Shau Yuting, a native of Yixing, was a renown potter who was active in the Republic era (Post 1911).
This teapot was made according to the shape of an ancient bell using fine zishz clay (as commented by Prof Pan CF).
I acquired this pot in the 80s in an antique shop in Singapore. When Prof Pan was in Singapore in 1992, I let him evaluate this pot for me. He confirmed that the pot was made around the republic time using fine zisha clay. He also commented the workmanship is superb, a very good Yixing zisha pot indeed.
Could you believe it, England is out of the world cup competition at such an early stage.
I do not expect them to bow out so early in the competition. I have high hope for the team initially, but reality is reality. The players can only play well in their local leagues and on their own soil. With this kind of result, I don't think they will ever win the world cup again.
Anyway, they were once world champions almost 50 years ago when they won the cup at Wembley in 1966, on their very own turf. This means the stamps that were issued in 1966 to commemorate this event are even more precious as there can never be another such set of stamps.
The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final during which Geoff Hurst famously scored a hat-trick and won the World Cup. With this victory, England won their first FIFA World Cup title and became the third World Cup host to win the tournament after Uruguay in 1930 and Italy in 1934.
For the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, England participated as reigning cup holders. They reached the quarter-finals but were knocked out by West Germany.
England failed to qualified for the 1974 World Cup, leading to Alf Ramsey's dismissal. Under Ron Greenwood they managed to qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain but were eliminated from a second qualifying round.
They achieved their second best result in the 1990 World Cup by finishing fourth – losing again to West Germany in a semi-final finishing 1–1 after extra time, then 3–4 in England's first penalty shoot-out. Despite finishing fourth the members of the England team were given bronze medals and the England team of 1990 were welcomed home as heroes.
For the 1998 World Cup, England were eliminated in the second round again by Argentina and again on penalties (after a 2–2 draw).
Sven-Göran Eriksson guided England to the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup and 2006 World Cup.
At the 2010 World Cup itself England progressed to the next round, where they were beaten 4–1 by Germany, their heaviest defeat in a World Cup.
In the 2014 FIFA World Cup, England lost two group matches in a row, against Italy and Uruguay, by 2-1 on each occasion. They were eliminated at the group stage for the first time since the 1958 World Cup.
From around a thousand years ago, the Ancient Tea Route was a trade link from Yunnan, one of the first tea-producing regions: to Bengal and India via Burma; to Tibet; and to central China via Sichuan Province. In addition to tea, the mule caravans carried salt. Both people and horses carried heavy loads, the tea porters sometimes carrying over 60–90 kg, which was often more than their own body weight in tea.
It is believed that it was through this trading network that tea (typically tea bricks) first spread across China and Asia from its origins in Puerh county, near Simao Prefecture in Yunnan.
The route earned the name Tea-Horse Road because of the common trade of Tibetan ponies for Chinese tea, a practice dating back at least to the Song dynasty, when the sturdy horses were important for China to fight warring nomads in the north. Source: Wiki.
Below is a 3-part video on this ancient trade route that brought puerh tea to the rest of the world.
http://youtu.be/S8CzefeMFFI 天伦歌
A song which was dedicated to all the war orphans during the war with the Japanese, encouraging them to move on and instead of suffering their losses to actively contribute to humanity. A very moving song.
If you want to find out how a Yixing pot is made, here is a 2-part video to show you the whole process of making a teapot by a senior craftsmaster. Hope you enjoy watching the video.
The ancient history of China tells us that jade had been a symbol of power, authority and ceremonial tool for praying to heaven. The leader of a tribe wore jade bangle to distinguished himself from the rest of the tribe. He used a c-shape jade carving when he prayed to heaven for rains and protection.
Few thousand year old C-shaped jade dragon unearthed
He thought that jade was the medium by which he (an earthly being) could communicate with gods of the heaven. The ancient people even had broken lade pieces joined together with thread through holes drilled in the broken jade pieces. As jade was scarce, they had to make use of even some small pieces of jade discovered. Excavations had uncovered all these jade items which were buried thousand of years ago. Imagine jade is a hard material and ancient people were able to carve out the jade items using primitive tools. They were even able to drill holes on them to join broken pieces together. Although the tools they used were very primitive, but the jade artifacts they made were by no means sub-standard and inferior in design. This showed that ancient people were talented and artistic. Of course today jade carving is made easier with the use of advanced diamond tools and electrical equipment.
