Pan Hu 番壶, a shape that has several iterations and this is one of them. Skilfully made by our trusted and committed collaborative Craftsman Chen Fa Chu. Thank you for your grandest support to the honest and dedicated Craftsladies and Craftsmen left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
This Pan Hu from Chen Fa Chu exudes and emanates an infectious calm to all of us who use it. This is the reason for us to trust and request affable and obliging Chen Fa Chu to craft this. A roundish body allows for the central upwards and sideways convection current, while reducing the surface area to volume ratio. Air is a poorer conductor of heat as well, and the small dome column of air allows for aeration of tea without allowing for heat reduction.
Here at a handy, newly minted, ~200-210ml volume.
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Da Shui Tan Zi Ni, is the clay that is mined from the same Quarry site as the (mythical) Tian Qing Ni. The Quarry Pit is named Da Shui Tan Kuang Qu 大水潭矿区。
Our Da Shui Tan Zi Ni, not just being authentic, is sold to true connoisseurs at this low price. Dear Friends, this is superb quality Da Shui Tan Zi Ni. Get one.
Its colour is the same as the said Tian Qing Ni. In fact, there is a joke from Chen Fa Chu: his patrons can possibly buy his Da Shui Tan Zi Ni pot at 1500rmb and sell it off at 10,000-20,000rmb as "Tian Qing Ni"!
REST ASSURED. No way our trusty Chen Fa Chu, whom all our Artists have his back, is going to sell his Da Shui Tan Zi Ni cfaft works at any inflated, exorbitant and dishonest prices. We abide by the highest code of honesty in serving our patrons and even Museums local and worldwide.
Even if other retailers are actually selling Da Shui Tan pots, they list them as "Tian Qing Ni" pots and selling at $4,000, $7,000, $10,000.
Avoid.
Get an authentic Da Shui Tan Zi Ni pot at only $180-$300 from us and be the Wise, Aware and the Learned one.
Because, we in our fraternity do know, that Da Shui Tan Zi Ni appear the same as the mythical Tian Qing Ni pot. Both embody the highly similar grayish-purplish hue.
Enjoy one beautiful and authentic Da Shui Tan Zi Ni pot from our dedicated Craftsman Chen Fa Chu.
Do not ever get fleeced by others selling "Tian Qing Ni" works. Most are Jigger-machined pots not made from ZiSha at all, and those that are made of ZiSha are actually made from Da Shui Tan Zi Ni instead.
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Tian Qing Ni.
One of the biggest rabbit holes for consumers into ZiSha Art and Craft.
Fact is: There is NO certification for Tian Qing Ni.
None of our Grand Masters is ever going to certify any pot work as Tian Qing Ni. Reputation that they cannot afford to lose.
They know that Tian Qing Ni exists solely as our imagination, and is a rabbit hole that they advise everybody not to fall for.
They will NEVER advise you nor agree with you to chase down a "Tian Qing Ni Ore and/or pot".
They with all the learning behind them, will tell you that, Tian Qing Ni, is a type of ZiSha ore,
1. described only in words by a literati in the Qing Dynasty,
The person is called Zhou Gao Qi 周高起, the book he wrote is Yang Xian Ming Hu Xi 阳羡茗壶系。
2. however there is ZERO Ore Specimen being handed down by him to anybody else,
3. there is also NOT one single pot handed down by him to anybody else,
4. Not even Huang Long Yuan company dare to say they have this mythical Tian Qing Ni.
Therefore, it remains the mythical ore and finished pot, which depending on one's own interpretation of the words written by Zhou Gao Qi, can be "labelled as Tian Qing Ni."
See the danger here? "depending on one's own interpretation of the words of Zhou Gao Qi. There is no physical specimen ever handed down by him. No ore nor pot.
Tian Qing Ni is still described in a few publications and "reference books" written by certain authors (which many have heard of or bought such publications), but the truth remains that is Tian Qing Ni is as per points Number 1 to 4 above.
Dear Friends, do also have the right understanding that:
There is NO REFERENCE BOOK EVER WRITTEN BY YIXING ZISHA ASSOCIATION. All publications and books found in the market, are written by a few authors or workers who have gathered their own specimens of ores through the years, and they write these books based on what their perception is.
We at RealZiSha, we do know these few authors, we do meet them personally regularly and have tea with them. We maintain our cordiality and courtesy with them.
