Editorial Conversation: Chapter 9, Section 2: The Tools of Yixing Zisha Construction

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[00:00:00] Jason Cohen: Hello everyone, I'm Jason Cohen, the author of An Introduction to the Art and Science of Chinese Tea Ceremony. Today we're discussing Book 2, Chapter 9, Section 2, The Tools of Yixing Zisha Construction. Here to talk about this chapter is our editorial team, Patrick Penny.

[00:00:20] Pat Penny: Hey, hey.

[00:00:20] Jason Cohen: And Zongjun Li.

[00:00:22] Zongjun Li: Da jia hao.

[00:00:24] Jason Cohen: Hello everyone. The tools used for building a Yixing teapot out of zisha clay look quite different from the tools of other ceramic art forms. What accounts for this difference?

[00:00:32] Zongjun Li: I would say one of the most important factors is that essentially the nature of zisha clay is so different than all the other types of clay. Zisha is the texture, the graininess, it cannot be easily well thrown or cannot be well thrown at all, which requires very different sets of technique to be able to construct them.

Most of the zisha wares that we see today are all hand built versus being wheel thrown like Chaozhou teapots.

[00:01:02] Pat Penny: First of all, welcome back to the U.S., Zongjun. And then adding on to the question, I think, historically as well, it was pretty common for a lot of the zisha teapot makers or people working with Yixing zisha clay to make their own tools as well. And I think some of that has bled into the modern day. Even though you can go to shops and buy commodity tools of all shapes and forms for working with zisha clay, a lot of practitioners are still making some of their own tools for specific either pieces or aesthetics that they're trying to develop with their wares.

[00:01:33] Jason Cohen: That's an interesting point and certainly we're going to return to the conversation on purchasing tools versus constructing tools. As Zongjun was saying, these are different because zisha clay is different.

The difference is the stickiness or the difference is the density or it's because the clay is pounded or all of these things. What leads to the difference and what's the difference between the tools that we see here versus raku or onggi or other ceramic traditions?

[00:01:57] Pat Penny: Just thinking about raku specifically since we, as we mentioned on a previous podcast, Jason, you and I had a chance to actually build our own raku bowls. Raku, we basically were handed a big square block of clay. And the tools that we had were carving knives of sorts, so we were basically scooping or carving clay out of this block, and everything we took away would not be the bowl, and everything that was left would be the bowl. Whereas with Yixing zisha clay, we're taking this slab and you are slowly shaping the slab to be the teapot.

And so the tools that you have are things that will either help you get the right shape or the right amount of compaction and will guide you to becoming something that is closer and closer to a teapot or a fully formed zisha ware.

[00:02:45] Zongjun Li: Yeah, zisha clay is just so much harder than other clays that you see in other regions.

We had the chance to actually play with some zisha clay when we were in Yixing and building something with zisha clay feels more like carving a sculpture versus playing with traditional clay. It's a very different experience.

[00:03:08] Jason Cohen: Were any of these tools borrowed from other art forms or did they arise only when zisha started to be mined and refined?

[00:03:14] Pat Penny: I don't know, but I would assume that a lot of these could have been pulled from many other types of ceramic art forms. The thing that really sticks out to me as being different is the mingzhen (明针), which we discuss back and forth various naming schematics for this, but mingzhen (明针) is basically this smoothing tool that is used when you're shaping the teapot and I can't imagine that being used in too many other art forms. That one feels particularly unique to me. But things like knives and mallets and paddles and rods, a lot of those I could see having some application in other art forms, be it ceramic or otherwise.

[00:03:51] Jason Cohen: The mingzhen (明针) is unique, and that's actually my next question. Zongzhen, as a native speaker and our local etymologist, why is the tool made from that thin slice of oxhorn used to smooth the surface of a Yixing teapot during construction called a mingzhen (明针), which is often translated as a bright needle?

It is neither bright, nor brightening, nor a needle.

[00:04:14] Zongjun Li: It's as confusing as it sounds like in Chinese too. I actually did some research with some of our connections in Yixing as well. It's a mystery. It's largely unknown to this day why this particular tool is called mingzhen (明针).

