Given the apparent love affair most Chinese people have with tea, you shouldn’t be shocked to learn that certain people have also found a deep connection with their teapots and other teaware. And these may not be the kind of people you’re thinking of: everyone from emperors to artists, writers to laymen have found joy in a special kind of tea pot: those crafted out of Yixing purple clay.

Ancient poet Su Dongpo (1037 – 1101) and his original purple clay teapot

Easily one of them most famous writers in Chinese history is Su Dongpo. He lived 1,000 years ago during the Song dynasty (960-1279), but his work is still popular and resonates with the life of modern-day Chinese.

The funny thing is that Su enjoyed tea and purple clay teapots very much, and he created a well-known pot of his own style called a Dongpo Cross Beam Pot.

Su once lived in Yixing, the only area where purple clay is found, for some time. He used to enjoy tea when doing with his creative work. But what got on his nerves was that the teapots at that time were usually rather small, so he had to keep brewing tea at short intervals. This kept him from concentrating on his work.

Therefore he intended to make a big teapot by himself. He bought some purple clay, and started to shape and work with it. But several months passed, and he still failed to complete a decent pot. Can you imagine how anxious he was?

It is said that one night, a poor boy from the neighborhood came to offer Su some fruit and bread. As soon as Su saw what else was in the boy’s hand, a lantern, he was no longer hungry. That’s because he was inspired, he leapt from his seat and went to craft a pot in the same shape as that lantern.

After just a few tries, Su perfected the lantern-shaped teapot. But there was a problem: it was heavy and slick, so no one could hold it. Even attaching the standard teapot handle was not enough. After thinking for some time, Su crafted a long, U-shaped handle that hung over the pot and attached to both the front and back. This handle was easy to carry, and gave great leverage when pouring tea out of the large belly of the pot.

After that, Su was constantly using his special big teapot while intently creating his poems. Some say he had even spent more time with the pot than with his own son. At present, there are still a number of master potters trying to emulate Su’s original design. They give their imitations a name Dongpo Cross Beam Pot, according to Su’s name and the characteristics of his famous pot.

Would you like to see what a Dongpo Cross Beam Pot looks like? Well, here’s a picture shot at the former dwelling of Su Shi named San Su Temple, in southern China’s Sichuan province.

A famous emperor and purple clay teapots

The Qianlong emperor of the Qing dynasty was one of the oldest emperors in history and ruled for one of the longest periods of time.

One of his secrets to healthiness was enjoying tea every day. Here’s one of his comments: “A king is not supposed to live without tea even just for one day.” It tells us how important enjoying tea was in his life. He used to travel to all parts of his country dressed as ordinary people, and he savored all kinds of Chinese tea.

To go with his fanaticism over tea, Qianlong was also serious about his teaware. He thought Yixing purple clay teapots were the finest in the world. Almost every time he had a cup of tea, he demanded that it be brewed from a purple clay teapot. He thought these teapots brought the best out of his tea.

As a testament to his admiration for these pots, Qianlong sought the best artists and forced them to make pots only for him. He also adorned several pots with his personal calligraphy and other designs. Before long, many common people began to follow suit and more and more people where seeking purple clay teapots of their own.