But our Artists, Grand Masters, we, do maintain our stance and maintain our core principles. Many things are common sense, and should never be hyped.
Dear Friends, in YiXing, in fact, nobody in our proper fraternity talk about clays much. The unscrupulous ore sellers or pot sellers always say that, as long as a customer walk in very concerned about various types of ores and clays, these customers are "easy meat". Please do not be one of these customers.
We focus on Craftsmanship. All YiXing ZiSha (properly mined, picked against the impurities) are equally good in our eyes, hands, and the tea we steep them with.
Be a true ZiSha wise aficionado and learned person, focussing of simply two points: 1)Craftsmanship, and 2)as long as it is YiXing ZiSha, it is good ZiSha. Don't pay for hyped up clays with many advertised ore photos and fanciful names.
Enjoy affordable ZiSha works by our Craftsmen and Artists :-D !!!
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Support PROPER Da Shui Tan Zi Ni. Although they are affordable, do not ever think that Da Shui Tan Zi Ni is not precious. It is. Just that we price it with a honest conscience at affordable prices. Yes, just because they are priced affordably here, please do now see them as lesser. It is just that Craftsman Chen and us just do the proper thing. Remember, you can/are going to bring this pot to meet us anytime in YiXing and have tea with our Master Artists and Grand Masters possibly, and tell them you acquired this from Craftsman Chen Fa Chu at the price you paid. Your Da Shui Tan Zi Ni pot here is a source of pride and joy, albeit being affordable. This Da Shui Tan Zi Ni is precious.
We strongly recommend you to purchase our Da Shui Tan Zi Ni pots which are crafted by Chen Fa Chu.
Kindly do:
They are a strong learning point in your journey as well.
These Da Shui Tan Zi Ni pots are precious because the ore is excavated, mined and retrieved from the Da Shui Tan quarry which had been flooded by waters since the 1990s.
Da Shui Tan ZiNi pots exhibits the same: grayish-purplish-slight brownish hue as the mythical "Tian Qing Ni pot" by Zhou Gao Qi.
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You notice that, our Chen Fa Chu's Fang Gu made of DiCaoQing ZiNi and DaShuiTan ZiNi, cost the SAME, at affordable price-points.
Please get one. They make amazing tea, with very slight muting effect on any bitterness in the tea leaves during steeping, and heightening their "refreshed"-ness and slight sweetness!
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Lovingly made by our trusted and committed collaborative Craftsman Chen Fa Chu. He thanks you for your grandest support to the honest and dedicated Craftsladies and Craftsmen here left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
The Stalwart, dedicated to the cause, Craftsman Chen Fa Chu, thanks you, for embracing his work.
Enjoy his superb, classic handwork!!!and let his work accompany you on your tea journey! Thank you Friends!
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 exuded from a Fully-Handmade Pot which others simply can't bring forth, and, Craftsman Chen Fa Chu's skills, savour the pour. You will know everything then.
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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. Out of 12 pots he makes a month of 30days, 9 pots will survive the kiln firing successfully. Out of 9 pots, a Craftsman on average sells 7 pots per month. For ZiSha models/designs that are very challenging and more complicated to craft, time taken will be longer, and the failure rate will be higher as well. Zhu Ni pots have higher failure rates than Zi Ni and Duan Ni pots too. Our Craftsmen are crazily 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.
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Again, another tremendous labor of love by our trusted and committed collaborative Craftsman Chen Fa Chu. It is a team effort and we thank you dearest Friends for your grandest support to the honest and the dedicated Craftsladies and Craftsmen here left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
The lines and detailing speak of Craftsman Chen Fa Chu'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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(Dear Friends, during the photo-taking process, five to six separate spotlights above and around, are used. Looking at the photos, the collar-rim of the lid-body interface thus shows the various spotlights' reflection. You will therefore see 2 to 3 scattered brighter spots around the collar-rim. Some friends had asked before, "is the rim-collar having any irregularity in circularity?". Thus, rest assured. Do not misconstrue the two to three brighter spots around the lid-body rim collar to mean any irregularity in circularity of the rim-collar.
Yes, the rim-collars of all these ZiSha works crafted by our Craftsmen ARE REGULAR in CIRCULARITY :-D, and you can rest assured. Thank you Friends.)