The Yixing dragon and lion teapot

Yixing, China, is known by some scholars as ‘the sculptural center of the world.’ While people in many places make pottery, it is in Yixing that pure clay art is pushed to the limit.

Yixing Chinese tea set artisans apply some of the most refined forms of Chinese art in their work: calligraphy, painting, sculpting, and engraving.

They mold ceramic clay into every possible form: plants, fruits, animals, people, and even abstract designs. Their sophistication and creativity is something that cannot be copied anywhere in the world.

The Yixing monkey teapot

The exceptional tradition of Yixing china tea sets began long, long ago. Recent excavations show that people in Yixing began to make pottery almost 7, 000 years ago, even earlier than the Egyptians.

So the techniques used today have been perfected over thousands of years and artisans in Yixing produce some of the best Chinese tea sets available.

Today the largest ceramic museum in China, and maybe the world, stands in Yixing. There you can see all kinds of precious Yixing teapots made in this interesting little town.

Some of these china tea sets are massive and date back so far that the original shapes have been weathered and changed into new, strange objects.

The Yixing web tea set

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Emperor Qianlong, a tea fanatic, had a fine collection of Yixing Chinese tea sets that he personally custom-ordered. He shared tea from them only with his favorite ministers.

He once described Yixing teapots to be ‘teapot of teapots,’ not only for their practical use, but also the artistry of the wonderful china tea sets.

The very name “Yixing” came from another famous emperor. Over 1,700 years ago, many warlords ruled of different areas of China. The emperor needed the support of these families to maintain control, but most of them turned against him and attempted a coup three different times! Only the family from Yixing came to save him each time, so he rewarded the town with the name Yixing, which means ‘Righteous Undertaking.’

If you visit Yixing today, you will be amazed by its beautiful mountains and rivers, and terrace after terrace of tea plants. Yixing has some of the oldest tea plantations in China. The local Zisun tea is noted for its subtle, sweet flavor, and ability to promote weight loss. In the Tang dynasty, this tea was set aside for the enjoyment of the royal family.

Masterpiece Chinese tea sets from Yixing are often sold for thousands of dollars in auctions across the world. So some of the remaining master potters are venerated as living treasures, and their work is an important piece of Chinese culture that shouldn’t be missed.

The Yixing secret spot teapot

Their long history allows Yixing artisans to make the best, most beautiful, and sometimes most ornate china tea sets in the world.

One striking teapot made in 2006 is 3.6 meters tall and weighs over 1 ton. It is the largest teapot in the world. Another, the smallest in the world, weighs only 1.4 grams, and can fit on your finger tip. Both teapots are fully functional and make tea.

In fact, Yixing’s most celebrated offering to the world is the purple clay teapot. A deep understanding of pottery has helped craftsmen here make teapots that any real tea lover can’t go without.

The rare purple clay that’s used to make Yixing teapots is only found in this area. Enthusiasts say Yixing purple clay teapots bring the best flavor out of every batch of tea, but it is quickly running out because of over-exploration.

The Yixing monkey and peach teapot

But they didn’t start off nearly so complicated and elaborate, and way back when Yixing was founded, it was little more than a backwater with no real art or high culture.

There have been important strides in the growth of Yixing Chinese tea sets, here are just a few of them:

Let’s Get Started: Using Purple Clay for Teapots

It is estimated that the first purple clay teapot was crafted some 600 years ago, during the powerful Ming dynasty. Tea itself was experiencing an explosion in popularity, so more and more people were searching for new kinds of teapots to go with it.

At that time, many people in Yixing were already using purple clay to make pots and jars for storing dry goods, like rice and vegetables.

 

A remarkable Yixing teapot

But taking this clay to make teapots all started with a poor boy named Gong Chun, who lived with a teapot master. Gong Chun wanted to learn to craft teapots, but the master never taught him.

One day while on a walk in the countryside, he saw people making the usual pots out of purple clay. He decided to make his own teapot out of this clay, because no one had ever done it before and eh thought it was quite beautiful. He bought a pile of it, took it home, and secretly made his first teapot.

