The Prized ZiSha Clays in the ZiSha Fraternity: Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao 原矿大红袍。

1. YUAN KUANG DA HONG PAO 原矿大红袍
For the past few decades, there have not been any more discovered. Currently, there are only less than 50 bricks of YKDHP left in our DingShu Zhen, YiXing.
A quick revision: Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao is the ONLY Hong Ni type, and for that matter, the only ZiSha, that has ITS NATIVE RAW ORE IN THE COLOUR STATE OF RED.
The rest of the HongNi types, e.g. XiaoHongNi, ZhuSha, ZhuNi DaHongPao, BenShan ZhuNi, XiaoMeiYao ZhuNi AND ZhaoZhuang ZhuNi, are all Yellow in its native raw ore state.

Repeating: There are only less than 50 bricks of YKDHP left in DingShu Zhen.
Here is the zenith rare, YuanKuang DaHongPao.

Dearest Friends,
From our very own Cao Family's renowned and precious collection of rare ores & clays. From our Family's mined and painstakingly preserved stock since the 1920s. And, World Religious ZiSha Premier Master: Cao An Xiang signed-and-labelled certificates with unique RenMinBi cash notes-serial numbered for all our family's issued clays for every work procured by you our friend and patron. For your provenance and reassurance, and unimitability.
Here we are,
The YuanKuang DaHongPao 原矿大红袍。
All of us Artists and Craftsmen, Cao Family et al Artists at RealZiSha do not pander to marketing hype. In all these years, we had never, and will never jump on bandwagons offering and retailing pots of rare clays at exorbitant prices. We do not subscribe to this manner of business.

We commit to doing the right thing, not the business thing.

When it comes to rare clays which we possess,
We hold ourselves strictly to accomplish two things:
1) Protect Limited Stocks of Rare Clays,
2) Do NOT prey on customers' desire for rare clays. There are many willing buyers of rare clays who call us daily in China and from our international friends and patrons, and who are willing to offer high prices. But we never once yielded to any notion of greed. Instead, we always take time to advise them about proper ZiSha Art, about the fraternity, the inner proper workings. We also advise them to focus on the Art of ZiSha, the skill involved in the pot: the ZiSha work's craftsmanship, and the honesty. First and Foremost.

ALL THESE YEARS, we at the Cao Family and the esteemed collaborative Artists we team up with, have been AVAILING pots of rare clays ONLY at affordable and reasonable prices, e.g.
1) YuanKuang DaHongPao from our own Cao Family's stock,
2) BenShan LüNi from our own Cao Family's stock (which even Huang Long Yuan 黄龙远 company is keeping to themselves firmly and not selling),
and,
3) Huang Long Yuan Company National-Authenticated only true 4th Quarry Di Cao Qing (procured through our especially warm and good relationship with Huang Long Yuan boss).

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Bob Burg in "Go-Givers" teaches all to firstly and ONLY, focus on giving value to people, and removing all thoughts of the receipt of money.
Peter Drucker states that "The purpose of a business is, to serve the customer."
John C. Maxwell advises that, as leaders within, leaders are in its essence to serve.
Jim Collins affirms that Great Companies though knowing profit is important, do not regard profits as the guiding light nor foremost pillar that a timeless business/company looks at. It should be Values, OTHER than profits, that is the guiding light.
Steven Covey elucidated in The Eight Habit, that, in the coming Age of Wisdom: the true Magnetic North with its Values of Integrity and Morality is the strong totem to guide us humans all.

We believe in the Genius of The "AND",
and not the Tyranny of the "Or":

We CAN do the right things,
AND also, do the things right.

We believe you would do the same as what we do, if you are in our position of care.
We believe we will achieve
these TWO AIMS:
~ 1)Being Responsible: manage the controlled release of limited stock,
~ 2a)Not jumping on the bandwagon and making patrons pay $6k to $12k for a Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao pot,
~ 2b) maintaining our sales of rare clays at very affordable and supremely reasonable prices and that the POT must ALSO be allied with proper good craftsmanship and skills developed from the hands of a reputable Artist. 做工必须要是好的, a pot should not be sold "just for the clay".

How have we been accomplishing these aims in tandem, for our customers and to the industry, especially when it comes to YuanKuang DaHongPao clay?
We have been availing orders for such extremely limited YuangKuang DaHongPao clay, once every three to eight years, and at extremely affordable and reasonable prices, WITHOUT ANY INFLATIONARY PRESSURE AT ALL. We will continue to make the rightful sacrifices for the fraternity of friends, all of you.

In the whole of Ding Shu Town, Yi Xing now,
The ACTUAL number of bricks of YuanKuang DaHongPao clay, amounts to LESS than 50 bricks in total. About 40 in fact. That means, a total of 40 x 12 ~ 480 pots at best, can be made of Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao clay.

We at the Cao Family, had previously opened our orders for YuanKuang DaHongPao clay on 1st January 2024. The previous two times we opened were in yr2014 (one brick) and yr 2021 (one brick).

We run down again:

1. There are about 40 bricks of Da Hong Ni/Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao left in Yi Xing now.

2. If one brick can be used to make 16 pots, and 4 pots are deformed or cracked after firing, it means one brick can provide for 12 pots.

