Mark-S wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:07 pm
What do you mean with 80-15? 1965-1980? Sorry, if this is a dumb question.
Sorry, not sure how to write date ranges, when the century/millenia changes. I meant from 1980-2015. That's the time when BarCarb and other stuff got introduced into Yixing clay refining, and later acid washing, Adding Glass Water, etc. Don't get me wrong, there's many additives still in the clay today, but after you go over a certain price point in RMB, there's only really some BarCarb in the clay, which is not a big deal, if the pot is fired correctly, which is not difficult nowadays.
And what do you consider bad in this era? The clay? The craftsmanship? Both?
Both, however after privatization craftsmanship is slowly started to get better after the communist era.
Chadrinkincat wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:33 pm
1. The belief that vintage clay is better than modern stuff.
From what I read that's true in many cases. At least when it comes to Factory 1 stuff from the 70's or earlier. I have also read from some Asian guys that they would not use modern pots at all. What is your opinion on this? I think they exaggerate it, but it is nicer to prepare tea in a vintage teapot because of the history behind it. And hopefully Factory 1 did not use many chemicals... with today's teapots you can never know unless you trust the potter.
I mean, the clay was in the ground for like a million years, so 50 years is not much of a difference in that timespan. Zini is Zini, Zhuni is Zhuni... etc. The terroir, which specific mine, what depth exactly, doesn't really matter. There's some slight difference in the color, but that's only really a matter if all firing and other parameters are the same. If it's clay from Yixing (Dingshuzhen ), then it's good enough. Which mine of Huang Long Shan that Zini came from doesn't make a difference unless you are a clay collector like me.