Tea is one of China's most representative cultures and has attracted people from all over the world. As well as tea and water, other elements are involved in the tradition, such as the teapot. The Zisha teapots produced in Yixing city in east China's Jiangsu Province are considered to be the best tool for making tea.
Yixing Zisha Teapot is also known as Yixing Clay Teapot. Zisha teapot could be literally translated as purple sand teapot in English. According to literature, the first Zisha teapot was created during the Song Dynasty in the 10th century. A monk in Yixing handmade the teapot from local clay, but it did not flourish until the Ming Dynasty in the 15th century.
The Zisha teapot is especially good for enhancing the taste of tea because of its special texture. Many tea-lovers agree that tea from a Zisha pot is better. Xu Jingfang, a Beijing resident, is one of them.
"We have several Zisha teapots at home, partly for daily use and partly for collection. It's very famous in our country. The Zisha teapot can make the tea taste much better, which cannot be achieved by other kinds of pots. And drinking tea made out of a Zisha teapot really gives me quite a nice feeling."
Wang Yinxian, a master who has been making Zisha teapots for more than 50 years, explains the secret of the teapot.
"The Zisha teapot is a kind of ceramic ware with no glazing. It is considered the best tea pot that the tea made in it tastes especially nice. And the tea can be stored overnight in it without going bad even in the summer. While examined from the section plane, it can be seen that the clay is highly porous, but water cannot leak from it. This is the biggest distinctiveness of Zisha clay."
The porous nature of Zisha clay allows the teapot to absorb the essence of tea. As the teapot becomes seasoned over time, the essence captured by the pot will accentuate the character of subsequent brews, and therefore it enhances the flavor, aroma and texture of the tea.
To make a Zisha teapot, the material should be carefully selected and processed before it can be used. According to Yao Zhiyuan, who has been making Zisha teapots for over 20 years, the teapot can only be made by hand using a special method.
"The Zisha clay is shaped through the method of patting, which is different to the throwing method often used in pottery producing. This method is only used in the making of Yixing Zisha teapots."
There are different types of Zisha clay with varying colors such as purple, green and red. The different colored clay can be further mixed to create new colors, which allows a great diversity of Zisha teapots.
According to Wang Yinxian, many tools are used to achieve the design idea of an artisan.
"We have hundreds of tools used for making the teapot. We also make the tools ourselves. We use various materials like bamboo, horn and iron, and design them according to our needs."
Due to the artistic design and delicate production process, the Zisha teapot is no longer a daily necessity, but has eventually come to be considered a work of art, which is widely collectable. As the production of Zisha teapots is being industrialized, less and less high quality teapots are produced, and less attention is paid to the development of the art form. Meanwhile, the non-renewable material is also decreasing, Wang Yinxian says.
"After so many years' mining, a large part of the reserve of the Zisha clay has been used. According to exploration during the 1990s, there is still a big reserve of clay in the area. But we all think it's necessary to protect the resource and the local government is controlling the exploitation."
In 2006, the production technique of Yixing Zisha teapots was listed among China's Intangible Cultural Heritages to protect the art form. But experts say more measures are needed to preserve this highly cultural and profound art form.
(CRI June 22, 2009)
