It's just a teapot

The production of purple sand began in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty and flourished in Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty (1506- 152 1), and many folk artists emerged. Among them, Gong Chun pushed the purple sand ware to a new level and became the earliest famous folk artist. During the Wanli period, famous artists came forth in large numbers, and craftsmen from all walks of life stood on their own feet and made great efforts. The firing process of the product has also been improved, and the color and smoothness of the product have been increased. After Wanli, the purple sand industry formed an independent production system and entered a prosperous period of competing to bring forth the new. Besides making tea sets, we also made handicrafts such as elegant play and incense boxes. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, purple sand was brought to Europe by Portuguese businessmen and was called "red porcelain". In the Qing Dynasty, the craft of purple sand developed rapidly, and the styles and styles of products were more exotic than those in the Ming Dynasty, and there were more and more new varieties, such as purple sand flowerpot and various furnishings and toys. Among them, there are teapots modeled after flowers and fruits and ancient bronzes, and there are also purple clay pots decorated with various pastel landscapes and purple clay pictograms of peanuts and water chestnuts. Because of its exquisite craftsmanship, it is often selected as a tribute by the royal family and exported to Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, South America and other places. Yixing Zisha won the first prize of Panama International Fair in 4 years. In the 6th year of the Republic of China, Jiangsu Ceramic Factory was established in Shushan, and ceramic experts and technicians were recruited to produce purple sand ware, and the argillaceous, muddy color and modeling of purple sand were studied and improved. In 10, Li Yong Company opened a pottery workshop in Shushan to recruit and train purple sand artists, and built 1 Longyao to manufacture purple sand products. At that time, the production of purple sand was distributed in Shushan, Luo Qian, Shangyuan and other places. There were 10 kilns for firing purple sand products, with an annual output of more than 10. By 2 1, there were more than 600 purple sand workers. The annual output of 140 kiln was 2.2 million pieces, with an annual output value of about 420,000 yuan, accounting for about 15% of the total output of Yixing ceramic industry, and it directly accepted orders from Japan, Southeast Asia and other countries, which was a particularly prosperous year for purple sand industry. At that time, Zhu Kexin, Chen Shouzhen, Yu Guoliang, Wu Yungen, Fan Fukui and other purple sand artists' works "Yunlong Ding", "Pushing Autumn", "Antique" and "Lu Chuan" all won the Chicago Expo Excellence Award.

Before War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese government continuously raised the import tariff rate of purple sand, copied purple sand pottery in Changshou and other places, and the drought in 23 years of the Republic of China weakened people's purchasing power, resulting in a gradual decline in the output of purple sand. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, seven purple sand kilns and 100 factories were destroyed one after another, and a large number of technicians were scattered. The whole Shushan kiln burns less than 1000 purple teapots throughout the year. From the victory of the Anti-Japanese War to liberation, due to price fluctuations and sluggish sales, the output only accounted for 57.8% of that before War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and the whole purple sand industry almost fell into a situation of no successor.

In June, 1950, 1 1, the county government approved the establishment of a joint business office for purple sand production and marketing, and organized purple sand products to participate in domestic and international urban and rural material exchange meetings and exhibitions, which opened up the market for products. Starting from 1954, purple sand employees scattered all over the country will be organized for production, and at the same time, funds will be allocated to build and transform the original production equipment and workshops. 1955 After the establishment of Zisha Production Cooperative, young artists were recruited and experienced and skilled old artists were assigned to take charge of training. The output of purple sand reached 750,000 pieces that year, which was 2 13 times higher than that of 1949. The annual output value is 1 17000 yuan, which is 3.3 times higher than 1949. 1956 restore the purple sand export. During the Great Leap Forward Movement, which started in 1958, the production scale of purple sand kept expanding, and the supply of products exceeded demand, resulting in a large backlog. By the end of 1960, the number of employees in Zisha Craft Factory was 578, only 28% of 1958. 1965 annual output of purple sand109000 pieces, an increase of 45% compared with 1955, with an annual output value of 722000 yuan, an increase of 5.2 times compared with 1955. 1April, 1966, Zisha Craft Factory set up a central laboratory to be responsible for business guidance and product innovation. The Cultural Revolution affected the production of purple sand. From 197 1, production began to pick up, and the output and output value increased year by year. After 1979, Yixing Zisha Craft Factory strengthened process management and technical improvement, continuously improved product quality and continuously developed new products. 1980 The output of purple sand has reached 3.64 million pieces, with an output value of 2.4865 million yuan and a profit of 68 1 10,000 yuan. With the increasing demand for Yixing purple sand in domestic and foreign markets, some towns and villages have also begun to develop purple sand production. 198 1 year, 1 month, Zhou Shu Commune Zisha Factory (now known as Yixing Zisha Craft No.2 Factory) was completed and put into operation. 1987 In July, Yixing Zisha No.3 Factory in Chuanbu Township was completed and put into operation, and in September of the same year, Yixing Zisha No.4 Factory in Ancun Village, Zhou Shu Township was completed and put into operation. At that time, Yixing purple sand products included pots, cups, bottles, pots, tableware, flowerpots, underwater, hanging plates, elegant studies, rockeries, bonsai, figure sculptures and so on 1000 varieties. Four purple sand factories have 2620 employees, with an annual output of1290,200 pieces, an annual output value of1850,900 yuan and a profit of 5,484,900 yuan.

