blissbat > objects > yixing teapots

object: yixing teapot

Yixing (ee-shing) teapots are made from zisha, a purple clay found only in and near the Yixing region in Jiangsu province in China. They've been in use since the Sung Dynasty (960-1279), became popular in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and are said to have inspired European competition (including Wedgwood, est. 1750-ish).

They're small pots, holding one-two servings; using a smaller pot means not leaving the leaves in as long, thereby avoiding overbrewing. The cool thing is that they're not glazed, so they're quite porous. When you brew tea in a Yizing pot, the pot absorbs some of the flavor, scent, and tint of the tea -- so you ideally only brew one flavor of tea in a particular pot, and the pot in turn subtly adds to the flavor of the tea brewed in it.

They're made in natural (animals, fruit, etc.) shapes, geometric shapes, and combinations of the two. The one above is a watermelon-shaped pot from yixing.com, which sells lots of these things. They also have teapots shaped like frogs, fish, and elephants in the "beasts" section of their catalog. It's sort of uncontrollably cute.

If you're curious about how the pots are made, how to make kung-fu tea, or anything else about these pots, check this.