In the early years the Chinese were mainly dealing with the white jade which was mined in Xinjiang. They were fascinated by its intense white colour and fell in love with this precious material. The green jadeite (from Burma) was only introduced to China during the 19th century. It became popular only when Empress Dowager of the Qing dynasty loved this green jade so much that she amassed a lot of items made from this material. The most famous of her collection of jadeite carving was the water melon which showed the greenish skin and the red stuff inside. This water melon jade carving was reported lost after the empire collapsed.
Jade carvers often go to the jade market to look for raw jade boulders. Some jade boulders may look very ordinary to others, but the jade carvers can turn these stones into masterpieces which often fetched high prices in auction houses. Jade carving is a big industry in China with tens of thousands of workers dealing in the trading and carving business.
A Jade boulder
Here is a 2-part video on how jade carving master turn ordinary jade into a masterpiece.
Here is a recorded video on the tasting of hundred year old puerh tea. This puerh was made in 1929, the brand is Song Peng, a brand established during the Qing dynasty. The video below shows the reporter tasting this aged puerh in a tea shop in Hong Kong. Hence, the language used in the interview is Cantonese. I had the opportunity to drink this tea in the early 80s when it was still available. Now, you have to go to auction houses if you want to buy and taste this brand of puerh tea.
100 year old puerh
Hong Kong people like to eat Tim Sum (breakfast things such as prawn dumplings, etc) in the morning. They will order puerh to go with these oriental delicacies as the tea can neutralise the oily substance in the food. Hence, puerh tea is very popular in Hong Kong and in South East Asia.
Not everyone has the chance to drink hundred year old puerh. It is beyond the general tea drinkers due to its scarcity and price. However if you can get some puerh aged around 20 to 30 years, it is very good indeed. If you are not willing to pay the high price for such tea, you can buy start buying young puerh tea cakes and store them for as long as you can. One day you will know the value of your hard work and effort in keeping them for so long.
Puerh cakes of the 80s
This puerh cakes are considered rare in the market. The tea was processed in Guangdong for export to other parts of the world. Some of these cakes that were made in the 60s and 70s are also quite expensive.
A recorded video on puerh tea for sharing. The narration is in English.
Nowadays, people like to have wine to go with their food. I also like to sip red wine when I am having roast chicken for dinner. But most of the days, I would prefer a cup of hot puerh while enjoying my food. I do not drink green tea while taking my food because the rich fragrance of green tea can affect my appreciation of the roast meat I am eating. On the other hand, the subtle and unique taste of puerh will not rob me the taste of the food I am having. Moreover, drinking puerh can wash and neutralise the oily and acidic ingredients in the food you take. The best drink to compliment your food. Long term drinking this tea will benefit you. Surely you will stay healthy and slim as you advance in age.
Ripe puerh bricks of the 80s
I drink a lot of ripe puerh as it is good for the stomach. It blends well with food such as roast chicken, beef and fish. The milk taste will not rob you of the fragrance and taste of the food you take. If you get some ripe puerh bricks and store them for a couple of years before you consume them, you will be surprise to find that the tea is excellent. Of course if you get some green (uncooked) puerh, you need to keep them as long as 20 to 30 years before you can appreciate its value.
The king of kings in puerh tea, Loa Panchang, is currently the hottest thing in tea drinking fanatics, especially those who like a cup or two puerh tea.
The tea is generally harvested from trees that grow at 1800 meters above sea level in hilly regions of the Panchang village in Menghai. These trees are more than 700 years old and the leaves are broad and succulent, ideal to make into a tea rich in character and taste. It is just like the Bordeaux region of France that produces the best claret.
Here is a recorded video clip on the founder of Chen Sen tea factory that produces the Loa Panchang puerh tea. It tells the story of how the Loa Panchang tea is produced, the tea region and the people behind the success of this tea.
Lao Panchang: The king of kings
Unfortunate the narration is in mandarin as the film was shown in CCTV. My apologies.
Xu is the wife of Prof Pan CF who came to Singapore on a few occasions. Xu herself is also a senior craftsmaster of Yixing and listed as a renown potted in the Who's who list in Jiangsu province.
