ALL about Yixing purple clay teapots

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INTRODUCTION

With a history spanning thousand of years, it is inevitable that any
form of art are subjected to copying. However, if we were to study how
the various art forms are being taught to the next generation in China,
it is not difficult to realize that copying is in fact part of the
process of learning the trade! Zisha pottery, having a history of
almost 500 years (from the late Ming Dynasty) is also one of the art
form that were heavily copied. The more famous a potter is, the more
others copied his works. Of course the main purpose of copying is to
reap the monetary benefits as these works command a high price. Such
works are copied in form and in name, meaning that not only is the
shape similar, even the seal chops are copied.

The art of Yixing zisha pottery making has very strict rules on the
relationship between the master and the student. A student studying
under a master must accept the master's oral instructions and style of
teaching. There are however only 2 standard styles of teaching and they
are:

Listen to the master's explanation of variation techniques and his on
the spot demonstration of how to do it.

Copy the master's works, who will be on hand to rectify and impart the
finer details.
Copying being a method use in learning the art form is inevitable
during a potter's training period and does not stop there. In fact,
many potters carry on to copy the works of other masters, to further
improve their skills. Even Grand Masters such as Gu Jing Zhou commented
that his skills improved by leaps and bounds after he copied Sao Da
Hern's (a renown Qing Master) works. In fact, copying the works of past
masters are consider the norm and is a process which all potential
masters go through. Some of these copied works are of comparable
standard to the original piece while others even exceeded it. Such
works will either bear the seal of the potter who copy the work or even
the original seal was copied. The main purpose here is to learn the art
form rather than for monetary gains.

TEA

YIXING TEAPOTS

Yixing of Jiangsu Province, China, is the home of chinese pottery. The
zisha pottery of Yixing is famous for its elegant form, elaborate
craftsmanship, archaic colour and functional performance. Originating
in Northern Song Dynasty, Yixing zisha pottery has a history of several
hundred years from Song to Yuan and eventually maturing in the early
Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, Yixing zisha become a necessity in
teahouses and peasant families, and was highly valued by the upper
classes. They are considered luxuries for the high officials of court
and royal households.

Comparing the zisha teapot with other art forms such as music and
painting, we noted that the principles their enjoyment are not much in
difference. To acquire the connoisseurship of zisha is simple to some
but difficult to others. Connoisseurship of zisha teapot must germinate
from an enjoyment of it. One has to develop a love of zisha teapot
before one can go deeper and deeper into the world of teapot and
understand the true zisha pottery and its material characteristics,
chemical composition, molecular structure as well as the teapot's
colours, form, decoration means, artistic styles, master potters etc.
Only by doing so can one improve one's connoisseurship and gradually
establish the style of one's collection. No connoisseurship is possible
without a substantial collection. One should remember that it is
quality that counts not quantity when expanding a collection of Yixing
zisha teapots.

TEA & THE FINE ART OF HOW TO DRINK IT

Wherever the Chinese go, the custom of drinking tea follows. The
Chinese were the first to discover the tea leaf. A saying identifies
the seven basic daily necessities as fuel, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce,
vinegar, and tea.

During the mid-Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), a man named Lu Yu compiled the
first compendium in the world on tea - The Tea Classic. The work helped
to popularize the art of tea drinking all across China. In the early
17th century, the Dutch East India Company introduced Chinese tea for
the first time to Europe.

Tea is made from the young, tender leaves of the tea plant. The
differences among the many kinds available are based on how the leave
are processed. The key is in the roasting and oxidation process.
Oxidation turns the deep green leaves reddish-brown in color. The
longer the oxidation processes the darker the color. Depending on the
length and degree of the process, the fragrance of the leaves can range
from floral, to fruity, to malty.

Tea that has been mildly oxidized, such as Dragon Well and Green Snail
Spring, are called green tea. Such tea is jade to yellow green in
color, and gives off the fragrance of fresh vegetables. The Chinese
call tea that under goes full fermentation red tea. It is reddish brown
in color and has a malt-like aroma. Oolong, or Black Dragon, tea is
partially oxidized and unique to China. Fujian province is one of its
most representative areas of production.

To make a good pot of tea, special attention must be paid to the water
quality, temperature, the amount of tea leave used, and the type of
teapot. Soft water, with its low mineral content, is required to steep
tea; hard water should be avoided. The correct water temperature varies
according to the type of tea. For most fully oxidized and moderately
oxidized kinds, it should be at boiling temperature, to may be low as
75 degree C for lightly oxidized tea.

The proportion of tea leave to water depends on the amount of tea used.
The teapot may be filled from one to three-quarters full with leave,
depending mainly on how tightly curled they are. Steeping time starts
from one minute or less, but varies according to the variety of tea
leave used. Subsequent brews from the same leave must be lengthened
proportionally. The best teapot to use for most oxidized tea is a
purple clay teapot from Yixing. Ideally the cups should have white
interiors so that the color of the tea can be assessed correctly. The
color of the brewed tea drink should be clear enough to see through, no
matter what is the color of the drink. If it is murky, then there are
problems with either the tea or water used.

Tea is China's national drink. It contains vitamins, essential oils and
fluoride. It is a diuretic, attributed with the properties of improving
the eyesight and increasing alertness, so it is believed that regular
tea drinkers enjoy an increased life span.

Tea is a cash crop in China and Taiwan. Local areas hold their own tea
tasting competitions, attracting the participation of large numbers of
tea farmers, merchants and connoisseurs. The price of any tea that is
designated a superior grade in these competition, such as Cha Wang or
King of Tea which is actually top grade Tie KwanYin, fetches bids as
high as $30,000 per kilogram.

To find out how to brew chinese tea, kungfu style, step by step and
understand the true meaning of each step, visit the pages on How to &
Essence of Kungfu Tea

BASIC TEA UNTENSILS TO BREW KUNGFU TEA

The following items are considered necessary if you want to brew kungfu
tea. You maybe able to get away without some of them but having the
entire set will certainly make your life easier.

Tea Boat
Known as tea boat (translated from chinese), this is where all
activities of kungfu tea takes place. You place your teapot and tea
cups in the boat and brew your tea in it. So call because any
additional water that you pour in the process will flow and stored in
the bottom layer.

Small Teapot
The most important part of the tea set, a small Yixing teapot. The
essence of kungfu tea is to brew using small clay teapot. In the old
days, in Chaozhou where kungfu tea originated, people use small teachew
clay teapots. It was replaced with Yixing teapots as it exhibits better
qualities. Of course, you can even use porcelain or metal teapots, it
may not affect the taste to such an extent that is noticeable
immediately but then the essence of brewing kungfu tea would be lost.

Gong Dao Pei
When the tea is ready for pouring, you can either pour it directly into
the cups or into a gong dao pei. Gong dao pei in chinese mean "fair".
It is use to ensure that everyone gets the small quality of tea. The
reason is unless you are an expert, pouring tea direct into cups may
result in cups of tea with different strength or, in other words, some
cups are more diluted than others.

Timber fork & spoon
As the name suggest, fork and spoon are used to scoop the tea into the
teapot. Another use for the sharp end of the fork you can use it to
poke into the spout of the teapot to clear chokage when the water is
not flowing or flowing very slowly out of the teapot.

Funnel
Used for channeling the tea leaves into the teapot without spilling
over all the place.

Cleaning Cloth
This is a multi-purpose piece of cloth. It can be use to dry the bottom
of the teapot prior to pouring out the tea. Other uses include wiping
the teapot dry after each session and rubbing to shine the teapot.

Glass Kettle
Many types of kettles have been used for boiling water to brew tea.
Metal kettles are the most convenient and durable. However, it was
stated that when water boils, is a chemical reaction taken place with
the metal surface of the kettle which affects the taste of the water.
Glass kettle on the other hand does not caused any chemical reaction.
As for clay kettles, if there is a change in the quality of water, it
was not recorded in the books. You may of course use any kettle that
fancy you as I doubt that the changed in taste would be significant
enough to be noticeable unless you are an expert and very particular
about it.

Tea Set
Here is the picture of all the items recommended to brew kungfu tea. I
have not introduce some of them as I think they are not necessary
except for the tea container (which is dicusssed in another page). Of
course you may think otherwise.

So, thats it! All you need to start brewing kungfu tea. All the item
are available as loose items or in set. It is better to get the those
neccessary items (those that I introduced above) first before buying
the other items when you need them.
What? Doesn't know what is or how to brew kungfu tea? Then you should
visit my other pages on brewing kungfu tea. Go back to and select the
appropriate link.

HOW TO BREW KUNGFU TEA

Step 1

Obtain all the items as shown in the above picture. The teapot should
be a small yixing teapot (about 2oz in capacity) capable of filling
about 2-3 cups (porcelain cups of 0.33oz capacity each). Start by
pouring hot water into the pot to warm it. Finished off by covering the
teapot and pour hot water over the entire teapot including the cover.

Step 2

Pour out the water from the pot. Then put some tea leaves on a piece of
white paper and separate the large leaves from the broken leaves. If
there is no broken leaves, you can create some by crushing the full
leaves (Note: mixture of broken tea leaves is a must to properly brew
Kungfu tea). Next put in some broken tea leaves into the pot and fill
the teapot from 1/2 to 2/3 full with large leaves (depending on you
taste). The ideal ratio would be 80/20 of large to broken leaves. Just
remember that more broken leaves, you get stronger tea at same brewing
time. Adjust according to your taste. Please pay careful attention to
this very important step.

Step 3

Next fill the teapot with hot water (just enough to immerse the tea
leaves) and discard this brew immediately. This process is to clear the
leaves of impurities and to open up the leaves to enable it to release
its flavour. Pour in the next round of hot water up to the brim, use
the cover to remove bubbles and cover it. Finished off the process by
pour hot water over the entire teapot.

Step 4

Steep for 30 seconds (or more) from the time you finish pouring the hot
water and the first brew is ready for pouring out. Add about 30 seconds
to 1 minute for subsequent brews (you need to practice in order to
determine the appropriate time). The essence here is produce a cup of
similar strength tea for each brew.

Step 5

While waiting for the tea, warm the cup using the warm water in the
tray. It is good practice to do every round so as to keep the cups
clean.

Step 6

Time is up, pour the tea out of the pot directly into the cups by
flowing from one cup to another. Never completely fill one cup first
before going to the next. This will result in uneven quality of tea in
each cup. The last few drops of tea is the essence and should be shared
equally by giving each cup a few drops.

Step 7

Alternatively, you can pour the tea into a "kong-tao" container first
and then distribute into all the cups and drink it. This is to ensure
that everyone gets a cup of tea of equal strength.

Got it? Pratice made perfect! Don't forget to smell the tea cup
immediately after finishing your tea, it is one of the reasons why we
go through such efforts to make a cup of tea!
Simple? Not exactly! The above steps can only be perform to perfection
if you know the true meaning behind it.

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR INFUSION TIME!

What am I supposed to do? I could almost hear you asked that question!
Well, it is simple! Really! You would however need to have some
experience in brewing kungfu tea before trying out this method of mine.
Before I describe how to go about doing it, just a word on my standard
of preparing tea leaves. I normally use a small teapot (not more than
3oz in capacity), and add tea leaves (oolong) with a ratio of 85% large
leaves and 15% broken leaves or crumbs. Of course such ratio is
flexible and you can be adjusted it to your own liking and taste. The
rest of the steps are as per standard, but instead of the normal fixed
and fast rule which says put so much tea leaves and infused for so
long, I will tell you a much more flexible method to determine the
optimum time for infusing the tea so that you can adjust accordingly
for each session.

Tea drink will be describe as follows:

"light" - which is more than 50% lighter than your normal tea drink
color

"normal" - which has about 20 to 30% lighter than what you get if the
tea leaves has a mixture of 85% large leaves to 15% crumbs

"heavy" - color close to the normal tea drink or darker.

Of course you have to first determine what is the "normal" color for
your tea drink. Although there is some sought of standard, each
individual got different taste so the "normal" for one would be
different from another.

The above description apply to the tea drink from the very first brew,
the one which we do not drink. Yes, we are talking about the first brew
here because it will be used as a basis for determining the infusion
time of subsequent infusions.

Lets begin. Once you have warm the teapot and put in the tea leaves, we
can proceed to heat up the tea leaves by pouring in hotwater (95 to 100
degree C). Immediately pour out the water into a cup and note the
colour depth of the water (this cup is used to rinse the teapot after
we are finished with it).
If based on your pass experience, this cup of tea falls into the
category of "light", it tells us that either not enough crumbs are
used, only large leaves have been place in the teapot or not enough tea
leaves are used. To correct the lack of depth for this session, the
timing for 2nd infusion should be about 1 to 1.5 minutes, to get a
decent tea drink with enough "kick" to qualify as good "kungfu tea".
Double the time for each subsequent infusions. Due to the increase
infusion time which deplete the leaves, this session will not last more
than 4 infusion.

If the colour is "normal", we can be relax because most likely ratio of
85% large leaves and 15% crumbs have been achieved. (Note: there is no
other way to achieve this colour except with the right combination of
large leaves and crumbs). 20 to 30 seconds for 2nd infusion and 1.5
times that timing for subsequent infusions should be sufficient.
Alternatively you can double the infusion time from the 4th infusion
for increase depth. You should be able to infuse up to 6 or even 7
times. This is the standard (I recommend) and you should strived for.

If the colour is "heavy", you got a serious problem. Too much crumbs
have been added or the leaves consists of mainly broken bits and dust.
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th infusion should be pour out immediately with no
more than 15 seconds for the 4th infusion. From the 4th or 5th infusion
onwards the tea drink should be back to normal or slightly heavy. Once
the tea drink colour is back to "normal", go for a 30 seconds infusion
as a starting point. You should be able to infuse as many as 10 times
for this session!

You may asked why should I bother with the above. Simple. I want to
achieve as perfect a brew as possible everytime, irregardless of the
tea leaves mixture without resorting to weighing machines. I want to
follow the footsteps of our ancestors who are able to achieve it by
experience (or instinct?). However, to achieve that take years,
therefore I sought for a simpler technique.

I am confident that this technique works every time because the
extremely short infusion time for the first brew is a constant factor
for us to base our judgement on the tea leaves used. So long as you
have determine what is your "normal" color, the other variables such as
how fast you pour in the hot water, whether you filled the teapot full
etc. can be easily resolved.

ESSENCE OF KUNGFU TEA

The art of brewing a cup of chinese tea requires far more knowledge
than the simple steps shown previously. The following is a description
of what is required to truly understand the art of brewing chinese tea.

Expansion of tea leaves
Different kind of tea leaves expand differently, so the amount of
leaves to be place in the teapot will differ greatly. Example; it is
normal to fill 2/3 of a teapot if you are brewing oolong tea but only
1/2 the teapot if you are brewing green tea such as DongTin oolong tea.
Some oolong tea uses more leaves while others use less. If you put too
little, the tea will taste diluted with no kick. Too much and the tea
will taste concentrate and bitter. Of course, if you know that you have
put too much tea leaves, shortening the brewing time will more or less
solved the problem, however as the tea leaves have no place to expand,
it will not be able to release all its flavor. Generally speaking, due
to different processes when producing tea, tea leaves from Taiwan and
China are radically different. Taiwan tea tends to be curled up like a
ball and when brewed it expands to a very large leaf. That's why you
must not filled more than half of the teapot. Tea from China tends to
be in a wrinkled form and when brewed it expands to about 2 times it
size. Some "qing pei fuo" or lightly fired tea leaves such as Tie Kuan
Yin of Anhui, China, are also processes into a ball and because of the
expansion rate, much lesser leaves are used per brew.

Size of teapot
You should used the appropriate size teapot when practising gongfu tea.
If you have 4 persons drinking then used a 4-cup teapot. Using a bigger
teapot is possible but do not use a smaller teapot, because each brew
of tea is not enough for all to try. Not fair to your guests since each
brew of tea is slightly weaker than the one before no matter how good
you are. Another important reason for using the correct size pot is
that tea leaves steep in a pot filled to the brim with water releases
more fragrant and superior taste compared to tea leaves brewed in a
large pot and water not filled to the brim. The difference maybe small
but still noticeable. Such situation normally occurs when you brew
gongfu tea in a large pot but using only a small amount of tea leaves
and filling only enough water to cover the leaves.
When should you start brewing your tea?
When the water starts to boil?, or when it is well boiled? or let it
cool down first?. It all depends on the type of tea leaves used.

Generally, oolong tea requires 100 degree boiling water, Green tea
requires 80 degree boiled water and others like Jasmine tea needs only
75 degree boiled water. Important point to note is, never leave your
water boiling continously as the qualities of the water will changed
effecting the taste of your tea. Remove the kettle from the flame once
you noted that the bubbles are churning up at a furious rate. It is of
course best to use natural spring water straight from its source. If
not possible, then place tape water in a pail overnight and used the
top half as any impurities would have sank to the bottom, Mineral water
in bottles have been processed and affect the taste of your tea. Don't
believe me, try it! All different types of tea will taste the same.

How about the time to steep your tea?
Is it always one minute? If not how long? Experience is very important
here and it is best not to resort to timers etc. as that reduces the
fun. Every human body has a built-in clock, so do make full use of it.

Normally, for oolong tea, it takes about 30 seconds for the first brew
and adding about 50% to the timing for each subsequent brew. The
variables are the temperature of the water, how you pour in the water,
grade of your tea leaves, whether you mixed any small bits of leaves
in, the type, shape and quality etc. of the teapot used. Complicated?
You bet! That's why you just have to experiment and practice till you
get the drink that you like. Do remember that what you prefer may not
be what others prefer.
The essence of gongfu tea is more than words can describe and
understanding the above is one big step in the right direction.
Hopefully, in time to come, you will also achieve the spiritual side of
gongfu tea.

HISTORY OF TEA DRINKING

The Chinese people not only indulge in drinking tea themselves but also
like to present visitors to their houses. In fact this has become an
elegant manner of entertaining a guest. The history of tea, from its
first discovery had became part of social life and a culture, extends
over several thousands of years. From historical records, we can see
that there was a gradual development process for tea from its
application as a medicine to food and then to beverage. There is a
mention of Shennong who, after tasting all the plants in the country,
had been poisoned by seventy-two kinds of toxic matters and was cured
only by taking tea. There is another reference to tea as being first
taken as beverage in the times of Qin and Han. During the Western Han
Dynasty, tea drinking was the daily habit of the households of
government officials, and there were all sorts of special utensils for
it. Tea drinking also prevailed in the court Han Dynasty in Chang'an.
Though tea was popular then, it was mainly a luxury for the high
officials and the nobles. This remained so till the period of the Three
Kingdoms.

According to Biography of Wei Yao in Annal of the Kingdom of Wu, Wei
was once served with tea by the sovereign of the State of Wu as he
could not handle alcohol. By the time of the Six Dynasties, the tea
tree was already planted everywhere in the south and tea drinking
became a fashion of the day. The literate regarded it as an enjoyment
of elegance. The book Jin Zhong Xing Shu noted that the nobles and high
officials were keen to serving their guests with tea and fruits, so as
to advertise what a simple, noble and plain life they were leading.
Even Emperor Wu of the Southern Qi Dynasty, in following the practice
of some of his officials, ordered that after, his death, tea and rice
be used instead of animals as sacrificial offerings to him as a symbol
of his honesty.

During the Northern and Southern, Dynasties, tea was considered to be a
must for poem, writing letters and for meditation by Buddhist monks and
Taoist priests. Hence, we could see that other than its practical use,
tea also possessed social and spiritual functions. People from all
walks of life would endow tea drinking with different cultural spirits.

