Sage of Tea

Lu Yu 陆羽 is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his famous book The Classic of Tea, the first work of its kind on the cultivating, making and drinking of tea.

Modern Statue of Lu Yu

Lu was born in 733 in Tianmen, Hubei. For six years Lu Yu studied under the master Zou Fuzi. During this period Lu Yu often brewed tea for his teacher and fellow students with his remarkable knowledge in tea and herbs that he learned.

Lu Yu often went to the countryside to gather tea leaves and herbs. Once he stumbled upon a spring underneath a 6-foot round rock and the water from the spring was extremely clear and clean. He brewed tea with this spring water he found the tea tasted unexpectedly better than usual. From then on Lu Yu realised the importance of quality water in brewing tea.

Zou Fuzi was moved by Lu Yu's obsession with tea and his skill in brewing good tea. He cleared the rock together with some of his students and dug a well around the fountainhead of that spring. In 1768, just over a thousand years later during the Qing Dynasty (1616–1911), Jingling was hit by drought and the whole city was badly in need of water. City folks found water still flowing from this well discovered by Lu Yu and dug by Zou Fuzi. A Qing official ordered three wells to be dug around the spring, and a structure constructed near the wells named "Lu Yu Hut" and the "Literary Spring".

In 752 Lu Yu concluded his studies, bade farewell to his shifu (teacher) Zou Fuzi and returned to Jingling. He befriended Cui Goufu, a senior officer at Jinglin, and assisted him in his administrative tasks. The two men spent much time travelling, drinking tea and writing poems and they co-authored several books on poems. Cui Goufu, with his vast experience and skill in literary work, became a coach to Lu Yu and provided him the necessary guidance to enhance and mature his writing and literary skills. During this time Lu Yu wrote The Classic of Tea.

The original version of The Classic of Tea consisted of 3 books covering 10 chapters in total; book 1 consisted of the first 3 chapters, book 2 consisted of chapter 4 only, book 3 consisted of chapters 5 to 10. After the Tang Dynasty all three books were bound into a single one and the three volumes version was no longer available.

A statue of Lu Yu in Xian, China

Inside painting of cat

Recently bought an IP bottle with painting of cats.

Cats watching a bee



Cat and fruits



Details of artist enclosed:



IP bottles

Two inside painted bottles in my possession. Look at the delicate brush work. It is really amazing how the artist did it.

Flower and bird IP bottles

Recently I collected a couple of inside painted bottles. Here are 2 that showed flowers and birds. The art work is superb, must have taken the artists quite some time to paint the picture, through a small opening of the bottles. Inside painting requires both skills and patient, a good eye sight is fundamental as the artists need to focus in order to paint the details.

Once a renown artist (Zhao ShouAng, a famous LinNan style artist) was shown the process of inside painting, he marveled at the skills and talent of the inside painting artist. He remarked that although he can paint landscapes and portraits, he would have difficulty painting them in a reverse manner, especially through a small opening of the bottle.

Painted in 1996

Let's pay tribute to all inside painting artists who enrich our lives by producing art in such a miniature form that we can not only admire it but physically handle it as well. We can bring this art form wherever we go and not worry that it may be damaged.

Inside painted bottle

An inside-painted snuff bottle with Chinese style landscape,

The landscape painting was simple yet pleasing to the eye. If you like Chinese paintings, a good way to appreciate Chinese art is to collect these small bottles. Many artistic subjects can be painted inside these bottles. They are easy to keep and store and don't take up a lot of space for display. As the paintings are created inside the bottle, they will be protected against the harsh weather and damage from rough handling. The traditional paintings on paper do require a large room for display and they don't like the climate in Singapore.

You can build up your own art gallery and enjoy these miniature paintings at your free time. A good way to relax.

Animal Bone Snuff Bottle

Recently I was window-shopping in Orchard Road, a busy shopping street in Singapore. I saw a couple of snuff bottles on a display tray at the front window of a jewelry shop. There was one made of jadeite that caught my attention ( it has traces of green shades). They are other snuff bottles made of gem materials. There is also one little snuff bottle (top left corner) that looks pretty good with the carving of bird and flowers. I even thought that it was made from ivory (milky color).

Display tray showing some cute snuff bottles

At first, I was not very keen to ask for the price as things on display in a jewelry shop in Orchard Road don't really come cheap. Just imagine the rental these guys pay for a shop in this exclusive area (tourists like to frequent this place).

After making a few rounds in the vicinity, I went back to the shop and decided to try my luck. I went in with a pretext of buying a gift for a friend and there was a tight budget to consider. The shop owner took out the tray from the window display and I had the chance of taking a closer look (even touch) at every item on the tray. The jade bottle was far too expensive, 8000 dollars. The one that looks like glass (bottom 3rd from left) was even more expensive, $13000. The owner told me it was made from green beryl, an expensive gem.

