China is famous for its tea and tea sets, especially unique Yixing purple clay teapots. Some Chinese tea lovers see collecting purple clay teapots as a great pleasure. Mr. Liu Tianbao has evolved from an amateur teapot buyer to a master purple clay teapot collector.

The Costly Lesson

Liu started collecting purple clay teapots because of his contact with flowerpots. When he was a child, his father had a great taste for miniature landscapes and owned a number of purple clay flowerpots. Liu was unconsciously influenced by what he saw and heard, and gradually took up collecting purple clay.

In the 1970s, there were just a few antique markets in Beijing. Liu went shopping just like his father had, and began visiting Tianqiao, Deshenmen, and Shichahai, all venues that featured traditional items. He was searching for ‘treasures.’

One day, Liu hit a second-hand curio market. He purchased nearly 50 secondhand Yixing purple clay teapots! Then he hurried home excitedly, and dipped all the treasures into a tank. He was petrified by what he saw. The handles and spouts dropped one by one off the teapots. It turns out he bought many worthless, broken teapots pieced together by glue. He was taught a costly lesson.

Gone, Then Back Again

Many years later, a purple clay teapot caught his eye at a curio market in Tianjin. He wanted to buy it, but he couldn’t afford it. He had to let it go. But 10 years later, he miraculously came across the very same teapot once again at a secondhand curio market in Beijing. This time he caught the opportunity and purchased it straight away.

According to his judgment, this pot was crafted several hundred years ago by a famous purple clay teapot maker named Pei Shimin. It featured a coat of yellow glaze on its surface. Finishing this pot called for two firings, and the technique was very hard to master. Today, a teapot like this can only be admired at the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Save a Pot or Save a Hip?

Liu treasures his purple clay teapots to the uttermost, for he knows their intrinsic worth. One day he purchased a rare purple clay teapot from the late Qing dynasty. He felt very glad. He put the pot into his backpack with great care, and then rode away on his bike. On the way, he kept singing his favorite songs.

But unexpectedly, in order to avoid hitting an old man, he rolled and fell off his bike. At that moment, he held the teapot tightly in his arms, and let his hipbone smash into the ground first. Consequently, he was confined to bed for one year. It became a popular story among his friends: Liu would rather break his bone than to break his purple clay teapot!

Over the past 30 years, Liu has been addicted to collecting Yixing purple clay teapots. His face lights up as if he was talking about a family member whenever someone mentions his pots. He seldom makes a mistake now, and as a matter of fact, he has developed a very good eye for purple clay teapots.

Liu thinks an Yixing purple clay teapot inevitably involves its creator’s ingenuity, workmanship, and vision. And he says a purple clay teapot embodies its collector’s ability to find good things, and a little luck.

Tags: Art, China, handicrafts, Legends, pottery, purple clay, stories, tea set, teapots, teaware