Why People Love Yixing Teapots

YiXing (pronounced ee-shing) Teapots have been famous and popular in China for generations; the price of a top Yixing Teapot (usually made by famous Yixing Teapot masters) could easily exceed $10,000. Although Yixing pots are after by many Chinese Teapot collectors, only few westerners know what a Yixing pot is.

Yixing Teapots have a history of more than 1000 years. Some historians believe that Yixing Teapots were first created during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279) in the YiXing region of China, located in the Jiangsu province, about 120 miles northwest of Shanghai. The Jiangsu province is the world's only source for the unique clay called ZiSha (meaning purple or red Clay) from which YiXing Teapots are made. YiXing Teapots were relatively unknown for many years by westerners until the late Ming Dynasty (1600s) when Europeans started massive trading with Chinese.

The uniqueness of a Yixing Teapot lies in Zisha, the raw material from which the Teapot was made. YiXing Teapots are baked at 2,000F+ high heat resulting in denser and finer clay. The inside of a Yixing clay pot is not glazed. The porous nature of Zisha (purple clay) absorbs the flavor, smell, and color of the Tea that is brewed in it. Over time, YiXing Teapots will develop a seasoning from repeated use, which will enhance the flavor of your Tea brewed. For this reason, please dedicate a single flavor of Tea to a specific YiXing Teapot, so that the seasoning is not disrupted by cross-brewing. Someone even claimed that if you used the Yixing Teapot for long enough, you can brew Tea without adding Tea leaf, because the Tea flavor in the porous will come out to make the water taste like Tea. Unfortunately, this is not a valid statement, even though Yixing Teapots do greatly enhance the quality of Tea brewed.

Ada Cao is the editor of http://www.orientalshoppingmall.com, where you can find the large selection of Yixing Teapots and the best Asian and oriental style home dcor items such as oriental rugs, oriental furniture, wall fans, bonsai trees, and oriental lamps. Ada also writes articles for http://www.jewelrywise.com, a site dedicates to help consumer saving money on jewelry shopping.

Author:: Ada Cao
Keywords:: Tea, Teapot, Yixing, Yixing Teapot
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