There are some suspicions saying that the second character, zhen, could be a different character, which means to examinate or to discern, which combined with ming means to examinate and smooth out something. The second character for examinate is a very esoteric character that a lot of these ceramists in the local Yixing area might not have enough education to be able to recognize the character on a daily basis.

Throughout time, it got mistranslated or misused with zhen needle which is a more common character. So that's one theory by some people who are also curious about the origin of the name. But the true is largely still unknown.

[00:05:17] Pat Penny: Jason, I think if we can't solve the true mystery behind mingzhen (明针), why even publish this book?

[00:05:23] Jason Cohen: Actually going to take a long pause here for us to do some etymological research. We might wind up with a master's or a PhD in this topic, so this pause might last

[00:05:34] Pat Penny: See you guys in six months to three years.

Thank you for listening to Tea Technique Editorial Podcasts. Indefinite hiatus.

[00:05:43] Jason Cohen: We'll be back on the air once we have an answer to this question.

[00:05:47] Zongjun Li: Our third book, Mingzhen (明针), the story behind it.

[00:05:51] Pat Penny: There's people clamoring for this. I know there's people clamoring for this.

[00:05:55] Jason Cohen: I think we're going to need to engage a different type of scholar. This is not where I think I'll

[00:06:02] Pat Penny: Classic, classic mingzhen (明针) comedy. Everyone loves that kind of stuff.

[00:06:07] Jason Cohen: Pat, returning to a point that you made. Historically, ceramic artisans either made their own tools or had their apprentices make tools as part of their education. How has the contemporary availability of pre made tools changed the art form?

[00:06:19] Pat Penny: We see this in many other art or skill based practices. One place my mind goes is to sushi making, where often the apprentice is only really allowed to like wash dishes and then eventually they're allowed to make rice and then eventually they're allowed to handle or add vinegar to the rice and slowly over time they're allowed to take on different pieces of the sushi making process until they're allowed to fully serve. And this is how I view Yixing tool construction where apprentices to truly learn the art form you first have to learn every minute detail there is that goes into even just making a paddle.

Because if you just use someone else's paddle, you won't understand what makes a good paddle. And if you don't understand what makes a good paddle, then you'll probably really never master the paddling action, right? So I think just like we've talked about in Book 1 with scaffolding knowledge, this is a technique where the master or the craftsman will have his apprentices build these different layers of knowledge as they learn not only to use the tools but to understand what it is about the tools that makes them useful. You see this across martial arts and many other things.

[00:07:28] Jason Cohen: This chapter discusses the modernization of the display wheel, from a flat board with a rounded bottom, to a heavy metal, rock on, lazy susan on a ball bearing.

[00:07:38] Pat Penny: My new band name by the way.

[00:07:40] Jason Cohen: Love it. Can you explain the difference in design and usage between the original and modern display wheel? 

[00:07:50] Pat Penny: The original display wheel was basically a rounded piece of wood, and so to properly handle it, the craftsman needed one arm or one hand manning the display wheel, while with the other hand doing the action that they wanted to with the piece of zisha clay that they were working with.

So it really made working on a teapot kind of a full body action. And as we've developed new tools and techniques, the display wheel transformed to what it is today, where it sits on a pivot and works like, as you mentioned, a lazy susan. So the craftsman no longer needs to be engaging part of his body just to hold on to the display wheel and move it.

You can easily just be moved by simply grabbing a piece and moving with your fingers allowing the artist to really engage their body more fully on the piece of the teaware itself and probably more likely just ergonomically, not hurt their body so much while working over a piece of teaware.

[00:08:47] Zongjun Li: All the tools has been evolved throughout time to better suit certain technique or certain construction intention by all the ceramists. It's not always people trying to make an argument that the old way is better.

But in Yixing, this is very much untrue. There has always been new innovation and revolution on ways of not only making the teawares, but also other innovations goes into clay blending and ore processing, so there is no orthodox way of making teapot.

[00:09:23] Pat Penny: But was the old way better?

