I have bought a teapot that a vendor told me is modern zhuni clay. How does this differ from hong ni clay or zisha, since real zhuni is extinct? Does anyone have an idea? I haven't received it yet so I don't know how it performs.
Hello Danica,
There seems to be a bit of confusion with the Yixing clay :)
Zhu Ni (modern or original) is a Hong Ni and Hong Ni is a Zi Sha.
Zi Sha includes 5 colors:
- Hong Ni (red clay: Zhu ni - Xiao Hong Ni...)
- Hei Ni (black clay)
- Zi Ni (purple clay: Qing Shui Ni - Tian Qing Ni...)
- Duan Ni (this clay can be yellow or green)
- Lu Ni (green clay)
Zhu Ni is a red color clay that is classified into Hong Ni category and it is one of 5 Yixing Zi Shas.
The Zhu Ni that was used prior the early 20th century was a mining clay, which means it hadn't been mixed with colors nor other type of clays. However, the production of that original Zhu Ni was already extremely limited by that time and no more mining/production during the early R.P C. period.
The Zhu Ni that we have today is in fact a re-creation of the original Zhu Ni, which has been mixed with colors and other types of clay to get the closest color and texture of the original one. Therefore, to separate the difference between the two, some of the collectors or even honest Yixing makers would rather call the re-created Zhu Ni "Modern Zhu Ni". As the original mining Zhu Ni is nowhere to get now, the high quality modern Zhu Ni can also do a very nice job in tea brewing.
Hope this helps to clarify.
SEb
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Hi Seb,
How was your wedding? Good to hear from you!
Yes, this helps a lot. Truth is I don't have a lot of experience brewing in pots (I've been doing it maybe for a year or so) and I can't tell very much yet about when it is my problem with brewing technique in the pot, or the pot's problem. I do find that purple pots suit my teas better when they are of a lesser quality, because they seem to disguise the 'off flavors' that average roasting techniques may impart, and the red pots (zhu ni? hong ni?) seem to enhance fragrance and flavor of the better quality ones--and also emphasize anything that might be present that's not as 'nice.'
I also think one of my hong ni pots seems to work somewhere between a zhu ni and purple pot, in that it de-emphasizes roast and brings up tea flavor in quite a nice way.
Is there a difference between a modern zhu ni and a pot that would be classified as hong ni? And is there a good book or reference that I could turn to in order to start learning more about this?
Thanks,
Danica
(Looking forward to my pot!!!)
SEb wrote:
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