These tea-related practices were initiated by the ruling classes and
the literati of the Six Dynasties and then spread to all members of the
society during the Tang Dynasty. Its further development led to an
integration, with literature, art and folklore and the emergence of
poems, songs and paintings with tea as their themes, as well as the way
of tea drinking. This system of tea-related culture was highly regarded
by people of all social strata. During the Six Dynasties that tea
drinking was base on metalware and utensils made of bamboo. Certain
bowls and green glazed saucers from the Yue kiln (in Zhejiang Province
of the Eastern Jin Dynasty were probably tea sets). Since tea drinking
was so popular in the Jiannan region during the southern Dynasties,
there appeared a large number of green glazed porcelain tea cups and
saucers, decorated 'mainly with' lotus and lotus-petal patterns. A
typical example is a green glazed porcelain cup and saucer - with
lotus-petal design unearthed in 494 from a tomb of the Southern
Dynasties. Before the Tang Dynasty; the art of tea drinking was not so
fashionable in the north as in the south. It was with the prospering of
the Zen SchooI of Buddhism in the north that tea drinking become
popular there. The book Feng Shi Wen Lian Ji noted: "During the years
of the Kaiyuan reign, there lived at the Lingyan Monastery a Buddhist
monk of the Zen School called Xiangmo.

Through his effort, the Zen School flourished. In learning the doctrine
of his school, he allowed himself neither sleep nor food except a drink
of tea. Everybody practice till tea drinking turned is into a 'vogue."
Tea drinking was all the fashion during the Tang days, as evidenced by
poems and paintings of the name and references in Cha Jing (The Classic
of Tea), China's first classic on tea. The book Feng Shi Wen Jian Ji
also noted: "Everywhere, from the regions of Zou, Cang, Di and Zhe, to
the capital, were teahouses where bowls of ready cooked tea could be
easily bought with money.

The Classic of Tea was written by Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty. It
consists of three volumes, ten chapters and seven thousand characters.
Each chapter deals with one, of title following aspects of tea: the
source, the utensils, the processing, the tea sets, the cooking, the
drinking, the way, the output, the guideline and the drawings. The book
expounds the origin and evolution of tea, and the processes of making,
boiling and drinking tea. Hence; it aroused widespread attention and
repercussions in the whole society. Poems. and artistic praise of tea
were plenty. One such example was a funny little piece describing the
effects of each bowl of tea on the author himself. By this time, tea
drinking in the upper classes had acquired a set procedure, a ritual.

There were twenty-four different utensils recorded in Chapter Four of
the Classic of Tea which might show the attention paid by the nobles to
tea enjoyment. It was pointed out by the book that the best bowls for
tea drinking should be the celadon one from Yuezhou in Zhejiang
Province and the white glazed one from Xingzhou in Hebei Province. The
form and the quality of the ware used were very much dependent on the
details of tea drinking habit of the time.

People of the Tang Dynasty liked tea cooked from tea dust which was
prepared by grinding baked tea-brick. The cooking process went like
this: water was first boiled to bubbling (what we call second boiling)
and then one dipper of boiling water was taken from the pot. A bamboo
straw was used to stir at the center of the boiling water while tea
dust of suitable quantity was being added. When froth was formed, the
water taken from the pot was put back in to stop the boiling. Tea was
then distributed to several bowls evenly. Obviously, tea enjoyment in
the Tang Dynasty stress more on froth, colour and taste than anything
else. Hence, green or white-glazed bowls with a smooth surface were the
most fitting to the application cause stains left in the bowl were the
least and the beauty of tea froth and colour were best in contrast.
Besides, as recorded in the Classic of Tea, the capacity of the bowl
use was also of great importance. One litre of tea was best in taste if
distributed into three equal shares or five equal shares at most.
Therefore, a tea bowl should be of moderate size, with a capacity of
half a litre.

In the Song Dynasty; the tea drinking habit was somewhat changed. A new
fashion of tea competition emerged, especially among the ruling class
and the literati. Even Emperor Hui indulged in this hobby. In his book
Da Guan, Cha Lun, he wrote: "The literati of the whole country are
participating in this hobby and searching for the best porcelain
utensils." A novel cultural content was acquired by tea drinking
besides its inherent practical value. It was first the colour and then
the soup that were the, subjects in tea competitions.

The procedure went like this: Semi-fermented tea paste was tightly
wrapped with clean paper and pounded into powder which was then taken
out and ground to a white colored dust. The tea dust was then put into
a heated cup. Boiling water was added four times till a layer of white
froth formed on top. The colour that appeared was the subject of the of
competition: white colour was the highest in rank, greenish white the
next and greyish white the third in rank, with yellowish white being
the worst. Another, subject of competition was the soup, which should
not stick to the wall of the cup. One became a loser with the first
staining to the cup. The appearance of tea stain was actually a
physical phenomenon caused by the yellowish dye and colloidal matters
in the tea solution after cooling down. In order to have the stain
appear later, the cup should remain hot for a longer period. Also,
since the best colour in the competition was white, a cup in black
colour, would give a good contrast. Thus, we can see that a suitable
cup of thick wall and black colour would be imperative for winning the
tea competition. That is why the output of black tea cups everywhere,
north and south, was rising tremendously at the time.

The most striking feature of tea drinking in the Song days was the
numerous tea shops, teahouses and tea clubs scattered all over the
country and the great varieties of tea soup. For example, the Lady
Wang's Teahouse in the novel Water Margin was just a place where people
used to go for a cup of tea. These tea houses and tea shops were not
merely for drinking tea.

When it came to the Ming Dynasty tea drinking be came even more popular
than before, with nearly everybody taking a part, but entirely
different from the Song days. The Song peopIe drank paste tea and favor
competitions. The Ming people drank bud tea and talk for tea enjoyment.
The enjoyment of tea in the Ming period is slightly different from that
recorded in The Classic of Tea, while the preparation of tea also
differs from that mentioned. Another book of the Ming Dynasty noted
that the magic of tea lies in storing the best tea leaves properly and
brewing them the right way. In the Ming Dynasty, bud tea was produced
by screening the newly picked tea buds from matured tea leaves and
branches and stir frying it in a large cooker and drying it with heat.
To drink tea, the teapot was first heated up with boiling water and
then bud tea was put into the teapot before boiling water was added.
The tea was then evenly distributed to several cups and ready for
drinking.

The thing in enjoyment of tea was its colour. The best tea color should
be green while the best froth colour was white. Any other colours like
yellow, black, red, purple and dark were all inferior. Superior tea was
in green colour, the best matching cup should be white, so as to give
the best contrast. In his book Kao Pan Yu Shi, Tu Long stated': "There
was a tea cup in elegant shape, made of fine material. A thick-walled
vessel white in colour, the cup was good for testing tea colour. A man
once got hold of a cup from' the Jian (Chien) kiln. Being all black, it
did not serve the purpose." When brewing tea, the people of the Ming
Dynasty would use a teapot or a tea cup. It is the custom in Hangzhou
to brew tea in a small teapot with boiling water. In the monasteries,
there were always Buddhist monks brewing tea in the way they did in the
Wu region.

A pot and two small cups were put on the desk with the fruits or
pastries at all. You drank as you pleased. It was truly a most tasteful
and elegant form of tea enoyment. The Zisha teapot in this case is the
best teapot in use. Fragrance of tea will not be affected by the
teapot, and no over-boiled taste is present. However, a teapot should
not be of a capacity less than half a litre.

Obviously, after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Yixing zisha teapots
and the porcelain teapots from Jingdezhen gradually became the order of
the day. Zisha (purple clay) is particularly dense, free from any taste
of earth. Teapots made from such clay could be used for a long period
of time. Tea brewed in zisha teapots was tasteful and could be stored
in them longer than in any other utensils. The colour of the zisha
teapot remained the same as the clay from which it was made. The teapot
acquired a natural shine from much use and repeat wiping. It was
greatly admired by the literati for its archaic or elegant form. This
in turn sped up the development of the zisha teapot.. No wonder that
zisha teapots of the Ming and Qing Dynasties were full of the noble
elegance and rural interest so adored by the literati.

Tea drinking in the Qing Dynasty was exactly the same as in the Ming
dynasty. In ancient times, tea was prepared by cooking, boiling,
simmering but now (in the Qing Dynasty) only by brewing with boiling
water. Any heating would turn the tea into yellowish color and bitter
taste, not fit to be drunk any more. The major teaware.of this period
was the cup, teapot, covered bowl and tea tray. The last two items were
not found in the preceding dynasty. Production of the zisha teapot
reached its summit in early and mid-Qing Dynasty. Not only was it loved
by the literati, officials and merchants of the Jiangnan region. It was
considered to be indispensable for tea enjoyment even by the Qing
emperors. In the latter period of Kangxi, there appeared a zisha teapot
with multicoloured peony design made by order of Emperor Kangxi.
Emperor Yongzheng was also a lover of the zisha teapot. Whenever he
came across a masterpiece of this pottery, he would order it to be
reproduced in the imperial porcelains.

Tea drinking has prevailed in China for several thousand years without
a break. It has promoted the growth of the country's ceramic industry.
Amongst the various porcelain and pottery tea wares which indicate
China's rich tea culture, the Yixing zisha teapot is a brilliant pearl
shining with everlasting splendour.

CHINESE TEA HOUSE

Outside a Chinese teahouse, the heartbeat of the city roars on. A
motorcycle sputters pass loudly, cars zoom by impatiently, rickshaws
pedal along slowly. A jabbering queue forms outside a popular Chinese
restuarant. Inside the teahouse, however, a languid world awaits. The
only invitation to this snatuary is a rustic, old wooden sign and
narrow, softly lit stairway. Climb those steps and you wil find a
hideaway where the city bustle is shrugged away as effortlessly as your
shoes are.

"Nee how" beams the teahouse waitress as she pads forward to greet us.
Behind her a cozy room is divided into alcoves by bamboo blinds and
furnished with coffeeshop style marbel-topped tables and wooden chairs.
But the waitress moved on up the ornamentally carved stairs to more
rooms, a Korean-themed room with low tables squatting in a wooden
recess and casually thrown pillows and a spartan Japanese room with low
tables.

Japanese room is the one humming with energy at the moment. Here, the
lanterns cast a golden glow on a group of youngsters, Caucasians and
Japanese tourists animatedly engaged in building a hymn of voices.
Meanwhile the piped-in music offers a haunting tune which fills the air
with a soothing fusionof vocal and bird sounds that would have been
tagged New Age, but for the Chinese instruments.

Teahouses offer a glimpse of a laid-back city that is seldom seen and
increasingly embraced by stressed out urbanites. It has become the
antidote to the "city sickness" offering a calming respite from
frenzied city living. "Cities are like a clock and if you keep winding
this clock without loosening it, it eventually breaks. Tea allows us to
loosen it psyche." explains the teahouse manager. According to a
regular visitor, teahouse gives you transquility and peace and is a
good place to de-tress.

To keep up with this appetite, most teahouse is carefully created to
rest restless souls. Greeting guests at the entrance with red banners
flapping in the wind, warming them with the rich glow from lamps made
of bird cage wrapped in rice paper, teahouses evokes long, lazy
leisurely days. On each table, guests finds a burner and kettle
awaiting while natural light falling through the blinds and onto the
wooden floor and swirling fans seem a personal invitation to linger.
The warmth of the kettle in the cold room, in coalescence with the
background noise of faint voices in hushed conversation, is as
welcoming as a warm blanket on cold nights.

This "new age" remedy from city frenzy is actually an infusion of 4,700
years of history. Tea drinking is a part of Chinese history almost as
old as the said history itself. Chinese tea is about "li" and "li" in
Chinese refers to a code of manners. To appreciate tea, a person must
have harmony, humility, transquility and love. A man finds peace if he
is at one with his tea. Those not in harmony will employ the wong
techniques and the tea will not taste good. Similarly, the tea lover
must love the tea and have humility and transquility or he will not
ponder sufficiently on his preparation and will not be able to prepare
a good cup of tea.

For the Chinese, the art of tea extends to a zen-like appreciation of
the brew that goes beyond the tastebuds. Tea drinking involves the five
senses. A tea drinker savors the color, fragrance, and finally the
taste of the tea. At the same time, he listens to the swirling of the
brew in the cup and feels the warmth of the filled cup. Then, it goes
deeper into you, into your heart and it makes you more refined. Tea
reflect's a man's life and the Chinese understand this. That's why it
is so popular with the Chinese. Whether you are Chinese or not, wise
men say a love affair with tea can be the beginning of a spiritual
awakening.

The Chinese believe the three distinct tastes of tea represent the
three phases of a man's life. Tea starts off tasting tart, then bitter
and finally sweet. Similarly, with many successes and failures, a young
man finds life tart. It begins to taste bitter as he approached middle
age, when family responsibilities weigh on his shoulders. In the later
years, upon retirement, life is sweet.

With both a deeply entrenched heritage and modern relevance, tea draws
close parallel with our city.Like tea, the cosmopolitian city straddles
two different worlds. one old, one new. Both continue to evolve slowly.

WHAT IS OXIDATION?

Oxidation refers to the complicated chemical reaction, when air
(oxygen) reacts with the molecules of the tea leave, that result in the
various flavors unique to each type of tea leaf. This is of particular
importance to partially oxidized tea leave such as Oolong tea.

During the processing of tea, 'jiao ban' or turning or tossing of the
tea leave in a wok is used to control the degree of oxidation. Tossing
and rubbing the tea leave lightly between the hands damages the
molecular structure of the tea leave and allow oxygen in the air to
enter and reacts with it.
The chart below shows the oxidation level of various types of tea
leave.

Generally teas are broken down into the following range:
Green Tea
White Tea
Yellow Tea
Black Tea
Oolong Tea
Red Tea

The most common types are green, red and oolong tea. In the west, red
know is known as black tea. Although this term is common used, it is
not correct because in China black tea refers to another range of tea.
Furthermore,I noted that white tea have been said to be unoxidised by
many westerners in the internet. Based on the above, we know that is
not quite true.

Although Oolong tea is supposed to have an oxidation level of 50%, it
varies according to each individual merchant and their clients. In
recent years, a number of the tea processing factories in China have
oxidized Oolong tea leaves to less than 50% as requested by clients in
Taiwan. I found the taste of such tea appealing and have actually
convert to drinking such tea. Beside the taste difference, there are
noticeable increase in aroma from the brewed tea as compared with the
traditionally processed Oolong.

KUNGFU TEA
Chao Zhou (teochew) Kungfu Tea

Background

Do you know why "kungfu" tea is known as "kungfu"?

"Kungfu" tea was so named because of the elaborate steps required to
prepare a cup of tea. The steps and skills are considered similar in
spirit to the practice of martial arts which in chinese means "kungfu",
hence the name. "Kungfu" tea originated from Chao Zhou county of
Fujian, China. The dialect of Chao Zhou people is know as "teochew".
The people in Chao Zhou loves to drink tea especially oolong tea of the
Fujian Province and Tie Kuan Yin tea of the Anhui Province, which is in
the neighbouring province.
Arguably, the best oolong tea are produced by plantations are in
Fujian, China, surrounding the WuYi Mountains. The most famous or best
of Fujian oolong tea are :

Da Hong Bao
Pai Ji Kuan
Tie Lo Han
Rou Gui

Of course, there are also plenty of other top grade teas available such
as; Shui Xian tea. In fact, the entire range of tea in Fujian belongs
to the shui xian category but because of the difference in quality due
to soil and weather conditions, various names were developed to
differentiate them.

In the early days, the best tea are usually bought by the rich and
government officials or offered to the Emperor. The peasants can only
afford lowest grade tea leaves and the taste is not exactly good. So,
someone came up with a process to improve the taste of these low grade
tea using special techniques and the tea actually taste much better,
equivalent to a higher grade tea. As a result, the process spread far
and wide and is know as "kungfu" tea today. But the "kungfu" tea of
today is not the same as what was practice then and notably, a number
of important techniques that required some skills have been omitted.
Despite that, there is no noticeable loss because the quality of tea
leaves used in today's "kungfu" tea are much much higher than what was
used then. The following is the steps of the original Chao Zhou Kungfu
Tea:

Characteristics

Meant for low grade tea which are very poor in taste. The essence lies
in the continuous flow of all the steps and no talking during the
brewing process. To achieve the essence, spirit and atmosphere of the
tea brewing process, the choice of tea accessories, location of items
on the table, timing of each step etc. are extremely critical.

Steps of Chao Zhou Kungfu tea

Sit upright with a tea cloth (for wrapping the teapot) on the lap of
your right leg and another tea cloth (for wiping cups) on the lap of
your left leg. All other utensils are placed on the table as per
normal.

Warm the pot by pouring in hot water into it. Once the water on the
surface of the pot evaporates, pour out the water from the pot into the
gongdao container.

Place the pot on your right lap and use the tea cloth to hit it
continuously to dry the pot then hold the pot in your hand and "fan"
it, exactly the way you use a paper fan to fan yourself, till the pot
dries. The purpose of this step is to prepare for "dry heating" the tea
leaves as compared to other normal high grade tea which uses the "wet
heating" method

Grab some tea leaves with your bare hands and examine its moisture
content, to determine the "heating" period. If the tea leaves feel dry
and crispy, then no "heating" is required. If it is soft and not
crispy, you will have to "dry heat" the leaves and may have to repeat
the process several times to achieve the optimal result.

Put the tea leaves into the pot. "Heating" does not mean doing it over
a charcoal flame. Instead, the heat from hot water is used. Seal the
vent hole and the spout of the teapot with something and place the
entire pot in a pool of hotwater making sure that water does not sipped
into the pot. The timing depends on the moisture content of the tea
leaves. Repeat the process if necessary. The purpose of this step is to
remove the mouldy smell of tea leaves that have been exposed to air and
return freshness to the leaves.

During the "heating" process, warm the cups using hot water.

Remove the pot from the pool of hotwater, wrapped it with a tea cloth
and shake the pot. The purpose is to allow the temperature inside the
pot to synchronise with the exterior. Put the pot back on the tea boat
and fill the pot to the brim with hot water.

Once the pot is filled quickly lift up the pot, and using a tea cloth
to cover the spout, swing the pot in a circular (horizontally) fashion
swiftly. The purpose is to force the unpleasant flavours that have been
released back into the leaves. the number of cycles the pot is being
swing is reduce by one for each subsequent brew.

After swing the pot, poured the tea into a gongdao container then
wrapped the pot with a tea cloth and give it a few hard shakes up and
down to even the temperature in the pot. The number of shakes to the
pot is increased with the no. of brews, the exact opposite of swinging
the pot. The purpose of shaking the pot is to reduce contact between
tea leaves by dislodging them and preventing the old tea leaves from
releasing their bitter taste (once it is soaked).

The standard for Chao Zhou Kungfu Tea is to produce only 3 brews per
batch of tea and each brew must be of the same quality. This means
total concentration during the brewing process. One can only relax
after the 3 brews are completed and poured into cups for all to
appreciate.

Chao Zhou is located in the lower region of Han Jiang River. Though the
Chao Zhou Kungfu tea style practised by the teochews are known far and
wide, it is not easy to learn. Each family has their own style of
"kungfu" tea brewing and such techniques are passed on to others only
after they have gone through an elaborate and formal process of
acknowledging the Master. The technique describe above is not an
original style but one that includes part of other styles. Still, it is
as close as you can get to a traditional technique of brewing tea that
have been around for centuries.

I apologised that no photos of the process are available but I hope the
above gives you an insight into the difference between the traditional
and modern day techniques of "kungfu" tea.

YIXING TEAPOTS

YIXING ZISHA FACTORY

Yixing Zisha Factory, also known as Zisha Factory No. 1, was form in
October 1958. During this period potters worked individually and mined
their own zisha clay or buy from peasants who mine zisha clay for a
living. The factory was created to coordinate all the various
activities of making teapots under one roof. All independent potters
and miners were recruited. The factory controls the mining of zisha
clay and takes care of all the curing process including distributing
the clay to all the craftsmen. Of course, the masters get the best
quality clay.

RANKINGS

Ranks were subsequently introduced in the 1970s, which consists of the
following:
1) Technician (Xing-siu)
2) Craftsman (Ji-su-yuan or Gong-yi-mei-su-yuan)
3) Craftsman (Ming-jian-yi-ren) - independent porters
4) Asst. Master craftsman (Zu-li-gong-yi-si)
5) Master craftsman (Gong-yi-si)
6) Snr Master craftsman (Gao-gi-gong-yi-si)
7) Provincial Grandmaster
8) Grandmaster craftsman

Other than the above ranks, there are also a number of others (unnamed)
who concentrates on producing only commercial grade teapots. Factory
No. 1's commercial grade teapots are considered the best because they
employed only skilled potters. According to a source, there used to be
about 5 mining sites but only one is still surviving today and it is
controlled by Factory No. 1. Therefore, it is natural that all the best
clay are retained for their own use and the remainder is sold to any
others including other factories.

