"shui ping teapots"

[futurebird]

What is the maning of "shui ping" ? Is it the name for the shape of the pot? From what I can tell it seems to mean "water balance"



The classic profile. How old is this teapot style, I found one from 1755 in an auction catalog, but I bet they are much older ones.

It is interesting that people all over the world think of this shape first when they think of tea. I honestly thought it was a British style at first! But it's the British who copied it, of course. Then turned it in to this:





British teapots are huge by comparison, and to my eye not as elegant.

Well not for the kind of tea I like these days at least.

Bitter black tea with cream and sugar can be fun too, I guess.

I just find it fascinating how a certain shape takes on meaning. There are millions of people who know that these shapes mean "tea."

That said, shui ping teapots are hard to find. I would love to find one in celedon with cracked glaze (is that even done) -- or even in glass. What is the most interesting shui ping you've seen?

[yalokinh]

I have a kind of shui ping ish glass teapot, but with the very tip of the spout turned down, close, but not really.
I've always wanted one, but they are hard to find and are not usually cheap from what I see.
Lovely shape

[AdamMY]

In regards to the name "water balance."
http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/200 ... epish.html

Although while England and China are quite a ways away from each other, I would be shocked it historically it actually ends up that they "independently" came to the similar "shape." Considering how tea basically had to find its way from China to England, I am betting the things Chinese used to brew tea had to also find their way along with that tea, then of course additional wares would be created to mimic what was already being used to brew.

Although in stark contrast consider the most common seen shape in a Japanese kyusu. I mean in all honesty the brewing body and a "spout" of some sort is not an novel idea. and if you have ever burnt your fingers on a Gaiwan or houhin, attaching a handle seems only natural to protect your fingers. Then you just have to ask your self what would be the most logical place for a handle, and two obvious answers give you the standard "teapot" shape, with a design that makes sense for how you would pour with it, while the other gives you a "kyusu" with a design that makes the most sense for pouring that way. There is also the over hand fashion, and notice how most over hand handles all have the design that makes the most sense in that fashion.

[jayinhk]

Not sure how hard they are to find; all four of my Yixings are shuipings! Two for high fire oolong and two for cooked pu.

[the_economist]

Plenty of huge Chinese teapots too which aren't elegant. You'll find huge regional differences in the way tea is drunk across China. This article is dated but excellent:
http://chinaheritagequarterly.org/featu ... &issue=029

As to the nature of shuiping pots, the picture you posted is a 'biaozhun' shuiping, or a 'standard' shuiping (not in the sense of boring/normal but in the sense of 'accurate'). The shuiping pot was presumably invented in the Ming dynasty by Mengchen (hence the proliferation of that name on pot stamps). There is considerable variation in what shuiping pots can look like, mainly in the spout, the lid, the body shape, and the base. The spout of the 'English' pot you post there can be called a pigeon-beak spout and is a spout shape that some shuipings have. As far as I understand, the key defining feature is that spout, mouth opening, and handle must be aligned and level, for very practical purposes. First to prevent water from entering when the lid is closed, and second to make it stable in the teaboat.

[wyardley]

Shui ping refers to the line across, but I believe the expression also refers to a standard / level of quality.

[the_economist]

Yep, that's right. It is a generic Chinese phrase for praising the quality of something, which in turn probably got attached to this particular teapot shape since its such a great shape!

[wyardley]

You will see older (and copies of older) pots with 水平 actually written under the lid.

[Poohblah]

You will see older (and copies of older) pots with 水平 actually written under the lid.

You know to tell when something is quality? When it has "quality" literally written on it.

[tingjunkie]

You will see older (and copies of older) pots with 水平 actually written under the lid.

You know to tell when something is quality? When it has "quality" literally written on it.

[gingkoseto]

Most people use the specific meaning of shui ping as showed in the first photo. But I heard some older Chaozhou and Fujian people use shuiping for various types of smaller teapots which are supposed to be able to keep a balance floating on water. Some articles discussing yixing also use shuiping for the broader meaning.

[Poohblah]

I just kinda figured that 水平 is just 漢語水平考試的水平, whereas "water level" seems a bit contrived, but what do I know, I'm not Chinese...

Gingko's description seems to make sense to me.

[gingkoseto]

I just kinda figured that 水平 is just 漢語水平考試的水平, whereas "water level" seems a bit contrived, but what do I know, I'm not Chinese...

Gingko's description seems to make sense to me.

If it can float on water, we can probably say it has high 水平 craftmanship too.