Teaware Meaning
The modern definition of teaware (Cha Ju, 茶具) is different from the ancient times. Teaware used to refer to the various tools used in tea production and consumption, including tea picking, making, drinking, storage etc. Nowadays, teaware only refers to tea utensils, including tea cups, teapots, tea bowls, saucers, trays and other drinking utensils.
The usage, maintenance, appreciation and the collection of teaware have become specialised knowledge. According to the different materials, teaware can be divided into 7 categories. You must have heard of Yixing Zisha (purple clay) and Jingdezhen porcelain. But what else is available? Let’s take a look now!
Chinese Teaware materials
Though we often speak of a Chinese tea culture, there’s a high diversity of sub-cultures. This isn’t strange as China is a large country with many small minority groups. Within China, 7 types of materials are regularly used to produce Chinese teaware.
Clay Teaware
Clay teaware mainly means Yixing made purple clay teaware (Yixing Zisha). It first appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty and flourished through Ming and Qing Dynasty. Till this day, Zisha teaware remains popular.
Yixing Zisha teapots are elegantly shaped with unique colour. Not only the looks made Zisha famous, but also its special qualities: low thermal conductivity, high density, unglazed surfaces that allow the tea to breathe. All these qualities help improve colour, fragrance and taste of the tea.
Because Yixing clay is appreciated for it’s great isolation, it’s often used to prepare oolong and pu erh tea, which require high temperatures.
Porcelain Teaware
- White Porcelain (Bai Ci, 白瓷) Teaware: it has quite a few origins – Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, Liling in Hunan, Dayi in Sichuan, Tangshan in Hebei, Qimen in Anhui. Among them, the products from Jingdezhen are the most famous ones. White porcelain is versatile, suitable for all kinds of tea.
- Celadon Porcelain (Qing Ci, 青瓷) Teaware: Celadon teaware was mainly produced in Zhejiang and Sichuan Province. It is known as “the flower of porcelain” for its exquisite texture, smooth lines and pure colour.
- Black Porcelain (Hei Ci, 黑瓷) Teaware: it is produced in Zhejiang, Sichuan and Fujian Province. Teaware made of black porcelain is solid and thick, with simple and classic looks and good thermal insulation.
Gaiwan made from porcelain
Unlike Yixing clay, this type of material doesn’t affect the taste of tea. Therefore, it’s perfect for teas with mild flavours such as green, yellow and white tea.
Glass Teaware
Glass, together with porcelain and Yixing, are among the top 3 most used teaware materials in China. Glassware perform poor when it comes to isolation. However, this doesn’t matter if you prepare teas that doesn’t require high heat, such as green tea.
The great advantage of glass teaware is its transparency. Tea enthousiasts love to stare at teas with beautiful appearances. When water is poured into a glass or teapot, once can see the leaves swirling around. This is often referred to as ‘dancing leaves
Glassware also allow you to better observe the colour change the tea liquor. In other words, glass teaware allows you to see clearly the entire brewing process, just like enjoying a dynamic art performance.
Glassware with tea warmer and cups
Lacquer Teaware
Lacquarware are objects decoratively coated with the dyed, treated and dried sap of Toxicodendron vernicifluum or closely related trees.
Steel tea infuser ball
Lacquer teaware first appeared in Qing Dynasty, mainly produced in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. It is famous for the beautiful colours. It gets more appreciated among the collectors after the creation of the new crafts like “Red Jade”, “Gold Sand” and “Shadow Flowers”.
Metal Teaware
Teaware made of metals such as gold, silver, steel, copper, and tin has its moisture proof, leak-proof, antioxidant, anti-odour qualities. Tin is especially good for tea storage. Silver and copper is often used to produce water boilers, while gold is mainly used for decoration. At last, stainless steel is often used for tea strainers.
Bamboo and Wood Teaware
Historically, the vast majority of rural people used bamboo or wooden bowls to make tea as they were inexpensive, strong and light.
Today, it is still loved by many for its natural and unvarnished looks. Often times tea scoops, storage jars and the handle of tea knives are made from bamboo or other types of wood.
Enamel Teaware
Enamel teaware refers tools which usually have a metal base which is coated with a durable surface (enamel).
Enamel teaware is practical, anti-corrosion, light and not costly. It was popular throughout China in the 50’s and 60’s. But it has one flaw: high thermal conductivity. In other words, the teaware can become very hot to hold.
As people’s living standards gradually improved, enamel teaware has been slowly replaced by other kinds of teaware.
Bone China in English Teaware UK
One more teaware material that we shouldn’t forget is Bone China. It was discovered by Thomas Frye in the 18th century in the United Kingdom. Today, there are 3 types that we need to distinguish:
- Bone China: is made by mixing cow bone ash with feldspar, ball clay, quartz, and kaolin. The cow bone component makes the teaware translucent.
- Fine China: the same as bone china but without the cow bone ash.
- New Bone China: calcium oxide is used instead of bone ash. This makes it less light and translucent, but makes the teaware whiter and improves the durability.
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