Both Prof Pan and Xu were the students of Chu Kexin from whom they mastered the art of teapot making. Prof Pan went on to become a professor at the Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts where he trained new generation of potters in design and innovation in pottery.
World Cup 2014 season is round the corner. I bet everybody will be busy watching every soccer game he finds time to watch. Some will be flying to Brazil to watch the games live while others can only be contented to watch the games on cable.
Some predict that England have a good chance this time round. Its about time they show the world they can do it.
Here I would like to show people that England did it in 1966. They won the world cup in 1966. I have a set of stamps which I bought when I studied in the UK in the 70s.I would like to share with everyone. These stamps were issued to commemorate this great occasion.
If they win again this time round, may be I can collect another set of stamps to mark the occasion.
Another Yixing teapot from senior craftsmaster Xu Yuanming.
This is a red zisha pot made by the master. It has a cylindrical form. The texture is rough with sand particles clearly visible.
Xu Yuanming's technique has developed and improved over the years. His teapots are well designed and made. As a result, his works are highly sought after. This is especially true when he attained the grade senior craftsmaster. He also becomes an associate in the research institute at Yixing, not many potters can have the honour to be engaged by the institute as a fellow in promoting the Yixing art and culture.
The lyric is based on an existing prose by a famous Chinese writer Su Shi (蘇軾; 1,063-1,101 AD) It was written during full moon in the annual Chinese Harvest Moon Holiday, when he was sharing drinks with friends, having already been sabotaged by his political rivals, fallen out of favor on his official post in Imperial China, and narrowly escaped a death sentence. I find Su Shi a personification of Taoism, humorous, gregarious, naturalist, etc., and this prose a writing of Taoist spirit...
This is a Yixing pot with a globular shape and 3 legs at the base. The texture is that of a coarse pear skin and the clay is red zisha. The sprout is slim and slender.
I like red zisha pot as the clay can develop a dark red patina after years of usage.
Here are 2 teapots from Prof Pan Chunfang (on video) for sharing.
Prof Pan, a senior craftsmaster of Yixing and a student of Chu Kexin, is a renown potter whose works receive international accolades. He is also a professor at the Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts.
These 2 teapots were purchased while he was in Singapore for an exhibition in 1991.
Ping Fong or Screen is a movable piece of furniture designed as shelter from observation or draughts or excessive heat or light. Panels of wood screen can be used as partition to separate a big hall into different sections.
Ping Fong was an important piece of furniture. In ancient time where electricity was not yet invented, the Chinese people liked to hold major feasts outdoors (brighter outside the house). As a result, they used Ping Fong as a back-drop for the host whose table was put in front of the Ping Fong. His guests would be seated in 2 rows in front of him. Because of that Ping Fong was also seen as a symbol of power and authority. If you ever go to the imperial palace in Beijing, you would see that the emperor's throne is placed in front of an exquisitely made Ping Fong carved from the best timber in the land. It gives the person sitting in front of the Ping Fong a sense of power and security (no body can attack you from behind).
Today people tend to use Ping Fong as a partition to block out certain space in the house. For in stance, when you open the door and you don't want outsiders to have a close view of your living room; the best furniture to put is the Ping Fong which would block the outsiders' vision.
This huanghuali screen was auctioned for 25 millions
I have here a small Ping Fong made from a certain red wood. This Ping Fong is to be put on the table. But why do people put a Ping Fong on the table?
Well, as you know the Chinese people write in Chinese ink using brushes. So they have to grind the ink using ink stone with water on a stone-like platform. As water is used in the process, they need a Ping Fong to block out the droughts which may cause the water to dry up rapidly. Since they take a long time to write or paint using the brush and Chinese ink, the small Ping Fong is really handy to ensure they have a good time indulging in the art of calligraphy. Moreover, good Ping Fong can also serve as an interesting furniture for you to admire.
A jade ink-stone plateform
If you like Cantonese opera, here is one you must not miss:
This is probably the most
well-known excerpt from the most-watched Cantonese Opera in the world. 帝女花 is
a Cantonese Opera first made into a movie in 1959, starring Opera singers, Yam
Kim Fei (任剑辉) and Bak Suit Sin (白雪仙), both ladies, but Yam
impersonated a man in all her movies.
