Ru Ding 乳鼎, 198.7ml, Di Cao Qing Zi Ni 底槽青紫泥, by our Collaborative Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming 顾小明。

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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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