Note: That's the reason why independent potters resort to adding
chemicals into the clay so that their finish teapots will achieve a
better finish and attract buyers.

Potters from the rank of Technicians are allowed to have individual
workshops within the factory, which is just simply a big room shared
between a few technicians or craftsmen. Only masters and those that are
famous or have superb skills are allocated a room individually. The
advantage of having their own workshop is that it allows their family
members or disciples to work with them. Workshops of grand masters or
even senior masters are retained for their use even after their
retirement.

GRADES & PROMOTIONS

For a technician to be promoted to the rank of craftsman, he or she is
required to have a minimum of 8 years experience and have secondary
education. Yixing County Council's endorsement is required before an
application is approved.

Note: There are another group of craftsman known as "Ming-jian-yi-ren"
or independent potters who have achieved the required standard,
employed by the factory.

Generally, works by potters from the rank of technician onwards are
considers as masters' works.
To promote to Asst. Master craftsman, a craftsman must have more than
10 years experience in the factory, higher secondary education and have
articles on Yixing pottery published in magazines. This time the final
approving authority is the Council of Wuxi District.

For promotion to Master craftsman, a potter much hold the rank of an
Assistant master craftsman and have more than 20 years' experience in
the factory. He is also expected to have published articles in
influential magazines locally or overseas, won prizes or merit awards
in local or international competitions. Must have achieved certain fame
coupled with excellent theoretical knowledge and practical skills in
pottery. The approving authority is also the Council of WuXi District
but only after the Council has conducted its own examination of the
potter's knowledge and skills.

In the next stage of Senior Master craftsman, 30 years of experience is
required with university level education, won awards in major
competitions with excellent knowledge in design coupled with superb
pottery skills. The final approving authority is Council of Jiangsu
Province. The potter is expect to pass the examination or test set by
each examining council including that of the Jiangsu Province before
being promoted to Senior Master Craftsman.

>From the stage of Provincial and Grandmaster craftsmen, such posts are
usually proposed by the factory and to be accepted by the person in
charge.

>From the above, we note the laborious step each potter takes to achieve
their ranks. It is also a form of recognition of the level of their
pottery skills. Factory No. 1 is the only zisha factory whose grading
of potters are recognized by the Central Government.

The above info is just to give you a background into Yixing Zisha
Factory. Although their teapots are the ones that are highly sought
after by collectors worldwide, it does not meant that teapots by other
potters are not worth collecting. It all depends on your objectives in
collecting teapots. Generally, if you are looking for teapots that are
well design, good workmanship, make from good quality clay and worth
something in future (if you intend to sell it), then there is none
other than teapots by masters of Yixing Zisha Factory (No. 1).

HOW TO SELECT A YIXING TEAPOT

A teapot is the heart of a set of tea appliances. A good teapot not
only allows the tea leaves to give its best, it also helps a tea
connoiseurship enjoy the art of brewing of chinese tea to the most.

1. Well Crafted
All parts of the teapot should not only look in proportion to each
other so that in whole, gives a sense of beauty. Since we all have
diiferent perceptions as to what beauty is and different purposes in
collecting teapots, so long as you like the teapot, there is nothing
wrong in collecting it. Afterall, you will be the one using or
appreciating it from now on and not someone else.

2. Easy to hold
The curvature of the handle of a teapot is control by the size of the
teapot. Where to place the handle will affect the centre of gravity of
the teapot when it is filled with water during brewing of tea. If it
results in gravity being off centre, then the teapot will be difficult
to hold and pour. Therefore, a good teapot should been designed such
that it allows one to hold the teapot comfortably.

3. Smooth water flow
How the tea flows out of the tea spout will affect the quality of the
tea. Tea should flow out fast, straight and smooth instead of dripping.
If the flow is too slow, the tea leaves would have been steep for too
long. The spout should enable all the tea to flow completely out of the
teapot instead of leaving a residue amount. According to an expert, tea
poured from a teapot with straight spout would have a higher fragrance
than from one with a curving spout. But it is exactly the reverse when
it comes to after taste in the throat. How much truth are there in
these statement? Try it out and tell me!

4.Tightness of cover
The teapot cover when covered should seal the teapot as tight as
possible. This will enable all fragance of the tea leaves to remain in
the teapot. One simple way to test is to fill the teapot with 2/3 full
of water and invert the teapot, with your finger tightly sealing the
opening of the spout. The teapot cover should not fall off, showing
that it is tightly sealed.

5. Exterior appearance
The exterior of the teapot should be smooth and complete without any
chipped or cracked showing. Old teapots usually chipped at the spout,
the edge of the opening and cover. When buying a old teapot, lookout
for any heavily stained parts as it concealed cracks which would
otherwise go unnotice.

6. Quality of the clay
It is very difficult for a beginner to determine the quality of the
clay without being exposed to all the different types of teapots and
making an indepth study of it. Therefore, you will have to read more
books, examined as many teapots as you can and soon you will be able to
distinguish whether a teapot is of good quality clay and how old is the
clay etc.

7. Smell of clay
New teapots usually have no smell, but some teapots do exhibit some
unpleasant clay smell which if not properly treated will seriously
affect the taste of your tea.

8. How to prepare a new teapot
Before using a new teapot you should prepare it so that the teapot is
ready for absorbing all the fragrance of the tea leaves.

Finally, do remember that you should use different teapots to brew
different types of tea leaves. Yixing clay are very porous that's why
it is such a good vessel for brewing tea as it able to retain the as
well as trap tea particles in these pores. With frequent usage, more
and more tea particles are trapped and every time you brew tea,
fragrance is released, which when mixed with the current brew makes the
tea taste better than if it was brewed in a new teapot. In 30 years'
time your teapot will have absorbed so much tea fragrance that it gives
you a fragrant tea drink by just pouring hot water into the teapot
(without adding any tea leaves).
Well, I have not brewed any teapot long enough to achieve that. If you
do, let me know.

HOW TO AUTHENTICATE OLD YIXING TEAPOTS 1

This is in fact the most frequently asked and also one of the most
important questions that a would be collector or even a connoisseur
would asked. Every Yixing teapot collector would come across so call
old Yixing teapots and many would be tempted to buy even though they
cannot authenticate it and have to depend on the words of the seller
that it is indeed an old teapot. Most of the time, these collectors
would discovered later that the teapot is not as old as it was claimed
to be. At the worse case, the teapot is a fake and have been 'made old'
to trick you. So how do you get around all these problems and ensure
that what you purchase is truly an old Yixing Teapot?

To be a collector of Yixing teapots, one ought to have an in-depth
knowledge of the subject. Know the history and background of Yixing
teapots. Understand and be familiar with all the master craftsmen that
ever lived and what they are famous for. Example; Jiang Rou, a Grand
Master Craftsman of Yixing Zisha Factory (No.1) is an expert creating
teapots that emulate real life things such as fruits and insects. So,
if someone present to you a geometric teapot made by Jiang Rong, then
immediately you know something is wrong. Similarly. Zhu Kexin, a master
craftsman of the Ming Guo period, created the Bao Chun teapot in the
1960s, so if you come across a Bao Chun teapot made by someone earlier
than that period, do you think it can an authentic piece?

Next, we also need to understand who or which masters are recognised by
the central government. Before 1950, there was no proper organization
and ranking to all the craftsmen working in Yixing and everyone have to
mine, mix and cure their own zisha clay. With the formation of Yixing
Zisha Factory (No. 1), these craftsmen were organized and ranked
according to a set standard and courses to train new craftsmen were
created. All craftsmen have to undergo a series of training comprising
of (segments of 3 years each) apprenticeship in pottery, design courses
and on-job training. Upon completion of this training period, they may
take a craftsmen test and shall be decorated as a craftsman if they
pass. They may subsequently progress to asst. master craftsman, master
craftsman, senior master craftsman and finally national master
craftsman. At every stage, an examination awaits the candiate. Of
course, only those craftsmen in Yixing Zisha Factory (No. 1) are
recognised by the central government.

Yixing Zisha Factory (No. 2) was formed in 1984 by brothers, Xu Siew
Tang and Xu Han Tang, both master craftsmen. They managed to lured some
craftsmen from Factory 1 to join them. Subsequent ranking of their
craftsmen were self appointed and therefore not recognised by the
central government. What does that mean to a teapot collector?
Generally speaking that you should avoid collecting teapots made by
craftsmen from Factory 2 since they are self appointed masters.
However, we have to admit that there are a number of talented craftsmen
in Factory 2 and we should collect based on quality rather than
namesake.

That is just a bit of the knowledge that all collectors should at least
be aware of. Next, lets discuss in detail what exactly you have to look
out for when authenticating old teapots.

DESIGN
The design of teapots changes with each era. By reading books on old
teapots, you will note that certain designs are popular in certain
periods and other designs in another period. Although many masters have
done it before, such as Gu Jinzhuo, it is possible to copy the design
of the teapot but it is very difficult to copy the spirit. Without the
spirit of the original design, an imitation teapot looks lifeless and
has no appeal to be collected by anyone except the uneducated. Take the
example of my late Qing period (you can view in my Antique Collections)
Zhu Ni Shui Ping teapot; such design was created in the Qing dynasty
and did pass on to the early days of Ming Guo period. Subsequently it
is phased out as potters move on to newer designs. Such design
therefore appear only during that period and the workmanship is
impeccable. Imitation pieces would never be able to imitate the clay or
the workmanship let alone the spirit of the teapot. So, having a
knowledge of various teapot designs through the ages would help in
determining roughly the age of the teapot. Taking the above example
again; if I tell you that the teapot was made in the early Qing period
(almost 300 years old) would you believe me? Sure, you can tell that
the teapot is old but without the knowledge you won't know that such
design only appear in late Qing!

THE CLAY
I would consider recognising the age of zisha clay as the most
difficult to learn because there is absolutely no material available to
study or reference from. The matter is made worst by the fact that
early craftsmen handle their own clay and each have their own secret
way of mixing and preparing the clay for use. So the only way to learn
is by handling as many types of teapots as possible especially those
old teapots and not forgetting, imitation teapots. Only then can one
gain the knowledge of how zisha clay changes through time, recognises
the properties of old clay and most important of all, ability to weed
out the fake teapots.

Example; zhu ni clay has properties that make it unsuitable for large
teapots because it tends to crack-up during heating. So, if you see a
large zhu ni teapot, then you can be sure that this teapot is not make
of pure zhu ni but a mixture of other zisha clay also. The color and
characteristics of zisha clay changes through time so it is possible to
tell the age of a zisha teapot by looking at the clay. For example,
since zhu ni went extinct by early 1970s, there cannot be zhu ni teapot
make in the 1980s unless created by some masters who have kept the clay
for so long.
Example; Tianqing clay (greyish color) appears during the mid-Qing
dynasty and went extinct before end of Qing dynasty. It is so rare that
some shops are claiming that teapots of Tianqing clay are from the Ming
dynasty!

In fact, the properties of zisha clay is so complex that it sometime
confuses even the experts if they are not careful. There have been many
cases where teapot connoisseurs, who were recognized to be an expert in
this field, got conned into purchasing teapots that have been treated
to look old. Many auction houses now do not accept old teapots for
auction because they do not have the expertise to really authenticate
them.

WORKMANSHIP
In the old days, Yixing teapots are created by hand, meaning that every
single part, curve and decor is create manually without the assistance
of moulds. Time has changed with more and more craftsmen turning to
moulds when creating teapots. However, many craftsmasters are still
adhering to the tradition of full hand made teapots. Every master
craftsman has skills that specialises in certain areas. Some are
talented in making 'hua huo' or decorated teapots (such as Wang Yin
Xian), others are extremely good in geometric shapes and so on.

Having specialised skills in one field does not mean that these potters
will not create teapots of other shapes. But no matter what sort of
teapot a master craftsman create, the workmanship and quality is
undisputed. Every single detail is taken care of with no edges left
untouched. If you come across so call teapots by masters but exhibits
poor workmanship in certain parts of the teapot, then I advise that you
take more than a second look because it is probably a fake!

MAKER'S CHOP
One of the unique feature of Yixing teapots is that every single piece
have the maker's chop. Most craftsman uses more than one type of chop
and some of them does not even reflect their name or are written so
artistically that unless you knew or seen it before, it is not possible
to be sure who make the this teapot and whether it is authentic.

It is therefore not wise to buy any teapot based on solely on the
maker's chop. Since the early Ming Dynasty, many craftsmen have copied
masters such as GongChun and Shi Dabin etc. Some of these copies are
actually so well made that they become master pieces of their own. I
personally come across collectors who purchased teapots based on the
maker's chop. They are willing to overlook all the defects in the
teapot such as poor workmanship and lack of spirit, so long as the chop
is that of a master's!

In fact, fake maker's chop in teapots for early masters are easy to
detect because no matter how good these people are, they cannot
manually copy the strokes of a character done by the masters. Even if
they are able to do so, other tell tale signs such as the age of the
clay etc. will help us distinguish it. The only problem is that most of
us do not have access to such master pieces for comparision. Also, it
helps if we understand the fact that all teapots by masters in the 16th
century, such as Shi Dabin, are hand written signatures rather than
seal chopped! So if you see a Shi Dabin teapot with a seal chop, it is
guaranteed a fake. Seal chops never come into used till much later.
Similarly, calligraphy on teapots although started in early Qing
Dynasty, was only made popular by Chen Mansheng in the mid-Qing period.
So how could a Ming Dynasty teapot come with calligraphy engraved on
it?

BEWARE OF 'MADE OLD' TEAPOTS
There are many teapots on the market that have been treated or 'made
old' to trick the unknowing. All these teapots are mostly not of Yixing
origin and bears some masters' chop. The outer surface have been sand
down and rub with shoe brush, black soot and some even buried in soil
for a period of time to give it a old and used look. This method is
easy to tell because for many of them the inside of the teapot was not
treated, one look at the clay reveals all. For those where the interior
have been treated and the clay cannot be distinguish, a brush and a
pail of hot water is all that is needed to wash the dirt away. I have
heard of another method where the dirt cannot be removed using water
and requires thinner to reveal the actual clay below.

I have seen such teapots everywhere I went, in China, Singapore,
Taiwan, Hongkong and Malaysia etc. In fact I bought one many years ago
and spent half a day brushing away the dirt from the surface of the
teapot. Well, that teapot is still around and the chop at the bottom is
that of 'Shi DaBin', the great master craftsman from Ming dynasty.

Very few old teapots survived centuries and still remain complete. Most
old teapots are either chipped at the edge or missing one part of it.
It is rare to find an old teapot that does not have a patina over the
surface as a result of years of use. New teapots made old can never
exihibit such patina unless it has been treated as I mentioned above.

So, now you understand that collecting Yixing teapot is difficult,
authenticating an old Yixing is even more difficult. You just need to
have that knowledge and there is no other way you are gonna acquired it
except by seeing as many old teapots as possible. It is not common that
ordinary collectors are able to have the opportunity to own a master
teapot that are more than a century old. However, if such opportunity
should appear, it is wise to authenticate it further by seeking the
assistance of other experts since the chance of it being a fake is 99%!

Most, if not all collectors, paid for their lessons when they bought so
call masters' or old teapots which turn out to be fakes. It is a costly
lesson and cannot be avoided. If you have not gone through this stage,
then your are still far from being a teapot connoisseur.

HOW TO AUTHENTICATE YIXING TEAPOTS 2

In this page, I am going to show you various examples of what we
discuss previously in how to authenticate Yixing teapots.

Fake Seals
Although there are a large number of copies done on Shi DaBin's (famous
Ming dynasty master craftsman) works, we present 4 samples of his seal
here for analysis.
Do you know which one is the real one? Yes, you guess right! The first
one on the right is the original signature of Shi DaBin. The second is
a copy done in the early Qing dynasty, which display extremely good
calligraphy skills. The third signature was made in the late Qing
dynasty but is a poor imitation of the original. The last signature is
done in recent years and is good enough to fool even the expert!

If you are still unclear about what I meant by fakes seal chops, I hope
this example clear your doubt. The biggest problem here is how do we
know it is a fake if we have never seen the real one before? In recent
years, many books have been produced which includes examples of a large
number of master pieces ever created. Such books can be used as a
reference and you can always confirmed the authenticity with other
connoisseurs. Do not buy if you are unable to proof beyond a doubt.

I would really advised that potential collectors NOT TO treat the seal
chop as a reference point to judge the standard of the teapot. If the
chop is by a master craftsman, then the workmanship of the teapot
should be that of a master. No excuses for poorly finished corners or
unrefined joints. Never convince yourself that the teapot is real based
on the seal chop and overlook the poor workmanship. If you get cheated
by adopting such practice and attitude, then you got yourself to blame.
If the chop is that of a unknown, we can then be more forgiving when
judging the workmanship of the teapot.
Seals chops before 1960s are usually made of wood. Those after 1960s
are made of stone or metal. The imprint from a wooden seal chop is
distinctively different from those made of metal or stone as shown in
the photos above. Knowing this can serve as a simple and fast method of
determining the age of teapots. Teapots without timber seal chops
cannot be older than 1960s. Having a timber seal chop however does
guarantee that it is made before the 1960s.

Fake Teapot 1
Recently, I come across this teapot which was claimed to be from early
19th century.
However, after studying the teapot in detail, I found many things that
does not matched what the seller has claim. First, I found out that
this particular type of teapot is known in chinese as "Yu Huo Long" and
it was created by craftmaster, Chao Da Hern in mid-Qing dynasty. This
mean that the teapot was created sometime in late 18th century. This
teapot is definitely not Chao's creation because his seal was not
present and the workmanship is real bad. Secondly, in Chao's original
piece, the dragon has got double eye lids but this teapot has got
single eye lid. Thirdly, the original dragon was very vivid as compared
to this lifeless dragon. Chao Da Hern is a famous master potter during
that era. We would expect nothing less than first rate workmanship from
him. It is definitely a copy of the original.
Now, how do we determine if the teapot is actually that old. A old
teapot which have been around for 200 hundred years must have telltale
signs of its age, so how can it be brand new?. Even if it is kept in a
perfect condition, it must have gone thru many owners. So if we
supposed that each owner use it for just a year, the teapot would have
developed a super glossy patina on its outer surface and signs of tea
stains in the inner surface of the teapot. But all these are missing
from this teapot, so do you think that it is really 200 years old.
Definitely not!
Of course, there are arguments that what if the teapot was really kept
in a perfect unused condition? I do not disagreed that it could happen
but if you understand the chinese culture of that period than you
probably would not even think of this possibility. Chinese in the 19th
century are avid tea drinkers. Each teapot (especially those by
masters) are treasured by many scholars and commoners alike. Each and
every teapot is bought for use and never for display because it is not
the tradition.
Next, we look at the selling price. Price is a good indication of what
sort of product you are buying. Nobody price a volvo for $500 or a loaf
of bread for $50 unless you does not know the market value of the
product. The seller bought this for $200 from Sotheby but why would
Sotheby priced a 19th century teapot at $200 when they priced other
late Qing-period teapots being auctioned in Taiwan for more then $5000?
Obiviously something is not right here. Maybe you know the reasons?

Next, is the teapot made of zisha clay? Difficult to say but based on
the photo, it does seems like zisha. However, from the seller we know
that Sotheby auctioned this teapot to him, so it would not be
unreasonable for us to consider the teapot as made from zisha.The
reason is that even if the seller is not well versed in this field,
Sotheby should be able to distinguish between a real and fake Yixing
even if they are not capable of telling its age.
Finally, if the teapot is not a early 19th century teapot, then when on
earth was it made? Based on the clay properties, the workmanship in
certain parts of the teapot and authenticating it with other teapot
connoisseurs, we are sure that this teapot is made in the 1980s.
Above is an example of a modern day "Yu Huo Long" teapot by Master Wang
Yin Xian. Note the difference in details? You can be sure that the
piece done by Chao Da Hern is just as good. Fakes or copies are usually
of bad workmanship because it is crafted by the unskilled.

