to encounter. Its first chapter, "The Meeting of Five Peoples" (五族初汇篇), draws on the everyday wisdom of five peoples, from the northwest to the southeast of China: from the Kazakh grasslands of Yanqi to the vineyards of Turpan, from the Mosuo's Lugu Lake to the tropical forests of the Dai, all the way to the scholars' Jiangnan.
Each perfume is linked to a moral quality, which the house includes in its presentation: freedom, joy, candor, resilience and introspection. The house also describes the collection as an ancient cycle of encounter, resonance and continuity. The word "chapter" suggests that others will follow, but the house has announced nothing we can confirm.
The five perfumes are unisex eaux de parfum in 35 ml bottles, all from 2025. Each one is also available as a 2 ml sample at Passion Parfum. The names are four-character phrases, in the manner of poem or painting titles; our product pages give the reading and the translation.
The five Cinojad perfumes at Passion Parfum
We present them in the order of the route, from northwest to southeast.
Yan Qi Dian Xia, summer on the Yanqi grasslands
Yan Qi Dian Xia (焉耆甸夏) is set in Yanqi, an oasis in Xinjiang on the old Silk Road. The scene: a summer meadow, pomelo orchards in bloom, a young Kazakh woman hugging her foal. Corsican pomelo, bitter orange and wild calamus in the top, a heart of houttuynia, pomelo blossom and a Yanqi grassland accord, then Ili marjoram, sphagnum moss and green vetiver. It is the perfume of freedom, and the freshest of the five: an aromatic, damp green with a citrus bitterness.
Mu Ye Cang Xia, evening clouds over the plain
Mu Ye Cang Xia (暮野苍霞) starts from the grape arbors near Turpan, at the foot of the Flaming Mountains, in the light of an autumn evening. Passion fruit, pink berries and May rose in the top, a heart of papyrus, desert grape wine and dark cocoa, then Turpan mulberry, tuberose and amyris wood. The perfume of joy: fruity, gourmand without being sweet, with dry papyrus that recalls the desert.
Mo Suo Gu Niang, the old brew of the Mosuo
Mo Suo Gu Niang (摩梭古酿) is set on the shore of Lugu Lake, between Yunnan and Sichuan, among the Mosuo, one of the last matrilineal societies. The smell of Sulima rice wine drifts from the wooden houses. Red-berried ginseng, rhubarb and coral ginger in the top, a heart of wild raspberry, Mosuo rose and a Sulima rice wine accord, then Lugu Lake fir, henna musk and Siam wood. The perfume of candor: floral and fruity, slightly milky, with a woody, musky base. It is the most enveloping in the collection.
Hua Qiang Ye Meng, the night dream of wild roses
Hua Qiang Ye Meng (花蔷夜梦) takes place in Xishuangbanna, in southern Yunnan, in the tropical forest of the Dai, at dawn. Camphor tree blossom, jasmine grandiflorum and wild rose in the top, a heart of banana leaf, frangipani and Xishuangbanna borneol, then elemi resin, Burmese rosewood and benzoin. The perfume of resilience: floral and camphoraceous, damp, with a resinous freshness that recalls the inside of a temple.
Yue Tan Li Yuan, the garden of sandalwood and pear trees
Yue Tan Li Yuan (越檀梨苑) ends the route in Hangzhou, in the ancient land of Yue, at the heart of Jiangnan. Rain beats on banana leaves while a young woman turns the pages of a book of poems. Chinese pear, apricot kernel and wild sophora flower in the top, a heart of allspice, ambergris and Eastern lemongrass, then white sandalwood, cashmeran and Tarakan agarwood. The perfume of introspection: a cooked, honeyed pear that gives way to a creamy sandalwood, the woodiest and calmest of the five.
Where to start
The choice depends mostly on your favorite fragrance family. If you like soft woods and sandalwoods, Yue Tan Li Yuan is the easiest to wear. If you prefer green, fresh scents, Yan Qi Dian Xia is the most original, with its houttuynia and calamus. For a warmer fruity floral, Mo Suo Gu Niang is the roundest.
Since the five perfumes were conceived as a series, the simplest approach is to order several 2 ml samples and wear them on different days. An eau de parfum should be judged on skin and over a full day: the wine and grassland accords change a lot once they meet the skin.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the perfumer behind Cinojad?
The perfumes are composed by Jaden, an independent Chinese perfumer who founded the house with his mother, May. He extracts some of his essences himself.
What does 上官玉哲 mean?
上官 (Shangguan) is an old Chinese family name, 玉 means jade and 哲 wisdom. The name takes the form of a Chinese personal name and pairs jade, the stone of quiet elegance, with wisdom.
Where can I buy Cinojad perfumes?
Passion Parfum offers the five perfumes of the "Echoes of the Silk Road" collection, in 35 ml bottles and 2 ml samples, shipped from France to the United States and across Europe.
Is Cinojad a niche brand?
Yes. It is an independent family house whose perfumer is also its founder, with a single collection of five perfumes and very limited distribution.
How long do Cinojad perfumes last?
They are eaux de parfum. We found no longevity figure published by the house. Perfumes with woody bases, like Yue Tan Li Yuan or Mo Suo Gu Niang, usually stay on the skin longer than the very green Yan Qi Dian Xia.
Find all five perfumes in the Cinojad collection, and the other independent houses we carry on the Houses and Creators page.