Chong Su Ni Yixing Clay?

[needaTEAcher]

I am not sure about the spelling, nor even the language (either Korean or Chinese), but I can across some cool clay today, and I am hoping someone can tell me about it or send me in the right direction to learn more.

It looked perhaps like a mix of zinni and hongni, but I was assured that it is neither, but rather "Chong su ni." I thought maybe she said "zhuni," but there is no way for the price, and she assured it was not. She translated it as "clean water clay", or rather, clay that comes from near a source of fresh, clean water. That was all we could get with her English and my lack of Korean.

Also, it was really wrinkled in and out, with specks of duanni mixed in, which may or may not have anything to do with the clay. I will try to get a photo in a few days. It was really cool.

It was about $75, and I was thinking about buying it, but she told me it is not very good clay (this store is super legit, and they have really taught me a lot; I am pretty sure they don't sell fake stuff). I love how they tell me not to buy some stuff, cause it isn't as good!

Thoughts? Insights? Lessons? Thanks!

[the_economist]

Qing Shui Ni (literally, clear water clay). Its a type of zini.

[TIM]

Qing Shui Ni is a mixed clay and sand. Very breathable, and high fired.

[needaTEAcher]

Why would I want it over another zinni? What traits or characteristics does it have?

[brandon]

Why would I want it over another zinni? What traits or characteristics does it have?

Try it...
If you are lucky enough to have these things in front of you, the experience is worth so much more than some words on a forum.

[wyardley]

I have heard different things about qingshuini; my very limited understanding, both from chrl42's posts here and elsewhere (see links below) and from talking to some people is that qingshuini has to do with the layer where the raw material comes from, and that it is considered part of the general category of 'zini'. I have seen qingshuini pots in both more reddish looking colors (some very similar to hongni / hongtu) and some darker or browner.

You might want to take a look here for a little more information.

http://teadrunk.org/topic/47/basic-yixing-clay-101/
http://teadrunk.org/post/339/#p339

Why would I want it over another zinni? What traits or characteristics does it have?

I think that's hard to say - first, it's hard to know how accurate a seller's claims are, and second, there's quite a bit of variation between clays sold as qingshuini. To be honest, I wouldn't spend a lot of time thinking about this question -- if you like the pot and it feels good to your fingers, go for it, especially for $75 US.

[needaTEAcher]

Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately, this is the only seller I really trust (I have come to know them very, very well over the past year-they are the real deal!), and they only have 4 of these pots in the main store and 2 in the satelite store I go to, and all 6 are low quality (as they have said). So in terms of trying it and getting a feel, I don't think these are the best examples. I will give them a shot this week, but I already decided not to drop the cash on them since I was recommended not to by the staff (I am opting for one of two new pots that just came in for the same price that are a mid-level zinni or a low-level zinni with duanni mixed in).

The store heirarchy is somewhat like a martial arts gym: there is a "Grandmaster", who has been in the business for longet than I've been alive, and who was one of the pioneers in the puerh market in Korea. Under him are a who slew of "masters", one of whom runs the satelite store (he is the first one I met, and the GM is his teacher). They have adopted me as a student, and I go three or four times a week, ask questions, and just do whatever they tell me (like, feel this clay here, notice that in the tea, go home and try this or that). Wen they tell me, "Don't buy this one, it is for art, not for making good tea," as with this quing su ni, I listen! Usually, they convince me not to buy all the stuff I want to buy, telling me, "Slowly, step by step."

Anyway, thanks for all the feedback. I am pretty lucky to be learning here from such awesome teachers, and I really appreciate they constant flow of information and support from Teachat!

[chrl42]

During old time, there was no such name as Qing Shui Ni. That name appeared during Factory-1.

Anyone who's interested in F1(factory-1) would know there was most common zinis with white dots. Beige color, and why F1 is clay and color differ by period in Yixing history. During the CR they made huge letter-carved pots with that clay, after the CR they made Shui Pings. So they named that as 'Pu Ni-normal clay', that's the history of Qing Shui Ni I heard. This clay was pure clay without mixing, best goes with Puerh Sheng.

However, that clay had problem with plasticity, couldn't make pots with various styles, so they mixed many clays to enhance the plasticity. The reason to do so was they wanted to export to Taiwan, they wanted to make many style and shapes to attract Taiwanese attention. That's a birth of Pin Zini. And the period was late-70's.

I'm not saying mixing and pure clays existed only from F1, but the terms...