Fake Teapot 2
This example is similiar to the above but it have a few interesting
points that we can learn from. How do you tell that it is not a 19th
century teapot? First, as I mentioned above, it has no signs of being
used at all. Secondly, we know that there are teapots of such design
during that period which also include lions other than cows. The
critical give away sign however is the location of the air vent hole.
In this teapot it is at the mouth of the cow, but in actual teapots of
that period, the vent hole is either at the leg or near the stomach of
the animal, never at the mouth!
Also, the outline of the cow is poorly crafted as compared to the
original. The fourth factor is the spout. Spouts of teapots in 19th
century are long and narrow but the spout of this teapot is short and
stout, a copy of master craftsman, He Dao Zhong's creation in the
1980s. Last, but not least, is the selling price of this teapot which I
have already discussed above.

Word of Caution
I know that some of you may comment that I can never be sure since I
have not handled the actual teapot. I agreed with that statement but it
depends on the kind of teapot being authenticated. In some cases, even
after analysing the photos I am unable to be 100% sure that it is a
fake or the real stuff, then I will need to handle the teapot. But in
the above examples, the photos are clear enough for me to make a
confident authentication of 90%. Still, my advise for all potential
collectors are: try to handle the actual teapot when making
authentication so that you will learn better.

If you think that authenticating Yixing teapots are a breeze after
reading my other article, then you probably realized now that it is not
easy and requires expert knowledge. However, I can assure you that if
you put in the hardwork and gained the skill to authenticate Yixing
teapots, nothing is gonna beat the enjoyment you get out of
authenticating Yixing teapots.

ALL ABOUT YIXING PURPLE CLAY

Yixing is the pottery capital of China, and is the place where purple
clay originated. It is the hinterland beyond Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing,
Shanghai and Lake Tai. Yixing is a scenic spot with mountains and
streams around; its land is fertile and abundant in produce. It is said
to be the "ancient town of pottery, the world of caves, the green belt
of tea, and the sea of bamboo." Yixing lies within the Asian tropical
zone, but has four distinct seasons which are mild and especially
beneficial for producing pottery
God favored Yixing and granted it the conditions for producing pottery:
a rich resource of purple clay soil lies hidden in the ground of
Yixing. Legends about pottery originating in Yixing abound. About four
to five thousand years ago, towards the end of prehistoric age, our
ancestors had already begun making fired pottery on this very spot. The
period from Shang Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty, geometric pottery and those
with stamped markings appeared along with the early green porcelain.
>From the Qin Dynasty onward up till today, pottery and porcelain have
been heavily produced. Purple clay pottery began in the Northern Song
Dynasty. It flourished during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and is still
thriving today. The efforts of the successive generations of potters
have resulted in many celebrated craftsmen and all types of different
forms of purple clay pottery.
The everyday necessities of the Chinese people include oil, salt,
firewood, rice, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and tea. The Chinese have the
habit of having "tea and rice"' everyday. Tea is consumed before a meal
of rice. Also, when guests visit, it is the custom for hosts to offer
good tea to express hospitality. Tea, in general, is a beverage that no
one can do without. Drinking tea can clear your mind and raise your
spirit, and is good for the health. Therefore, the tea set, especially
the teapot, came to be treasured more and more by the culturally
refined, and through their involvement, purple clay pottery gradually
rose from the level of folk art and developed into the unique national
tradition and cultural art that it is today. And this all happened at
the right time and place as it was destined to.
The first requirement of purple clay pottery is the purple clay soil
which is a mixture of three soils: the purple soil, the green soil
(from the mountains of Yixing) and the red soil. All are from local
mines and are composed of natural minerals. They are hidden between
rocks and ordinary pottery soil, that is why they are sometimes called
the "soil within the rock" and the "soil within the soil." The purple
clay soil is excavated by tunneling, naturally wind-dried, crumbled
into powder, sifted, mixed with the right amount of water, left in a
cool shady place to stale, and pounded (churned in a vacuum), in order
to reach the ideal quality for molding. The three soils are mixed
according to need and the color desired. Then, it is fired at various
temperatures depending on the soil composition. Darker colored clay is
more rich but the color gradations range from sky green, millet, deep
purple, pear skin, cinnabar purple, flowering apple red, green gray,
ink green, to bluish black, etc. There are colors that can be described
as modest purple, delicate red, mature green, chromatic black, and
florid gray, etc., that are truly elegant.

Purple clay soil is a kind of special pottery soil that is very fine
and delicate, and that contains high amounts of iron. Its molecular
structure is different from that of common pottery and porcelain soils.
After being fired at 12000C, the structure becomes like fish scales and
has the ideal rate of density and pores. The surface of a pottery piece
is fine and delicate and does not need to be glazed. When used for
making tea, no chemical reaction will take place. Therefore, using a
purple clay teapot for tea will allow you to savor the full flavor,
color, and aroma of the tea.
The ancients praised tea drinking thus: "water is the mother of tea and
teapot is the father" and "clay teapots are the best: the lid keeps the
steam in and yet does not smother the aroma." Second, purple clay
teapots conduct heat slower so can hold the heat longer, and it doesn't
burn the hand if you touch it. Third, purple clay pottery can be
transferred from cold to hot extremes. On a cold winter's day, you can
directly put it in boiling water or on the fire. Fourth, because the
surface is fine and delicate, the more you use it, the shinier it
becomes, the newer it looks, and the more energy it seems to exude.
Fifth, the colors of the clay are rich and varied, smooth and elegant,
earthy and stable. Purple clay pottery is like wool: thick, snug, neat,
pure, classy; and it is luminous as a piece of antique jade. Because of
its special composition, purple clay is also good for making flower
pots since it can let light through and absorb water, which prevent
roots from rotting. Purple clay is also great for making steam pots
used in cooking delicious food.
Pottery made from purple clay is earthy and refined, and displays the
ingenuity of the craftsman; it is full of cultural flavor
characteristic of the East. The ancients praised that "pearls and jade
can be found everywhere but there is only one soil like that at
Yangxian Xitou." Therefore, one can say that purple clay soil is a
national treasure endowed by the heavens.
The main types of wares made from purple clay are tea sets, wine sets,
dinner sets, writing sets, flower pots, sculptures and decorations.
Among tea sets, there are four types: kuang huo, fang huo, Jin rang
huo, and hua huo. Kuang huo teapots can be any size, circular,
cylindrical, or mallet-shaped; they are especially thick, full and
simple; a craftsman will put in extra effort to make sure they appear
simple, stout, round as pearls and smooth as jade. Fang huo teapots can
be square, octagonal, hexagonal, rectangular, or slanted squares; they
are especially straight and upright, simple, clean, serious, neat and
proper; a craftsman will handle these in a clear-cut and
straightforward manner. Jin rang huo teapots are representations of all
kinds of flowers, such as the chrysanthemum, the sunflower, the plum
blossom, the water chestnut flower, the cherry-apple blossom, etc.; the
lines are always curved and the markings give the feel of order, rhythm
and movement. Hua huo teapot forms are mainly derived from nature such
as the pine, the bamboo, the plum, the vine, trees, gourds, and fruits,
etc. Parts of these natural objects are selected and represented with
exaggeration. To make them more interesting; the flowers or leaves
sculpted or molded onto the body of the teapot must be life-like and
arranged in a reasonable, suitable fashion. They should represent the
poetic in life, the ideal above life, the platonic in nature. Purple
clay pottery has numerous varying forms and styles, and an infinite
number of representations. It is really the great achievement among all
the crafts made for household use.
The various types of purple clay pottery reflect the various types of
people and personalities that exist. They can be described as round and
plump, gentle and full, strong and tough, feminine and slender,
handsome and masculine, aloof and suggestive, uninhibited and
sophisticated, penetrating and calm, subtle and full of presence,
amenable and enjoyable, and are dear to their collectors and owners.

Because purple clay molds are easy to handle, the crafting and
production of purple clay pottery are different from those of other
pottery and porcelain. The past centuries have produced a unique set of
techniques and skills for handling purple clay. For example, when
making a round piece, strips or sheets of clay are luted together into
circular shapes and then beaten with a spatula into the desired shapes
(the da shentong method). For a square piece, the xiang shentong method
is used which involves beating the mold with a spatula into the desired
thickness first and then luting the pieces together; after either
method, detailed work is added to complete the piece. Usually, from
mixing the clay soil to a completed mold, everything is completed by
one person. Therefore, the quality of the craft and its artistic value
are dependent on the skill, artistic background, training, technical
ability, and experience of the craftsman.
A perfect piece of pottery must first have carefully selected material,
which involves knowing what kind of soil to use for which kind of
piece. During the design, one must consider the crafting process,
methods, techniques which include knowing how soft or hard the mold
should be. In the production process, one must understand what changes
will occur and what influence drying and firing has on the piece. Only
in this way can one expect to achieve the desired effect. Only in this
way can purple clay soil and fire be combined to produce special
artistic pieces.
There is another special point about purple clay pottery, and that is
the poetry and calligraphy directly painted or engraved on the pieces.
The earliest examples of this type are from the end of the Ming
Dynasty. Chang Mansheng and Zhu Ziye were the most prominent figures
that left paintings and poetry on teapots. They initiated the
development of art engraved on purple clay pottery, and the saying,
"teapots are made legendary through words and words are made valuable
through teapots."
In recent years, new types of decorations have emerged, and a dazzling
array of decorations and new handicrafts made from purple clay have
captivated admirers and have made purple clay pottery more appealing
than ever before. Purple clay pottery can not only be useful household
items, they are also valuable collectibles. The purple clay teapot is
"the best in the world" for making tea. Its substance and form are
perfectly matched and it is a pleasure to use and to look at. People
say that to make red tea, a deeper teapot should be used, and for green
tea, a shallow one. For work or play, fatigue or stress, and especially
for enjoying magnificent scenery or the quiet of a garden, it is an
incomparable addition.
Purple clay pottery is praised and valued because of its special
artistic form and deep cultural significance. Purple clay pottery is
not only the symbol of Yixing, but also a foremost representative of
Chinese traditional craft, a cultural treasure created and possessed by
all of mankind. The development of cultural art has no borders. To
develop the culture of purple clay pottery, it should be turned to the
whole world and become amenable to all. It should be used and studied
worldwide. History has given us purple clay pottery, and we should take
up the task and responsibility for developing and studying it. This is
a privilege that we have in our time.

TEAPOT CONNOISSEURSHIP 1

People often ask: why are there teapots valued up to tens of thousands
of dollars while others, equally efficient as tea-brewing appliances,
may be worth less than a dollar? This indeed is a difficult question to
answer. Accordingly, the zisha teapot is a possessed of practicability,
craftsmanship and artistry, and is a worthy subject of academic
research, in-depth study and appreciation.

With the direct and indirect involvement of academics, painters and
calligraphers throughout the centuries, the zisha teapot is expanding
in its patronage, arousing in society an ever-increasing
connoisseurship of the zisha teapot.
To a Connoisseur, there is one important point that must not be
confused. The zisha teapot consists of four distinctive classes:
appliances (mass-produced), handicrafts, works of master potters, and
artistic masterpieces. The appliances form the basis of the industry it
is supporting. Its present scale of mass production and cultivating its
artistic development. Manually made by ordinary purple clay, they are
for the teahouse or domestic use. In the history of zisha pottery, the
people involved in the mass production of appliances were always the
greatest in number. Thus the volume produced is also the largest with
product quality the least admirable. Out of the small number of
different models, each may be produced in the order of tens, of
thousands. None of these, however, is considered worthy of study and
collection (except the' works of a few. past masters who specialized in
and produced appliances). For example, during the forties, there
appeared several batches, which bore the rectangular stamp that looks
like Shi DaBin. These are often mistaken for past master's works of but
in fact are not related to him at all.
As for the handicrafts, it must be noted that it is only with a
contingent of skilled labor that we can select out of it some better
craftsmen who would refine their technique and master the zisha
tradition. Works produced by these craftsmen possess both functional
and artistic merits. Though limited by their individual experiences,
cultural backgrounds, and artistic quality, they are equipped with
elaborate craftsmanship.

Generally speaking, their works are just imitations of traditional
forms (not expressing their own artistic features), but may sometimes
be creations of their own that are pleasing to zisha novices. Although
an item attractive at first sight may not necessarily remain so after a
prolonged study, such products can be classified as handicrafts worthy
of collecting.
Next we come to the masterworks of master potters. By master potters,
we mean the few most celebrated masters this field with fame obtained
through competition. Based on the works of each participant, this
competition is fair to all concerned. A master potter is not just
someone with the name but someone with the real quality. The name does
not guarantee that one's works are good while without does not mean
that no good works can come from him. Without masterworks no one can be
called a master potter. Masterworks become less with the decrease of
master potters. Anyway, masterworks are important part of the teapot
connoisseurship and
FinaIly, there is the artistic masterpiece which defies definition in
just a few-words. Perhaps, I shall leave this to creators, patrons, and
connoisseurs for their thorough study and discussion. No teapot
connoisseurship is possible without a substantial collection.
Individual collection shall vary in approach and taste. I see no reason
why a standard should be forced. Large in amount comprehensive in
models, wide in scope, superior in quality, specialized in depth, as
well as restricted to only the big ones or the miniature ones. Any of
these can be a collector's objective. Learning teapot connoisseurship
with your collection and then expanding your collection through
connoisseurship will surely afford you infinite pleasure.

TEAPOT CONNOISSEURSHIP 2

The art of purple clay sinks deep and stretches wide in the cultural
domain. It puts together, tea ceremony, flower arranging, literature,
calligraphy, painting, metallurgy, handicraft and technology. It takes
articles from everyday life and raises them to the realm of aesthetics,
and in the process, they become art objects of deep significance.
The art and craft of purple clay pottery is not only extraordinary, it
is also full of significance. It isn't just made up of clay and space;
its main composition is culture, deep traditional culture; how else
could it possess such deep artistic attraction, how else could it be so
contagious?

Although the art and technique of purple clay pottery involve different
elements, the two must exist as one and not be separated. Technique is
the basis of materials, and art is the existing energy. Technique is
the high or low production standard, and without a high technical
standard for the method of production, the result would not have
strength in expression. If a piece of the highest caliber in design is
made roughly with low quality production, it cannot express what is
intended in the design. If the best technique is applied but the
craftsman lack artistic intelligence, the result would be a polished
piece, perfect only in form, and would lack flavor, spirit, and the
overall quality would still be low.
To truly appreciate a piece, one must observe it and appreciate it
through its form, spirit, energy, movement, rhythm and ingenuity.

Form:
the shape of the ware, whether it's geometric, derived from nature, or
closely modeled on natural objects, no matter the form, they all have
the language of shapes. This language has no sound; it tells of the
shape of an object created by molding. This means that every piece of
ware is carefully thought out and planned since the result must have
meaning, or else it would lack artistic value. A meaningful piece holds
fascination, captures the imagination, and must be of a shape that has
gone through refinement or transformation.

Spirit:
every piece must have "spirit." "Spirit" is the hardest to describe in
words. It is the expression of artistic force from within the piece; it
is the inherent appeal of a piece; its spirit is brought about through
refinement. We usually regard guang huo (geometric form) types as
simple and clean in shape. If the shape is round, its physical mass
must be balanced; it must not be overly rotund and the circular lines
must be perfectly curved, etc.... Of course, geometric forms are also
changeable, the lines flow and extend with rhythm to reflect the ware's
intrinsic rhythm in its spirit. Carefully made pieces are not thin,
hard as rock, and lacking in spirit. If the four sides of a square
shape is measured for evenness when making a square, the final product
will likely be negative and the piece will lack vitality. Therefore,
squares must have flesh and strength. Forms derived from nature, and
forms closely model on natural objects must express the living spirit
of the object it represents.

One must first grasp the object's particular shape, its way of growth.
Objects such as the pine, bamboo, plum, cypress, peach, gourds, fruits,
flowers, birds, fish and insects are commonly seen by everyone which
means these must carry the feeling of familiarity. This means that to
make any of these into teapots, appropriate elements of nature must be
chosen as the basic shape or as a decorative part on a teapot. What is
represented must appear more than what they are in reality since the
art of pottery is to extract the essence of what is beautiful in these
objects, to produce natural beauty in concentrated form. It is not to
make exact copies that are dead and dry. It is to seek the heart and
soul of nature's vitality. That is how each piece of ware can express a
"spirit."

Energy:
this refers to inherent appeal and atmosphere which must be homogenous
throughout a piece of ware. To be refined, its pose must be natural,
moving, yet original, especially for a teapot since one must be able to
express in a mass as small as the teapot, the greatness and
magnificence of a tree or bamboo, the fervent growth of a branch,
dauntless and brimming with energy

Movement:
forms derived from nature and geometric forms have their differences.
Forms derived from nature must display the living and growing state of
the object represented. However, these forms must not go beyond the
limits of living and growing and represent something beyond or
incongruous with nature. Geometric forms also involve an infinite
number of changes. As the saying goes, roundness is not in the
substance, and square-ness is not in the form. Geometric forms are
usually very regular with a bit more or less so here or there. For
some, the simpler the shape, the harder it is to make. Geometric forms
depend on the appropriate use of points, lines and surfaces for shapes
to be rich, natural and harmonious.

Rhythm:
a piece must have a balanced combination of form, spirit, energy,
movement and rhythm. Adding a rhythm to its movement will make the
lines flow more gracefully. The arrangement of the hard and soft, top
and bottom, left and right should be continuously uniform and
complementary, which should make the piece even more fascinating.

Ingenuity:
an art piece of purple clay must have ingenuity in its: design, choice
of materials, production, and craftsmanship. During the production
process, one must pay attention to using different methods, since
special pieces require special methods, including the creation and
usage of particular tools for a particular piece. In addition, one must
be able to manage successfully the entire production process and its
various segments. This implies a technical understanding of the
process. Competence in the members of the production team is also a
major factor in determining the success of the wares produced.
The art of purple clay pottery uses the traditional style as the main
theme. The wares are practical as tools and as decoration. They are
rich in significance and their forms can exist in myriad ways.

All types of wares can be found in various florid styles and each type
expresses a unique feature. The different types are a reflection of the
cultures found among the people of the East. Also, the individual wares
exhibit the artistic styles and discipline of the craftsmen involved.

In essence, to appreciate a piece of purple clay pottery, one must not
only look at how well it is made. What is most important is whether the
piece reflects the form, spirit, energy, movement, and rhythm of the
object it represents, which show the level of the craftsman's artistry.
The standard of quality lies in the degree of thoroughness in
production. To fully grasp the art and technique of purple clay
requires more than a day or even a hundred days. Like calligraphy,
which involves continuous learning, enlightenment only comes after
hundreds and thousands of trials and tribulations. A perfect piece of
purple clay pottery doesn't come easily and is highly precious and
valuable. The success of an artistic piece can be likened to being
pregnant for ten months and then delivering in one day. In the garden
of various art forms, there is music, which is so beautiful that people
never tire of hearing it. There is also, in the garden, the art of
purple clay which has also been passed down through the centuries as
connoisseurs collect, treasure, and guard jealously purple clay pieces,
and never tire of enjoying them. The long and continuous history of
purple clay pottery and its popularity has proven its worth. Now, we
should continue to uphold and develop this exceptional traditional art
form. We should take in what can nourish us in our time to raise our
individual quality and talent, to widen our vision and our mind. We
should create new designs and produce art pieces from purple clay which
are in step with the times.

HOW TO CULTIVATE YOUR YIXING TEAPOT

STEP 1
Before using your prized yixing teapot, checked how whether the air
vent is clear of blockage. Test the flow of water and if it is not
smooth, clear the holes inside the spout of any debris. Finally
examined whether there are clay deposits within the teapot, which if
present can be easily removed by scrapping it with a wooden or bamboo
piece.

STEP 2
Boil a pot of water and place the teapot into the water carefully. Boil
it for 30 to 40 minutes. Removed the teapot and soak it in a basin of
warm water for a few minutes and then let it air dry.

