Tea Drinking and Tea Sets
When people drink tea, they not only focus on the beauty of the color, aroma, taste, and shape of the tea leaves themselves but also need to use tea sets that are both scientifically practical and highly artistic. The appreciation and selection of tea sets involve aspects such as types, textures, places of origin, ages, sizes, weights, thicknesses, forms, patterns, colors, lusters, sounds, calligraphy, literature, pictures, glazes, and matching, which is a comprehensive and profound knowledge.
Rich and Colorful Tea Sets
The oldest tea set in China was the earthenware fou, similar to the roasted tea pots in Sichuan and Yunnan today. It could be used for boiling tea and as a container. It had a simple and ancient shape, was bulky and rough. After the Western Han Dynasty, glazed earthenware tea sets were developed. After glazing, the exterior was not only bright and smooth but also had bright colors, much more beautiful than the raw earthenware tea sets. Later, China’s tea sets developed in many aspects, and there appeared various types such as tea stoves, teapots, tea bowls, tea cups, tea saucers, and other specialized tea sets. According to Lu Yu’s “The Classic of Tea” in the Tang Dynasty, in a broad sense, tea sets included more than 20 kinds of utensils used in the processes of storing tea, grinding tea, roasting tea, boiling tea, adjusting tea, and drinking tea.
From the perspective of the texture of tea set materials, the types that have appeared in China include earthenware, porcelain, bronze, tin, gold, silver, jade, agate, lacquerware, cloisonné, etc. In modern times, earthenware tea sets and porcelain tea sets are mainly used, along with glass tea sets, enamel tea sets, etc., showing a great variety. Due to different tea-drinking habits, tea types, and natural climate conditions in various places, tea sets should be suitable for storage and used flexibly. For example, in the Northeast and North China regions, most people use relatively large porcelain teapots to make tea and then pour it into porcelain cups for drinking. In Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, besides using purple clay teapots, people are generally accustomed to using covered porcelain cups to make tea directly. In Sichuan region, people like to use the porcelain “covered bowl cup”, that is, a small covered tea bowl with a big mouth and a small bottom, and there is also a small saucer underneath. Tea and tea sets are closely related. Good tea must be brewed and drunk with good tea sets to complement each other. The quality of tea sets has a significant impact on the quality of tea soup and the mood of the drinkers. Because tea sets are both practical items and ornamental items, and also excellent gifts.
Generally speaking, among the commonly used tea sets nowadays, porcelain and glass are the most common, followed by earthenware, and then enamel. Among various tea sets, porcelain tea sets and earthenware tea sets are the best, followed by glass tea sets, and enamel tea sets are the least preferred. Because porcelain tea sets do not conduct heat quickly, have moderate heat preservation, do not have chemical reactions with tea, can obtain better color, aroma, and taste when making tea, and have beautiful shapes and exquisite decorations, with artistic appreciation value. Earthenware tea sets have elegant shapes and simple and ancient colors. Especially Yixing purple clay is a treasure among pottery. When used to make tea, it has a mellow fragrance, clear tea soup, and good heat preservation performance. Even in summer, the tea soup is not easy to deteriorate. However, because earthenware is opaque, it is difficult to appreciate the beautiful posture of tea buds and leaves in the cup after making tea, which is its drawback. If famous teas such as Longjing, Biluochun, Junshan Yinzhen, and Guapian are brewed with glass tea sets, there will be a misty scene in the cup, the tea soup is clear and green, the tea buds stand gracefully, or the flag and spear (referring to the shape of tea leaves) are intertwined, floating up and down. Drinking it is refreshing, and watching it is pleasing to the eye, which is full of fun and fully demonstrates the transparency advantage of glass utensils. As for enamel tea sets, they also have their advantages. Although their appreciation value is not as good as the above-mentioned ones, and they are not very suitable for families and offices and are not solemn enough for entertaining guests, they are durable and convenient to carry, and are suitable for use in factory workshops, construction sites, and during travel. As for plastic tea sets, due to the texture, they have an impact on the taste of tea. Except for temporary use, they are usually not suitable. In particular, it is a big disappointment to use plastic thermos cups to brew high-grade green tea, because the long-term heat preservation in the cup makes the tea soup turn red, the aroma is low and stuffy, and there is a cooked taste.