[00:09:25] Jason Cohen: So with the old way, you needed to have more engagement. It was more difficult to learn. You had to manage the balance of the display wheel and the position of the display wheel.

You had both elbows on your construction table. You had one hand with a tool. It was a much more engaged and difficult position. When Pat and I, and I don't know if you had this opportunity, Zongjun, were in Jeollabuk-Do making onggi wares, we attempted the kick wheel where you have to kick with one foot, stabilize yourself with the other foot, two hands on the pot, but no pressure on the pot because it'll collapse it.

And we were unable to do it. And there wasn't the amount of time or attention needed in order to develop that coordination. It was a difficult skill. Watching Master An Shi Sung do it, it came to him naturally, fluidly. It looked like something that he had been doing for decades because he had been doing it for decades.

And so my question is, is there an argument that the new, easier method does not result in as much artistry or craftsmanship or some other attribute as the old method?

[00:10:32] Zongjun Li: The old method will certainly make you more attentive during the process, when you're trying to construct a teapot, or require more practice. And as you practice, trying to master this certain tool, you're also practicing doing all the other things at the same time.

So maybe it naturally prolongs your learning curve by that single factor. But I don't know, same argument can also goes into, like, all the other tools surrounding zisha as a art, right? For example, like firing zisha. Nowadays, most of the zisha wares are fired in electric kiln versus traditionally it would be a dragon kiln or other wood kiln where you need to build your own kiln and fire your own teapot.

And that's another different technique to master or different group that specialized in this certain work. Is that a setback when all of these modern zisha are fired differently? Or can the same argument be made into all the other things surrounding the development and evolution of zisha?

[00:11:36] Jason Cohen: I don't know if wood firing is the best example because I think I still have a slight preference for wood fired wares. But I'm not sure if I agree with my own argument. I was playing devil's advocate on whether the old way offers any superiority or benefits.

I don't know if a priori making something easier to do, makes it less artistic or skillful. The fact that the lazy susan is now stable and can now be turned easily. And that you have freedom of movement on both arms. Is that really worse? I think it is an innovation, and it's clear that the majority of craftsmen have moved to the new method.

At the highest level, I don't see new teapots being particularly worse than antiques and in some ways craftsmanship has increased. I'm not sure if I buy my own argument of devil's advocacy, but it is an interesting idea to explore.

[00:12:31] Pat Penny: I have two opposing thoughts on it. One, I don't really, want any of the craftsmen working on my teapots to have to be hunched over for hours at a time in a position that's uncomfortable and probably over the long period of time, very unhealthy for them.

[00:12:48] Jason Cohen: That's a position only for teapickers.

[00:12:49] Pat Penny: Teapots as well. But then I think with what we usually saw when people did have freedom of motion in both hands, usually there was just a cigarette in the other hand. Does it mean that they're focused more or less?

Yeah, I think it, it looks like they might've been a little less focused, anecdotally.

[00:13:05] Jason Cohen: Nicotine is a stimulant,

[00:13:07] Pat Penny: That's true.

[00:13:07] Jason Cohen: Stimulant, yeah, it's an excitement.

[00:13:09] Pat Penny: So they might be just getting hyper focused on that teapot.

[00:13:13] Zongjun Li: Smoky inspiration.

[00:13:15] Jason Cohen: My last question, when the three of us were together in Yixing, what did you find interesting or surprising while watching master artisan construct a Yixing teapot? 

[00:13:26] Pat Penny: I think for me it was just how much time they spent on each step. So we did have opportunities to go to various different craftsmen's studios. And see many different portions of the teapot making process. And so even just thinking about like the body building that we got to watch and spout attachment.

There was quite a lot of time. I think we might have been in this one particular studio for anywhere up to about an hour. And I don't think they worked on more than one pot in the time that we were there. So really quite a lot of time and care was going into the very minute details and getting them perfect for this one section of the teapot making process.

[00:14:06] Zongjun Li: Yeah, I think one thing that surprised me the most is how much of segmentation has happened to building Yixing teapot for middle tier to lower tier studios. Some of the upper tier contemporary masters probably still build their teapot from scratch end to end.

