Intriguing legends about purple clay have been passed on the lips of Chinese tea lovers over time. Through these stories, we get clues about the start of purple clay tea ware and the status a good purple clay teapot may give its owner.

Who found purple clay first?

Long, long ago, in southeast China’s small town named Yixing, the locals were enjoying the tranquility of the country life.

Then suddenly, the tranquility was broken. A mysterious monk popped up unexpectedly. He walked up and down, calling out, “Lucrative clay! Lucrative clay!” The locals looked around, with no idea what the monk meant. The monk then exclaimed, “Don’t you want to become rich!?” The locals were dumbfounded, and didn’t know how to reply. So the monk closed his mouth, and left.

A judicious old man realized there must be something behind the monk’s words, so he darted after the monk. Before long, they arrived at Yellow Dragon Mountain, but the monk vanished from view. The old man tried his best to catch sight of the monk again, but he saw nothing except several caves he never noticed before. He looked into the caves, and wow! There was colorful clay everywhere!

Now the old man understood what the monk had said, so he brought some of the clay out of the cave. He tried to make some pottery. After firing, the pottery gave him a big surprise. They were in purple, yellow, and green. “Oh, I have never seen pottery with these colors,” the old man murmured. Then he showed the pottery to his friends. They were pleasantly surprised, and called the material ‘purple clay.’

A pauper with his only purple clay teapot

Once upon a time, there was a rich man who particularly enjoyed drinking tea. No matter who came to his home for tea, rich or poor, he would treat them well.

Once, a ragged panhandler wandered over to the man’s house. He asked for a cup of tea, rather than food. With no prejudice, a butler ushered the panhandler in, and poured a cup of tea for him. The panhandler caught a glimpse of the tea, and then surprisingly commented, “The tea leaves are not good enough.”

“It seems this man has a taste for fine tea,” the servant thought, and then brought in another cup of tea. The pauper smelled at the tea, and remarked, “This tea is all right, but the water is not good. If only you had mountain spring water.”

“He must be no ordinary pauper,” the servant thought, and then he immediately made another cup of tea with the mountain water kept in the residence. After taking a sip, the pauper made his comment again, “This water is ok, but the firewood is not the best. You know, the firewood from the mountainside facing the sun is too soft, but wood on the other side is usually good.” The servant marveled at the pauper’s words, so he promptly brewed tea once again using the good firewood, and asked the rich man to come out and meet the strange pauper.

When the tea was ready, the rich man and the beggar drank a cup of it together. Then the beggar remarked, “Well, this time the tea leaves, water, firewood and fire are good, but the pot is not good.” “This is the best pot I have,” the rich man replied.

The panhandler then reached and pulled out a dainty purple clay teapot featuring soft and inviting luster. “Try again with this one,” he said with a smile. This time the tea tasted so good that no one could say no to it. Realizing the true value of this pot, the landlord made a prompt decision: He offered to purchase the teapot from the panhandler on the spot.

The beggar hastened to empty his pot, put it away, and intended to leave. The rich man stopped him right away, and exclaimed, “I’d like to pay half of my family possessions for your pot!” With no response, the beggar just wanted to move away. The rich man was so eager that he raised his voice again, “Ok, I’d like to give you all of my family possessions for your pot!” This time, the beggar laughed, and replied, “I wouldn’t have been so poor to this extent today if I was willing to part with this pot.”

A purple clay teapot more valuable than life?

In the old days, there was a magistrate who was crazy about collecting and admiring purple clay teapots. At that time, the most famous potter was nicknamed Big Shot. The magistrate had a teapot made by Big Shot, and he thought it was a rare treasure.

Once at a tea party, a maidservant was serving tea to the administrator and his friends. All of a sudden, an accident took place. The cherished purple clay teapot accidentally slipped from the maidservant’s hand, and broke into pieces. The administrator hit the ceiling, and wanted to get reimbursed by taking the frightened girl’s life.

When the artist learned about that, he decided to save the maid as quickly as possible. He rushed to the local official’s residence, carrying a dozen of his choice, handmade teapots. He proposed to the official, “You may choose any one of the most elaborate teapots I have made if you release the maid.”

The magistrate was very glad to hear that. He selected a purple clay teapot that he liked best, and then set the poor girl free.

After that, however, the magistrate said, “Could you sell the other teapots to me as well?” The master potter didn’t reply, but with a sweep of his shoulder pole broke all the remaining pots into pieces.

Shocked, the official was at a loss for a minute. Then he asked in confusion, “What did you do that for?” Calmly and firmly the artisan replied, “I smashed them at the cost of no life.