In some regions, tea sets are in sets, such as sets for storing tea, boiling tea, making tea, and drinking tea; sets of cups, lids, and saucers; and sets of copper, porcelain, tin and other utensils used together. For example, for the “covered bowl tea” in Chengdu, Sichuan, copper teapots, porcelain covered bowls, and tin saucers are used. The tea brewed with this series of tea sets has excellent color, aroma, taste, and shape, truly having the “authentic Sichuan flavor”. At present, in China, “Jingdezhen porcelain” and “Yixing pottery” are still the most popular and precious tea sets and are widely welcomed by tea consumers.
Porcelain Tea Sets Known as “White Jade”
White porcelain was known as “fake white jade” as early as the Tang Dynasty. Among them, the ones produced in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi are the most famous. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the porcelain tea sets produced in Jingdezhen were thin, moist, with a bluish tint in the white, elegant and pleasing to the eye, and had engraved patterns, printed patterns, and decorated with colored dots. In the Ming Dynasty, on the basis of blue and white porcelain, various colored porcelains were created. The products had exquisite shapes, fine textures, bright colors, and vivid pictures.
“Merchants value profit over separation, and went to Fuliang last month to buy tea.” Fuliang is now Jingdezhen, an ancient tea area. Jingdezhen was able to produce high-quality tea sets in the Tang Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Hutian Kiln in Jingdezhen successfully made the so-called “hao cheng” with brownish-yellow, sky-blue, and fine light-blue stripes. Today, the green tea sets of Jingdezhen are popular in the market. There is a “blue and white double-dragon tea set”. On its teapot, tea cups, and tea saucers, a pair of blue dragons flying in the sky with a majestic momentum are painted, and the green and gorgeous banded border around the mouth is also very exquisite, making people feel pleasant and enjoy it. The white glaze with blue and white patterns is fresh and elegant, with a strong ethnic style and Chinese charm. Most of the Jingdezhen porcelain tea sets are equipped with exquisite decorations, such as beautiful paintings of mountains, rivers, four seasons of flowers and plants, birds and beasts, and stories of figures on the outer walls, or several lines of powerful calligraphy with profound philosophy, having high aesthetic value. Using such tea sets to brew famous teas, while drinking the tea, appreciating the tea sets, there is another kind of interest.
Besides Jingdezhen porcelain, there are also other famous porcelains. Lu Yu mentioned in “The Classic of Tea”: “Bowls, Yuezhou is the best, Dingzhou is the second, Wuzhou is the second…” “Xing porcelain is like silver, Yue porcelain is like jade”, “Xing porcelain is white and makes the tea soup red, Yue porcelain is green and makes the tea soup green”. Some people think that the porcelain bowls produced in Xingzhou and Yuezhou are of the same high quality, but this is not the case. If Xing porcelain’s texture is like silver, Yue porcelain is like jade, which is one point where Xing porcelain is inferior to Yue porcelain; if Xing porcelain is like snow, Yue porcelain is like ice, which is the second point where Xing porcelain is inferior to Yue porcelain; Xing porcelain is white and easily makes the soup red, Yue porcelain is green and easily makes the soup green, which is the third point where Xing porcelain is inferior to Yue porcelain. Du Yu in the Jin Dynasty pointed out in “The Garden Ode”: “The utensils are simple and made of pottery, coming from the eastern corner”, referring to the bowls made in Yuezhou. The upper mouth has no curled edge, the bottom of the bowl is arc-shaped and shallow, and the volume is less than half a liter. Yuezhou porcelain and Fuzhou porcelain are both green, making the tea soup greenish. Xingzhou porcelain is white, making the tea soup red; Taizhou porcelain is yellow, making the tea soup purple; Hongzhou porcelain is brown, making the tea soup black. Different porcelains have different effects on the color of the tea soup. Longquan celadon tea sets are famous at home and abroad for their simple and elegant shapes, fine porcelain textures, thick glazes, and soft colors. Many ancient poets have praised them in their poems. For example, the Tang Dynasty poet Lu Guimeng used the beautiful poem “In the autumn wind and dew, the Yue kiln opens, seizing the green color of thousands of peaks” to describe the magnificent colors of Yue kiln porcelain. Meng Jiao wrote in his poem: “The jade flowers on Meng Mountain are gone, and the Yue bowls are empty like lotus leaves.” Gu Kuang wrote in “The Tea Ode”: “The tripod is as golden as iron, and the Yue bowl is as jade.” Han Wo wrote in his poem: “The Sichuan paper and musk ink arouse the writing inspiration, and the Yue bowl emits the fragrance of tea.” Xu Yin said in the poem “The Secret-colored Tea Cup for Tribute”: “Skillfully carving the bright moon from the Liang River water, gently applying the thin ice to hold the green cloud, the ancient mirror with moss on it is on the table, and the tender lotus with dew is different from the river spray.” All these give people beautiful associations.