Then when I asked him about the one with bird and flower carving, he told me the price. It was one that I can afford. He then told me that it was not made from ivory but some kind of animal bone. He himself did not know what bone it was. I looked at the carving, it was of good quality. I believed nowadays no one would have the incentive (or talent) to create such a beautiful piece. For the price he quoted me, it was worth it. Snuff bottles were things of the past, this one could have some historical value.

Snuff Bottle with carving

I told him my intention was to buy it for a friend as a birth day gift and I had a certain budget for it. As most of the snuff bottles were very costly, I could only afford this particular one. I did not want to over-stretched myself in buying the gift. I also told him that if the discount was good, I would pay for it in cash (not credit card). After a few rounds of bargaining, I got a discount of 20% for it.

In the business of buying and selling art artifacts, both the buyer and seller must have some story to tell. This will ensure that the deal can go through. At the end of the day, I was happy that I finally got something that I wanted.

Master Ting Er Zong

There were 4 very famous inside painting masters who were active during the late Qing and earlier republic era, from 1900 to 1930. They were Ting Er Zong, Yeh Zong San, Ma Shao Shiuen and Zhou Le Yuan. They all had their own styles and characteristics in their inside paintings. Master Ting was a learned person and his paintings had a scholarly taste and style while Master Yeh was famous in his vivid colours and simplicity. Master Ma was good in portrait painting while Master Zhou was artistic in scenery painting.

Following the advice of his mother, Master Ting left Beijing and moved to the south where he opened a shop dealing in inside painting of snuff bottles. To strife in business, he had to have a variety of stuff in his shops. As a result he undertook to have snuff bottles painted by different masters including himself. As a result one may find a selection of snuff bottles painted by different masters (from the north like Beijing)  all appeared in his shops in the south. This is evident by the fact that he might be faking the masters by using their names, but the paintings were clearly done by him as the style and characteristics were unmistakably his. An expert collector who found out that there was a snuff bottle in his collection where both sides of the bottle bore the names of two Masters, one of himself while the other was Master Yeh's. This proved beyond any doubt that Master Ting was indeed using other people's  names on his own work. Below is a picture to confirm this.

Ting on one side while Yeh on the other

Yeh's style in figure painting

There are many others names such as Master Ma, Master Zhou and Master Pi also appeared on his works. But clearly Master Ting was an excellent painter and his works were very refine and scholarly in style and taste.

Master Yeh's style would be vastly different

Master Ting's landscape paintings

The snuff bottles in my collection, I believe, were done by the same artist, Master Ting. The style and characteristics were so similar to those I have seen in other peoples's collection.

by Master Ting himself

Supposedly by master Yeh

Master Yeh's style in figure painting and his use of colours were clearly different from Master Ting (see picture below). Hence, I believe the snuff bottle above was painted by Master Ting.

Similarly the other snuff bottles supposedly done by Master Zhou and Master Pi share similar style known to be that of Master Ting.

Supposedly by Master Zhou

Supposedly by Master Pi 毕荣九 

Don't you agree, the style of the other 2 snuff bottles look the same. Undoubtedly, Master Ting did use other Masters' names in his works to boost sale of his business in his shops at the south.

Master Yeh's original work

Master Yeh's style of figure painting

Master Ma

Master Ma's portrait painting

Master Zhou's landscape

Master Ting's style in figure painting

丁二仲,生于同治四年（1865年），卒于1935年。他是公认的内画奇才。自幼博览诗书，通晓六艺，作品博雅深邃，文人写意画风最为明显，山水师王石谷惯用长笔皴，花卉草虫法恽南田工写兼备，仕女仿玉壶山人惟妙惟肖，更精习徐青藤笔意，把文人写意画风，始终贯穿于内画创作之中。

Inside Painting of Queen of England

It made headline news all over the local papers that the Queen of England had received a gift from some inside painting master in the form of a portrait painted on the inside of a snuff bottle for her 80th birthday. The Queen was delighted to have received such a beautiful gift. She marvelled at the skills and expertise of the artist who painted her portrait inside such a small bottle. A letter from Buckingham Palace was sent to the artist in appreciation of his hard work in getting the job done.

The Queen's portrait inside a snuff bottle

Letter from the Palace in appreciation of the gift

Master Zhang at work

Master Zhang is an expert in inside painting, a new art form that create paintings on the inside of snuff bottles. This is a very delicate job as painting something on the inside wall of a bottle is no easy task. There is only a small opening the size of a bean for the artist to maneuver his brush in a reverse type of painting. He has to endure long hours in front of his desk to complete the job. Skills and patient are essential for any one who is interested to learn this art form.

Some of Master Zhang's work



Portrait of the Queen