Xi Shi 西施, 205.3ml, Di Cao Qing Zi Ni 底槽青紫泥, by Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming 顾小明 ~ Congratulations to Mr E.A.! 1545hrs 4th Oct 2025, Colorado Springs! CO.
This is the latest Xi Shi shape embarked by our latest Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming. Gu Xiao Ming has been "roped in" by our Craftsman Chen Fa Chu for us in a happy team because he can do the Xi Shi shape in Zi Ni extremely well!
1. Gu Xiao Ming utilised and applied carefully, our Fraternity-recognised: 《河豚西施》Puffer Fish silhouette iteration Xi Shi spout, which accommodates even more generous outflow, FURTHER accentuating and aiding the swiftness of pour. The EMPTYING is extremely fast!
2. Appreciate Craftsman Gu's DILIGENCE. This Xi Shi of his, incorporates the more difficult-to-craft Qian Gai 嵌盖 lid-to-body interface construction. This Qian Gai interface here of this Xi Shi, is DIFFERENT from the Jie Gai 截盖.
The Qian Gai interface is the most difficult to craft interface construction, but Craftsman Gu did it because: IF DONE RIGHT and survived the firing successfully without deformation: this Qian Gai WILL give the most watertight interface (as the water has to move through TWO 90 degrees right angles before getting to leak out), and the most secure closure.
Qian Gai interface is very difficult ot get right with the high shrinkage XiaoMeiYao ZhuNi (immensely high shrinkage causing deformation and high failure rates), even for our experienced Craftsman Zhao Xiao Wei and Craftsman Wang Xing. Thus, for the XiShi of XiaoMeiYao ZhuNi, which many of you friends had already procured from us, you would have noticed that Craftsman Zhai Yi Yao utilised the Jie Gai 截盖 interface for his Xi Shi works.
~For illustration with Craftsman Gu's series of delectable Qian Gai 嵌盖 Xi Shi's:
You would thus appreciate that Craftsman Gu, when PRESENTED with the more easier to craft Zi Ni, he MADE FULL USE of this fact, to accomplish the MORE CHALLENGING Qian Gai for his Zi Ni Xi Shi here.
Kudos to him.
Salute.
3. Craftsman Gu also conscientiously sculpted a 手推内球孔 Hand-Pushed Spherical Filter to increase the number of filter holes for a solid and fast pour of tea out and with better catching of tea leaves at the bottom fast while allowing tea to flow out from the upper holes. The Fraternity-recognised: Puffer Fish silhouette iteration of this Xi Shi spout, is also crafted here, which accommodates the more generous lumen/outflow, FURTHER accentuating and aiding the swiftness of pour.
4. Meanwhile even further, the base is sculpted intensely so that tea stains don't form easily due to the static pot in touch with the tea liquids on the tea table. Excellent form. Experience only gained through painstaking efforts through the years.
Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming 顾小明 thanks you dearest friends for your grandest support to the honest and dedicated Craftsladies and Craftsmen left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
Dearest Friends, we are savouring this top Ceramic material for tea, ZiSha, and these are all the Craftsmen’s and Artists’ hard worked, Fully-Handmade pieces, with lots of preparations, intense crafting, heart aches at the kiln, all fully respecting this totally natural, and high shrinkage unpredictable clay, sensitive to even a 0.5degree in ambient temperature, and even weather (temperature, moisture, the four seasons) outside of the kiln. The 铁熔点 ~ natural black iron melted spots that irregularly and spontaneously appear anywhere and everywhere ~ we call Tie Rong Dian :-D, the “跳子” Tiao Zi denote the observed “popped-off-spots” effect when the cute surface granulate popped off from the surface during the high shrinkage of more pasty clay around it, the “爆子” “Bao Zi” also dot the surface as those that did not pop off, hover out just enough to cling onto the surface, and the simple surface irregularities, are all due to this ceramic clay, although having the highest shrinkage, are still mercilessly and necessarily fired at 1150degC to 1250degC. These are all part of the natural ZiSha artefacts and what many modern day or Western pottery lovers affectionately call “wabi-sabi”. Our Chinese Craftsmen and Artists do not aim for wabi-sabi for the sake of wabi-sabi. Do forgive them for these natural irregularities. These is what we love about YiXing ZiSha, the best ZiSha source in the whole world, and with the double-sized pores innately inherent and imbuing the best taste for any type of tea. Savour Fully-Handmade ZiSha teapot Craft and Art!
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Here with us in our happy family of true ZiSha connoisseurs, you witness 90-120 photos taken of EACH Fully-Handmade ZiSha work here.
Compare this to elsewhere: factory bosses of jigger-machining 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 eons' distance.
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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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