Purple Porcelain—Purple Clay Tea Sets
With the development of porcelain tea sets, earthenware tea sets seemed inferior. However, purple clay pottery can compete with porcelain tea sets in the world. Some people call purple clay tea sets purple porcelain. Mei Yaochen wrote: “The new purple clay products are blooming with spring beauty.” Gu Xuancheng and Zhang Zugu’s poem on getting the Yasha Mountain tea described that purple clay tea sets such as “purple clay” and “sand ying” made the aroma, color, and taste of tea better. The purple clay tea sets made in Yixing do not take away the true fragrance of tea when making tea, and there is no stale taste of the tea soup, and can maintain the color, aroma, and taste of tea for a long time. Purple clay tea sets have unique craftsmanship. They are both exquisite works of art and have special practical value and have always been praised. It is said that “there is nothing better than purple clay for making tea pots. Among the fine pots, nothing is better than Yangxian (the ancient name of Yixing, Jiangsu). When talking about tea pots, it must be Yixing pottery. When tasting tea, it must use Yixing pots.” People have praised Yixing purple clay to the fullest. From the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, there were monographs introducing it in detail. The main clay materials for producing purple clay teapots include natural five-color earthenware, namely purple clay, cinnabar clay, bright red clay, dark green clay, and local green clay, etc., which are a major specialty of Yixing, the pottery capital. The rich earthenware clay resources are deeply hidden in the mountain belly rock layers in the local area, mixed in the sandwiched clay layers, so it is called “rock within rock, clay within clay”. The clay color is red but not overly bright, purple but not gaudy, yellow but not delicate, black but not pitch-black, with a fine and smooth texture and good plasticity. After repeated selection and tempering, it is processed and formed, and then fired into pottery in a high-temperature tunnel kiln at 1100℃ to 1200℃. Because the main components in purple clay are silicon oxide, aluminum, iron, and a small amount of calcium, manganese, magnesium, potassium, sodium and other chemical components, the finished products after firing show colors such as red like red maples, purple like grapes, ochre like black chrysanthemums, yellow like oranges, green like pine and cypress, colorful and unpredictable. Purple clay pottery is called “the art of fire” after being fired into pottery. According to analysis and identification, the sintered purple clay teapot has a certain air permeability, low water absorption, good mechanical strength, and excellent performance in adapting to rapid changes in cold and heat. Even after being cooked at a high temperature of 100 degrees Celsius and then quickly put into ice and snow below zero degrees Celsius or in a refrigerator, it will not burst. Purple clay tea sets are not only sold well in China but also exported to more than 50 countries and regions such as Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Singapore, Romania, the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. They have participated in more than 70 international expositions, won gold medals, and received high praise. There are praises such as “famous utensils and famous pottery, unparalleled in the world”, “a wonderful flower in pottery”, “China’s treasure”, “a divine product of famous pottery”, “clay is equivalent to gold”, “a pot with a small handle, a cup that can be held in the palm, as precious as a treasure, as valuable as pearls and jade”, and are cherished by ceramic connoisseurs and collectors at home and abroad.