If there are only 40 bricks left, it means 480 pots can ever be made from now on. That really is all.

3. There are 1.4billion locals, and with a conservative 25% of people drinking tea as part of their culture (i.e. 350million), and with an even more conservative 5% of them engaging and partaking in ZiSha Art and Craft, that means we have 17.5million people fighting for these 480 pots ever to be made of YKDHP.

The chances are, supremely slim.

And you know it isn't right when you see all the ubiquitous dubious "YuanKuang DaHongPao" going around on websites and from sellers.

Each brick of clay being 15kg, can be crafted into about 16 simple austere pots, of which only and likely: 12 will be successful. Our Aunt, Senior Master Cao Lan Fang is most familiar with this clay and she has always been the one from our Cao Family crafting the Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao clay into ZiSha Works for our local China and overseas patrons and friends, and here, she will continue her good work, to help you craft your most special YuanKuang DaHongPao pot.

The price is $2960 for this YuangKuang DaHongPao ZiSha Work crafted by Senior Master Cao Lan Fang.
There are three models which you can choose from:
1. Duo Zhi 掇只,
2. Jing Zhou Shi Piao 景舟石瓢,
3. De Zhong 德钟。

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The Chinese population is 1.4billion. Tea is part and parcel of our local Chinese culture, and MANY are drinking tea and aiming/aspiring to get Fully-Handmade ZiSha pots. Take the above conservative observations and we have 17.5million people engaging and clamouring for the high quality Fully-Handmade ZiSha pots. And they have been buying since the 1990s when economy is flourishing. What more now with a huge number of affluent people in China.
Facing this barrage of 17.5million people asking customers, including the many established rich founders and directors of companies, and the affluent and ambitious young and middle-aged PMEBs and businessmen,

~ you know what you would do if you ARE an Artist/Clay stockist holding onto these FEW bricks of YKDHP clays:
You WOULD HAVE TO KEEP them.

We at the Cao Family have YuanKuang DaHongPao bricks. Each of the few families/clay stockists around in YiXing DingShu 丁蜀镇 Town have only one to a few bricks left each.

We are a family of Artists and we have 22 warehouses of ZiSha clay, but YuanKuang DaHongPao is alas, YuanKuang DaHongPao, What we have is limited too. We are very fortunate that our pioneering grandfather in the 1920s, have mined and kept for us to use and to savour, slowly.

We will open our remaining few bricks only once every few years. Every one of us, the remaining families, have a duty to preserve this clay.

With 90% of Artists turned over to the dishonest ways of the Dai Gong 代工 industry, and the remaining honest 10% who are struggling and continuing to put a good fight,
it becomes extremely ONEROUS to pull together a team of Artists who are not just focused purely on Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art, but able to sacrifice profits and time, to give value to patrons, and to safeguard this precious Art in danger of dying off.

The above is the photo of our Aunt Senior Master Cao Lan Fang with the YuangKuang DaHongPao clay and a completed DeZhong which she had kept for herself. All the YKDHP pots made in the past decades had already been procured safely by our friends and patrons.

Our Aunt, Senior Master Cao Lan Fang, in order to withdraw this brick of YuanKuang DaHongPao: she would have to ask permission from her brothers (National Grand Master of The Arts: Cao Ya Lin, and Senior Consummate Master Cao An Xiang) and sister (Provincial Grand Master of Ceramic Arts: Cao Yan Ping). They have agreed for one brick to be opened to craft Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao pots on January 2024!

Photo below is Cao Family's esteemed YuanKuang DaHongPao, the remaining few bricks of clay.
Let us all friends share in its controlled, fair and coordinated usage.
We thank you dearest Friends and Patrons.

ALL YUAN KUANG DA HONG PAO WORKS by Senior Master Cao Lan Fang will importantly: have Premier Master's Cao An Xiang's certification.
Below are her extremely prized 2021 Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao ZiSha Works, made for Prof Griffith from Wales and Dr Lin from Singapore.

Excerpt from one of our temple trips: We all went to and was up at An Hui's 安徽 famous Da Yuan Chan Si 大愿禅寺 temple on the 8th Sept 2023 weekend for the presentation and inauguration of our family's work and effort to the temple, the famous Da Yuan Chan Si. Here are photos of us with you can see all of us: our uncle Premier Master Cao An Xiang 曹安祥, our Aunt Senior Master Cao Lan Fang 曹兰芳, our cousin Assoc Master Zhang Ke 张轲。

This is the 131st Fully-Handmade ZiSha Religious Set that our Uncle Cao An Xiang has made for a temple. You can view most of the other sets in Premier Master Cao An Xiang's section found on our front mainpage too.

Senior Master Cao Lan Fang with Premier Master Cao An Xiang at the front desk of the event dinner on Friday evening 9th September 2023.

Proud of our Uncle Cao An Xiang for his endless and tiring efforts all these years,

On the morning of Saturday morning, 9th September 2023 for our humble presentation and inauguration of the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Religious Set for the temple. The Chief Abbot gracefully accepted and adopted the ZiSha Works. Thank you, Abbot.