The China Society of Singapore? (新加坡中國學會)

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mbanu
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Joined: Fri May 03, 2019 3:45 pm

Mon Jan 31, 2022 7:58 am

Does anyone know anything about this group? I see it mentioned in passing sometimes related to the history of Yixing collecting in Singapore, such as this 1971 reference from Arts of Asia:
Pity the poet who once languished in prison, lamenting not the loss of freedom but the impossibility of enjoying tea from his favorite teapot. The poet was Chen Hung Chi, imprisoned in 1946 and later executed for collaboration with Wang Ching Wei during the Japanese assault on China; the teapot was the only piece now known to survive by Kung Ch'un of the Ming Dynasty, the greatest teapot-maker of them all.

This same pot is now the pride and joy of 66 year-old Mr C. M Wong, Secretary of Singapore's Chinese Chamber of Commerce and acting President of the China Society, who collects Yi-Hsing ware teapots and a wide variety of inkstones besides porcelain and jade. Yi-Hsing clay, from the Chinese province of Kiangsu, was discovered over 2,000 years ago by Fan Li, Prime Minister of Yueh, after he had defeated the King of Wu. He is regarded as the first great Chinese potter. Kung Ch'un was the first man to use Yi-Hsing clay for teapots. He learnt the potter's art from a Buddhist monk, Chi Ching, after which Chinese scholars blithely bought Kung Ch'un teapots for their weight in gold, so prized were they by tea connoisseurs. Yi-Hsing ware is best for preserving the colour and flavour of tea, say the experts, and also keeps the leaves fresh for a long time, even in summer.

Mr. Wong, himself a tea-lover, agrees. His Kung Ch'un pot, dated 1506 and shaped like a rough tree-trunk knot, bears Kung Ch'un's seal. The lower part of the pot handle is impressed with finger marks for decoration, and Mr Wong says there are signs of an extra finger. Kung Ch'un was said to have had an extra little finger on the right hand.

The importance of a mere teapot may not be apparent to laymen ignorant of the Chinese tea mystique. Mr Wong not only explained this to me but also gave a practical demonstration. I tasted a dark, bitter tea called Kung Mei, both expensive and rare. Unattractive to my Western palate at first, it later revealed a delicious sweetness that remained with me for about an hour. Suddenly, I was a believer in tea magic.
According to yearbooks it released, it was started in 1949 -- is it still around?
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