Tea ware in China

Chinese people use different kinds of tea wares with different kinds of teas. Green tea goes with white porcelain or celadon without a cover while scented tea with celadon or blue and white porcelain with a cover. Black tea goes well with purple clay ware with white inside glaze, or with white porcelain or warm colored wares or coffee wares. And Oolong tea is also excellent in purple clay ware. In other words, the harmonious combination of function, material, and color of tea ware is very essential to taste the essence of tea.

Tea wares mainly consist of ovens, tea wares, cups, tea bowls and trays and so on.

Tea wares have been used for a long time in China. Tea drinking became more popular and pubic in the Tang Dynasty. In the palaces and nobles, tea wares made of metals were served and for civilians porcelain and earthen wares were commonly used. Tang scholars preferred green porcelain as the material of tea cups from Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. This kind of green porcelain looks like jade with elegant design and exquisite decoration. Since the true color of tea was set off completely and beautifully in this dainty cup (ou in Chinese), it was listed as Number One in Lu Yu's Tea Classics. Concerning about the function, the size and design of the cup well suited to the tea drinking habit of that time allowing for cooking tea powder with green onion, ginger, dates, tangerine peels and peppermint, then drinking the whole liquor as the same as the soup.

The preference for green porcelain or white porcelain was suddenly changed to black glazed teacups in the Song Dynasty. Moreover, tea bowls became common with the shape of an upturned bell. They were glazed in black, dark-brown, grey, grey/white and white colors. Then grey/white porcelain tea wares predominated in the Yuan Dynasty and white glazed tea wares became popular in the Ming Dynasty. Tea wares which are made of porcelains and earth clay were very much in vogue during the middle of Ming Dynasty. Gilded multicolored porcelain produced in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province and the bodyless lacquer wares of Fujian Province emerged in the Qing Dynasty.

Due to the popular of tea drinking, various kinds of tea wares continued to develop, for example wares made of earthen clay, porcelains, copper, tin, jade, agata, lacquer, glass and ceramic, etc. All make a rich and colorful variety of tea wares in the history of tea-drinking in China . Among various kinds of tea wares, porcelain wares made in Jingdezhen , Jiangxi Province ranked first and brown earthen wares made in Yixing , Jiangsu Province took the top place for a long time. Tea-wares were not only highly valued in the domestic market but also exported and well received by foreign countries. In Japan a special name were given to the porcelains – “Pearlite grayish porcelains”.

On the basis of grey porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, the multi-colored porcelains appeared. The products were known of their fine and thin wall and exquisite forms as well as their colorful and vivid drawings. They were also highly valued at home and abroad. Thanks to the porcelains exported, China won its name as “Country of Porcelains”.

Production of white glazed porcelain tea-wares was thriving in Jingdezhen in the Qing Dynasty. Two new products-“enamel” and “translucent colors” to be decorated on the glaze of porcelains were innovated and the multi-colored enamel porcelain tea-wares had reached to their perfection for their thin body wall, crystal pure white and classic styles. They were used only in the royal palaces and could hardly be found in the houses of ordinary people at that time.

History of Tea ware

Before there were Tea wares
Tea wares are relatively a new invention compared to the amount of time that tea has been around. In the 7th century, tea came in bricks. A chunk was cut off and then broken up so that it can be boiled in water. They were boiled in cauldrons and then the tea was sipped from wide bowls. Shortly after, powdered tea became popular. The grounded tea was mixed with hot water in a deep and wide bowl. This type of bowl helped facilitate the whipping of the powder to froth with a whisk. When the powder settled, the tea was drunk out of the bowl.

Early forms of Tea wares
The traditional tea wares weren't needed until the type of tea changed. In the 1300's, leaf infusion started and now tea wares were necessary to allow for the tea to steep. Tea ware-like vessels have been around in China for thousands of years, but they were used for wine and water. These vessels had a spout and handle and eventually were adopted for the steeping of tea. The most popular tea wares from this time were produced in the YiXing region of China. These tea wares were made purple clay and were known to be of fine texture and high quality. These YiXing tea wares were hybrids of the earlier drinking bowls and the modern tea wares. Not only were they used to brew tea, but were actually drinking vessels. An individual would drink directly from the spout of the pot.

The tea ware design of today
We are more familiar with the globular shaped tea ware of today. This was basically a European invention. The inspiration for the design might have been twofold, Islamic coffee pots were similar and so were the Chinese wine vessels. Early European tea ware designs were inadequate due to poor workmanship and poor quality of materials. A breakthrough occurred in the early 1700's. A new clay was found and with the help of new technology, a fine porcelain was created that rivals the best that China had to offer.

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