Gong Chun pots

Gong Chun was generally recognised as the founding father of Yixing pots. He was a servant of a scholar who found refuge in a temple to prepare for the civil exams at the Imperial court during the reign of the Ming dynasty some 600 years ago. It was in the temple that Gong Chun learnt the art of teapot making from a monk who used the Yixing clay to make pots.

After Gong Chun had mastered the art of teapot making, he became very famous and his pots were well sought after by scholars of the time. It was indeed an honour to own a pot made by Gong Chun. Before the Ming dynasty, tea was boiled in a big vessel and tea was usually made in bid compressed cake. The first Ming emperor then issued a decree that tea was to be made in smaller vessels. This started the fashion of brewing tea in smaller pots where smaller quantity of tea would be consumed.

Ever since the introduction of this decree and the spread of Gong Chun pots, the use of Yixing clay became an indispensable material to make teapots. There were several famous potters after Gong Chun (like Shi Dabin, Xu YouChuen, etc) and their pots were comparable to gold in terms of their values. Common folks were not able to own these Yixing pots. Most poor country folks were not even able to see one, let alone owning it.

Here are two modified form of the Gong Chun pots made from the yellow Zisha clay.