The pot was very simple, had many flaws, and was nothing special to look at. But what he found amazed him: the clay brought the best out of any tea he put in it.

He showed others in his town, and they started asking him to make pots as well. This is how Yixing took its first steps on the road to fame.

Further Development: One Dynasty to the Next

As the Ming dynasty continued, artisans found that purple clay was quite easy to mold into fine china tea sets and they developed teapots that were increasingly intricate. Many started imitating bronze sculptures of the time, which had a very royal feel.

 

 

Pots featuring lions, dragons, and other symbols of imperial power were common at this time.

But the dynasty eventually fell, and there was a period of unrest across the country. Once the new ruling family took control, art in Yixing once again flourished.

Potters started looking at things in nature for their designs: trees, nuts, flowers, birds, mountains and other jewels of China became very common designs. Also, attention to detail increased, as the potters began to sign their work or stamp it with their personal seals.

The Yixing calligraphy teapot

As time went on, calligraphy, paintings, poems, and other forms of art were incorporated into Yixing purple clay teapot designs. The invention of new tools enabled artists to do things previous generations had only dreamed of.

Modern Day: Revival of The Old

Purple clay teapot art continued to develop into the 20th century, but was stymied yet again in the early to mid 1900’s because of war and social unrest.

But over the last few decades, many new faces and new ideas have contributed to the creation of some fascinating pots. These artists tend to combine old ideas such as calligraphy with new visions of the world. Using abstract shapes and modern objects, they create pots that are truly a sight to behold.

But the opportunity to work with this revered material is increasingly rare: the Chinese government has protected purple clay from constant exploitation, and now only a set amount of it can be mined each year. So take this opportunity to get your very own genuine Yixing Chinese tea set!

The Jingdezhen boys playing tea set

Jingdezhen is now one of the most well-respected porcelain centers of the world, and it has maintained this reputation for several centuries.

It’s difficult to say exactly when the first Chinese tea sets were made in this small town, but it’s clear that production here had already reached an advanced level by 1,000 A.D.

But by that time, and even well before then, there were many towns and cities across China doing similar work. So there’s a question to be answered: how did Jingdezhen set itself apart from all of the others, and who is responsible for the huge growth in the Jingdezhen china tea set industry?

Zhao Kai: The Creator

Almost all experts agree that the china tea set trade in Jingdezhen would not have reached its current state if not for one man named Zhao Kai.

Zhao was a powerful government official during the Jin dynasty (265-420 A.D.) who became disillusioned with the ruling family. At that time, corruption was rampant and Zhao decided to leave his post.

 

The Jingdezhen cats and butterflies tea set

He moved to Jingdezhen, which was a largely unknown town, even within China. Zhao went there and studied one of his favorite hobbies: porcelain.

But Zhao was no amateur when he arrived. He had already studied the latest techniques of molding, firing, and glazing Chinese tea sets while at his government post in a larger city.

What he found in Jingdezhen was a proverbial backwater: the craftsmanship was poor, pieces were frequently wasted, and there was little training or education on crafting porcelain.

The one saving grace of Jingdezhen was its special clay. This clay was pure white and rock hard when fired, making it easy to mold into thin, elaborate shapes. So Zhao decided to stay and see what he could do with this new material.

 

 

 

The Jingdezhen magpie tea set

Zhao used this clay to make his own Chinese tea sets, and taught the local people how to fire the clay properly. In those days, firing was no easy task, as the kilns were heated by wood and no thermometers were available. So Zhao taught the locals his techniques, improving the porcelain production in the whole area.

Not only that, he taught them how to select the best clay, mould it into fine shapes, glaze it so it would shine bright, and keep the clay’s strength even though the items could be paper thin.

Because of his contributions to their town, the people of Jingdezhen later built a temple to memorialize Zhao Kai, and called him their “master teacher.” Even today, he's considered the father of Jingdezhen china tea sets.