《矮汉瓦》"Ai Han Wa ~ Short Han Wa", 121.6ml, rare Zhu Sha 朱砂 (highest granularity form of ZhuNi), by Craftsman Fan Xiao Zhi 范小智。
The Han Wa 汉瓦。
Craftsman Fan Xiao Zhi has moved on finally to the Ai Han Wa in his favourite clay where he is extremely familiar and deft with: the Zhu Sha 朱砂。 We are very happy that the sleek and Gong-Fu purposed volume Han Wa is now combined with Zhu Sha!!! Specially arranged for all of you friends, whilst stocks last (if the firing kiln is kind _/|\_ ).
Zhu Sha is the highest granularity form of Zhu Ni known to us in the ZiSha fraternity. And it is exactly famous for its high granularity! This is proper Yuan Kuang Zhu Sha, and is rare and more costly. Zhu Sha works have the same success rate during firing as Zi Ni and most Duan Ni. However, Zhu Sha is "notorious" for its highly granularity, and Artists and Craftsmen find it difficult to craft because it is 很疏松, very, very "loose" (not pasty) and Artists and Craftsmen during forming the pot, have to acquire AND GET USED to special skill sets to handle and work on it! Firing is not an issue, success rate is high, but crafting is extremely tricky and tiresome. However, the result is to be savoured. It brews excellently, Aged Sheng Pu Er, and Shu Pu Er. Some of our Tea Masters local and abroad, swear by it for these applications! Many 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.
Zhu Sha 朱砂:
Get ready for steeping Aged Sheng and Shu Pu Er in perfect Gung Fu style! 
Craftsman Fan Xiao Zhi is very happy to be crafting superb classics for all of us! Together in a team here in YiXing, he thanks you dearest friends for your grandest support to the honest and dedicated Craftsmen left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art. Enjoy his diligence, excellent handwork with this Ai Han Wa and let his work accompany you on your tea journey!
Past months of practice, trial and error, getting used to this Zhu Sha and sending specimens to firing for the ideal colour~texture~surface feel, all of us are finally happy with its appearance and success!
Do cherish this ZhuSha used, rarer clay, delectably vermillion-reddish, granular and highly tactile!!
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Zhu Sha brings a great smile to our faces as this rare and highest granularity form of Zhu Ni anchors itself as one of the classic clays on our tea table! Lovingly made by our trusted and committed collaborative Craftsman Fan Xiao Zhi. Thank you! for your grandest support to the honest and dedicated Craftsladies and Craftsmen left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
Sympathetic Fact: Craftsman Fan Xiao Zhi succeeds usually with only one out of every five made. We salute his huge efforts to bring this to us. Reasons are exposed as we unravel and understand the intricacy of this design.
THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL AND TREASURED HAN WA.
We refresh ourselves with the previous explanation on all our Han Wa 's :
In YiXing, there is a saying that, "Do not brag how good your skills are in crafting Fully-Handmade ZiSha pots, FIRST SHOW ME your Han Wa."
This saying has its strong foundations.
1. Han Wa needs to have a gently-curved side wall and if not done evenly, is very obvious to the eye. This is also "necessary" in our Chinese Arts, because we believe "there should be a curve to every line, and there is line to every curve".
2a. Han Wa 汉瓦, and ESPECIALLY AI HAN WA 矮汉瓦 矮 (meaning short) has a largish lid spanning the large circumference. In relativity to the pot's width, the Han Wa obviously has the largest lid-width to body-width ratio!
2b. This largish lid also has its front edge VERY close to where the front spout takes shape. 
These present a very challenging task to the Craftsman, because:
IF not done well and tight, and hot convection currents within the kiln suddenly become irregular, the lid will not shrink uniformly in X-Y-Z axes, and there will be leaking at the front lid edge when the user tilts the teapot to serve tea, e.g the lid is "warped" even slightly. We have to be very sympathetic to Fully-Handmaking ZiSha Craftsmen and Artists.
The whole big circular lid has to be perfectly made and the pot must endure and survive the harsh firing, all three times, in order to have a uniform shape AND a secure fit.
This is the reason why we Craftsmen and Artists, say, there is never a perfect pot, not even Grand Master Shao's Award Winning pots at the 2020 and 2021 Panama Expositions: the Top Handle is tiled, there are Bao Zi 爆子, there are Tiao Sha 跳砂, there are Efflorescence 封釉 and irregularities in colour and shades.
Reciting our Craftsmen and Artists, who say: "a ZiSha pot will behave like a jelly, wobbly like a jelly, once inside the kiln. What comes out of it, we shall see, and we shall only pray."
3. Ai Han Wa's《矮汉瓦》lid, being wide and flat (not domed), WHILE supporting a rather relatively heavy lid knob with significant mass, still needs to maintain its slightly gently-curved and convex top surface. Ai Han Wa, compared to the standard Han Wa, is much wider and that means the lid is even much more prone to collapsing downwards during firing. This always presents a challenge, because this knob can cause the flat lid (which becomes soft during firing) to "sink" down in the middle. An otherwise dome-shaped lid would naturally present a better vertical axial strength to support a heavy lid knob, but not the Han Wa and any pot design with a flat-shaped lid.