Due to the continuous improvement of the quality of purple sand products, "Fiona Fang" advanced tea set produced by Yixing Purple Sand Craft Factory won the National Gold Award 1983, and "Bai Shou Bottle" and "Bamboo Slip Tea Set" won the Leipzig Chunbo Gold Award 1984. The 1985 "Li Long" purple sand high-grade series tea set produced by Yixing Zisha Craft No.2 Factory (Zhoushuxiang) won the Excellent New Product Award of the Ministry of Light Industry. Four products, such as "Bamboo Slips" and "Zisha Tea Set", won the Excellent New Product Award of the Provincial Department of Light Industry. 1987, Yixing Zisha Craft Factory won the Excellent Quality Management Award of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Light Industry and Ministry of Light Industry, and 40 pieces (sets) of this factory were selected into Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai, and won the honorary certificate issued by the State Council.

1979-1In mid-987, Yixing Zisha participated in exhibitions held in Canada, Japan and Hong Kong respectively, and Zisha artists also went to Australia, the United States, Japan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong for inspection and operation performances. At the same time, according to the information of the international market, the purple sand industry constantly adjusts the variety structure: the products gradually develop from single piece to serialization and matching; The grade is also developing from mid-range to middle-high grade, creating characteristics. With the increasing popularity of Yixing Zisha in the international market, the average number of foreigners and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan visiting Yixing Zisha Craft Factory is about 3,000 per year, and the maximum number is more than 5,000. The annual foreign exchange income from tourism can reach 700,000-800,000 yuan. By 1987, Yixing Zisha has been exported to more than 50 countries and regions. The export value of Yixing Zisha Craft Factory, Zisha Craft Factory No.2 and Zisha Craft Factory No.3 reached 6.73 million yuan (including the value of tourism products), which was 5.63 times higher than 1978.

After 1949, the older generation of purple sand artists devoted themselves to the research of traditional crafts and the development of new products, and constantly trained new technicians. Ren Qiangting is an artist who is good at purple sand carving, decoration and carving. Decorative paintings are mainly landscape flowers and birds. He trained a large number of talents and made contributions to the modern purple sand carving art; Wu Yungen's modeling skills are superb, and he is good at making Fiona Fang pots and bamboo pots. His style is simple and steady. His folding diamond pot, bamboo pot and string pot have been selected for many exhibitions at home and abroad. Wang Yinchun is a prolific artist. He is famous for making many clay pots quickly. The teapot he made has clear lines and tight seams. His works have participated in many exhibitions at home and abroad and trained a large number of technicians. Pei Shimin is good at making exquisite purple sand study, such as water Meng, cups and plates, furnace ding and so on. He was once famous for preparing the lid and tray for the tree gall pot "Spring _ _ pot" of Zisha master and the big peach cup of Shengsi respectively. His works are heavy in style and calm in momentum, which is unique in Zisha Art Garden. From 65438 to 0955, Zhu Kexin began to train the first batch of artists in New China. The teapots he made are often based on natural flowering trees, such as Baochun pot, Squirrel grape pot, Cuidie pot and Yunlong plate. In the 1970s, in order to meet the needs of the mouth, he designed a series of tea sets with the same shape and diverse decorations with the theme of pine, bamboo, plum, cypress and peach. Jiang Rong is the first female craftsman after liberation, and her works are mainly ornamental and practical. Pictographic fruits such as peanuts, walnuts, melon seeds and water chestnuts. As early as 1950s, it was regarded as a national gift. Gu Jingzhou's teapot is rigorous in craftsmanship and diverse in style, creating new works with high artistic conception. They are good at calligraphy and seal cutting, familiar with the whole process of making purple sand, and have a deep study on the evolution of purple sand and the appreciation of ancient pottery. His representative works "Tibi Tea Set" and "Xue Hua Pot" are exquisite in craftsmanship, simple and elegant, and won praises from people at home and abroad. In addition, a large number of young and middle-aged purple sand artists have emerged. On the basis of inheriting traditional crafts, they constantly reformed the shape, color and decoration techniques of products, and designed and created many famous, excellent, new and special products. Among them, assistant craftsman and Tao's Hundred-year-old Bottle and Shen Hansheng's Bamboo Slip Tea Set won the gold medal in Bixichun International Expo in GDR from 65438 to 0984.

