紫砂中华：探索古韵，共赏艺术之美
紫砂泥，又称“泥中泥”和“岩中岩”，是紫泥、绿泥和红泥三种的统称。紫砂主要分布在我国安徽寿县、山东博山、广东潮邑和江苏宜兴等地。宜兴自明代正德以来，用当地紫砂原料制作茗壶。由于紫砂属于稀有矿物质资源，原矿储存经过几百年的无休止开采，上等原料已日见枯竭，加上开采岩中泥的紫砂投资很大，因此，历史上保持完好的名家茗壶，一直为国内外收藏界所追捧。
紫砂原矿质坚如石，这种块状岩石自矿层中开采出来后，首先经露天堆放，风吹雨打数月后，自然、松散如黄豆般大小，再用石磨或轮碾机碾碎，用不同规格的筛网筛选，最后倒在容器中加适量的水拌匀，就地揉成湿泥块，我们称它为生泥。把生泥用木槌压打，重复数十次，就可以制成待用的熟泥。
Purple Sand: A Journey Through the Art of Ancient China
The Purple Sand, also known as "Nidus" and "Rocca," is a term that encompasses three types of clay: purple sand, green sand, and red sand. The Purple Sand is primarily found in Anhui Province's Shou County, Shandong Province's Bo Mountain, Guangdong Province's Chaozhou City, and Jiangsu Province's Yixing District. Since the Ming Dynasty during the Zhengde period (1506-1521), artisans in Yixing have been creating teapots from local Purple Sand materials.
Due to its rare mineral composition and extensive mining over several centuries, high-quality raw materials are increasingly scarce. Moreover, extracting Purple Sand requires significant investment. As a result, well-preserved teapots created by renowned artists during this time have long been sought after by collectors both within China and abroad.
Purple Sand originates from hard rock formations which are extracted from mines and left exposed to wind and rain for months until they become as soft as soybeans. These rocks are then crushed using stone mills or rotary grinders before being sifted through different mesh screens into various sizes of clumps. After adding water to these clumps in a container, they are kneaded into damp mud called 'fresh mud'. This fresh mud is then pounded with wooden mallets multiple times before it becomes usable dry mud.
This dry mud has excellent plasticity but can be molded into various shapes with distinct designs due to its high strength when formed into an initial shape or 'mold.' The drying shrinkage rate of this material is low when compared to other types of pottery materials.
In praise of early Chinese artistry in tea utensils during the Ming dynasty was expressed by poet Wang Wenbo who wrote:
"In human society there may be many precious gems; why should one seek them on Earth? It would suffice if we could obtain just one lump of soil from Yangxian."
There were many famous potters living throughout history such as Shi Binxiang (1555-1610), Xu Youquan (1594-1652), Xu Shiheung (1583-1639), Xiao Weiyan (1567-1627) etc., whose works continue to inspire people today even though their lives remain somewhat shrouded in mystery.
A fine example illustrating these early techniques can be seen below -
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This image depicts an antique porcelain vase originating from the Ming dynasty era around 1600 AD featuring intricate floral patterns adorning each side while sporting ornate handles at either end with five pointed stars surrounded by smaller flowers along their length respectively adorned on both sides near top rim above base where foot ring meets body proper beneath neck area encircled by another row larger leaves underneath handle bottoms further down toward bottom edge where foot ring continues past first row onto second tier beginning just below midpoint between bottom edge & top middle portion inside lip line marked “Shi Binxiang made” at center right-hand corner against white background so you might easily see all details without obstruction or glare.
The vase stands about 10 inches tall including neck portion measuring approximately 8 inches wide across widest part located directly under shoulder section extending outward slightly towards uppermost point among ridges separating rounded shoulders forming central cylindrical form flaring ever so slightly downwards approaching lower third & finally tapering off sharply towards narrow cylindrical base shaped like upside-down pyramid.
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