STEP 3
Now place some tea leaves (any tea leaves will do) into the previously
boiled pot of water and together with the teapot boiled it for an hour.
Rinse the teapot and let it air dry naturally.

STEP 4
Before using the teapot, determine which tea leaves you are gonna brew
in it. Do not brew different kind of tea leaves in the same teapot.
Yixing clay are very porous that's why it is such a good vessel for
brewing tea as it able to retain the as well as trap tea particles in
these pores. With frequent usage, more and more tea particles are trap
and every time you brew tea, fragrance is released which when mixed
with the current brew makes the tea taste better than if it was brewed
in a new teapot.
After you have determine the tea to use for this teapot, do not start
using the teapot yet, but use it as a "gong-dao" (justice) pot where
tea is poured into it before being poured into tea cups.

STEP 5
Every time you brew tea, use the teapot as "gong-dao" pot and always
pour the first infusion (which we normally discart) over the exterior
of the teapot. If possible, reserved the last infusion (which is
already diluted) to rinse the exterior of the teapot. This enables the
tea oil to stain the exterior of the teapot and helps patina to grow.

STEP 6
At the end of each session, fill the teapot with used tea leaves and
water and leave it overnight or even till the next session. Before the
next session, clear the tea leaves and repeat Step 5 again. The teapot
should be ready for brewing after 3 months.

STEP 7
When you start brewing tea with this teapot, always rinsed the teapot
(from cap down) with the first infusion. At the end of a session, use a
tea cloth to wipe and polish the exterior surface of the teapot.
Continue doing it for another 3 months and I guarantee that a rich
patina will grow on the surface of the teapot.
Your teapot will start to look lovely and somehow you can swear that
the clay seems very much different compared to when you first bought
the teapot.
The above is what tea connoisseurs meant when they say "yang hu" or
"cultivating a teapot". Enjoy yourself!

PREPARING THE TEAPOT FOR BREWING
(THE TAIWAN METHOD)

What is the first thing you do after purchasing a Yixing Teapot? Brew
tea with it? Definitely not! A new teapot need to be treated or
"prepare" so that the tea brewed in it will be delicious rather than
being overwhelmed by the clay smell.

The method describe below is known as the Wu's method of preparing
teapots. It was devised by Wu Ju Lin of Taiwan and created a strong
following since its introduction in Taiwan a couple of years ago.

To lower cost of production, zisha clay was pulverized into powder form
with a machine and this helps to speed up its molecular integration
process during firing. Despite this, air cavities unique to zisha are
still present in the finish teapot. But because of the difference in
molecular integration process of large and small clay particles, some
of these minute particles got trapped in the air cavities. With the
reduction of air cavities, the teapot will not be able to absorb as
much tea particles and the cultivation process will be much slower.
Another possibility of clay particles getting trapped in the air
cavities is the result of insufficient curing time frame for clay prior
to use.

After you have cleaned the surface of the teapot, including the
internal, immersed the teapot in plain tap water for 3 days then put it
into a pot of water and boil for an hour. Removed the teapot and let it
cool down. Using the same pot of water, boiled the teapot again for an
hour. It is best to invert the teapot in order to let the boiling
bubble goes over the entire teapot, internal and external.

Removed the hot teapot from the boiling water and put it into the
freezer section of the refrigerator immediately. Within half an hour, a
layer of frost will form on the surface of the teapot. Put the frosty
teapot back into a pot of boiling water and boiled it for an hour and
then put it into the freezer again for half an hour before taking out
to boil again. Repeat the entire process for 5 times or up to 7 times
if time is available.

Using a new pot of water, add in some tealeaves and bring it to boil
for about 10 minutes. Remove the tealeaves and place the teapot, after
being freeze and boiled for 5 times, into the pot and boil for 3 hours.
The process is complete once you have removed the teapot and clean it.

The method may seem bizarre or even dangerous for the teapot, but the
reasoning behind it is pretty simply. When the teapot is hot, it
expands and breaks the air cavities within the clay. The freezing
process froze the minute clay particles within the air cavities and the
repeated expansion and contraction process forces these clay particles
out of the air cavities, thereby clearing it. The last step of boiling
the pot for 3 hours in tea allows the emptied air cavities to absorbed
tea particles which helps in cultivating the teapot and at the same
time removed clay smell.

How much difference this method does in "opening-up" the teapot to
absorb tea particles is not proven scientifically, but with its strong
following in Taiwan, there may be some truth to it. On the other hand
experts from other regions are divided over the effectiveness of this
method and the principles behind it.

However, if you are game enough, why not give it a try?
However, one word of warning - if you treasure your teapots, do not
experiment as teapots have been known to crack or break under such
extreme measures. TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

For those of you who are interested in trying out this method but
afraid of damaging your teapot, here is a true account by Logan who has
subjected her teapot to the above treatment and emerged
............................Read on:

"Well, the process as described in your page on preparing a pot in the
Taiwanese manner has been completed right through to the final rinsing
after the 3-hour boiling and both the teapot and lid appear to be still
sound. Obviously there's no way of telling whether the taste of the tea
is improved without comparison to an identical teapot seasoned in a
different manner.

There's no scientific reason why the alternative heat and freezing
should damage the pot unless it was inherently flawed in the beginning.
The usual assumption is that the frost caused by the freezing of the
water left from the boiling would crack the pot as ice will break up
concrete. This analysis is flawed though as the ice involved in such
fractures is usually both thicker and in a crack that was larger at the
beginning than should be the case with a teapot.

My experience is that the water on the outside of the teapot evaporates
almost instantly as the pot is transported to the freezer simply
because the pot itself is so hot when first taken out of the water. As
a result, there is just a very bare haze of frost after half an hour of
freezing -- certainly not enough to cause damage. On the way back into
the boiling water, the pot almost warms up to room temperature on its
path back into the water because the teapot has no water inside. This
happened even though my freezer is no more than two feet from the
burner with the boiling water.

Now, this preparation process has to be making a difference -- if it
makes any difference at all -- on the virtually invisible level. If a
pot is destroyed by this process, I'd almost prefer that result to
spending months getting the pot ready for brewing to find the fault at
that point.

The only visible difference that I see is that the teapot's original
medium moss color has become somewhat darker. No change in color
happened until the final 3-hour boiling. This darkening would occur
just as readily with tea poured over the outside regularly as described
in your cultivation page. The final boiling just accelerated the
process"

The History of Yixing Purple Tea Pot
About the Origin of the Yixing Purple Tea Pot

Yixing, a picturesque city, is located on the Taihu Lake. The city is
famous for its plentiful products, fertile land, rich resources and
outstanding talents. Of the products, the most charming is ceramics.
Based on the textual and archaeological researches in neolithic age as
far 5000 years ago, the forefathers of Yixing were engaged in the
farming and the pottery making. Recent years have often found some
ruins of ancient pottery workshops and kilns in its territory, in
Yixing Ding Shu Town, There are 5 neolithic site (5000 years ago), 3
Han Dynasty kiln site (Before A.D. 220), 3 Six Dynasty kilns (A.D. 420
- A.D. 581), 9 Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty kilns (A.D. 581 - A.D. 907),
20 Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty kilns (A.D. 960-A.D. 1368), 60 Ming
Dynasty, Qing Dynasty kilns (A.D. 1368-A.D. 1911).

Yixing is a famous tea area in ancient China, one kind of Yixing tea
(called Yun Wu Tea) was as palace tea in early Tang Dynasty. The
production was over 5000 kgs in the Tang Dynasty. There were ten
thousands tea workers for pick tea every year, there were 30 tea
factories, and China's most famous tea master, Lu Yu came to Yixing for
drink tea time after time.

The most important diathesis is that rare purple clay was found in the
mountain of Ding Shu Town in Yixing. The purple clay have very unique
characteristics, it is the best material for tea pot on earth. In 1976,
a Song Dynasty dragon kiln was found on Yiang Jiao Mountain of Ding Shu
Town, many purple clay fragmentary purple tea pot pieces were
unearthed. It is also affirmed by Song Dynasty poems, some Song
Dynasty's poem mentioned purple clay tea pot, so it is accepted that
Yixing purple clay tea pot was produced in Song Dynasty midterm time,
but some specialists thought it was produced in Ming Dynasty. Mr Zhou
Gao Qi, a writer who lived in the Ming Dynasty, wrote , (PS: Yixing was
called "Yang Xian" in ancient time>>, this is the earliest book that
specially described the origin and technology features of yixing purple
clay tea pot, with purple clay material. To the origins of purple tea
pot, he told us: "one white foot monk who live in Jing Sha temple in
Ding Shu, he liked study pottery with potters, slowly originally
created simple and unique tea pot with purple clay for his own to enjoy
it (PS: there are many temples in ancient China, many monks enjoyed tea
using bowls there, but it is very regrettable that people cannot find
their tea pots), Mr. Wu Yu Shan, a Jing Si (college student) in Zhen De
Year Ming Dynasty (1514), come to Jing Sha temple for his study, Gong
Cun, his servant went there also, in carefree time, Gong Cun study make
purple tea pot under the monk, he imitated an old tree by the temple
and made a unique Gong Cun pot, (PS: This pot is collected in China
History Museum now, the cover has been lost, the cover was added by
Qing Dynasty Master Wang Yu Ling, so people think Gong Cun is founder
of yixing purple tea pot.

The Developing of Yixing Purple Tea Pot in the Ming Dynasty

In 1965, a purple tea pot was unearthed in an ancient tomb in Nang Jing
city, the man buried in the tomb is Wu Jing, who was a eunuch of
Ministry of Rites in Jia Jing Year Ming Dynasty (1533). In 1991, one
purple tea pot was unearthed in an ancient well in the famous Nan Chan
temple in Wuxi, this tea pot is very alike with that pot in Wu Jing
tomb on the purple material and made technology, many porcelains of
Zheng De year Ming Dynasty were unearthed together with this pot.

In early Ming Dynasty, the most famous masters are Zhao Liang, Dong
Han, Yuan Chang, Shi Peng. They lived in Jia Jing year and Long Qing
year in Ming Dynasty. Main design is Ti Liang Tea Pot.
>From Wan Lie Year Ming Dynasty to Ming Dynasty last stage, many masters
were produced in China, the most famous is Mr. Shi Da Bing (Shi Peng's
son), who has a very high status at that time, it wasn't easy to get
his pot, for even a great officer.

It was found only 7 pieces in China belonging to really Shi Da Bing's
tea pots (don't need argue it), there are only 15-20 pieces abroad, Shi
Da Bing was very strict in making tea pots, pots were broken if they
didn't satisfy him. Many masters copied Shi Da Bing's pots in Qing
Dynasty, including some famous great masters.

Second famous master is Hui Meng Cheng in Ming Dynasty, other great
masters are Li Mao Ling, Li Zhong Fang, Xu You Quan, Ou Zheng Cun, Shao
Weng Jing, Shao Wen Ying, Jiang Bo Kua, Cheng Xing Qing, Cheng Guang
Pu, Cheng Jun Qing, Cheng Zi Qi, etc.

Tea culture changed in Ming Dynasty also, the people replaced tea bowl
with tea pot, replaced boiled tea with tea steeped in hot water,
replaced the fermented tea cake with the bulk fresh tea, replaced big
tea pot of early Ming Dynasty with smaller tea pot due to small tea pot
better keep the tea's fragrance. Most of the people think purple tea
pot cut down those tea pot of silver, stannum, copper. The purple tea
pot have become the need of the literati and scholar-bureaucrats, many
of them started to collect the purple tea pots.

The thriving prosperity of purple tea pots from the Qing Dynasty to the
early years of the Repbulic of China

Qing Dynasty is the golden era of the purple tea pot, although it is
not as good as the porcelain tea ware from Jing De Town, but its
designs are richer than porcelain tea ware, showing its unique
individuality and elegant demeanour. The decoration technology of the
purple tea pot arrived at a high level, besides carved calligraphy,
there are clay painting, carved painting, colour glaze painting,
bas-relief, stack clay painting, stick clay painting, mill clay
painting, inlay clay, inlay gold, hollow out, bind up gold, bind up
silver, bind up lacquer, burnish, etc. More purple tea pots have
entered to the imperial palace as the articles of tribute in early Qing
Dynasty. (In fact, purple tea pots have already entered to the palace
in Wan Lie year Ming Dynasty (1570), because of one tea pot by Shi Da
Bing made was found in the Imperial Palace)

Kang Xi, one of the earliest emperors in Qing Dynasty, he are very
liked very much purple tea pot and tea bowl, but he liked to add colour
enamel on it to make them more showy, and he refused the seal of makers
on the purple tea pot, he allowed only the title of the emperor's
reign. This rule was continued by Yong Zheng emperor and Qian Long
emperor, so you will not see the seal of any maker to the palace purple
tea pot in early Qing Dynasty, only have the title of an emperor's
reign.

Yong Zheng emperor were very interested in the designs of purple tea
pot, he commanded himself to imitate the designs of purple tea pot to
make porcelain tea ware, silver tea ware, copper tea ware, (it was
proved by the original record in Yong Zheng 11 year, No.3360), although
Yong Zheng emperor reigned only for 13 years, but there are many
Registers about purple tea pot in his record.

Most of the palace purple tea pots are from Qiang Long emperor era,
Qiang Long emperor liked to drink tea in his whole life, even when he
went on his six time tour of inspection. He said ever: "The emperor
cannot stop tea to any day"), so he liked more purple tea pots, he
ordered to carve his poem on the purple tea pot, so most of the palace
purple tea pot showed Qian Long's poem on them in Qian Long era. Qian
Long emperor ordered also to make special tea ark for holding purple
tea ware when on tour. Qiang Long emperor advocated his people to use
purple tea pot, so purple tea pot were very fashionable in Qiang Long
era and for a long time after Qian Long.

After Qiang Long, more purple tea pots entered the palace, it was no
longer restricted to the seal of makers, so you can easily find many
purple tea pots with the seal of famous great master in the Imperial
Palace among those palace purple tea pots that were made after Qian
Long emperor's time.

In Kang Xi emperor's 24 year (1685) reign, Kong Xi emperor agreed make
business with overseas countries, so purple tea pot export to Europe
with Chinese tea, quickly purple tea pot was attracted and welcomed by
European people, they praised it as "Red Porcelain", early or late,
Portugaler, Hollander, German all made their pottery tea ware copy of
this "Red Porcelain", in 1711, Mr. Bo Te Ge, one famous potter from
Germany, succeded to make 2000 pcs red pottery tea pot imitate yixing
purple teapot, and wrote disquisition ,There is one Yixing Purple tea
pot that was collected in the state museum of Denmark, which was used
by the king of Denmark in 1674. Yixing purple tea pot was exported to
Japan, East-South Asia, Central America etc.

In early days of Qing Dynasty, the most famous great master is Mr.
Cheng Ming Yuan, it was recorded in by Wu Qian in 1786 (PS: Yixing is
called "Yang Xian in Ancient), Wu Qian think that Cheng Ming Yuan's tea
pot is the best in one hundred years history, he exceeded all tea pots
of three era, it was equal with Shi Da Bing. It has been proved, the
carved calligraphy on the Cheng Ming Yuan's tea pots were written by
famous calligrapher Mr. Cao Qian Rang, this modus operandi was
continued up to now all along, many famous literators, painters, and
politicians like to write their epigraph on the purple tea pot for rise
it's value. Even they invited some great master to their home for
making purple tea pot for them, let the masters enjoy those antique
ones they collected.

Other great masters are Zheng Nin Hou, Wang Nan Ling, Yu Rong, Shao Yu
Ting, Shao Xi Mao, Cheng Ying Qian, Cheng Han Wen, Yang Ji Cu, Zhang
Huai Reng, Yang Ji Yuan, Yang You Lan, Shao Ji Zu, Shao De Xing, Cheng
Weng Bo, Cheng Weng Ju, Cheng Ci Wai, Xu Weng Long etc.

In the medium-term and later period in Qing Dynasty, the most exponent
is Man Sheng pot that was made in cooperation with Cheng Man Sheng and
Yang Peng Nian. Yang Peng Nian made pot, epigraphed by Cheng Man Sheng
who was a famous calligrapher and painter, so the "Man Sheng pot" was
very rare then and afterward, Yang Bao Nian (Yang Peng Nian's brother)
and Yang Feng Nian (Yang Peng Nian's sister) help Yang Peng Nian made
"Man Sheng Pot", usually Cheng Man Sheng's seal is on the bottom of the
pot, the seal of Yang Peng Nian is on the bottom of the cover and
handle, his seal is smaller than Cheng Man Sheng's. We think it is not
candid to Yang Peng Nian who a famous master.

Another great master is Shao Da Heng, his famous tea pot is the Eight
Diagrams bundle bamboo pot and fish dragon pot, Mr. Huang Yu Ling is a
outstanding master after Shao Da Heng.

Other masters are Wu Yue Ting, Ge Ming Xiang, Feng Cai Xia, Deng Kui,
Jiang Yu Ling, Zhu Shi Mei, Shao Er Quan, Sheng Xi, Shao She Da, Shao
You Ting, He Xing Zhou, Wu A Kun, Sheng Rui Tian, Jing Shi Hun, Fan Da
Sheng, Cheng Bo Ting, Fan Die En, Cheng Shou Fu, Jiang Wan Feng, Jiang
Zheng Xian, Shi Bao Fen etc.

On the last stage of Qing Dynasty to the early days of the Repbulic of
China, it is a prosperous period to yixing purple tea pot, some ethical
capitalists start to replace the feudal household, mainly in Shanghai.
Those dealers appeared in Shanghai, for dealing yixing purple tea pot,
they made-order purple tea pot in Yixing, as a result, some great
masters were come forward.

The most accomplished are Cheng Shou Zheng, Yu Guo Liang, and Pei Shi
Ming, Cheng Shou Zheng's De ball pot and archaize pot were took gold
award on the Panama International Exhibition in 1919, he is the first
master who took gold award internationally in purple history. Through
the hard work by zisha pottery artists and masters of different
generations, the zisha pottery tea pot present their rich culture and
artistic quality to world and gain very great prestige by showing their
special charm. For example, at the beginning of the 20th century, they
were awarded first prize at Panama International Exposition, and
excellence and gold prize at Chicago Exposition, London Arts Exhibition
and Philadelphia International Arts Exposition.

It is developmental still to purple tea pot before the War of
Resistance Against Japan(1937), according to the record, there are 40
sites dragon kilns for special fire purple tea pot in the aera of Ding
Shan, Shu Shan in 1919, it rised to 63 site in 1929, it rised again to
76 sites in 1936, 1936 is the blossomest year in the period of the
Repbulic of China, the fired kiln time was 4740 time for one year,
produced two million pieces of purple tea pots. Purple tea pot's shops
were set up in many cities, such as Shanghai, Hang Zhou, Wuxi, Tiang
Jing, Qing Dao etc. cities. Even some branch stores were set up in
Japan, Singapore, th Philipines. They main merchants were Cheng Ding He
Company, Wu De Sheng Company, ie. Hua Xuan Company, Ge De Company, and
Li Yong Company. There are two seals at least to those purple tea pots
in this period, one is the seal of maker, another is the seal of the
shop.

The status after 1937

When the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937), yixing purple tea pot
product was destroyed, many masters have to go into exile, most kilns
were in desolation.

After 1949, the people were liberated, the product of the yixing purple
tea pot was renewed, many masters returned to yixing, the state
factories were set up for special produce purple tea pots, the designs
of the purple tea pot grow to hundreds kinds, many excellent craftsmans
were appeared, the most famous great master is Mr Gu Jing Zhou
(1915-1992), one of his purple tea pot was sold out on USD65,000 on
Macao in 1997, this is the highest price to one purple tea pot on the
modern times. Mr Gu Jing Zhou is appellatived as "leading scholar of
the times"

Another famous great master is Mrs Jiang Rong (1915-), who the most
famous master live in Yixing now. Her purple tea pot was the State
Department premier'gift when visited to overseas in 1957.

