Yixing

[Mark-S]

You can pour the rinse on your pot and ime, it does not end up looking like that.

That's good to know. Maybe if it takes too long with one of my other pots to develop a patina (especially the ZiNi pots) I'll try this. With the 40ml pot I did not need to do this. On the photo the pot looks a bit more shiny than in reality, but you can already see a patina developing.

This is off-topic of course but how did you remove the smell of your tea brush? Or didn't it have a smell?

[Balthazar]

I won't pour tea over my pots, because I really don't like these stains you can see on the pots from teachat. They are (1) ugly and (2) maybe even unhealthy.

(1) No
(2) What?

Subjectivity strikes again

Here's a shot of today's workhorse. I know, I know, she's a real beauty

[Mark-S]

@Balthazar

1) Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Hahaha

2) I don't know for sure, but I have read in some blog that many Chinese would clean their Yixing pots regularly (even from the inside), because they fear that this accumulated gunk could be unhealthy. I am not talking about the patina just the stains. Maybe @Bok or some other user with more knowledge could answer this.

[Balthazar]

2) I don't know for sure, but I have read in some blog that many Chinese would clean their Yixing pots regularly (even from the inside), because they fear that this accumulated gunk could be unhealthy. I am not talking about the patina just the stains. Maybe Bok or some other user with more knowledge could answer this.

But that would be the inside of the pot, no? Even if one believes mineral deposits or tea stains could be unhealthy, unless you're in the habit of licking your pot I fail to see how having them on the outside of your pot could harm you.

[Mark-S]

But that would be the inside of the pot, no? Even if one believes mineral deposits or tea stains could be unhealthy, unless you're in the habit of licking your pot I fail to see how having them on the outside of your pot could harm you.

Yeah, personally, I don't think that this is unhealthy. Only if there's mold on the outside. I just don't do this because it looks unesthetic to me.

[Youzi]

2) I don't know for sure, but I have read in some blog that many Chinese would clean their Yixing pots regularly (even from the inside), because they fear that this accumulated gunk could be unhealthy. I am not talking about the patina just the stains. Maybe Bok or some other user with more knowledge could answer this.

They clean it because it's ugly and just Commons sense to take care of your expensive and artful teapots. (yixing culture, as far as I know)

[Mark-S]

They clean it because it's ugly and just Commons sense to take care of your expensive and artful teapots. (yixing culture, as far as I know)

Do you clean your pots on the inside with something different than water?

[Youzi]

They clean it because it's ugly and just Commons sense to take care of your expensive and artful teapots. (yixing culture, as far as I know)

Do you clean your pots on the inside with something different than water?

No, because I use soft water and clean as soon as possible, when I can, so my pot's doesn't get stained. I also dry the droplets on my pot after putting on the lid and rinsing. So my recent pots a squeaky clean.

[Balthazar]

@Youzi, @Mark-S I think that's the majority opinion, yes.

Not going to stop me from relying on a more taoist understanding of 经年累月 though

(Although I'm not sure I would follow the same approach with a valuable antique. Probably wouldn't.)

[Youzi]

Youzi, Mark-S I think that's the majority opinion, yes.

Not going to stop me from relying on a more taoist understanding of 经年累月 though

(Although I'm not sure I would follow the same approach with a valuable antique. Probably wouldn't.)

Oh, the teapot certainly changes and develops a nice even patina though, so the two is not tied together.

[Mark-S]

@Youzi

Okay, thank you I'm not that orderly so my pots have some stains on the inside/outside, but for now I only rinse them with water and let them air-dry.

@Balthazar

With an antique I would also be even more careful and would try to avoid any stains.

[Balthazar]

@Youzi Yeah, that's what I meant by the "taoist interpretation", i.e. not wasting any effort in avoiding "ugly stains" but rather letting nature run it's course. As opposed to the classical gentleman/scholar's careful act of continuous maintenance. But I'm grasping at straws here, lol, it's more of an excuse to be lazy than anything else in my case.

[Youzi]

Youzi Yeah, that's what I meant by the "taoist interpretation", i.e. not wasting any effort in avoiding "ugly stains" but rather letting nature run it's course. As opposed to the classical gentleman/scholar's careful act of continuous maintenance. But I'm grasping at straws here, lol, it's more of an excuse to be lazy than anything else in my case.

Seems like the Good old fight between Ruism and Taoism
Confucius and Laozi never really were on the same page.

[Hmm]

Actually I think Confucianism and Taoism did somewhat converge into a syncretistic philosophy during the Han dynasty. Both original philosophies were I think realist in outlook, that applied the many similar categorical concepts, often looking for the same end result (order), just some differences on how to get there. That said, I think Confucianism was much more focus on order within the world of man, while Taoism was more focused on the general world of nature and how man works within that ordered nature.

[Balthazar]

@Hmm You might be thinking of Xuanxue? There's been lots of attempts to unify, or at least find complimentary aspects, of different philosophies throughout history, some more successful than others. I don't know much about the details here so I'll listen to the natives,e.g. @Youzi