The Emperor of the Ming dynasty had just approved of his future son-in-law who
won the heart of his daughter with poetry. At that moment, The Qing army
attacked and took over the palace. The Emperor committed suicide with his
family but Princess Cheung Ping survived. To win the favour of his subjects,
the new Emperor of the Qing dynasty adopted the Princess and proceeded with
the grand wedding. To show their loyalty to the Ming emperor, the newly-weds
take their own lives on their wedding night. The Cantonese Opera is too
beautiful to be translated. Something will be "lost in translation." The
Song here, 香夭 (Fragrant Sacrifice) is the grand finale of the
opera, sung on the wedding night, the couple are dressed in exquisite finery.
The Princess and her groom express their love for each other and their loyalty
to the former dynasty, especially the late Emperor, before they take their own
lives, drinking wine poisoned with Arsenic. (Reproduced from source)
Pan Xijuen, Prof Pan Chunfang's niece, is also a well known potter in Yixing. She learnt the art of Yixing pottery from her uncle.
This is a teapot designed and made by her. The teapots were exhibited together with those from Prof Pan and his wife during the teapot exhibition held in Singapore in 1991. I like the pots and purchased 3 from the organiser of the exhibition.
The name of this teapot is round pearl pot. It stands on 3 legs and there is a ring on the lid. The design is unique and the overall feel is good. Two have calligraphy inscriptions while the third one is just a plain pot.
This is a teapot made in the 60s. I do not see a lot of such pots in the market back then, so I figured this pot is not one of those teapots that were mass produced by the factory for the consumer market.
It may be a round pot, but it is quite different from the other round pots in the way the sprouts, lid and handle were designed and positioned on the body of the pot. Hence not all round pots look the same.
Traditional teapots are either round or square in shapes, but these basic shapes can take many more forms depending on the creativity of the potters. It is a famous saying in Yixing that round doesn't mean one style and square is not limited to only one shape.
Here is a huge Shoushan carving created from a big Furong stone weighing almost 20 kg. I had a hard time bringing it home and putting it up for display. You can see an old man riding a donkey, in front of him is a servant boy leading the way. There are plum blossoms flourished in the midst of the snow, seen by the greenish white portion of the carving. The carving is a lovely piece of art created by stone carving specialist.
The theme for this carving is in search of plum blossoms in snow, 踏雪尋梅. In this story, an old man was riding a donkey up in a mountain in a snow setting in search of plum blossoms. This theme was first appeared in a poem by a poet Meng Huoran who lived during the Tang dynasty some 1000 years ago.
There is even an old song that described the old man riding a donkey in search of plum blossoms in snow. As he rode on, the bells that tied to the donkey chimed and he enjoyed the beautiful scene of plum blossoms that flourished in the deep winter. Sound of ting tang from the bells can be heard from a distance. The lyrics (in mandarin) are reproduced below.
The snow has cleared the sky is clear , scent of plum blossoms everywhere Riding a donkey over a bridge, the bells ring out: ding dong ring ding dong , ring ding dong, ring ding dong, ring ding dong! flowers are picked and planted in vases accompany my studies with melody of harp we pass good times together
If you want to hear this song, click on the you tube UOL below:
I have here a brush holder made of Huang Huali, a type of wood known for its refine grains and unique texture.
This wood was a favourite choice of material to make furniture in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Due to scarcity, the imperial courts would not allow people to use this wood privately. As a result, furniture made from Huang Huali can only be seen in the palace.
It was long considered that Huang Huali had already depleted due to massive tree cutting during the Ming and Qing dynasties by the Imperial court for building palaces and furniture. Due to the craze for antique furniture in the 1990s, the price of Ming and Qing antique furniture escalated over a few hundred times in the last decade. Hence, people begin to take pride of owning furniture and other products made of this rare wood. All the things made from Huang Huali become hot items in the market.
Huang Huali wood is a highly sought after wood due to its characteristic wood pattern and attractive appearance. The texture is smooth, dense and very stable. A light fragrance will emit from the wood. This brush holder has a very smooth texture and a unique pattern of wood grains.