Other great masters are Xu Xou Tang, Xu Hang Tang, Wang Yian Xian, Lu
Yao Cheng, Tan Quan Hai, they are the rule China industrial arts great
masters by the China State Department awarded. The price of their tea
pot is over USD1,000 at least! From 1980 up to now, Yixing, the artists
of older generation, with the vigor of their youth still existing, make
their artworks still richer in substances and forms, while the young
and mid-aged artists never stop making exploration and creation in
styles and shapes, and this presents one vast panorama of prosperity in
Yixing's ceramic business, like a hundred flowers blossoming in a
garden

The Production and Development of Yixing Teapot

The production and development of Yixing tea pot which form the major
type of Yixing purple clay tea pot are closely related to the Chinese
custom of tea drinking that has persisted for more than one thousand
years.

China is the homeland of tea and in the early periods, the Chinese had
started the planting and usage of tea. Tongyue (Contract for a Boy
Servant) by Wang Bao of the Western Han dynasty, Shilun (Discussion on
Food) by Hua Tuo of the late Eastern Han dynasty, Feng Shi Wenjianji (A
Record of Things Heard and Seen by Feng) by Feng Yan, Chajing (Classic
of Tea) by Lu Yu, Pipaxing (Ode of Pipa) by Bai Juyi of the Tang
dynasty, Hingzhou Ketan (Discourse on the Floating lslands) by Zhu Yu,
and Dongling Menghualu (Dream of Prosperity at the Eastern Capiyal) by
Meng Yuanlao of the Song dynasty, etc. contain information of tea trade
and tea drinking. People began to realize that tea not only stops
thirst, but also stimulates one's consciousness. Merchants travelled
several hundred miles to engage in tea trade and on the market, there
were tea houses where customers could just put down a coin and take the
drink. Preparation methods for tea drinking include 'cooking
tea','brewing tea' and 'infusing tea', and it became very popular in
the society. The wares related to tea drinking include tea-cups,
tea-bowls, tea whisker, tea-grinder, hot water vase, tea vase,
water-container, flower vases and so on4. In the realm of teapot, it
was said that Su Dongpo had once designed the 'Dongpo teapot',which was
a kind of large teapot with overhead handle. Coming to the Ming
dynasty, at the area where the Han people resided, natural dry form of
loose tea leaves and tea buds replaced the production of tea cake or
tea plaster; the process of tea preparation changed to brewing method
and teapot became the principal tea ware. In the early Ming dynasty,
the size of teapot was still quite large but it gradually became
smaller in later times. In particular, the teapots used in preparing
the 'Gongfu tea' in the Fujian and Guangdong regions is characterized
by its small size. In Volume 2 of Yangxian Mingtaolu (Record of Famous
Pottery Wares from Yangxian), a record of tea drinking is extracted
from Taiyang Baiyongzhu (Taiyang's Explanation on a Hundred Poems) by
Zhou Shu, which reads "In tasting tea, people of the province (Taiwan)
prepare tea by themselves, and before drinking, they smell the
fragrance first, while the small teapot by Gongchun ismost esteemed."

The popularity of tea drinking among the upper classes had created
significant impact. Records in Chapter 65 of Sanguozhi (History of the
Three Hingdoms), Guangya by Zhang Yi of the Wei dynasty, Shanfu
fingshoulu (Recorde by a Cooker) by Yang Hua of the Tang dynasty,
Yunxian Zaji (Miscellaneous Records of Yunxian) by Feng Zhi, and
Chapter 867 of Taiping Yulan ([A Book Prepared at the] Taipingtianguo
Period of the Song Dynasty for Emperor's Reading) by Zhang Fang of the
Song dynasty show that the Emperor of the Wu Kingdom, Sun Hao; Emperor
Huizong of the Song dynasty, Zhao Ji, men of letters of the Song
dynasty like Su Shi and Lu You were all fond of drinking tea. As early
as the Tang dynasty, treatises on tea tasting had already appeared and
tea ware was also discussed. The Song people were fend of
"tea-contesting" and they paid special attention to the production and
colours of tea wares5. The Ming people opined that "The small teapots
are much esteemed. Each guest should bring his own teapot and prepare
tea by himself in order to get the pleasure. Why? The reason is that
small teapot would keep the fragrance and the taste of tea would not
loseo". Besides. there were other theories which read "If one tastes
tea by himself, he would attain the true spirit, if two people taste
tea together, they would get the pleasure, if three people taste tea
together, they would just appreciate the taste of tea, however, if
seven or eight people share tea, it would be known as wasting tea"; and
"tea drinking is most suitable for those engaged in self cultivation7".
Such theories were regarded as treatises that reveal the true essence
of tea drinking. The development of theories on tea tasting had no
doubt influenced and promoted the production of tea wares. And purple
clay wares form the prominent major part of tea wares.

Purple clay tea wares were sent as tributary objects to the imperial
cuurt in the Qing dynasty. The National Palace Museum of Taipei has
collected some round and square purple clay teapots decorated with
flowers of the four seasons in colour enamels, which bear the Kangxi
mark. Archives of the lmperial Workshopshow that on the twentieth day
of October of the fourth year of Yongzheng reign (1726), "six large and
small Yixing teapots were taken out". Documents dated to the fifth day
of October of the twenty-third year of Qianlong reign (1758) record
that the Suzhou Textile Workshop had sent in "four pieces of Yixing
teapots" . The Palace Museum, Beijing has collected a purple clay
teapot which has a Qianlong mark at the base and a set of tea wares
with a container, which was designated for the use of Emperor Qianlong
when he was on tour. The teapot and tea caddy inscribed with imperial
poems by Emperor Qianlong are now illustrated in this catalogues.

The production of Yixing tea wares is also associated with the demand
from overseas markets.

In the late Ming period, when the Portugal Eastern india Company was
engaged in trading Chinese tea to Western Europe, purple clay wares
were also exported to Holland, which aroused the interest of the
Europeans, and they called such wares 'red porcelain wares', 'red mud
wares' or 'red clay wares'. About 1680, the Dutch potter Ary de Milde
started to imitate such wares. In 1690, the English potter Elers also
began to imitate purple clay wares by using red clay in order to
satisfy the demand for tea wares from the English upper classes who
were fond of drinking tea. Mottahedeh of New York, USA has collected a
square teapot decorated with openwork design of tree branches and plum
flowers and a teapot with twin-spouts made by Zheng Ninghou. The latter
is a teapot with overhead handle and the interior of it is divided into
two compartments for oontaining two different kinds of tea. The
twin-spouts have silver fittings, and the sides of which are
respectively carved with English words 'green' (for green tea) and
'Bohea' (i.e. Wuyi, a place at Fujian, famous for tea production). In
Japan, purple clay tea wares were imported in the late Edo period and
teapots with the marks 'Hui Mengchen' and 'Chen Mingyuan' were most
treasured. In the mid 19th century, under the direction of Dr. Hirano
Tadashi, potters attempted to produce purple clay wares at Tokoname. In
the Meiji era, the potter at Tokoname, koie Takasu invited Jin Shiheng,
a native of Suzhou, who excelled in producing purple clay tea wares to
teach his techniques in Japan. Among Yixing purple clay wares, there
were items designated for export. For instance, the extant tea wares
with the mark 'gongju' (Tributary Bureau) were manufactured for export
to Thailand and they bear marks like 'Tianqi gongju', 'Shunzhi gongju',
etc. These export wares were still produced in the 19th century and in
the Guangxu reign, Qing dynasty, a large number of purple clay wares
were exported to Japan, Mexico and other countries in South America.

Owing to the special qualities of purple clay ware, they were mostly
made into tea wares in history. The development histroy of purple clay
tea wares is in fact the major part of that of purple clay wares.

Men of letters of the Song dynasty like Ouyang Xiu and Mei Yaochen had
composed poetic verses praising the 'purple vases', which suggest that
purple clay wares might have first appeared in the Northern Song
dynasty and won appreciation of the upper classes. In July 1976,
accumulated layers of wasted sherds from ancient kiln sites were
discovered at Yangjiaoshan, Dingshu County, Yixing, which include some
coarse purple clay sherds of the early periods in purplish-red colour.
These sherds show that the production techniques at that time were of
low standard and eminent firing defects were found. Most of these
products were teapots after restoration of the sherds. Studies reveal
that the upper dating limit of the Yangjiaoshan kiln would not be
eariier than the mid Northern Song dynasty. It prospered in the
Southern Song dynasty and gradually declined in the mid Ming dynastyo.
Such a discovery might testify that the manufacturing of purple clay
wares startedin the Northern Song dynasty.

The history of purple clay wares as shown in historical records dated
back to the Zhengde period of the Ming dynasty, when Gongchun learned
to produce teapot from the monks at the Jinsha Monastery. According to
the book Yangxian Minghuxi (Chronology of Teapois fiom Yangxian)
compiled by Zhou Gaoqi in the Tianqi period, which is the first
publication on purple clay wares, Gongchun's teapots were already very
rare at that time. There are two extant recorded teapots by Gongchun:
one is said to have been collected by Wu Dazheng and later acquired by
Chu Nanqiang. The lower part of the handle of this teapot is inscribed
'Gongchun'. The lid was added by potter Pei Shimin and Huang Binhong
termed this teapot as 'teapot with knur texture'. This teapot is now in
the collection of the Museum of History, China. Another is originally
in the collection of Dr. Luo Guixiang, who later donated it to the Hong
Kong Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. The base of this domed teapot
with six lobes bears the mark 'Daming Zhengde Banian Gongchun' (the
eighth year of Zhengde period, great Ming dynasty, [made by Gongchun]).
Contemporary master Gu Jingzhou said that he had seen as many as twelve
teapots with knur texture, however, their features do not agree with
that of the Gongchun teapot as recorded in historical documents. Thus
it is very difficult to authenticate them as genuine10. However, we
should not ignore the historical value of the extant Gongchun teapots
which are attributed as a landmark in the production of purple clay
wares in the mid and late Ming Dynasty.

The most important dated purple clay ware obtained from archaeological
excavations is a teapot with overhead handle now in the collection of
the Nanjing Municipal Museum. This teapot, measuring 17.7 rm in height,
was unearthed from the tomb of Wu Jing, an eunuch of the Ming dynasty,
at Majiashan, Zhonghua Gate, Nanjing in 1965. From the same tomb an
epitaph with inscription dated to the twelfth year of Jiajing reign was
also unearthed (see illustration following). The paste and production
method of this teapot could be similar to that of jars unearthed from
Yangjiaoshan,but is a bit finer. On the surface of the teapot are
'glaze drops' which reveal that when firing the purple clay wares were
not put inside saggars; and they were fired at the same time with large
jars. This unearthed teapot provides an important information for the
study of the purple clay wares produced in Gongchun's time11.

Shi Peng, Dong Han, Zhao Liang and Yuan Chang were famous potters of
the Jiajing and Wanli periods, and were collectively known as "Four
Masters". In Yangxian Mingtaolu (Record of Famous Poiiery Wares from
Yangxian), Wu Qian of the Qianlong period, Qing dynasty said that Dong
Han first produced lobed teapots while Zhao Liang excelled in producing
teapots with overhead handies. Some of their works are still existing,
though quite rare, and attract much attention from collectors and
connoisseurs.

Shi Dabin, the son of Shi Peng, was the most renowned potter after
Gongchun and lived in the Wanli period. The clay he potted contains sal
ammoniac and his products are noted for simple and archaic forms
instead of pleasing appearance. At the begikning, he imitated the
teapots made by Gongchun and produced large teapots. Later he
acquainted with literati like Chen Jiru and learned the art of tea
appreciation from them. He then made an unusual practice by producing
small teapots. Such a change was of great historical signiTicance. A
book on tea says, "If the teapot has to serve tea with true taste, the
major clues are that fresh waster and fire had to be used, and tea
should be drunk instantly, so that the colour, sound and fragrance
could be kept. For this reason, it is appropriatefor the teapots to be
small and shallow and not large and deep, and the lid to be globular
and not flat, so that the freshness of water and the fragrance of tea
could be condensediz". Potters active in the same period or later with
Shi Dabin like Li Maolin, Li Zhongfang and Hui Mengchen also excelled
in producing small teapots.

The marks on the teapots made by Shi Dabin are charactenzed by his
carving strokes with a sense of fluency. In Yangxian Mingtaolu (Record
of Famous Pottery Wares from Yangxian), a record of another feature of
his products extracted from Zhang Yanchang's Yangxian Taoshuo
(Discussion ofpottery Waresfrom Yangxian) says that the lid fits the
teapot so perfectly that the whole teapot could be lifted up by just
holding the lid. In the Shi Dabin's period, the clay used for producing
purple clay wares contains sal ammoniac - a natural mineral of ammonium
chloride - and as a result, gold sprinkles would appear after firing.Wu
Qian's Yangxian Mingtaolu (Record of Famous Pottery Wares ]rom
Yangxian) also points out such a feature. "From the early period of
Gongchun to Shi Dabin, the colour of the finely grained clay is in
light black, and on the clay are silver sprinkles. This might have been
produced by the sal ammoniac in the clay, and they are like charming
pearls." As shown in the book Chibei Outan (Miscellaneous Noies of the
Chibei Book Room) compiled by Wang Shizhen, who lived at the same time
with Shi Dabin. the works of Shi Dabin had already been 'esteemed
throughout the country (China)' when they first appeared. Zhou Gaoqi
also said "(his) teapots share half of the market throughout the
country13". Even the novels contain records on his works. Chapter two
of the book Chuke Pai'an fingqi (Excidng Stories, First Edition), the
Shangyoutang edition of the first year of Chongzhen, has a story which
describes the interior decoration of a room of Wang Xi and says, "On
the wall, there is a painting on paper by Zhou Zhimian, and on the
table, there is a teapot by Shi Dabin." It is unfortunate that such
treasured teapots are very rare and there are only sixteen pieces
recorded in the book Yangxian Shahu Tukao (Illusirated Study of Pottery
Teapois from Yangxian) by Li Jingkang and Zhang Hong. Although we could
see some tangible pieces or illustrated pieces in books attributed to
him, very few in number could be identified as genuine. However, it is
fortunate that archaeological finds in recent years have provided
valuable information for the study of his works. which will be
discussed in detail later.

The most renowned potter to come after Shi Dabin was Chen Yuan of the
Kangxi and Yongzheng periods, Qing dynasty. His literary names include
Mingyuan or Huyin. Wu Qian said that "his specialised talent is very
outstanding in the world", and even Gongchun and Shi Dabin "can not
surpass him". Chen acquainted with men of letters like Yang Zhongne,
Cao Lianrang and Ma Sizan, etc. His products of tea wares and scholar's
table objects amounted to several ten types and the calligraphic style
of his marks reveal the legacy of that of the Jin and Tang dynasties.
Objects in the shape of fruits and melons made by him, such as teapot
in the shape of bundles of pine, bamboo and plum blossom, dish in the
shape of leaf with a cicada, brush stand in the shape of a plum trunk,
wrist-rest in the shape of bamboo trunk and six types of fruits
(water-chestnut, arrowhead water-caltrop, chestnut, walnut and peanut)
are all noted for delicate craftsmanship and lifelike essence, which
are highly treasured. Before him there is another potter Chen Ziqi of
the Chongzhen period, who excelled in modelling naturalistic objects
like pomegranate and crabe. It is said that Chen Ziqi was the father of
Chen Yuan, however, judging from their ages, such a relationship could
not be established. Though there are only ten piecesof Chen Yuan's
works recorded in Li Jingkang and Zhang Hong's book, his achievements
had in fact opened a new realm in the art of purple clay wares.

Chen Hongshou (1768 - 1822), pseudonym Mansheng, of the Qianlong and
Jiajing periods was a native of Qiantang, Zhejiang province. He was
known coilectively as "Eight Masters of Xiling School" with Huang Yi,
Xi Gang and Zhao Zhichen etc. and excelled in literature, painting,
calligraphy and seal-carving. He had servedasthe magistrateof Yixing
for three years and developed a keen interest in purple clay wares.
Moreover, he had designed eighteen types of teapots and employed Yang
Pengnian, Yang's brother Baonian and sister Fengnian to produce them.
The teapots made by them often bear the mark "Amantuoshi" at the base
and the mark "Pengnian" beneath the handie and are collectively known
as "Mansheng teapot" . The surface of these teapots is usually flat and
smooth, on which paintings and calligraphiesare carved. Besides Chen
Mansheng himself, other people who engaged in composing the
inscriptions included his close friends like Jiang Tingxiang,
Guopinjia, Gao Shuangquan, and Zha Meishi, etc. The participation of
literati, officials and collectors in designing and producing teapots
had actually started in the late Ming period and those men like Xiang
Yuanbian, Zhao Yiguang, Dong Qichang, Chen Jiru, and Song Luo were all
enthusiastic in taking up such a practice. Virtually, the combination
of the Yixing purple clay wares with other arts such as painting,
calligraphy and seal-carving was promoted by Chen Mansheng. Such a
style became popular thereafter and Chen Mansheng had indeed
contributed a lot to the promotion of the Yixing pottery industry.

It is said that over several thousand pieces of 'Mansheng teapot' have
been produced. In the collection of Dr. Luo Guixiang, there is a teapot
with the inscription 'Teapot No. 1379, inscribed by Pinjia', which is
now in tlie collection of the Hong Kong Flagstaff House Museum of Tea
Warei'. Another example illustrated in the book Yangxian Shahu Tukao
(lllusirated Stady of Poiiery Teapois from Yangxian) bears the
inscription 'Teapot No. 4614, production supervised by Master Man, for
the appreciation of (Pinyin translation for the first character not
available) Quan', which is now in the collection of the Shanghai
Museumis. As a matter of fact, if there were so many `Mansheng teapots'
produced, they could hardly be made by a few potters like Yang
Pengnian, Yang Baonian and Yang Fengnian. It was disoovered recenfly
that some of the `Mansheng teapots' bear marks inscribed by other
potters.
Shao Daheng of the Daoguang and Xianfeng periods was another master
excelled in producing teapots. There are few records on him, however,
his extant works are noted for excellent craftsmanship and distinctive
design, which show that he was more talented than other common potters.
Three teapots with his mark 'Daheng' are illustrated in the present
catalogue. Among them, the teapot in the shape of a fish transforming
into a dragon was first produced by Shao Daheng and the one in the
shape of a bundle of bamboo with design of eight trigrams is another
superb work by him. The third onewith a round bladder and copper
overhead handle bear a dated inscription 'suici jiachen mengqiu zhiyue'
(dated the autumn month of the year jiachen), which provides valuable
information on the active period of Shao Dalieng. Teapots made by him
had indeed produced significant impact in later dynasties.

Most famous purple clay potter masters and their Tea Pot from China
Ancient to the present age and today:

Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368 - A.D. 1644)

Gong Chun (A.D.1500-?), first master who have name for made Yixing
Purple sand tea pot in China ancient.there was only one true tea pot in
this world that was collected in China History Museum in Bei Jin

Shi Da Bing (A.D.1580-A.D.1650). He had invented a full conventional
making technologyfor make Yixing tea pot.His pots were collected in
Shanghai History Museum ,Nan Jin History Museum and San Francisco Asia
Art Museum in USA.

Qing Dynasty(A.D.1644-A.D.1911)

Cheng Ming Yuan(A.D.1680-?) ,He was a very famous Master in Qing
Dynasty,His tea pots were collected in many history museums such as
Washington Art Museum,Seattle Art Museum.Hong Kong Chinese university
Museum,Shanghai Museum.Tian Jing Art Museum,Yixing Pottery Museum.

Cheng Man Shen(A.D.1768-A.D.1822).He invented famous "Man Shen Pot"that
maind 38 designs and bringed great effect to later masters.

Shao Da Heng((A.D.1837-A.D.1874) ,He had leaved only a little of the
tea pots in this world,but all of these tea pots are excellence.

Huang Yu Ling(A.D.1842-A.D.1913) ,He is importest purple sand potter
master in Qing Dynasty.His pot was collected in Bei Jin the Imperial
Palace Museum now

The Republic of China(A.D.1911-A.D.1949 ) to today:

Cheng Shou Zhen(A.D.1857-A.D.1939) His pot had got gold cup in 1926
Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Celebration and the International
Expositions in Leipzig and Liege in the 1930s.