Exotic Flowers and Rare Treasures in Tea Sets
China has a long history of tea drinking, and tea sets are rich and colorful, with different usage methods. There are many fascinating things and stories, such as:
(1) Mengchen Pot and Ruochen Cup
Those who have drunk Gongfu tea in Chaozhou, Shantou in Guangdong or Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou in Fujian have all realized that there are indeed many unique aspects in brewing and drinking Gongfu tea. First, when choosing tea, they do not choose red tea, green tea, or scented tea, but are particularly fond of “Oolong” tea. Second, there are many precautions in the brewing method, generally including procedures such as appreciating tea, warming the pot, putting in tea, moistening and soaking, brewing, pouring water over the pot, warming the cup, moving the pot, serving tea, and tasting tea. The tea sets are also special. The pot is a kind of purple clay brewing pot, “not too big to hold in the palm”. For the really famous Gongfu tea pots, the bottom of the pot is engraved with the mark of “Mengchen”. The cup is an extremely small fine porcelain cup, only about half the size of a table tennis ball, called the “Ruochen Cup”. The popularity of Mengchen Pot and Ruochen Cup was probably in the Qing Dynasty. Shi Hongbao in the “Miscellaneous Records of Fujian” said: “In various places in Jianquan, the tea sets for Gongfu tea are exquisite. There are pots as small as walnuts, named Menggong Pot, and extremely small cups, named Ruochen Cup.” The “Xiamen Gazette” (in 1832) also recorded: “People here are fond of drinking tea. The utensils are fine and small. The pot must be called Menggong Pot, and the cup must be called Ruochen Cup. The tea weighs one or two, and the price can be as high as four or five taels of silver. It is called Gongfu tea.” The name of the “Mengchen Pot” originally came from a person’s name. During the Tianqi period (from 1621 to 1627) of the Ming Dynasty, there was a famous pottery master named Hui Mengchen in Yixing. The small purple clay pots he made had exquisite shapes and were unique. Because all the pots he made had the “Meng” mark, tea connoisseurs were used to calling them “Mengchen Pot”. Even 300 years after his death, pots with the “Mengchen” mark still continued to appear. It can be seen how popular his pots were. The “Ruochen Cup” also came from a person’s name. Zhang Xintai in the Qing Dynasty recorded in “A Brief Record of Traveling in Guangdong”: “People in the Chaozhou region especially love tea… Use the Yixing pot made by Dingchen, which is as big as a walnut, fill it with tea leaves, boil soup with hard charcoal, pour it into the pot when the water just boils like crab eyes, and then take the cups made by Ruochen, which are more than an inch high, about three or four of them, and pour evenly…” clearly stating “the cups made by Ruochen”. However, when and where Ruochen was from still needs further verification.
(2) Giant Ancient Porcelain Teapot
The large teapot exhibited at the large international exhibition in Hyde Park in the UK in 1951 was recently exhibited in Hong Kong. According to relevant records, Queen Victoria of the UK drank fragrant tea poured from this teapot when visiting the exhibition. This teapot is about 1 meter high, with a circumference of 2 meters around the body, weighs 27 kilograms, has a capacity of 57.3 kilograms, can brew 2.3 kilograms of tea, and can pour out 1200 cups of tea, which can be regarded as the largest ceramic teapot in the world at present. It is worth about 880,000 US dollars. The origin of this large teapot is no longer traceable. From the analysis of the glaze paintings depicting Chinese people planting tea, picking tea, roasting tea, and exporting tea by sea, it may have been exported to the UK together with tea when China exported tea in the Qing Dynasty. Now this teapot belongs to the Twinings Tea Company in the UK and is stored in the tea museum of this company in London.
(3) Rare Treasure—Gongchun Pot
Gongchun’s skills in making tea pots were superb, but his works were incomplete, and very few of them were passed down to later generations. Wu Qian, a collector of ancient objects in the Qing Dynasty, and Zhang Shuwei, an appraiser, tried their best to find it but couldn’t find the “Gongchun Pot” and could only sigh that they were not lucky enough and lamented that “this