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teatime

Why age Zhuni Clay?

3/30/2019

1 Comment

 
by Patrick
Picture
Zhuni clay teapot by Lin Hanpeng and Chen Chunhong
A block of zhuni from Huang Long Mountain 黄龙山 sits ageing at the studio of Chen Chunhong and Lin Hanpeng. Curious to see whether or not the clay had aged long enough, Lin Hanpeng took a small amount to shape into a cup and fire this week.
Although the fired Huang Long Shan zhuni looks fine on the surface, something isn’t right. The young clay lacks the desired plasticity needed to prevent the clay from cracking and breaking. Like other clays, ageing Yixing clay (zisha) increases its plasticity. "You can see from the texture inside the clay, it is still too sandy. It is not sticky enough yet," Lin explains. “Some studios will increase the viscosity and plasticity of young zhuni clay by adding some pre-fired zhuni ore to unfired zhuni ore, mixing the two together and processing it this way.” Although the finished product is still technically zhuni, “doing this changes the original character of the clay, degrading its quality. There isn't a lot of original ore Huang Long Mountain zhuni in the market. If you add cooked ore to the raw ore, you lose the flavour of the original zhuni."

Part of being a competent Yixing potter is not only knowing where to acquire clay, but how to process it properly for the best result. This batch of zhuni will sit for another year or two before Lin tries it again. 
Above, pieces of fired young zhuni from Huang Long Mountain.
1 Comment
P
3/20/2020 03:24:39 pm

Thank you for the article and for all the clear information you provide! Sometimes it happens to see teapot made of lao zisha aged for very long period (30 years or more). In your experience, how does ageing affect the flavour profile of the tea? Is it very different, in terms of flavour, to infuse the same tea in a teapot made of clay aged 1-2 year compared to a teapot made of the same clay but aged 30 years?
Thank you very much

Reply



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    Authors
    ​

    Siyan comes from Guangdong, China. A student of Chinese tea and tea culture, Siyan not only sources the finest Porcelain, Ruyao and other ceramic wears from our partners, she also researches the history of ceramics in China.
    ​
    Patrick first arrived in China over 10 years ago. A tea lover and Chinese ceramic collector, Patrick has too many teapots and probably drinks too much tea.

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