But for a lot of these middle tier, lower tier teapots, there are masters or craftsmen just specializing in building the spout or building the lid. And there are studios just specialized in building the knob on the lid or the handlebar of the lid. And then there are craftsmen specialized in assembling everything together.

It's just so interesting to see this organic community that's thriving right now in building so many teapots with such consistency and pretty high quality to many extent.

[00:15:00] Jason Cohen: I saw that and I took that in a different way. That was actually going to be what I found most surprising, but I had viewed that, not in the lowest tier, but in the middles to upper tier, actually, my comment was going to be that, often constructing a Yixing teapot is a team effort, where two artisans are semi permanent, quite permanent partners and one focuses on the body and the other focuses on the formation of the spout and handle, and that the two work together exclusively constructing teapots together.

Someone specializing solo in a lid knob, that's obviously some form of commodification or independent specialization. But the type of teamwork that we saw in the upper mid tier studios, I viewed that a little bit differently, I thought of that as a collaboration between two permanent artisans working together.

[00:15:46] Zongjun Li: Yeah, I would say that's valid. And there's so many of these studios out there. That's also quite surprising or out of my expectation. And they are just scattered like constellations across the entire Yixing city. And there are these studios attached to the factory just specialize in zheng kou (整口), like adjusting the lid, fixing the lid, to make it fit better with the teapot.

It's so interesting.

[00:16:15] Pat Penny: I think it shouldn't have surprised me, but just the sheer amount of Yixing and Yixing tea related materials we saw around Dingshu Town, it was a lot more than I expected. I thought that it would be some kind of slightly obscure art form and just one maybe part of the kind of economical model of that area.

I didn't think it would be like 90 percent of what we saw in that one town. There wasn't really anything else that stood out as something they were making money off of, right? Like that was the one thing.

[00:16:45] Jason Cohen: For Dingshu, yeah. My expectation, Pat, was close to yours.

It was either that this was going to be some niche thing with a couple of scattered spots, or it was going to be a Yingge like town where one street, all of the sellers are on the same street. But this was not. This was an entire town that for the last 200 years has been just dominated by Yixing.

So, in summary, there's a lot of yixings in Yixing. And for some reason this surprised us.

[00:17:10] Pat Penny: We have been to other places where we went for tea related things and it was hard to find tea related things. I will say that.

[00:17:18] Zongjun Li: It's just the sheer scale and the complexity, I guess that really surprised us.

[00:17:24] Jason Cohen: The zheng kou (整口) shops, the repair shops, the knobs specialty shops, the lid and handle, the spout specialists, the artisans, the carvers, the painters, the slip glazers, the yijun (宜钧) makers, and the fact that it's all there. That it's all still there. And then if you ask someone, they know where it is. Oh, you want a slip painter, you go over there.

[00:17:51] Zongjun Li: And also the toolmakers and the staple fixers (Chinese style staple repair specialists).

[00:17:55] Jason Cohen: Illegal miners.

[00:17:57] Pat Penny: Ha, illegal miners. Abandoned factories that have been turned into gift shops, yeah.

[00:18:01] Jason Cohen: It's all there, it's all there.

[00:18:04] Pat Penny: Parks with ferris wheels that are over where the mines used to be.

[00:18:07] Zongjun Li: Apartment buildings right next to Huanglongshan (黄龙山) that has a suspiciously large basement.

[00:18:16] Jason Cohen: Liminal spaces filled with giant abandoned teapots.

[00:18:20] Pat Penny: This is where all our subscriber money is going. Jason, you and I can't buy property in China. I guess no one really can, but Zongjun is buying some apartment plots just right next to Huanglongshan (黄龙山).

[00:18:31] Zongjun Li: Yep.

[00:18:32] Jason Cohen: Ah, shaft mine number six.

Well everyone, that's all the time that we have for today. Thank you for joining this edition of Tea Technique Editorial Conversations. Please join us again for our next conversation, Molds, Guides, and Hands.