Yu Guo Liang(A.D.1874-A.D.1939) ,a famous purple sand potter master in
period of the Republic of China.

Feng Gui Ling(A.D.1907-A.D.1945)

Gu Jing Zhou(A.D.1915-A.D.1996) ,He is one of the most outatanding
potters in purple caly of our age,He is praised as "a great master of
our period","a star in the art of tea pot making".His reputation rivals
that of Shi Da Bing of Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Ke Xin( A.D.1904-A.D.1986)

Pei Shi Ming(A.d.1892-A.D.1979)

Wu Yun Geng(A.D.1892-A.D.1969)

Jiang Rong( A.D.1919- )

Wang Yian Xian(A.D.1943- ).

Lu Yiao Chen(A.D.1941- ).

Xu Han Tang(A.D.1932- ).

Li Chang Hong(A.D.1937- ).

Gu Dao Rong(a.D.1937- ).

Zhou Gui Zheng(A.D.1943-).

Xie Man Lun(A.D.1942- ).

Ge Jun ,a famous influential young potter craftsman

Hua Jian Min , a famous influential young potter craftsman

The Professional Training Pattern of Purple-clay Pottery Art

As a kind of folkart, purple-clay pottery, like many other crafts, was
passed down form masters to apprentices in the ancient way. It was
taught face to face, and hand to hand. There was no exception to this
in modern or ancient times, in China or elsewhere. The apprentice
generally had to learn for three to five or six years under the
master's guidance. There was a fixed ceremony for an apprentice to
acknowledge an artist as his master, and he had to kneel down before
the master. The master-apprentice contract was to be signed by the
guarantee. During the apprenticeship, the apprentice was only offered
meals, without pay. And the master's artistic style, creative
experience and technical level would inevitably leave impression upon
the apprentice's technique, idea and moral character. Even if a famous
artist, the artistic trace and behavioral pattern of his earlier ages
could be found in the course of his style-making.

1
The Training Pattern In The History
The earliest purple-clay artist recorded was Gong Chun, originally Wu
Yishan's servant. When he was accompanying his master reading in
Jingsha Temple, he secretly learned the old work's skill and thus began
making pottery. So the old monk was considered his master.

Shi Dabing was a consummate craftsman in Ming Dynasty. He had many
learners, of which, Li Zhongfan was the most brilliant one. Some of his
teapots were actually made by Li Zhongfan. Other disciples were: Xu
Youquan, Ou Zhenchun, Chao Wenjing, Chao Wenying, Chen Junqing, Shen
Junyong. There was no literal record after that period. So it was
difficult to make inferences.

Huang Yuling, the famous artist in Qing Dynasty, was taught by Chao
Xiangpu, and Cheng Shouzheng was Chao Youting's disciple.

2
The Period During The Republic of China
In 1931, "Public Vocational School of Yixing, Jiangsu"was established.
In it ,they set up the "potter branch", which was renamed "Kiln branch"
the next year. In 1933, the "kiln branch"separated from Yixing
vocational school and in dependently founded "Junior Pottery Vocational
Scholl of Yixing, Jiangsu", which enrolled students who had higher
primary school education or above. Situated in Shushan Bei Chang, it
made use of the pottery factory as their workshop. The first president
was Wang Shijie, who had graduated from Empire University of Industry,
Tokyo, Japan. Wu Yun-geng, Zhu Ke-xin, etc, were invited to be teachers
and technicians of the experiment workshop. From then on, the
traditional teaching way of "one master, one apprentice" was changed. A
master may admit many disciples, while a disciple could also learn from
different masters.

In 1921, "Applied Pottery Company" founded "Potters' School". Yu
Guoliang, Chao Yunru were teachers at that time. Excellent students
were: Feng Guiling, Chu Liang, Chen Hanxi, etc.

Wang Shenyi taught Wang Baogeng, Zhu Kexin, Wu Yungeng. Jiang Zuocheng
taught Pei Shiming, Jin Ashou taught Wang Yanchun.

3
After 1949
In 1954 the purple-clay production team was established in Shushan
Workshop. Many purple-clay artists were assembled together from other
places. Among them were: pottery carving artist, Ren Ganting,
model-makers: Zhu Kexin, Gu Jingzhou, Wang Yanchun, Pei Shiming, Wu
Yungeng, Jiang Rong, etc.

In 1955
Zhu Kexin admitted Pan Chunfang, Bao Xinyuan, Si Zhipeng, Li Qingxian,
Li Bifang, Ni Shunsheng, Cao Wanfen, Wu Qingan;
Gu Jingzhou admitted Li Changhong, Gao Haigeng, Shen Juhua, shan
Shufang, Bao Xiuyun;
Wu Yungeng admitted Gao Yongjin, Si Jihua, Xu Xuan and Zhu Fengying,
Wang Xiaolong, Li Tianxing and Li Yuanru as apprentices.

In 1956
Wang Yanchun admitted Gao Honghing, Chen Xiaogeng, Ge Yubing,
JiangHongda, Ji Debao, Bao Saifeng, Fang Lipiu;
Wu Yungeng admitted Si Yuqing, He Tingchu, Xu Ciyuan, Fan Hongquan,
Wang Yuexian, Xie Xuexian, Wu Xinnao;
Yu Honggeng admitted Xu Maotang, Bao Qijun;
Ren Ganting admitted Xu Xiutang, Xian Qiying, Feng Xiya, Chao Xinhe,
Wang Pinrong, Zhang Hetang and Zhu Rongjuan as apprentices.

>From 1958 to 1959
Zhu Kexin admitted Wangyanxian, Fan Hongquan, Xie Manlun;
Gu Jingzhou accepted Gao Haigeng, Li changhong, Shen Quhua, Zhou
Guizheng;
Wang Yanchun admitted He Daohong, Gao Hoonghing;
Wu Yun-geng accepted Lu Yaochen, Xu Ciyuan;
Chen Fuyuan accepted Pan Chiping, Zhou Zhunyan, Gu Chaopei as
apprentices.

Material and Characteristics

Yixing tea pot's Material and Characteristics:

The yixing purple clay teapot is reputed as the "first of all tea-sets
in the world" for its unique material and characteristics?tea inside it
does not seep though no glaze is applied on its surface, tea brewed in
it tastes rich and mellow for the teapot is porous;tea in it does not
decay or change its color when kept overnight, it long retains its full
flavor, for the base clay is odorless; the teapot keeps tea warm in
winter, but not hot for the hand in summer, it does not crack when
heated on a stove or when boiling water is poured in; the longer it is
used, the more lustrous it becomes, the more refined and classic it
looks, and the more fragrant the tea kept in it.

Yixing tea pots are made by a very special unglazed clay material
called "zisha" clay.

Zisha, or purple clay, from which Yixing ware is made, is found
throughout the hilly southern area of the Yixing region. The particular
qualities of this clay substance set the Yixing apart from other
unglazed earthenware teapots. Geologists have pinpointed the origins of
Zisha in the area compressed sedimentary lake deposits.

There are actually three different varieties of Zisha. The most common
of these are the Zini or rose-brown clays. The other two more rare
clays are know as Banshanlu or creamy white to light-brown clays and
Zhuni or red clays. Chemically, all are composed primarily of quartz,
kaolin and mica and contain high amounts of iron oxide, which lends the
clays their purple-red color. Zisha clays are also fairly sandy.
Recognized by artisans and literati centuries ago, these
characteristics of the Zisha or purple clays help to make Yixing pots
especially well-suited for brewing tea. Excavations have shown that the
composition and structure of the clays used in making authentic Yixing
teapots today closely resemble those used in pots from the 1500s and
later.

Yixing tea pot each piece is shaped by hand on a potter wheel and left
unglazed, both because it makes better tea and because doing so allows
the color of the clay to shine through. Highly prized for its porous
nature, which is excellent at absorbing the flavor of tea, Purple sand
or clay does not really in purple color only, it depends on the
layering from the ground, different layers has different color, Yixing
clay occurs naturally in the characteristic colors: light buff,
cinnabar red and purplish brown. it can have many natural color after
fired.

Other colors are created by mixing these three clay. A principal factor
in determining the depth of the color is the concentration of iron in
the clay.

Zisha clay has very special characteristics chemistry composition and
texture,a 4% 0f the water absorption rate,a very low thermal
conductivity,and other unique qualities,it already is confirmed and is
received that zisha clay is best raw materials for made teapot in whold
world. When properly refined and fired to a high (but sub-porcelain)
temperature, it produces a type of pottery that is slightly absorbent.
Legend has it that if you have prepared tea in an Yixing teapot many
times, you can reach a point where by adding boiled water alone you can
make tea because the teapot itself holds enough of the tea flavour. the
characteristics of yixing teapots as follow:

(1) One of the special attributes of Yixing teapots is the ability to
retain heat. Small pores produced in the clay during firing retain both
heat and flavor, and the low shrinkage rate of Yixing clay allows the
skillful potter to make a closely-fitting lid that inhibits oxidation
thus heightening the tea flavor.

Yixing tea pot can keep tea's heat,primary colour,aroma and taste.this
is proved by the test:the fine qualities of tea will been retain for 5
days if you use yixing teapot.but it only can retain 3 days if you
using other ceramics teapots.

(2) The Yixing teapot is free of lead, arsenic, cadmium, and other
toxic materials. Yixing ware is unlike other unglazed earthenware
teapots. The Yixing teapot has a fine and solid texture, a four percent
water absorption rate, a very low thermal conductivity, and a double
air hole design which enhances the pot brewing properties. The
principal standards for evaluating a teapot brewing quality are the
color of the tea soup produced and the level of tea phenol, caffeine,
and aminophylline. The performance of the Yixing teapot is far superior
to that of the standard teapot with respect to all four of these
criteria. Not only are the Yixing teapots beautiful and unique works of
art, but also, they are excellent brewing vessels. in fact,yixing
teapots exceeds the strict standards imposed by china's pottery reserch
institute and are also approved by the usa"fda".to ensure this high
standard of quality,

(3) After firing, Yixing tea pot is solid and impermeable, yet porous
enough to "breathe". A Yixing teapot enhances the tea brewed in it with
respect to colour, smell, and taste. Its walls seem to absorb the tea
and keeps fragrance. In summer, it keeps tea overnight without
spoiling. With hot tea inside, it does not scald the hand with purple
sand being a slow heat-conductor. But in winter, it may serve as a
handwarmer and may be left on a low fire to make certain types of tea
which need simmering. To the Chinese tea connoisseur, it is the "ideal
teapot".

Unique Yixing Purple Clay

It is said that in ancient times, Dingshu was merely an ordinary
village on the lakeshore of Taihu.Villagers went out to farm when the
sun rose and went back home when the sun set, making jars and pots out
of pottery clay for daily uses at leisure. They led a simple life. One
day, however, a wandering monk of unusual appearance came to the
village. He shouted over walking, "Rich and noble clay! Rich and noble
clay! "The villagers were curious and watched him. The monk, seeing
through their hesitation, shouted again, "If not noble, why not rich?"
The people were even puzzled, staring at him blankly. The strange monk
shouted in a lounder voice and walked on with quicker steps, as if
there were no one else present. Some wise old men felt strange and
followed him, moving towards Huanglong & Qinglong mountains. Suddenly,
the monk disappeared at a corner. The old looked around, catching sight
of several newly-dug hollows, in which was clay of various colors. They
carried the clay home, pounding and firing, and unexpectedly got a
totally different color effect from the past. The villagers imitated
them one after another. Thus, the reputable purple-clay came into
being.The raw material of purple-clay pottery is really of various
colors and called the "clay of clays and rock of rocks". Purple-clay
refers generally to the clay of green, red and gray color and is
produced at Huanglong Mountain in Dingshu, Yixing, hidden under the
yellow rock between the mixed clay mine. Green clay is the mixed grease
and red clay is the stone yellow, usually under the tender ore bed.

Purple-clay, a kind of ore body, is as hard as rock when unearthed. But
piled on the open air, blown by wind and struck by rain for months, it
will turn into small loose grains, as small as soybeans. Then it has to
be crushed to powder by a stone mill, sifted by a sieve and disturbed
in the vessel with some water, before it can be rubbed into wet lumps,
the crude clay. But before it is used to make vessels, it is to be
beaten with a wood hammer for tens of times.

The plasticity of ready clay, the hardness of the shaped clay-body and
the low contraction rate make it possible to create pottery of various
kinds, fantastic designs and different lines. For hundreds and
thousands of years, generations of artists have kept on experimenting
and exploring and added splendour to the civilization of mankind.

The characteristics of the purple-clay may be summed up into following
aspects:

1.
Of high plasticity. With a liquid limit of 33.4%, modeling limit of
15.9% and an index of 17.5%, purple-clay is of high plasticity and can
be made into various shapes of different sizes. It has strong adhesion,
but is not glutinous in hands and implements. The mouth, handle and the
teapot body can be made separately before they are stuck together and
polished with clay. The clay pieces of square vessels may be got
together with grease clay, too. Such a large capacity materially
enables the pottery artists to fully display their creative intention
and give free play to their artistic techniques.

2.
Of low contraction rate. From a claybase to a fired product, its
contraction rate is only about 8%. It also has a wide range of firing
temperature, a low deformation rate and a strong intensity of the raw
chaybase. So the teapot cover suits the mouth very tightly, the contour
is up to standard and can not be twisted. The handle may be designed
thicker than that of a porcelain pot, and the round surface of the pot
mouth is in proportion with the mouth. Besides, the clay can be used to
make open-mouth vessels and teapots with mouth and body of the same
width.

3.
Purple-clay can be processed into pottery without any addition of other
materials. The produced pottery have two layers of gas hole
construction: close-mouth layer, that is the gas hole inside the nodule
body; and open-mouth layer, which refers to the gas hole group around
the nodule body. The two layers of gas hole provide the purple-clay
pottery with fine ventilation. In addition, the tiny gas holes of high
density possess strong absorption, which the glazed ceramic teapot
lacks. Meantime, precisely and reasonably shaped, the teapot, with its
mouth and cover fitting perfectly, has a displacement error within a
tolerance of less than 0.5mm, which decreases the possibility of the
air mixed with germs entering into the pot. Therefore, the colour and
flavour and fragrance of tea may last for quite a long time and delay
the time when the tea goes bad. Furthermore, purple-clay teapot has the
capacity to tolerate sudden heat and coldness. Even if boiling water
and cold water are alternately poured into it, it will not explode or
crack.

4.
Another uniqueness of purple-clay is that it needn't be glazed after it
is shaped. It is smooth and shiny. After it is handled and caressed for
a long time. It will send out dim light. While pottery clay of other
texture can not be compared to it in this aspect.

The Art of Shaping and Making Wares with Applied Decoration

People have formed new demands with teapot under the modern living
style and prosperous tea culture. The art of purple clay teapot has
earned a good name not only with its practical applicability, but also
with its content, spirit, and beautiful appearance. The art of teapot
has demonstrated an influential ability through its form, spirit, and
personality. Purple clay teapot has performed its fullest in the face
of art.

The art of purple clay teapot has formed a series of unique and
reasonable production through the execution and improvement of
technology. Potters have received serious skill training to express
their emotion, experience, life, and concept through the application of
clay material and tool. Potters have demonstrated their creativity in
their own style with unique art language. Purple clay contains
meditative concept of art and design that should be included in the
list of collectors.

The style and gesture of purple clay teapot should be stressed first,
then teapot body that is formed with focal point, line, surface, and
body. For example, the arrangement of mouth, handle, spout, base, foot,
lid, and a coordinate and balanced proportion. The following detail
should also be attended the structure of profile, the producing
technique of shade, the relation between solid and void, etc. The
viewpoint of collectors and creators will reach a common ground and
enjoy the true meaning of purple clay art only if they can share the
same concept of beauty.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TOTAL FORM AND DETAIL PARTS

Due to the requirement of applicability, all of the Chinese wares are
formed with the art of spout, neck, shoulder, belly, and base,
therefore, the proportion, relation, change of formation, connection of
each part on teapot are the fundamental elements of creation.}

There is no exception for purple clay, in the appreciation of a teapot,
the total form comes foremost in consideration. Detailed parts
including mouth, neck, shoulder, belly, foot, base, cover, knob, spout
and handle are treated in subordination to the total form. The details
should be designed to harmonize with the whole, and appropriate
treatment of these parts will be able to highlight distinctive features
of the form.

1. Detailed parts of a teapot should be treated with equal care and
clarity, as they all contribute to the effect of a unified and refined
form. The turn of angle at the mouth, base and foot should be presented
clearly. The interior and exterior rims of the mouth should be sharp
and crisp, just as the base should be clearly differentiated from the
foot. The reason is that these parts mark a change in outline and in
shape of a teapot.

2. The recessed cover and the pressed cover produce rich liner rhythms,
while the truncated cover forms an integral part of the teapot.

3. In order to create stylistic uniformity with the teapot, the knob of
the teapot is sometimes a miniature reproduction of the body in its
upright or inverted form. At other times, the form of the knob is an
extended outline of the cover or the body or modelled in the shape of a
bridge whose shape matches harmoniously with the form of body.
Designers usually utilize the relevant subject to make an interesting
knob with image to receive a better coordination of the creation. For
example, the teapot with the theme of Tree Frog and Lily at Night.

4. The spout and handle of the teapot are visual extensions of the
shoulder rib that influence the balance of teapot structure.
Inappropriate placement and proportions of teapot structure, and these
parts will move the teapot's central gravity away from the central
axis, upsetting the balance of form and the stability of the vessel.

Therefore, in addition to the integrated visual balance of spout,
handle, and body, the space occupied by the spout and the handle should
be on two sides of the teapot symmetrically for the effect of grace and
stability. For example, the "Blast Teapot" of He Daohong. Sometimes,
the handle and spout slope towards the same direction for the effect of
balance and ingenuity. On the other hand, the balance of spout and
handle is not stressed, instead, the contrast of their curves is the
key feature for demonstration. A visual balance of the curve from spout
to mouth of the teapot is created for the stability of the teapot
taking as a whole.

5. A teapot can have its center of gravity placed in its upper, middle
or lower part according to its form. A teapot of small height and a
wide base has a center of gravity resting near the base of the vessel.
In this case, the form enhances the sense of stability, for example,
the creation of Lu Yaochen. On the other hand, a teapot of greater
height and smaller base has a center of gravity towards its upper part.
Its form should convey a sense of lightness and vivacity, for example,
the creation of He Daohong.

6. The stability of teapot is influenced by the base of teapot. The
teapot in stone weight shape has a profile of an upright triangle with
the center of gravity placed at the base, the form, however, is
enlivened by the three boss legs, which offset the weight of a flat
base. Take the overhead handle teapot of Wang Yinxian for example, the
central gravity of the teapot is at its bottom, however, a relationship
of solid and void is formed in the image of overhead handle. The teapot
is given a great style with personality through the fine touch of a
graceful body.

FOCAL POINT, LINE, SURFACE, BODY, & DECOBATION

The art of purple clay teapot is presented with the gesture of height,
low, chubby, thin, hard, soft, square, round, etc. The concept of the
art is ,,the square is never the one of the same square while the round
always varies,,, of which, it is divided into the category of styling
art and decorating art. Plain geometric ware and vein line are the main
items of styling art while applied decoration is the main item of
decorating art. The artist of purple clay teapot has created the ware
with a three-dimension body through the application of focal point,
line. and surface.

1. Plain Geometric Ware

All plain geometric wares follow this pattern: they feature radial
symmetry when viesed square and axial symmetry when contemplated from
above. To facilitate the making and the practical use, most of the
purple clay teapots are modelled in round or symmetrical forms, with
the center of gravity resting on the central axis of the vessel. That
is, a vertical line extended from the center of gravity resting on the
central axis of the vessel. That is . a vertical line extended from the
center of gravity will meet the center of the teapot's base, for
example, the hexagonal teapot of Wang Yinxian. The viewer of purple
clay teapots react rather relaxed and peaceful in a stable environment
for production. The stabilized vision has fulfilled the fundamental
requirement of "stability".

