The first teapot artist

It is no secret that a good teapot is crucial to let good tea leaves express their whole potential. Even outside of China, the word is getting out that zisha (紫砂) teapots from the city of Yixing (宜兴) represent the highest quality and refinement in teapots. There are at least two reasons that justify this reputation. First there is the quality of the zisha clay found around the city of Yixing in Jiangsu (江苏) province. Then there are the skills of the potters that make teapots that can be considered a work of art as well as a daily use item.

The zisha clay found near Yixing city results in teapots that are very good at keeping temperature, while at the same time letting their content breathe. A zisha teapot will fully bring out a tea’s most subtle fragrance and taste. These qualities come from the minerals contained in this particular clay.

As for the artistic value of Yixing zisha teapots, popular tradition has it, that it all started by the rather fortuitous meeting of three people in a temple. In the eighth year of the Zhengde (正德) era (1506-1521), of the Ming (明) dynasty, Wu Yishan (吴颐山) a scholar from Yixing who was trained in the Confucian classics, chose the calm of a local Buddhist temple to prepare for the palace examination. On his side he had a young domestic called Gong Chun (供春). In the same Jinsha temple (金沙寺), one of the monks had learned the craft of making teapots by repeated contacts with the local potters. This must have been very convenient for the Buddhist monks who drank tea to strengthen themselves during their meditations.

In his spare time Gong Chun, sometimes also referred to as Gong Gongchun (龚供春), secretly observed the monk while he was creating his teapots. Not only did he observe the monk; he studied after him, using the monk’s leftover clay to make his own teapots. Gong Chun’s teapots were so original that he created his own style. A style that has been inspiring potters ever since. Today “Gong Chun Teapots” (供春壶) are still manufactured and very appreciated.

The oldest preserved zisha teapot happens to be attributed to Gong Chun. It can be admired at the National Museum of China (中国博物馆) in Beijing (北京). It is made in the form of a tree knob: probably made after a knob from a real gingko tree from the Jinsha temple. Teapots in the shape of a tree knob is what is meant by “Gong Chun Teapots”. It is their simplicity and natural form that make people like them.

Not long after his stay in the temple, Wu Yishan was received at the palace examination. He thereupon entered the career of a scholar-bureaucrat and was sent to administer places distant from his hometown, as it was the custom. The name of the monk that served as Gong Chun’s unaware teacher is lost forever. Gong Chun stayed in Yixing and became the first famous Yixing zisha teapots maker.

This version of the story is based on “Treatise on Yixing Tea Pot” (阳羡茗壶系), a writing from the end of the Ming Dynasty. In this text, Gong Chun’s role is strongly emphasized. In recent years, some archaeologists have challenged his anteriority and importance.  What is sure, is that he was at the right time at the right place. It is during the Ming Dynasty, that loose leaves came into fashion. This way of drinking tea makes the quality of the teapot very important.

Chinese sources: 供春壶; 紫砂壶百料; 供春是紫砂鼻祖? 考古专家:根本有供春壶