Scientific name of Huang Huali
A branch of Huang Huali being cut
Good wood seen after the cut
These days many traders also hunt for any small branches from the tree and used them to make into round balls for bracelets. Once a branch is cut, good quality Huang Huali appears in the centre and is surrounded by a layer of white wood. This wood is then cut into pearl-shaped items for making into bracelets, favourite items among collectors.
Huang Huali items
Just imagine, large pieces of wood is required to make furniture. The trees have to be at least 400 years old before the trunks reach the size required for large furniture like beds and table. Hence Huang Huali furniture is very costly.
Yun Yuping, a crsftsmaster of Yixing, joined the Zisha factory in 1972 as as apprentice. Her tutor was He Daohong who is currently a national grand master. With proper guidance from He and her own handwork, she acquired the skills and art of Yixing pottery. She dares to innovate and her works are refined and meticulously executed.
Xu Yuanming, currently a senior craftsmaster of Yixing ware, is also working in the Yixing research institute. Only renown potters with talents are employed by this research institute.
Xu was born in 1964 in Yixing, Jiangsu. He is famous for using the pine tree, bamboo and plum blossoms as subjects in his works. With his training in traditional skills, he also strife for innovation and creative changes in teapot designs. His works are full of modern aspirations and his workmanship is superb and refine. All these attributes have become the unique characteristics of his works.
The pot above is purchased in the early 90s from a reputable teapot importer. It is made from the purplish zisha. The body of the pot is a conical shape and has ribs around it. I do not know the significance of this design as no pot was made in this way before.
This is another classic teapot called the ox-nose pot.
The lid of the pot takes the shape of the nose of an ox. The pot is cylindrical in shape. It is interesting to note that the lid is rather flat with two oblong openings that resemble the two nostrils of the ox. I have no idea as to who created this teapot design. There have been many of such pots made by famous potters, past and present.
This particular ox-nose pot was made from red zisha. The potter is a person by the surname of Ma. The pot is relatively easy to handle as one can grip the lid easily through the large openings of the nostrils.
Yixing teapots can take so many different designs, shapes and sizes due to the creativity of the potters. Anything is possible in the design of pots for tea drinking. However, it is important that the teapot design has to take functionality as a top priority. No one would a teapot that has problem in dispensing tea during tea drinking.
This pot is called the dragon egg pot, sound very funny (name translated from mandarin).
Actually the design of this pot was created by Shi Dabin, a well known potter from the Ming dynasty.
It was said that the founding father of the Yixing pot Gong Chun had 3 disciples. One of his disciples was known as Shi Peng. Shi Dabin was the son of Shi Peng. Even though Shi Dabin learned the Yixing craft from his father, his skill in teapot making was even better than his father. Shi Dabin's pots are highly valuable for historical reason. Quite a number of his pots are on display in the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware in Hong Kong, in the collection of KS Lo ( a renown collector).
In this dragon egg pot, the sprout is triangular shape. Coupled with the conical shape of the body, the pot looks uniquely different. The sad thing about this pot is that the potter did not leave behind his name on the pot. Only the characters China Yixing were inscribed at the base. With that mark, I can assume that the pot was probable made in the 80s or earlier as potters normally did not put the name on the pot.
The material used for this pot is of a high quality brown zisha and the workmanship is of a high standard. Hence the potter must be an experienced craftsman.
Another classic red zisha pot with some yellow particles embedded in the zisha.
This is a pot designed and made by Xu Chenquan 许成权, the wife of Prof Pan Chunfang. Xu herself is a senior craftsmaster of Yixing pottery. She is also listed as a renown potter in the Who's who in Yixing.
I acquired this pot from her when she accompanied her husband to Singapore for a teapot exhibition cum sale held in the early 90s. Xu is also considered the 2nd generation potters after the likes of Gu Zingzhou, Jiang Rong and Chu Kexin, those pioneers of the early 50s in contemporary potters.
Xu was born in 1939 in Yixing and joined the Yixing factory in 1955 where she learned the art of zisha pottery from the legendary Chu Kexin.
Her works were exhibited in the US, Japan and Canada. She won numerous awards and accolades for her works. In 1991 she and her husband exhibited their Yixing ware in Singapore. In 1994 she also held a solo exhibition in Taiwan. In 1996 she was in the US and Canada giving lectures and demonstrations. She was awarded the title Renown art and craft artist of Jiangsu by the local government.
