Han Tang Shi Piao 汉棠石瓢, 167.3ml, Xiao Mei Yao Zhu Ni 小煤窑朱泥, by Craftsman Shi Yun 石芸, Engraving of Bamboo 竹 and Verse by Craftsman Yi De Shu 一德书!
《汉棠石瓢》Han Tang Shi Piao by Craftsman Shi Yun.
*It take 3 workers 3 days to manufacture 1800 machined pots (cannot be made from ZiSha) from the jigger-jolly machine, it takes 1 worker 3 days to manufacture 9 half-handmade pots from perfect moulds for the spout, lid, lid knob, body and handle,
It takes 1 Fully-Handmaking Craftsman 3 days to craft 1 Fully-Handmade ZiSha work.
We have not mentioned the degree of extreme skill the Craftsman need to perfect for five years before a perfect XiShi or Fang Gu is up to par.
We have not mentioned that the JJM pots have close to 100% success rate as they are made from cheap non-zisha ceramic materials and of a consistency maximised for ease of forming in the jigger-jolly machine, and the HHM pots having perfect forms (popped out from moulds for the spout/lid/lid knob/body and handle) and hence much higher success percentage out of the kiln.
A Fully-Handmade ZiSha piece from our Craftsmen, has a very low success rate, of 40-70% for Zhu Ni to Zi Ni works, and further lower if engraving and clay sculpting are crafted in.
Include the further maths comparing the selling prices of a typical jjm pot at US$80-120 and a typical hhm pot at US$150 - $250.
Come to YiXing, instead of reading keyboard warriors don't even know the reasons behind the steps taken for a FHM work, never walked all the nooks and crevices in YiXing, not least step foot in actual YiXing, and we will show you all on the ground, the jjm and hhm factories, all the distribution centers for their wares, the outright fakery, the pretence and you can tell how colossal their markups are when you buy them at $80 - $250 (cost each is 15-30rmb to 150-200rmb). Theirs are businesses.
Ours is a total mission for our culture and for the tea.
Getting one of our Craftsmen’s 1 Fully-Handmade ZiSha work here, is not just getting a Premium piece,
It is getting the highest value piece far, far and away, from the hhm and jjm pots.
Belong to the top echelon by owning a $195 Fang Gu from Craftsman Chen Fa Chu or a $235 Xi Shi from Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming.
The reason for getting a ZiSha work is for its porosity.
Hence our Craftsmen’s dedication to Fully-Handcrafting to maintain its porosity to the maximum.
If they can earn much easier money by jumping over to hhm factories, they would have done so, but why our Craftsmen keep to their Fully-Handmaking craft?
Our Craftsmen are not intellectually amiss in committing their lives and sacrificing their livelihood for themselves and their families they need to feed, by dedicating and upholding Fully-Handmaking ZiSha works.
They know it is worth it, and it is the only way to experience the best tea for all of us.
They know it is the only way to preserve our Chinese culture.
We salute their sacrifice for the cause, and for us.
On the side facing the Tea Master, Craftsman Yi De Shu engraves the Bamboos (assuming right-handed use):
and the calligraphy to augment and complement the aura of our tea session.
"清风徐来" in Xing Shu 行书 Style Calligraphy.
FAMOUS Han Tang Shi Piao 汉棠石瓢, a ZiSha Modern Classic created by Grand Master Xu Han Tang 徐汉棠, and this is lovingly made by our trusted and committed collaborative Craftsman Shi Yun. Thank you for your grandest support to the honest and dedicated Craftsmen left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
Craftsman Wang Hui and Craftsman Shi Yun. Both are former course mates of our Craftsman Yi Xiao Ran! :-D whom you have seen in her video on our main homepage showing the craft involved in making a Fully-Handmade ZiSha Work.
Both these ladies Shi Yun and Wang Hui, are past colleagues of Craftsman Yi Xiao Ran, and upon her convincing, have joined us as well to preserve Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art! Yes! Both Senior Craftsmen Shi Yun and Wang Hui are here now with RealZiSha to SERVE ALL OF YOU!
Craftsman Shi Yun delights us this time with a beloved model of all time!
The 汉棠石瓢 Han Tang Shi Piao!
Many of us delight in a small Xiao Mei Yao Zhu Ni work to steep our Oolong Dancongs, Oolong Da Hong Paos, Wu Yi Yan Chas, Black Teas, with dense rich taste. A 100degC steep in of hot water, with a fast pour out. Especially your costliest Oolong, that $4,000 per 100g Oolong harvested around the Mu Shu Da Hong Pao trees meant for the leadership of China. We want to get the Rich TASTE OUT from the leaves OPTIMALLY, and not burning nor scalding the leaves, with a fast pour out. A classic fast move. Elegant and the Oolong that results, especially if that is your costliest Oolong, your costliest Yan Cha in your collection. Nothing else replaces this prerequisite for the BEST resultant tea taste. For one or two pax most astounding results. We want the maximum amount of tea leaves within the pot, that 100degC hot water in that fills up fast and conveniently, decisive pick of the lid knob and covering it, quick and most effective steep, that dense tea water out. The most treasured steep of 70ml of tea water out for one to two persons per steep. When every steep matters. The most unique and transcendental tasting, that teaches us the matter of impermanence, and we treasure every steep, every drop that passes through down our palate.
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This is Xiao Mei Yao Zhu Ni, as we all know, with the highest shrinkage together with Zhao Zhuang Zhu Ni compared to all other ZiSha types. Failure rates are high. Unpredictability of the clay edges and joints, due to this high shrinkage is scary to say the least.
This is a precious piece of ZiSha Art, and we give kudos to Senior Craftsmen Shi Yun and Wang Hui, and their diligence and hard work all these years. Although three out of five crafted are successful coming off from the kiln devoid of deformations/cracks, ONLY two of these three are worthy in final form, beauty and cohesion. As with all Art pieces from RealZiSha here presented to all of you dearest Friends, guardians of Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art, they are premium pieces availed at the most astounding lowest prices. We want you each of you friends to get the best. You deserve it.
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TRULY FULLY-HANDMADE AND DELICATELY MADE ZHU NI WORK:
Note on our TRUE Fully-Handmade Zhu Ni pots from RealZiSha: NOT those thick-/irregular-thickness-walled ones which are actually fake "Fully-handmade ZhuNi pots" utilising the cheating new technology: "车一刀 Che Yi Dao": Such ZhuNi pots utilizing Che Yi Dao process, have been sprouting up in the market since early 2022. Che Yi Dao involves a swivelling-rotational cutter that goes around a roughly-finished ZhuNi pot to cut the outer surface into a perfect shape. This cutter obliviates the need of accomplished skill of a true Fully-Handmaking Craftsman. Obviously, Che Yi Dao also absolves the need of a skilled FHM Craftsman to 1)pound the slab into a careful thin-slab, 2)paddle-pat the slab into a uniform shape purely manually.
In the utilisation of Che Yi Dao cutter, the worker will just need to 1) roughly pound the slab into a slightly thicker slab. After that the worker rounds up this slab as part of the main body, and will just 2)need to ROUGHLY paddle-pat it into shape. After which he sets up the Che Yi Dao cutter to revolve and cut the body into a perfect shape.
Of course, rest assured here, and avoid the ubiquitous fake jigger-machined fake "Xiao Mei Yao Zhu Ni", "Zhao Zhuang Zhu Ni", "Zhu Ni Da Hong Pao", etc pots all around sold in a multitude of places, sites, apps and platforms.
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