The art of making plain geometric ware is the easiest to learn but
hardest to master. The plain geometric ware is completely exposed
because of its simplicity, and unadomed because of its plainness. The
slightest divergence will become more glaring than with products of
greater intricacy. Therefore, a perfect plain geometric ware cannot be
created without the knowledge of outline, line, volume, proportion, and
manufacturing technique.

Another feature of the plain geometric ware is its large, smooth and
plain surface which provides ideal space for pottery creation. Thus,
the combination of artisans and teapot art has formed the good saying
of "the carving makes the pot priceless, while teapot carries the
carving down through the ages." For example, the compressed round
teapot of Gu Jingzhou is decorated with the paint of Fan Jen.

All plain geometric wares, be they historic or of modern times, are
graceful and complete with precise structure, harmonious proportion,
coordinate rhythm between solid and void, and subtle strength. It is a
great combination of content, formality, and fonction.

2. Vein Line

Artists take advantage of the exceptional advantages that purple clay
pottery contains unique raw material which is fine and plastic,
unglazed surface and bare biscuit. These features provide conditions
for creating the light and shade of veins, and facilitate the
expression of vein effect on a purple clay ware. Therefore, with the
concept of ''the combination of points and the lines,, and ,,surface
cutting,'' artists of successive dynasties took advantage of the
wonderful vein lines and the harmonious cutting method to symmetrize
the structure of purple clay pottery. The design of purple clay pottery
requires the width of lines to be appropriate, the turning explicit and
the lines themselves lively, for example, the "teapot with mallow and
wind design" ofJiang Jenshong. Only when angles and lines are made
explicitly and the concave-convex relation symmetrical can the admirers
feel a perfect combination of substance and space, for example, the
creation of GuJingzhou.

The body, lid, mouth, and spout of the teapot are in the shape
ofhexagonal. Especially, when molding a teapot, potters should see to
it that the lid fits the body tightly and also turns around smoothly,
which means that if you turn the lid, it always dovetails with the
body. When used for decorations, vein lines are required to suit the
theme of the teapot.

In addition, as the veins produce a strong melodious and rhythmic
effect, then hand touching the veined ware will have a strange feeling
- the feeling of order and measured tempo. How they are treated,
whether made bright or dark, wide or narrow, concave or protruding,
reserved or unrestrained, dynamic or static, is closely related to the
theme. Appropriate decorations will make a purple clay pottery ware
look rich, forceful and vigorous. They will give the work more artistic
appeal by making it bright but not dull, gaudy but not vulgar, for
example, the "teapot with the design of prunes and plate" by He
Daohong.

When decorating round and square vessels, the vein lines can form
various and lively geometric shapes, such as circle, square, trapezium
and triangle with a great space for creation.

Within modern culture and creative concept, the styling of purple clay
teapot has broken the traditional mold, for example, the design of
hexagonal, pyramid, polygon, etc. for a great impression at sight. No
matter what a massive variety the purple clay teapot has presented, it
has never failed the fondamental requirement of "stability."

3. Applied Decoration

Apply the image of fruit, flower, tree, insect, fish, bird, animal
directly ftom nature to create a great teapot. Artists have expressed
their idea through decorating pottery with the aforesaid images partly
or totally, for example, the pine, bamboo, di prunes teapot with
overhead handle by He Daohong.

The inspiration of the image of appliances in daily life is for the
creation of pottery; for example, teapot in stone weight shape, jar,
can, cylinder, square, etc.

The "Konchen teapot" of Gu Jingzhou, "Pine, bamboo, &prunes teapot" of
Jiang Rong, and "Prunes trunk teapot" of Wang Yinxian are all expressed
in a non-symmetrical body shape for an effect of integration and
diversification.

Artists must be able to demonstrate the theme of teapot with various
points, Iines, surface through a flowing-vision and a consecutive
change. It is a combination of contrast and supplement for a better
appearance and an energetic life of purple clay teapot.

Purple clay pottery is with diversified gesture that can be deemed as
the treasure of styling art. It is an accumulation of creativity
through years of practice and revision. Bases on the foundation, the
art of purple clay pottery is becoming perfect. However, it is not
different from the other fields of art that skills and understanding
remain two most important features for success.

The combination of beautiful body, meditated spirit, and complicate
content is the one and only way to get into the paradise of art and to
own a priceless teapot.

Appreciation Of Purple Clay tea pot

The art of Yixing purple clay were originated in the Song dynasty
(960-1279). It reached its peak in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing
(1644-1911) dynasties and continues to develop to this day, the shapes
of the teapots becoming more varied and refined. The creative concept
of the potter is directly influenced by the aesthetic viewpoint of his
audience. Appreciation and authentication of this unique purple clay
pottery art is therefore vitally important. It is thus necessary to
discuss the aesthetics of the art of purple clay ware.

It is commonly known that Yixing purple clay has a unique character all
its own. The unique ore of raw materials at Yixing is one contributory
factor. The main formation techniques are the body beating method and
the luting method. These are quite different from the formation methods
employed in other ceramic trades.

Then again, its decoration is associated with a higher cultural level
than is the case with other ceramic ware. Taken together, all these
aesthetic elements are found in the art of Yixing purple clay ware.
How should one appreciate a work? Take a teapot for example -- the most
famous form of purple clay ware -- and analyse it according to
traditional formation methods. Based on the theory and regulations of
plastic art, the main body is usually composed of dots, lines and
surfaces and the attachments are the teapot spout, handle, mouth-rim,
base, foot, lid and knob. There should be an appropriate relationship
and proportions between the various parts. The outlines of different
parts should flow smoothly into each other. Attention should also be
given to the treatment of the convex and concave surfaces and the
contrast between solid and void. There are infinite variations which
give the object (vessel or teapot) its rich sense of beauty.

The aesthetics of purple clay pottery can be classified from an
abstract point of view into the four elements of form, spirit, air and
gesture. Form is the beauty of shape, the outline of the work and its
formal representation. Spirit means the spiritual perfection and rhythm
of a piece, while air is the ethereal quality expressed in the contents
of the art work and its harmonious colouration. Gesture constitutes the
formal characteristics such as the tall, short, fat, thin, hard, soft,
square or round quality shown in the form. A genuinely perfect work is
one which success-fully combines all these attributes. Here we must
distinguish between the logical and the emotional approach. If a teapot
connoisseur inclines towards the logical approach, he will be very
concerned with the appropriate size of the teapot, the angle of the
spout, the domed or flat shape of the lid, the tallenss or shortness of
the body and its functional use-tea-brewing. Thus he applies logic
without any real interest, whereas art appreciation should ideally
include both these aspects. Irrespective of its shape, a work should
arouse interest. With interest comes affection, nurturing of the soul
and long-lasting enjoyment. Therefore in appreciating a new form, one
should comprehend the nature of its beauty before attempting to
criticize it. The enthusiastic response of purple clay ware lovers is
based on this premise.

Naturally, as a practical craft item, its usefulness is very important.
Its convenience in use generates feelings of contentment and harmony.
The size of the teapot should therefore be designed according to
tea-brewing customs and practices. The smooth flow of water from the
spout and the practical and comfortable handle design also require
careful consideration.

Historically, the appreciation of purple clay ware can be classified
into three level.

(1) The elegant pottery art level -- the work should be both logical
and interesting, possessing beauty in form and spirit and displaying an
excellent production technique. It is an attractive work with universal
appeal, finding favour with people from all walks of life. It can thus
be regarded as the best work of the highest calibre.

(2) The second level covers high quality products reproduced in
specific quantities for sale. These works are exquisitely crafted and
their forms completed and satisfying.

(3) The common product created for everyday use in accordance with
people's local customs. These works vary in shape and size and the
production techniques used are merely average.

My discussion here is focused on works of art. The content and form of
a work comprise many elements which are all interrelated. Perfect form
and exquisite manufacturing technique are of paramount importance. In
addition, the finished form might be decorated to enhance the work's
visual impact. The suitability of the subject and content of the
decorative motif. the use of the decorative material and the production
technique all require consideration. These are all related to the
artistic level of the potter and the discerning eye of the connoisseur.

This can be illustrated by some examples. For instance, the traditional
pottery engraving on purple clay ware can enhance one's appreciation of
the item. The content of the inscription should be an excerpt from an
appropriate literary work. The calligraphy and painting should be
brilliantly executed and of high quality. The engraving technique
employed should be reminiscent of the traditional art of bronze
engraving and seal carving.

In recent years, enthusiasm for purple clay ware has grown
significantly, partly owing to the promotion of the tea and pottery
cultures. High quality products are in limited supply and cannot keep
up with the increasing demand. Especially rare are elegant works by
famous potters. This has inevitably led to the emergence of a minority
of craftsmen devoid of artistic ethics. They team up with cunning
traders to forge works by famous artists, flooding the market with bad
forgeries and cheating many purple clay ware lovers. It is therefore
necessary to discuss authentication techniques. As with the
authentication of paintings and calligraphy, one should start by
considering the dual aspects of logical perception and emotional
understanding. Logical perception involves the study of aesthetics to
heighten aesthetic awareness. Exchanging views on the works of famous
artists and discussing and exploring in depth the styles of their works
helps to sharpen one's feelings for them. Experience should be built up
by studying their potting techniques, expertise, use of colour and
selection of clay, the characteristics of their seals and certain other
key aspects. These are essential for authentication. In any art form,
an outstanding artist must have artistic techniques and qualities
unique to himself. This is personal style and rhythm and flows from an
inspiration which the forger lacks. If a forger has a profound
under-standing of all these, then he too is a great master. It is not
necessary for him to forge works by others without taking credit. I
dare to venture that which is genuine is born genuine. That which is
forgery can never be genuine. Forgers have no aspirations and forgery
is totally shameful and abhorrent.

I shall also briefly discuss imitation and forgeries in the history of
purple clay art. From the mid-19th century to the early 20th ,century
was a popular period for imitating the works of ancient masters. There
were those who copied extant works by famous artists and there were
works designed by curio merchants based on descriptions contained in
old texts on purple clay history. Forged inscriptions by famous masters
of the past were added, as were seals. Over the past few decades I have
witnessed these types of forgery and have drawn the following
conclusions: All teapots imitating the work of masters of the Ming
dynasty far exceed the standard of Ming works in potting technique and
colouration. The reason is obvious. As society progresses, so too do
science and technology. Thus, comparing imitations with extant works of
the Ming dynasty, it is evident that later copies are far superior. As
for the excellent works by great masters of the early to mid-/Qing
dynasty-Chen Mingyuan, Sheng Si, and Shao Daheng, no matter how
exquisite the copies, they are deficient in spirit and rhythm. This can
be likened to the difference between jade and soapstone. However, if
these copies are extant today, they still have a reasonable
appreciation and collection value. They should be distinguished from
the forgeries of the present day. Over recent years forgeries have been
produced based on illustrations contained in old texts and their
workmanship is poor. Their main objective is to cheat people and one
must be careful not to fall into the trap.

I have merely expressed here my random thoughts on the subject for the
benefit of purple clay art-lovers. I hope that knowledgeable readers
will be quick to point out my inadequacies.

The Evolvement In Modeling Crafts

The modeling methods of purple-clay pottery, since Zhengde period in
Ming Dynasty, has been becoming more and more perfect, owing to
generations of artists' exploration and improvement as well as the
progress of science and technology. There are various methods which may
be summarized into: handforming, injecting mud forming, applying base
forming and printing, etc. The handforming base forming, method, an
ancient craft, includes beating pot body and inlaying pot body.

Beating pot body forming: First cut the ready clay into pieces in a
certain length, width and thickness. Then beat them into clay slices
and strips according to the vessel being made. Make scratches on the
clay to show the width and whirl the mouth, bottom and body pieces.
Stick the body pieces in the center of the revolving plate, and put the
clay piece around the body pieces to form a clay tube. Then the left
hand inside the round tube, use the right hand, with a thin wood
beater, to beat it into desired shape.

Inlaying body forming is applied to make square vessels. First cut the
clay into square pieces, then beat them into slices according to the
required sizes and make them into sample pieces. Cut the clay into
slices according to the sample and stick them together with grease
clay. The key of hand forming lies in the appropriateness of the
claybase forming and the polishing of the surface. The accurate
polishment may make the structure more rigid, the contour more proper
and the wrinkles more distinct so as to attain the making requirement
of being round as pearls and smooth as jade and create the effect of a
unified whole.

Injecting mud forming. Widely adopted in recent ceramic production, it
takes advantage of the absorption of the plaster model. Inject mud into
the model, then take off the model, a hollow claybase is available.

Judging a Pot

The tea pot is a product of applied art. It must be practical, pour
well, fell good, look good, and balance pleasantly in the hand. But to
the artisy who first creates a new design the tea pot becomes a vehicle
for Fine Art. He uses it to express emotion-nobility, rectitude, long
levity, prosperity, serenity, tenderness. And a good piece should
affect the connoisseur with these emotions.

To achieve these effects the makers make use of shape and style. Tea
pots may be square or round, smooth or segmented, solid or graceful,
abstract or made after particular shapes in nature. He may choose the
pine, bamboo or plum tree, the orchid or lotus flowerrr, the dragon or
the phonix or both. Pots are made on the likenesses of fruit, crops,
fish, birds, turtles, frogs, squirrels and insects. Their shapes are
inspired by stones, rocks, streams, wallsm wells, and 'mountain and
river' landscapes. Or the artist may use the formal patterns of the
tripod or the coin.

Purple clay, which has a high iron content, gives its name to Yixing
pottery, but this is not the only colour to emerge from Yixing kilns.
Red clay and yellow clay are also used, independtly or mixed, and after
firing many different colours or shades of colour are produced.

The potter makes his by hand and handles it when finished. His hands
will tell him if the pot is good or bad. The feel of a pot in the hand
must be satisfying.

And the completed pot has many parts - a body, spout, handle , lid,
knob...

These should be in balance. Their relation and structure must be clear
and reasonable. The lid must fit, not jamm or rattle, and it must be
deep seated and firm- not fall off easily and break. Spouts and handles
are separately made and then connected to the body. This connection
must be smooth and the transition between the body and the spout should
be reasonable. Together they must handle well, the spout allowing the
liquor to flow freely, and the handle providing a pleasant grip and
balanced leverage and control.

Use and function have produced the pot and shape and colour provide the
canvas. The engraving of this clay is the final touch. Fine decoration
must compliment the subject. This decoration, often by the scholar
artist or calligrapher and seal cutter, displays his accpmplishment in
literature. And in such a pot, with its simple useful daily function,
pouring a cup of tea, all the arts combine.

In recent years there has been an upsurge in admiration of purple clay.
prices have jump from a few dollars to thousands for a single pot. And
with this increase in value there has been also an increase in quality.
More time and care goes into every pot, and many more are rejected and
smashed when they come from the kiln. With the prices, standards have
risen too.

To authenticate an ancient pot the expect has to know the politics and
economy of that time. He must have knowledge of the techniques and raw
materials in use, and the principal potters and potteries of the day.
To identify a 'Mansheng Pot', he must know the seal and calligrahpy of
Chen Mansheng and be familiar with the pottery teehnoiogy of the 19th
century and with the knife engraving of the potter and the period. And
to become an expert today is perhaps an even more formidable task-there
are so many famous potters, and such a variety of the first rate
artistic work.

An article shows the writer, calligrsphy shows the calligrapher, a
painting shows its painter, and pottery shows the maker of the pot. But
perhaps the pot is the most revealing. You can feel it in your hands h=
just as the maker did. Some potters like a little spout, some a heavy
handle. Some reproduce trunks and knotty branches. Others have
exquisite engravings of ratans or leaves. Each artist has some form
that he likes best, and every pot reflects of pottery there emerges and
expected style, a signature or masterstroke, individual to each article
yet common to every product from that hand. When you can read this
signature you too will be an expert in this art.

Besides his style and characteristic features each potter marks with
his own seal every product from his hand. This seal authenticates the
work. The seal itself is chosen with great care. Every famous potter
has his seal from a well known engraver. The characters of the seal are
cut in stone with steel and the resulting inprint is said to 'smell' of
stone and metal. And there is no finger substrate for the well carved
seal than unfired clay. Pottery shown off best the character of the
perfect seal.

A potter gives this advice to amateurs.

Exchange information with each other, and meet and talk to the potters
themselves. Do not buy with undue haste. If you pay a high price be
sure that your pot is not a counterfeit.

And remember that not every pot from even a famous potter is a good
example of his work. We have a saying: "Three prototypes can not reach
your ideal." This is jargon in the pottery business. It means that it
is not possible to perfect an idea in the first throw. A fine pot must
be made many times, and there may be many failures on the way.

And if famous potters some times have failures, the hands of unknown
potters may produce a great sucess. If you like a pot, collect it.

"Beauty in purple clay is good for the mind. It will mould the
sentiments, foster temperament, improve health."

In other words, to be happy and successful drink tea with puple clay.

How care and use your yixing teapot

Since only purple sand teapots contain thousands of air holes or
micro-air pores, besides being able to keep the hot water hot for a
longer time and brew teas better, these air holes can also self
seasoning the teapot by absorbing the aroma from the tea. These
characteristics can only be found in the purple sand, therefore,Yixing
teapots are most used by the serious tea drinkers. Serious tea drinker
like myself, I have been using one teapot for only one type of tea
inorder not to mix-up with the tea aroma in that teapot. Normal tea
drinkers may find using two or three Yixing teapots sufficient, one for
green tea(but make sure to cool your water temperature), second one for
Oolong tea and a third one for black tea. Brewing a cup of good tea has
many factors besides using a good teapot, different tea requires
different methods to brew,When purchased a new Yixing teapot, do not
use it to brew tea right the way, it needs to be treated with
preparation work inorder to have these air holes functioning properly
in the purple sand .

One cultured way if you have time to do it:

1)
place the teapot with the lid uncovered, carefully place the pieces
onto a cook ware which should be large enough to hold the water and be
able to cover the entire teapot.

2)
Place some tea leaves(preferably the same kind of tea which you will
use for your new teapot) in the water and bring to a slow boil, since
rapid boiling may damage your teapot since the pieces may possibly be
hitting each other or hitting the walls in your cook ware.

3)
slow boil for about an hour, let your teapot cool down in the cook ware
with tea water still covering the entire teapot, let it stand for a day
or so,

4)
the next day you can take the teapot out and rub off any purple sand
residue inside of your teapot, rinse well with water only, place the
teapot back into the cook ware and bring it to a slow boil again for
around an hour or so. Let it cool down in your cook ware still covering
with the tea water again,

5)
the next day you may take out your teapot and rinse it well with hot
water. After this process, the air holes in your teapot are opened up
and is ready for use.

One simple way for the initial use:

Fill your teapot with newly boiled water and allow the water to sit for
5 to 10 minutes. Drain the water.

Fill the teapot a second time with newly boiled water and add one
teaspoon of your favorite loose tealeaves. Allow this tea to sit for a
period of 5 to 10 minutes. Drain the tea.

You are now ready to prepare your first pot of tea. Fill your teapot
with freshly boiled water to heat up the pot. Drain the water. Put one
teaspoon of tealeaves into your pot. Again, fill the teapot with
freshly boiled water. Drain the water quickly to rinse the tealeaves.
Fill the teapot a third time with boiling water, allow it to steep for
at least 1 minute and enjoy your tea.

How cleaning your tea pot:

Since the clay has the unique characteristic of absorbing the flavor of
your tea, washing with soap will take away from that unique quality.so
never wash your Yixing teapots with any detergents or cleaning agents,
just rinse with hot water after each use would be sufficient, pat dry
with soft towels if preferred, leave the lid uncovered till it is fully
dried. Tea stains may build up on your teapot after many used, don't
worry about getting it off, collectors are always looking for tea
stains as this is one of the characteristics required for a good old
and antique teapot. Avoid having dust and grease get to the teapot. we
have seen a good old teapot which have scaling tea stains, to a
collector's point of view, this kind of Yixing teapots worth much more
value and is rare to find.

Multi-languages website for introduction of Yixing teapots,
http://study.china-teapot.com