Yixing Clay Teapot - History

History

Archaeological excavations reveal that as early as the Song Dynasty (10th century) potters near Yixing were using local "zisha" (紫砂 or 紫泥 ; literally, "purple sand/clay") to make utensils that may have functioned as teapots. According to the Ming Dynasty author Zhou Gaoqi, during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor, a monk from Jinsha Temple (Golden Sand Temple) in Yixing handcrafted a fine quality teapot from local clay. Such teapots soon became popular with the scholarly class, and the fame of Yixing teapots began to spread.

Read more about this topic:  Yixing Clay Teapot

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    “In nature, all is useful, all is beautiful. It is therefore beautiful, because it is alive, moving, reproductive; it is therefore useful, because it is symmetrical and fair. Beauty will not come at the call of a legislature, nor will it repeat in England or America its history in Greece. It will come, as always, unannounced, and spring up between the feet of brave and earnest men.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    ““And now this is the way in which the history of your former life has reached my ears!” As he said this he held out in his hand the fatal letter.”
    —Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)

    “I feel as tall as you.”
    —Ellis Meredith, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 14, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)