When purple sand began has always been an unresolved issue in the history of China ceramics. It is clearly recorded in the historical records of Ming and Qing Dynasties that Zisha pottery was founded in Hongzhi and Zhengde years of Ming Dynasty, with Jinsha Temple as its founder. For example, Zhou said in [The Famous Pot System in Yangxian County-The Founding Chapter]: "Monks in Jinsha Temple, from its name, heard Tao Jiayun: Monks are quiet and happy. Anyone who is interested in pottery pots should try their best to make it clear, knead it into a fetus, make it round and square, make it hollow, cover it with heel handles, and burn it with holes, which is satisfactory." Zhou Rong [Yixing Porcelain Pot Record] said: "Those who are more tea drinkers in Wuzhong today must say that Yixing porcelain began in Wanli, and the monks of Dachaoshan Temple (that is, the monks of Jinsha Temple) spread from the spring, and Wu Xiaoli also." Who are Gong Chun and Wu Shi? [Yixing County Records] According to records, during the Ming Dynasty1504 _ _1521,Gong Chun became a monk with Wu Yishan, assistant minister of the department, and Wu studied in Jinsha Temple (the temple site is still there today). Wu Meiding's [Yang Xianming Hu Fu] said: "He is novel and changeable, and he is a teacher." I believe that the nose of a clay pot is also a good work in the world. "These records clearly show that Zisha was created in the middle and late Ming Dynasty and never mentioned the fact that there was Zisha in the Song Dynasty.

1976, Yixing Hongqi Ceramics Factory discovered the site of Zisha ancient kiln during the construction, and confirmed that Yixing ceramics production began in the Neolithic Age. Yixing is an ancient county, built in the Qin Dynasty. As early as the Neolithic Age, industrious people started primitive ceramic production activities here. Many archaeological investigations have been conducted and seven ancient cultural sites have been discovered, including five Neolithic sites. There are nearly 100 ancient kiln sites, including three in Han Dynasty, three in Six Dynasties, nine in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, twenty in Song and Yuan Dynasties, and more than sixty in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Therefore, in folklore, it is untrue to call Yue the "ancestor of Yixing ceramics" or "".

The site of ancient Zisha Kiln is located in Yangjiaoshan, Lishu Village, Yixing, which is a branch system of Huanglong Mountain in Dingshu Town. It is a place rich in purple sand mud, so the ancients built the kiln in the raw material producing area. The site of the ancient Zisha kiln was buried under a mound about ten meters long. After breaking ground and cleaning, it is divided into three layers, the upper layer is more than two meters thick. That is the ceramic fragments accumulated in modern waste kilns, mainly the fragments of jars and Weng. The second layer is mixed accumulation, which lasts for a long time from Yuan Dynasty to early Qing Dynasty, and the accumulation layer is thick, about two to three meters. Most of them are pottery pots with diamond flowers on their shoulders, jade pot-shaped glazed pottery pots and so on. In particular, the latter two have the ceramic modeling style of Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Secondly, we also found the fragments of "Yi Qi Jun", which are very similar to the products of Ouyao. In addition, in the nearby northbound direction, the remains of Ou kiln were found, indicating that the accumulation was the accumulation of Ou kiln in the early Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The third layer is the early purple sand accumulation layer, with a thickness of 1.5 m and a gray-purple cross section, which is mainly composed of fragments of purple sand pots, including pot body, spout and lid. Near this pile of things, a dragon kiln with a length of about 10 m and a width of about 1 m was found, in which there was a purple sand monument. The lower layer of the kiln is loess, which was manually filled in when the kiln was built. At the southern end are two rows of small bricks with inclined brick stacks, which are very similar to the common bricks in Song tombs in Jiangnan area.