With all the above challenges Craftsman Fan succeeded with this! He needs to grasp properly the clay processing, and the moisture needed, the pot needs to go through all THREE firings perfectly. It took a lot of trial and errors. Craftsman Fan is determined of course and he succeeded eventually! Much oomph when he sees his Han Wa come off the kiln after the three firings, eventually SUCCESSFULLY!
Craftsman Fan delights us this time, crafting this superb Han Wa, with:
The rare and highly tactile, ZHU SHA 朱砂。
Han Wa, is VERY practical!
4. It provides: extreme ease of introducing tea leaves into the pot,
extreme ease of removing and flushing out tea leaves during cleaning,
extremely fast speed of drying after rinsing and standing the pot.
5. THIS IS THE LATEST IMPROVED HAN WA WITH 1+2+3+2+1 = SEVEN exit filter holes!despite its relatively small size. Han Wa also facilitates: during tilting and pouring tea out: allows and draws in more tea and presents a higher hydrostatic pressure that results in a strong jet of tea during serving!!! Coupled with the wide aperture spout>>> the jet is strong and fast!
~~~~~~~~~~Craftsman Fan Xiao Zhi is very happy to be crafting superb classics for all of us! Together in a team here in YiXing, he thanks you dearest friends for your grandest support to the honest and dedicated Craftsmen left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art. Enjoy his diligence, excellent handwork with this Xi Shi and let his work accompany you on your tea journey!
Past months of practice, trial and error, getting used to this Zhu Sha and sending specimens to firing for the ideal colour~texture~surface feel, all of us are finally happy with its appearance and success!
Do cherish this ZhuSha used, rarer clay, delectably vermillion-reddish, granular and highly tactile!!
*****************
Zhu Sha brings a great smile to our faces as this rare and highest granularity form of Zhu Ni anchors itself as one of the classic clays on our tea table! Lovingly made by our trusted and committed collaborative Craftsman Fan Xiao Zhi. Thank you! for your grandest support to the honest and dedicated Craftsladies and Craftsmen left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
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BRING ONE HOME, USE IT and you will know all about Fully-Handmade ZiSha, the feel of real and quality YiXing ZiSha, the nurturing of Patina, how the true Patina feels and looks like, the aura and feel manifested by a Fully-Handmade Pot which others simply can't bring forth. Savour Craftsman Fan Xiao Zhi's skills. You will know everything then :-D
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Here with us in our happy family of true ZiSha connoisseurs and friends, you witness 90-120 photos taken of EACH Fully-Handmade ZiSha work here.
Compare this to elsewhere: factory bosses of jigger-machined non-zisha pots contribute downstream to their retailers: 5-10 stock photos for each non-zisha pot model, used to sell a stock of 10, 20, 30 jigger-machined non-zisha pots per model. I.e. 5-10 photos to sell hundreds of one model.
We at RealZiSha, take 90-120 photos, fresh, of EACH, ONE, Fully-Handmade ZiSha work. Together with our sacrificial and hardworking Craftsmen and Artists committed to honest true Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art and Craft, we at RealZiSha go the aeons' distance.
Again, another tremendous labor of love by our trusted and committed Craftsman Fan Xiao Zhi. It is a team effort and we thank you dearest Friends for your grandest support to the honest and the dedicated Craftsmen here left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
The lines and detailing speak of Craftsman Fan Xiao Zhi's EXTREME CARE AND TIME taken to craft each part, each pot. Hold one, hold up one, swing the work around. Carefully examine his Fully-Handmade work. Look at it from afar, from near, and it will grow on you, with 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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The amount of effort put behind each of our Fully-Handmade ZiSha work welcoming you, the authentic YiXing ZiSha clay, the many years of dedication and hardship committed to the craft, the proper three rounds of firing, the presentation with dedicated 80-150 photos of each work, the effort spent behind procuring 5rmb notes in running stacks from our local banks, is 100,000x, more than the what is peddled on countless websites: with cheap common ceramic clays behind the unauthentic pots, the fast, less than a minute of jigger-machining, or just the few months’ ability of newly recruited unskilled workers to churn out half-handmade pots, the simple one to two rounds of firing at convenient and lower temperatures at just only one round of firing, cheap ceramic clays that do not shrink much so as to maximise success and profits, the presentation with a set of ten photos taken per model and repeated for more than tens to thousands of stock.
And yet, Craftsmen Fan Xiao Zhi, Chen Gui Zhi, Chen Fa Chu, Zhu Shu, Gao Xiang, Zhang Huan, Fang Shi, Yang Pin Ting, Gu Xiao Ming, Wang Xing, Wang Hui, etc, honest hardworking people are put in a really bad position, for they 1) have to compete on price with fake stuff from all around, but still 2) have to offer the honest real thing: Fully-Handmade ZiSha works. These honest Craftsmen have to lower their prices so much with their works, authentic works of extreme sacrifices, labour and experience.
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.
Depending on the difficulty of craft the design elements command, the difficulty of crafting with certain clay types, the rarity and hence cost of clay, the inclusion of engraving 刻绘 and/or clay sculpting e.g. Ni Hui 泥绘, Dui Hui 堆绘, Diao Su 雕塑 on the piece of work, our Craftsmen face immense cost increase, time spent, and the level of expertise and savoir-faire accumulated by sheer HARD WORK.
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 vital to their livelihood and the existence of this craft for all of the tea fraternity.
Thank you Friends!
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