I just bought a very cheap yixing-esque tea set off ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0267823550
After seeing a comment elsewhere about Yixing teapots that say 'Drink more Chinese Tea, Please.' or something similar, I now wonder what the calligraphy on this pot says.
Anyone have a clue?
Sep 27th, '08, 09:33
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Re: But what does it say?
heehee. It has a 2 character word as "theme", which means relaxation, peaceful, happy - describing the mindset one has in tea drinking.eanglin wrote:I just bought a very cheap yixing-esque tea set off ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0267823550
After seeing a comment elsewhere about Yixing teapots that say 'Drink more Chinese Tea, Please.' or something similar, I now wonder what the calligraphy on this pot says.
Anyone have a clue?
Following are two sentences from a poem. Rough translation will be, when you look back, all the ups and downs in history look small. These two sentences are from a poem mentioning wine drinking. The poem says, holding a wine cup and enjoying wine with your friends is more important than many other seemingly big, historic events. Well, replace the wine with tea, it will do
By sitting in peace and doing nothing,
You make your one day worth two days.
You make your one day worth two days.
Sep 28th, '08, 00:45
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Re: But what does it say?
Boy, you guys in Massachusetts speak pretty good Chinese!gingko wrote: It has a 2 character word as "theme"...
Sep 28th, '08, 10:45
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I had a look at the tea set again. Wow it's a good price! And from the photo and the package, I guess the quality is good.
I like the little pot in this set. Most pots in market are too big and you don't always see a cute small pot like this.
And Beidao you got something like it too!
I like the little pot in this set. Most pots in market are too big and you don't always see a cute small pot like this.
And Beidao you got something like it too!
By sitting in peace and doing nothing,
You make your one day worth two days.
You make your one day worth two days.
Sep 28th, '08, 10:48
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Posts: 2084
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Location: Boston, MA
Re: But what does it say?
As long as it's not proof-read we take it as the correct languageSalsero wrote:Boy, you guys in Massachusetts speak pretty good Chinese!gingko wrote: It has a 2 character word as "theme"...
I'm hoping the quality is nice, but for the price I can't really complain if it isn't. The tea strainer and Gaiwan are worth $5 to me even if the rest is all but unusable.
I have held some Yixing pieces with the same sticker on them- they turn up in Chinese gift shops and antique stores around here sometimes. Quality varies from very nice to extremely poor. (Age may have something to do with it, the nicer cups I have seen were all described as 'vintage'.)
I'll let you all know how good a deal I got after I liberate it from the post office. (Tomorrow morning, I hope!)
I have held some Yixing pieces with the same sticker on them- they turn up in Chinese gift shops and antique stores around here sometimes. Quality varies from very nice to extremely poor. (Age may have something to do with it, the nicer cups I have seen were all described as 'vintage'.)
I'll let you all know how good a deal I got after I liberate it from the post office. (Tomorrow morning, I hope!)
.Well, got the set today, but I have to say I'm glad I paid next to nothing for it.
The post office was not gentle with the package and one cup was broken,a nd most of the pieces chipped in one way or another, but I don't completely blame the USPS- the clayt that this set is made from is amazingly light and porous.
You know those cheap little saucers that go beneath houseplants? The clay used for this tea set is as light and soft as the cheapest of those.
The strainer is functional, and the Gaiwan is made of a slightly better grade of clay, but the teapot and the sharing pitcher are, hands down, the worst constructed pieces of teaware I have *ever* seen! These pieces make the $4 pots from chines teapot gallery look like works of high craftsmaship!
The lid of the teapot has, I kid you not, an eighth of an inch play. The hole where the spout is attached to the body? A single rough hole has been crudely punched thru and not even trimmed. Obviously slip poured in molds that were long past their intended lifespan, the large seams have been roughly trimmed and barely smoothed- they are still clearly visible.
The opening of the pitcher is not remotely symmetrical and holes lead from the bosy of the pitcher into the hollow handle.
I'm not terribly disappointed- the Gaiwan, tray and strainer are quite serviceable and my son now has even more teaware that he is free to play with without restrictions.
I'll try to take some pictures. This pot and pitcher set a new high in poor quality, and I think its only fair as we criticize non-artisan quality teapots to have a reminder of exactly what the *really* badly made stuff looks like.
The post office was not gentle with the package and one cup was broken,a nd most of the pieces chipped in one way or another, but I don't completely blame the USPS- the clayt that this set is made from is amazingly light and porous.
You know those cheap little saucers that go beneath houseplants? The clay used for this tea set is as light and soft as the cheapest of those.
The strainer is functional, and the Gaiwan is made of a slightly better grade of clay, but the teapot and the sharing pitcher are, hands down, the worst constructed pieces of teaware I have *ever* seen! These pieces make the $4 pots from chines teapot gallery look like works of high craftsmaship!
The lid of the teapot has, I kid you not, an eighth of an inch play. The hole where the spout is attached to the body? A single rough hole has been crudely punched thru and not even trimmed. Obviously slip poured in molds that were long past their intended lifespan, the large seams have been roughly trimmed and barely smoothed- they are still clearly visible.
The opening of the pitcher is not remotely symmetrical and holes lead from the bosy of the pitcher into the hollow handle.
I'm not terribly disappointed- the Gaiwan, tray and strainer are quite serviceable and my son now has even more teaware that he is free to play with without restrictions.
I'll try to take some pictures. This pot and pitcher set a new high in poor quality, and I think its only fair as we criticize non-artisan quality teapots to have a reminder of exactly what the *really* badly made stuff looks like.
Here it is in all its 'Glory'
First the pitcher- yes, it really is that asymmetrical. Actually it looks worse in person.
I couldn't get a sucessful picture of the rough way they'd 'trimmed' the interior of the lip and not smothed the cut at all.
They smoothed the exterior only slightly.
Now for the poor little pot.
The finish in the outside is all splotchy and discolored- I'm not sure I managed to capture the almost leprous quality with my point and shoot camera.
I mentioned how the lid had a lot of 'play'? I wasn't exaggerating. That is a gap you could slip a thumbnail into on the left there.
See that thing that looks like a vent hole? It isn't.
And the joining of spout to body? I have never seen a joining quite like this.
I couldn't get a sucessful picture of the rough way they'd 'trimmed' the interior of the lip and not smothed the cut at all.
They smoothed the exterior only slightly.
Now for the poor little pot.
The finish in the outside is all splotchy and discolored- I'm not sure I managed to capture the almost leprous quality with my point and shoot camera.
I mentioned how the lid had a lot of 'play'? I wasn't exaggerating. That is a gap you could slip a thumbnail into on the left there.
See that thing that looks like a vent hole? It isn't.
And the joining of spout to body? I have never seen a joining quite like this.
Sep 29th, '08, 17:22
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That's a pity! I saw some low quality tea ware before too, and I was sometimes amazed why people would make some low quality complicated ware - there are still labor, materials and time involved and with same efforts they could have made some simple, plain, low tech bowls or plates without pretentiousness.
By sitting in peace and doing nothing,
You make your one day worth two days.
You make your one day worth two days.