According to the analysis and study of a large number of unearthed fragments of purple sand ware, the main shapes can be distinguished as: pots and cans, in which the pots are mostly purple and have no glaze inside and outside. There are three types of containers recovered from debris: high-neck cans, low-neck cans and hanging beam cans. The purple clay is coarse and the surface density is poor. Because it is not packed in a box and fired directly in a kiln, there are often fire defects. In the molding method, it is separated from the practice of drawing blanks with ceramic wheels. According to the different properties of purple clay and other clay, the method of embedding clay pieces is adopted, and the bonding of spout, handle and pot body (commonly known as pot cover and pot top) adopts the method of piercing and pinching hands. It created a new technology for the modeling of the later purple sand ware and laid the foundation for the modeling of the purple sand ware. For example, the spout of a faucet is shaped like a faucet. Hexagonal pot, starting from the neck, with diamond decoration at the root of the pot mouth and small holes in the handle, is quite mature. Judging from the three restored shapes and decorations, the lines are smooth and the patterns are just right. It is by no means a virgin's work, and it is easy to avoid the heavy.

In addition, Zhenjiang Museum found two teapots in an ancient well of Southern Song Dynasty in recent years. The pot body, spout and bottom are all mud chips, and the neck of the pot is marked with a knife, and the pot body has obvious hand-pinching marks, and the upper part is glazed. According to textual research, it is considered to be a hip flask in the Song Dynasty. From the rough use of mud, simple shape and relatively old, it may be earlier than the Southern Song Dynasty. However, further research is needed in the future to draw a more correct conclusion.

Zisha pottery, also known as Zisha ware or Zisha pottery, is a unique pottery handicraft in China, which is famous for its diverse shapes, simple colors, durable quality and exquisite craftsmanship. The most obvious feature is that it is fired with coarse purple mud, mostly purplish red. Generally, it is not glazed, so it is purple pottery. Among the purple sand products, the most prominent one is the purple sand teapot. Whether unearthed underground or circulated in the world, most of them are tea sets. Because there are many styles of purple sand teapots with their own characteristics, they are not only rich in national style, but also have special functions such as boiling water to make tea, not cold in winter, not smelly in summer, not discoloring in storage, not sour in summer and so on. Therefore, it won people's "a pot in hand, I can't bear it" and regarded Gao Shi's famous Confucianism as an "arch wall". Especially admired and strongly advocated, because the teapot has become a popular top grade, with a large number and wide spread. Since the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, purple sand products have flourished, and purple sand teapots are in the first place.

Early teapot products continued from Song Dynasty to Zhengde, Jiajing and Wanli in Ming Dynasty. With the prevalence of drinking tea, tasting tea and tasting tea, the pot-making technology has undergone great changes, from a large pot for boiling tea to a small pot for wenwan, and other works of art have also developed accordingly. However, before the Ming Dynasty, the famous purple sand player could not be found in the book, nor did he leave his name on the musical instrument. After self-knowledge of moral integrity, there are many masters who are read in books or left over from pots.

Historically, monks and Gongchun of Jinsha Temple were pioneers in the professionalization and artistry of purple sand ware. The period of Hongzhi and Zhengde in Ming Dynasty (from the end of15th century to the beginning of16th century) where Jinsha Temple and Gongchun lived can be regarded as the period when Yixing purple sand products really formed their technological system.

From Jiajing to Qin Long (A.D. 1522 _ _ 1572), after Gong Chun, the four famous zisha were HanDong, Zhao Liang, Shi Peng and Changyuan, and they were also called "four famous pots". Among them, HanDong is most famous for making diamond-shaped fancy pots, and most pots made in Zhao Liang are hanging beam pots. It seems that these famous artists all win by the artistry of modeling. At the same time, Li Maolin is also a famous pot artist. He is good at making small round cans, which are exquisite, simple and elegant, and have no style. He only takes the bamboo book as his name, and people think that he can be compared with a pot for spring. During the Wanli period (A.D. 1573 _ _ 1620), Shi Dabin, Li Zhongfang and Xu Youquan were famous pot-making masters, and their pot-making art was superb, so they were called "the three outstanding pot makers" at that time.