《孟臣三足》"Meng Chen San Zu", 208.5ml, Xiao Hong Ni, by Craftsman Zhang Huan 张欢, Bamboos & Calligraphy engraving by Craftsman Mu Shan 牧山!~ Congratulations to Mr M.F.! 1237hrs 9th Apr 2026, Glen Rock! PA!
https://www.realzisha.com/pages/fully-handmade-zisha-art-and-craft-and-tea-pairings
“竹摇清影罩幽窗 (两两时禽噪夕阳)”
From Zhu Shuzhen's "Early Summer" (Song Dynasty)
Bamboo casts its elegant shadows on the quiet window in the gentle breeze, while pairs of birds chirp and sing noisily in the setting sun.
This line combines stillness and movement.
The static imagery of "clear shadows" and "quiet window" contrasts with the dynamic imagery of "swaying bamboo" and "chirping birds," vividly depicting the scene at the end of spring and the beginning of summer.
《孟臣三足》"Meng Chen San Zu"!
This is a very beautiful and historical antique design that hails from the 18th Century, Qing Era:
Zhang Huan and Mu Shan worked together this time to accomplish this beautiful Meng Chen San Zu, and relish our Cao Family's Xiao Hong Ni 小红泥!
Xiao Hong Ni 小红泥! Xiao Hong Ni, sits besides Da Hong Ni, and both of them helm their position under one of the two major umbrellas of Hong Ni.
Hong Ni comprises the "ZISHA HONGNI" umbrella and the "ZHUNI" umbrella.
Xiao Hong Ni and Da Hong Ni (Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao) are the two types that make up ZiSha Hong Ni!
Xiao Hong Ni 小红泥 and Da Hong Ni 大红泥 (Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao 原矿大红袍) are the two types that make up ZiSha Hong Ni!
Xiao Hong Ni 小红泥:
These Xiao Hong Ni ores are passed down through the generations in our Cao Family, and now Senior Master Cao entrusted a limited stock to Craftsman Zhang Huan to be crafted into this Da Bin Ru Yi.
Xiao Hong Ni brews excellently: Aged Sheng Pu Er, and Shu Pu Er! Generally, we favour Zhu Sha 朱砂, Xiao Hong Ni 小红泥, Da Hong Ni 大红泥(Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao 原矿大红袍) and Hong Jiang Po Ni 红降坡泥 for this application.
IT brews excellently Aged Sheng Pu Er, and Shu Pu Er!!! Some of our Chinese tea masters swear by it for this application.
Generally, we favour Zhu Sha 朱砂, Xiao Hong Ni 小红泥, Da Hong Ni 大红泥(Yuan Kuang Da Hong Pao 原矿大红袍) and Hong Jiang Po Ni 红降坡泥 for this application.
The Swan neck spout, is beautifully mastered and executed by Zhang Huan.
Craftsman Mu Shan 牧山 pampers us again with his delightful Kai Shu Calligraphy and Plum Blossoms Engraving!
Assuming the user is right-handed,
Kai Shu Calligraphy Engraving faces the Tea Master,
“竹摇清影罩幽窗 (两两时禽噪夕阳)”
From Zhu Shuzhen's "Early Summer" (Song Dynasty)
Bamboo casts its elegant shadows on the quiet window in the gentle breeze, while pairs of birds chirp and sing noisily in the setting sun.
Notes:
* **罩幽窗 (zhào yōu chuāng):** The bamboo shadows darken the window.
*两两 (liǎng liǎng):** Pairs of birds.
*时禽 (shí qín):** Seasonal birds.
*噪 (zào):** Noisy, disruptive.
Analysis:
This line combines stillness and movement.
The static imagery of "clear shadows" and "quiet window" contrasts with the dynamic imagery of "swaying bamboo" and "chirping birds," vividly depicting the scene at the end of spring and the beginning of summer.
Orchids engraving faces the Guests,
Zhang Huan and Mu Shan both sincerely hope you friends enjoy this highly Oriental and historical model!
They thank all of you for your love! They will continue working hard as much as possible at all months of the year. Welcoming all of you to YiXing too so that we can drink together!
Shrinkage of Fully-Handmade ZiSha,
After three years of perfecting further his already polished skills, his works have consistently been given more than a nod by our Artists, be it Senior Master Lu Xue Feng, Senior Master Cao Lan Fang, Assoc Master Yang Quan Sheng, Assoc Master Li Yan Ru, Assoc Master Du Cheng Yao. Craftsman Zhang is NOW proudly one of us and he will be featuring consistently, and he also works closely with Yi Xiao Ran (featured in our home page video) and also Chen Fa Chu (together both being the longest serving Craftsmen with us). Craftsman Zhang Huan is naturally gifted, and extremely dedicated to perfecting his Art. His works have been noticed and appraised highly. The lines and detailing of his pots are unmatched for their prices. His lines and detailing speak of his EXTREME CARE AND TIME taken to craft each part, each pot. The lines and detailing speak of his fighting through his years from very challenging family conditions since young.
