Reference
Purple Gold in Palm: Where Mountains Flow and Seasons Brew Within a Pot
    Zisha teapot is a unique pottery tea set in China, made from purple clay as raw material and crafted through traditional handmade techniques. It combines practicality and artistry and is known as the "first tea set" and "treasure in pottery".
    Zisha teapot is a unique handmade pottery craft in China. Its production began during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, using Zisha clay as the raw material. Its place of origin is Dingshu Town, Yixing, Jiangsu Province. Since the Zhengde reign of Emperor Wu of the Ming Dynasty, purple clay has been used to make teapots, and many famous masters have emerged. Over the course of 500 years, exquisite teapots have been passed down. It is said that the founder of purple clay teapots was the Spring Offering of the Ming Dynasty in China. From the tree gall pot and six petal round sac pot used for spring offerings during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, to the creative design by Ji Hansheng and the production by Cao Anxiang. At the same time, the purple clay mandarin duck tea ware - Chinese Loong pot, which can soak two kinds of tea, and the French milk pot, which is made by Yan Yuan, a Buddhist purple clay artist, all have their own ingenuity and make great efforts to appreciate the pot. Because of the combination of artistry and practicality, purple clay teapots are extremely precious and leave a lasting impression. The benefits of using purple clay teapots for brewing tea, as well as the cultural atmosphere of tea Zen, add to the noble and elegant charm of purple clay teapots. Zisha teapots are on the rise in the auction market and are considered "antiques" with collectible value. The works of famous masters and masters are often hard to come by, as the saying goes, "Where can we find jewelry in the world? Yixing Zisha teapots are the most valuable.
    The raw material for production is purple clay, also known as Yixing purple clay teapot, originating from Dingshu Town, Yixing, Wuxi, Jiangsu. It is said that the founder of purple clay teapots was the Spring Offering of the Ming Dynasty in China. Because of the perfect combination of artistry and practicality, purple clay teapots are so precious and leave a lasting impression. The benefits of using purple clay teapots to brew tea, as well as the culture of tea meditation, further enhance the noble and elegant charm of purple clay.
    Zisha teapot is a unique pottery tea set in China, made from purple clay as raw material and crafted through traditional handmade techniques. It combines practicality and artistry and is known as the "first tea set" and "treasure in pottery".
    Purple clay tea sets are also highly favored for their antique and unique design, as well as their excellent temperament. After being soaked in tea and rubbed by hand, they can turn into an ancient jade color. Purple clay is indeed a unique raw material in Yixing, as it contains the necessary chemical and mineral compositions for pottery production. Microscopic observation reveals that the main minerals in purple clay are quartz, clay, mica, and hematite. A reasonable chemical, mineral, and particle composition enables purple clay to have good processability such as good plasticity, high green strength, and low drying shrinkage. The fineness of purple clay powder should pass through a 60 mesh sieve.
It takes effort to produce rough clay materials; When the clay material is made too fine, it sticks to the hands and causes wrinkles on the surface of the body. At the same time, it can also cause drying and shrinkage during firing. In the forming process, precision machining is used as a key process to smooth out the shape and form a dense skin layer. Due to the presence of the skin layer, the temperature range for product firing has been expanded. Regardless of the upper or lower limit of the normal firing temperature, the skin layer is prone to sintering, while pores can still form on the inner wall of the pot body. Therefore, the precision processing technology during molding has the function of organically linking the clay, molding, and firing together, giving the surface of purple clay a smooth and glossy appearance without glaze, and having a certain porosity without leakage.
Raw material
    The raw material for firing purple clay teapots is soil, which is divided into three types: purple clay, green clay, and red clay. The clay that can be used to make purple clay teapots is usually hidden deep under rock layers, with a thickness ranging from tens of centimeters to one meter. According to the analysis of lithofacies by the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, purple clay belongs to the kaolinite quartz mica type, with a high iron content, reaching a maximum of 8.83%. Purple clay teapots are fired under high oxygen and high temperature conditions, usually using flat flame contact, with a firing temperature between 1100-1200 ℃. The water absorption rate of finished purple clay teapots is greater than 2%. The clay raw materials for purple clay teapots are purple clay, green clay, and red clay, commonly known as "rich and prosperous soil". Because it is produced in Yixing, Jiangsu, it is called Yixing purple clay.
Practicality
    Purple clay teapot is used for brewing tea. There has long been a consensus on the performance of purple clay teapots, which embodies both color and aroma. Moreover, scientific institutions have also conducted detailed tests on the "longer the summer moon stays, the better it won't spoil" of clay pots. Purple clay pots and ceramics have confirmed that clay pots are much superior to ceramics. This conclusion is based on the uniqueness of purple clay raw materials. The strong practicality of purple clay teapots lies in their relatively high porosity, which gives them the advantage of good breathability. According to page 394 of the "History of Chinese Pottery Capital", purple clay clay "is characterized by a relatively high iron content, and there are a large number of agglomerated pores in the microstructure of purple clay vessels". Its pores have two types, one is the pores inside the agglomerates, and the other is the pore group wrapped around the agglomerates, and most of them belong to open pores. The good breathability of purple clay vessels may be related to this special microstructure. According to the physical and chemical process performance testing of various clay by Yixing Ceramic Company, it was found that the porosity of purple clay is over 10%. Therefore, it also indicates that good breathability is the main reason for "the color, aroma, and taste of tea" and "staying up in the summer without spoiling". The good plasticity and bonding ability of purple clay are the reasons why it is beneficial for craft decoration. Furthermore, the roasting temperature range of purple clay is also wide, ranging from 1190 ℃ to 1270 ℃. This is another reason why purple clay products do not leak or age, and become more shiny and smooth with use. All of the above indicates that this purple clay made of fine sandstone is the best clay material suitable for pottery and teapots, and is also a unique treasure of Yixing, the pottery capital.
    The purple clay pottery tea set made from purple clay clay is universally recognized as the best quality tea set and the best tea set.
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