《灵芝供春壶》"Ling Zhi Gong Chun Hu", 184.9ml, Ben Shan Duan Ni 本山段泥 ~ Crafted by L3A Consummate Master Artist Li Yan Ru 李艳如 ~ Congratulations to Ms M.L.! 1608hrs 26th Sept 2025, Phoenix, AZ.
Gong Chun Hu is the historical First ZiSha model in YiXing ZiSha history, and we all want this 供春壶 Gong Chun model to be THE ONE ~供春 GONG CHUN~ TO endow our collection with this all important ZiSha model! Do it once, and have the best!courtesy of Consummate Master Li Yan Ru.
The whole of YiXing ZiSha fraternity looks at the Gong Chu Hu 供春壶 with reverence, because it is the First ever documented ZiSha pot to exist in our Chinese history! Gong Chun is the name of the artisan who crafted it, fashioning it after the Shu Ying 树瘿 of a Ginkgo Biloba Tree 银杏。
There are Artists and Craftsmen all these while, who have attempted to recreate this Gong Chun Hu. How about Consummate Master Li Yan Ru?
TRUST HER to come out with an absolute special! This is stupendous! Let us now admire Master Li's Gong Chun work! Gong Chun Hu has two recognised iterations: the Stalk, and the Ling Zhi (Ganoderma Lucidum) version. Master Li chose to craft the lid knob with the more difficult Ganoderma Lucidum sculpture (instead of the stalk), and that is why it is called the Ling Zhi ~ Gong Chun Hu!
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Master Li turns sophistication totally organic.
Presenting, the masterful《灵芝供春壶》Ling Zhi Gong Chun Hu!
We have already seen how Master Li Yan Ru professes, specialises and "owns!", the hugely onerous COMBINATION Segmental-Corollary PLUS Overhead Top Handle Class works. Her Designs are not just pushing Senior Artists and Research Level Artists, they are winning multiple awards! Totally Understandable for her virtuoso skills honed from many years of hard work and learning since young.
This is an absolute Peach of a top ZiSha Classic, crafted by Master Li Yan Ru.
Many Gong Chun works (with all respect to the Grand Masters of fore, and other Masters) have been crafted with the carved-in grooves that meander around, and the area found encircled by these grooves, are often 1) flat and 2) pretty much untouched. However Consummate Master Li puts in her tremendous shift, and her outstanding efforts in detailing what is WITHIN every single square centimetre of the demarcation by the indented grooves!! Organic, complex YET eye-opening natural!
With all due respect to the Masters of Fore:
This is Wang Yu Lin's Gong Chun work.
This is 裴石民 Pei Shi Min's (Pei Shi Min is one of the seven esteemed Masters 紫砂七老艺人 heading ZiSha Art in the past when our PRC was being established) Gong Chun work now permanently on display in our National Museum:
This is 顾景舟 Gu Jing Zhou's Gong Chun work,
This is 汪寅仙 Wang Yin Xian's Gong Chun work,
Consummate Master Li Yan Ru, says she has chosen the most difficult Ganoderma Lucidum Lid Knob version!!! (and also avoiding herpetophobia for quite a lot of people, with all due respect to Grand Master Wang Yin Xian's work above, truly respecting her choice).
Prodigal Consummate Master Li Yan Ru, doing sloth-speed work, takes time at each area, carefully detailing each square centimeter, imbuing every part with organic forms, and macroscopically the whole work looks complex yet natural!
Diligence and patience by Master Li.
The Lid:
Master Li wows us, carrying it all the way to the base!:
Master Li says she does not spare any area, she commits to every area:
And dearest Friends, as you google and look at the other Gong Chun pieces by past Masters, you notice that the degree of the undulating surface, is not so much, resulting in a pretty "flat" look. Of course, we still revere these pieces by our past legendary Masters, and we have to admit that Master Li's version is nothing short of incredible and bests the former mentioned works in terms of savoir-faire!
Master Li pulled off an incredible feat, we witness her extreme skill and patience when indenting the clay irregularly with HUGE degrees of undulation, and precariously so!: as we see that the concave of the outside, corresponds perfectly with the convex of the inside. look here:
TO ACHIEVE SUCH STRONG ORGANIC UNDULATING SURFACES, Master Li really spares no effort, as she manifests both her skills, diligence and professionalism, in having a much deeper range of troughs and apices (amplitude) of this Gong Chun Hu!!! Absolute peach of a Gong Chun.
Master Li says this pot is not heavy, and she exercised her skills to the maximum when she did not take the easy way out using a thick slab of ZiSha clay to do this. She uses the same thickness as for her Austere works, and she says she has to fully respect the tensile strength of the ZiSha clay slab : as she dents the clay slab alternating in (concave) and out (protruding) in close proximity! One wrong move, one overzealous move, and the clay slab breaks! and she has to restart. This is her fifth try. Notwithstanding the failure rate of the subsequent three whole specimens that cracked during firing later.
She also mentions that she cannot start with a thick slab of clay because of the subsequent application of clay on top of this clay slab as she sculpts the multiple continuous organic embellishments.