Only a very well-trained, experienced and skilful Craftsman will be able to understand the curves and proportions perfectly, and here beautifully captured and crafted by Craftsman Zhang Huan.
Craftsman Zhao's works are highly scrutinised by our Senior Masters, and deemed to be ready for you, delectable for your use and a long lasting permanent ZiSha work in your collection.
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Again, another tremendous labor of love by our trusted and committed collaborative Craftsman Zhang Huan. It is a team effort and we thank you dearest Friends for your grandest support to the honest and the dedicated Craftsladies and Craftsmen here left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
Hold one, hold up one, swing his work around. Carefully examine his Fully-Handmade work. Look at it from afar, from near, and it will grow on you. The whole piece grow on you because 1) he takes reference from what the Senior Masters chose for him, 2) and he amazingly crafts them up EXACTLY as to what the Senior Masters want from him: extreme fine detailing with MUCH THOUGHT on each part, with MUCH TIME spent on every part, section. Because this is what Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art should be, and HOW FULLY-HANDMADE ZISHA ART is so different from and light years ahead of the ubiquitous jigger-machined pots and half-handmade pots masquerading under the sales tagline of "fully-handmade zisha" pots. These latter JM/HHM pots are made in what we call 流水线 a.k.a. 'Factory-Line operation' whereby the main pot body after being jigger-machined or coming off from the mould, is passed to the next worker who fits on the spout, and subsequently this second worker will pass the pot on to another worker who will in turn fit on the handle. Continuing so, the pressed lid is likewise passed to another worker who fit on the lid knob. EACH WORKER has NO IDEA what the other one is doing, and they are always working on fixed time lines stated by the boss. For example, the worker being "passed the baton" a pot with the spout just fixed onto the body by his colleague, will only focus on fixing on the handle, with nil to little regard to WHETHER THE HANDLE fixed on will be cohesive with the spout. Each worker has NO idea of HOW THE FINAL POT WILL LOOK LIKE. Beyond poor craftsmanship and clay, the result of such processes are ugly pots with poor cohesiveness which experienced Artists, Craftsmen and collectors will tell from a metre away. Experienced people in us, do not need to pick up a pot to check whether it is fully-handmade or made of zisha, we can tell from a metre away just by looking at the pot.
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The keywords are: Detailing and Cohesiveness.
A GOOD Fully-Handmade ZiSha Work combines great detailing and cohesiveness.
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Explained, https://www.realzisha.com/blogs/news/actual-zisha-landscape-at-yixing , the Craftsman by selling his hard-worked ZiSha craft at $190-$240, $45-$65 goes to the cost of the craft, inclusive of the fees for the firing for the kiln operator (three times per pot), the packaging boxes, and between $32 to $52 for the clay (Zi Ni Di Cao Qing, Duan Ni and upwards) used per pot. Craftsman takes 3 days (fastest 2.5days) to craft a pot.
If he works 30 days a month without a single day of rest (no family time), he will craft 10-12 pots.
If he crafts for 25 days (five days of rest a month), his output will be 8-10 pots.
The success rate for Zi Ni (e.g. Di Cao Qing, Lao Zi Ni, Da Shui Tan etc) and Duan Ni (e.g. Jiang Po Ni, Qing Hui Duan, etc) is 70% on average. Some times the whole batch of 10 may fail. We have seen our Craftsmen suffer like this very often.
The success rate for Zhu Ni (e.g. Xiao Mei Yao Zhu Ni) pots is 60%, or 70% with most optimism and at the very, very best. Unfortunately.
All of us at RealZiSha of course, hope for one another, professional colleagues and all, that all the pots will survive firing at the kiln successfully.
[For ZiSha models/designs that are very challenging and more complicated to craft, the time taken to craft will be longer, and the failure rate will be higher as well. Zi Sha by its virtue, have the highest shrinkage rate of all ceramic clay. Zi Ni and Duan Ni thus have that 70% success rate, while Zhu Ni has even higher shrinkage rate and thus even lower success rate (the lowest of all ceramic clay.)]
Our Craftsmen are wholeheartedly committed to the cause of Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art and their strictness with their craft and dedication earn our respect. We give a big Thank You all of these Craftsmen, for they are saving what is our common precious tea culture: Tea + Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art and Craft. Your support is critical to their livelihood and the existence of this craft for all of the tea fraternity.
Thank you Friends!
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Our Senior Masters have given Craftsman Zhang Huan the full blessings with all of us. He is fully-fledged at RealZiSha. Most important, after all the hard work,
We are very happy that he is now with all of you.
Presenting Zhang Huan and his hard-worked and fine-worked Pieces for you. One by one.
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