Yixing Pottery 

By: Lindsay Farr 

Translation: Coral Guan and Boyi Cheng

 
Production of Zisha (local clay or “purple sand”) pottery in Yixing, Jiangsu province, China, began in the Song dynasty, prospered through the Ming dynasty, and reached spectacular heights of design and craftsmanship during the Qing dynasty. Potters were prolific and the highest skills were applied to the making of teapots. 

Yixing’s imaginative Zisha productivity continued through the 20th century until the 1936 Japanese invasion during which the majority of Yixing’s master potters either fled or perished. Centuries of ceramic culture were lost after kilns were destroyed. 

During the early years of the founding of new China, the Jiangsu Provincial Government established a new Zisha pottery factory and appointed seven technical coaches: Ren Ganting, Pei Shimin, Wu Yungen, Wang Yinchun, Zhu Kexin, Gu Jingzhou, and Jiang Rong. Their task was to teach selected apprentices in the making of Zisha teapots. These potters are known as the “Seven Old Masters”. 

The egalitarian nature of these times required the “Seven Old Masters” to collect and process their own clay and to make flowerpots as well as teapots. 

Yixing Number One Factory (current name: Jiangsu Yixing Zisha Factory) prospered and started exporting wares around the globe. By the mid-1960s, the Cultural Revolution was already taking hold but the quality and productivity of Yixing Number One Factory continued its rise.

By the mid-1970s, the apprentices were becoming masters and the exquisite ware reached new heights of quality. However, during this period pot makers were forbidden to mark their creations, although some still dared to stamp their pots. These marked pots are now considered highly valuable.  

Following the Australian trade agreement with China in the mid-1970s, shipments of teapots, flowerpots, and bonsai pots started arriving on our shores. 

Yixing pottery remains highly sought after, especially those produced by the “Seven Old Masters”. A teapot by Gu Jingzhou, considered among the greatest Chinese potters of the 20th century, recently sold for two million US dollars. 

宜兴紫砂陶器

撰写：Lindsay Farr

翻译：关普珊，程博一

中国江苏省宜兴市的紫砂陶器生产始于宋代，盛于明代，其设计和工艺水平在清朝时期达到顶峰。宜兴紫砂产量丰富， 而陶工们也将他们的精湛技艺应用于茶壶制作当中。

宜兴紫砂的产量丰富、品质优异的特色一直延续到了20世纪。1936年日本全面侵华之后，宜兴的陶工大多都逃往外地或因战而亡，而历经数百年的宜兴紫砂，也因为窑毁人亡就此消亡了。

新中国成立初期，江苏省政府成立了新的紫砂陶瓷厂，并任命了七名技术教练：任淦庭、裴石民、吴云根、王寅春、朱可心、顾景舟和蒋蓉。他们的任务是教育和选拔紫砂茶壶制作的学徒。而这七位陶艺师被世人尊称为“紫砂七老”。

而那时的绝对平均主义让“紫砂七老”不得不自己收集黏土进行花盆和茶壶的制作和加工。

“紫砂七老”的努力让宜兴市第一工厂（现江苏宜兴紫砂厂）逐渐繁荣起来，并开始向全球出口产品。即使在1960年代中期，文化大革命的冲击也没能停下宜兴第一工厂提高产品质量和产量的脚步。

在1970年代中期，早期培养的学徒逐渐成为了陶艺大师，宜兴紫砂的品质也达到了新的高度。虽然陶艺师傅仍然被禁止在陶器上打上名款，但是有些陶艺师却冒险在自己的作品上署款，而现在这些被署上名款的陶器具有非常高的价值。

与此同时，随着澳大利亚与中国之间的贸易协定的签订，中国生产的茶壶、花盆和盆景盆开始运抵澳洲。

宜兴紫砂至今仍备受追捧，尤其是“紫砂七老”所生产的陶器。其中，顾景舟被认为是20世纪中国最伟大的陶艺师之一，他所生产一个茶壶最近以200万美元的价格成交。