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Yixing Revisited 再訪宜興 (Oct-2010)

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chin:
We went to Yixing two years ago and it was truly an eye opening experience.

Last week we got the chance again to revisit our friends in Yixing, and got to see more. For my friends who do not know why the small town of Yixing is interesting, here is a short introduction.

Yixing, in Jiangsu province and about 4 hours by car from Shanghai, is the home to Zisha or purple clay. The clays in this area somehow has special properties that make it the best material to make top quality teapots and plant/bonsai pots. Some simple green teas are easy to make with ceramic teapots. But the more complex teas are better made with Zisha pots which can bring out the variety flavors and substance. Perhaps one of the reasons is that Zisha is porous and contain various oxidized iron - properties that affect how heat is conducted and retained, and the same for flavors.

Jiangsu has long been a prosperous part of China. Where there is wealth, culture, arts and handicraft develops. For about 500 years, Zisha ware making had taken root in Yixing where skills and fame are passed from generation to generations.

As explained in my last travelogue, Yixing is the biggest town in the area and the distribution center. The finest clay and teapot making is actually focused in the small town of Dingshu, which is about 20 min by car from Yixing. But Yixing is the much more conventionally known name.

I have taken hundreds of photos and about 4 hours of video. Most of the pictures and video are about the various process in making teapots. It will take some time to process all the material and making comments from my notes and memory.

chin:
The first part is something that I have not seen in my last trip.

Huanglung Shan (Yellow Dragon Hill) is known to be the location of a few mines that produced a few famous Zisha varieties.

首先上的圖是上次經過很多次但沒有機會到過的黃龍山礦場。玩壺的茶友可能都聽過黃龍山的泥料，4號井，5號井等。

chin:
The mines are now closed and the pit now filled with water. All the Zisha mines are now closed (since 2005?) to prevent over mining. From what I heard and see, there stock piled supply can still last for many years. The trading in material, either in the form of unprocessed "rocks" or processed clay, are very active.

礦井現在都是封了，礦場變了水塘。以前礦場的面積很大約2.5平方公里。根據朱澤偉的《宜興紫砂礦料》，黃龍山4號井因生產成本過高已於1997停產。5號井和下面照片的台西井，因地下水大量滲透而關閉。

chin:
Some of the outcrops of the mine. From what I understand, some (all?) Zisha are the thin layers between the rocks. We were told the the 原礦 (unprocessed rock/zisha) are everywhere in this hill. Are we looking at them in these pictures?

今天是小蔣帶我們到黃龍山的，他說這裡到處都是原礦。當然好的都給拿走了。好像以前說過，紫砂原礦就是石層夾着的碎泥石。是這些嗎？

chin:
這天下午，朱澤偉帶了我們看朋友的礦料處理的工場。一進入院子就看到地上一堆堆的原礦在受風化。

風化的意思是把原礦堆在空地上，任由日曬風吹雨淋，隨著時間的過去，原礦會被自然分解裂開，可以水溶的鹽類物質被溶掉，使泥料變得純良，有利後期加工。朱說他自己在農村裡有1.5畝地風化他的原礦。

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