Salute to Consummate Master Li!
and so forth,
People may wrongly interpret this pot just by looking at it, that, this pot is heavy
What is not apparent to you, is that, the walls are not thick, and this Gong Chun is not heavy!
For a pot that houses 184.9ml of tea volume, Master Li is able to craft this Gong Chun at an impressive 136.8grams ~ for a fully Ornate pot, this is indeed telling of Master Li's skill and savoir-faire!
Furthermore, the base is not rickety-rockety!!!
To take the easy way out in making sure the pot doesn't rock, the Artist can be lazy: simply apply pressure on the whole body downwards and this will conveniently flatten some of the protruding organic embellishments! Yes he or she will achieve a stable bottom.
However, Consummate Master Li is not going to resort to cutting corners!
Master Li's Gong Chun Hu, is as we have said, is an absolute peach! THERE IS NO FLATTENED PROTRUSION! And the pot is supported at MULTIPLE organic protrusions, EQUALLY, to even out the load!!!
The pot does not sit rickety-rockety: Look at Frame Number 5 for the video proof of this: as tapping ON THE SURFACE around does not yield any such rickety-rockety.
The proud owner would be very hard-pressed to find ANY flattened apices/protrusions! Because there is not even one!!! EXTRAORDINARY.
Totally ORGANIC forms, yet totally Linear Precision.
Beyond belief. Stupefying.
AND, (we are not finished yet), the pot sits with the lid opening level, and parallel to the table top! Perfectly level, 0° flat altitude.
And now we admire at the star on the top!
* The Ganoderma Lucidum Lid Knob! *
She did not just craft one, but she crafted two! of them!! Both extremely cute yet lifelike flanking and shielding the ventilation hole like Two Guards of Honor (as Master Li thought about)! And, just look at the sheer detailing of the G.L.!!! It makes one feel like cosying up and living under these two lovely umbrellas! So DELICATE, life-like and adorable to the max!
The UTTER SCALE of her diligence.
The smaller one above is only one quarter of a distal phalangeal pulp space, while the bigger G.L. knob below measures only half of a distal phalangeal pulp.
The details, the wavy form. So utterly life-like!
The biggest wonder here is:
Did Master Li craft the Ganoderma Lucidum lid knob first and then affix it to the lid? Or did she affix the lid knob first and then perform the sculpting and detailed crafting later? :-D. If it is the former, then the delicate top overhanging umbrella with its beautiful, wavy and delicate form would be squashed, and if it is the latter, how did she craft the underlying details all the way up both stalks?
She says she will reveal in the Streamyard call or via email to the patron :-D
Did Master Li craft two instead of the earlier Grand Master version which only sports one Ganoderma Lucidum, just for aesthetic purposes? No, she lovingly reasons that "Two are for better and easier gripping by our thumb."
Totally dedicated to her Craft and the Arts. Consummate Master Li!
Two for better grip and also, structural rigidity when lifting off the pot!
Master Li, kudos to you. A lot of effort put in to create this Gong Chun over many months, intensively learning, mastering, practising, crafting, bit by bit, and a blisteringly GREAT Gong Ghun. DO it once, and do it the best!! We all want this Gong Chun model to be THE ONE TO endow our collection with the historical First ZiSha model in YiXing ZiSha history!
Here's to the fortunate Owner and a big Thank YOU and Congratulations at the same time!
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Besides her specialty class Master Li has always, consistently been crafting Austere and Polygonal Works as well for our Chinese patrons! All who insist on having her craft for them. 
Master Li Yan Ru crafts Austere, Polygonal and Segmental-Corollary Works, and she only avails them with us at RealZiSha.
Master Li gained her accreditation as L3A Consummate Master Artist on the 12th December 2023 and she deeply appreciates all your time and being with her, as she scales to L2 Senior Master soon!
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Master Li has consistently orders coming through for her Austere works ever since she has been working with us in China since 2018, and her international debut with us in mid-2024 which showcased three of her signature and award-winning Segmental-Corollary ZiSha works. The fourth and highly proclaimed, Segmental-Corollary ZiSha work was launched in December and was snatched up within a day. She regularly crafts Austere and Polygonal works on her own terms, and what she loves to manifest.
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Video and Paper certification for this pot from Consummate Master Li Yan Ru 李艳如, and after receipt of your ZiSha prized work, she will link up with you via Video Streamyard call to certify and chat with the patron, you, regarding this Work.
Congratulations to the dear Patron of this Art work of hers!! Master Li looks very much forward to seeing you friends from all over the world engaged in this lovely tea journey of Tea And Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art. MASTER LI thanks all of you friends who have been supporting her and she hopes to accompany you friends on your journey of tea, and its culture!🎋
Once purchased, unique 5rmb cash note allocated and written in to secure and authenticate your purchase with RealZiSha and Master Li Yan Ru 李艳如。
Master Li thanks you for your time with her appreciating and hopefully adopting this work of hers! She will catch up with you on a Streamyard video!
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