How to judge if it is a good Yixing tea pot by Gujingzhou, Matser tea pot artist

[Bok]

So you are saying that in 500y no other masterfully made teapots were made in Yixing? I suggest you study the old Qing dynasty and older period a bit more then… Gu is a master no doubt, but there are countless antiques that equal or surpass his works without a doubt. Gu is just still remembered as he didn’t pass away too long ago…

The answer to your question is pretty simple if you think about it: he probably just wasn’t into tea that much. He is a pottery master not a tea master after all… even today the area around Yixing only has some sort of Hongcha that the potters apparently drink. Anyone seriously into tea will naturally care about what the clay does or does not to their tea.

And how come you never use your “Gu Jingzhou” teapots? Only that grubby glazed pot…

[.m.]

Gujingzhou said nothing about clay

That's an interesting assertion. Wasn't he a renown authority on zisha, someone who put a great importance on the various steps of processing and mixing of the ore, how the clay was worked, how it was fired, etc...? Maybe he talked about these aspects somewhere else?

[LeoFox]

It's too bad this charlatan is still here. I guess he's useful to spice things up, but..

[DailyTX]

I would see Gujingzhou as an artist, a pottery master, and a clay expert for pottery. At his level, he probably had access to all types of clay. Isn’t he the one who made DiCaoQing a famous clay?

[Bok]

Do you pretend to read what others write or just continue your monologue with please and thank yous at the end?

Any other agenda than selling off your fake Gu Jingzhou teapots and possibly not much better teas?

You don’t do the same when asking for opinions on other social media platforms with Taiwanese experts who do have a real reputation and experience (you know who I’m talking about, don’t pretend)…

The only newcomer here is you who thinks he can take gullible foreigners for a ride.

[steanze]

This is still going on??

Lol. Good questions, why is anyone talking about clay? Helotea will show us teapots by Gu Jingzhou made of metal, plastic, wood...

[Youzi]

Gujingzhou said nothing about clay

That's an interesting assertion. Wasn't he a renown authority on zisha, someone who put a great importance on the various steps of processing and mixing of the ore, how the clay was worked, how it was fired, etc...? Maybe he talked about these aspects somewhere else?

Gu Jingzhou was the director of technology or something similar in F1. Afaik his main task was "innovation" in processing and manufacturing technology and also organizing the workers by their skills etc... Plus teaching.

Also. In his time. The industry wasn't such a mess as it is today. Much less fakes and scams.

[Chadrinkincat]

This is still going on??

Lol. Good questions, why is anyone talking about clay? Helotea will show us teapots by Gu Jingzhou made of metal, plastic, wood...

I have one of Gu’s wooden pots. 100% authentic

[steanze]

Gu Jingzhou did not need to talk about quality of clay, because all the clay he used was of excellent quality already. It was a basic prerequisite. If you had asked David Oistrakh how to evaluate a violin performance, he probably would not have told you that you should check whether the violin is tuned properly. He would probably talk about interpretation and phrasing. Because the tuning is basic, and given for granted.

But if you hear the recording of a violin that's out of tune, and in which most of the notes are wrong, you can tell that the performer probably isn't David Oistrakh. Likewise, if a teapot is made of low quality clay and looks unnatural, you can tell that it was not made by Gu Jingzhou...

Once it is established that a teapot's clay is good, if it is indeed the teapot that is supposed to have artistic value, the attention shifts to the craftsmanship, and not just to the technique, but mostly to the "eye" and aesthetic sense, the interpretation. A bit like you can find some small errors in Lipatti's recordings, but the interpretation is exceptional and ultimately more important than perfect realization. Which is why some works by past masters may be less precise than most modern teapots, but are nonetheless more beautiful.

[steanze]

I have one of Gu’s wooden pots. 100% authentic

Clearly a masterpiece!

[Ethan Kurland]

I have one of Gu’s wooden pots. 100% authentic

Clearly a masterpiece!

These 2 posts are more fun, but I must praise you Steanze for using Daivd Oistrah's mastery of the violin to make your argument about Go & yixing.

I am also fond of Bok's argument of the crazy man summarizing work as if he were a professor who magically got a job at some university & we are ignorant first semester students who would not have a clue how stupid & ignorant he is. However, sometimes hubris & perservance works.

I had a fellow student come to my apartment for dinner for a first date. I played an Oistrah recording of Brahms' violon concerto. I talked about why I preferred his interpretation & about how movements of the concerto sometimes seemed to me to be separate pieces of music yet they came together so well & I could not imagine how else or why the concerto would be different. I thought I was brilliant that night because it turned wonderfully romantic leading to 6 1/2 years of living together (first love).

2 years after that night, Cindy & I had someone over who was fluent in Russian. I played the Oistrah record & she looked at the album cover (written in Russian). Our dinner guest told us that the David Oistrah's son was playing the violin while his father was conducting the orchestra! What a laugh

Thanks for reminding me Steanze. I don't know of Lipatti but will look him up & hope Spotify features some of his recordings.

[Bok]

You should change your name from Helo to Goodbyetea.

[Bok]

No one can be better than him.

If this kind of statement were true, art history might just as well stop after Picasso - thankfully, it did not.

We are all just humans, limited by what our brains and bodies can achieve under the circumstances. As such, any genius can be repeated if the aforementioned are right.

[m2193]

That's an interesting assertion. Wasn't he a renown authority on zisha, someone who put a great importance on the various steps of processing and mixing of the ore, how the clay was worked, how it was fired, etc...? Maybe he talked about these aspects somewhere else?

Gu Jingzhou was the director of technology or something similar in F1. Afaik his main task was "innovation" in processing and manufacturing technology and also organizing the workers by their skills etc... Plus teaching.

Also. In his time. The industry wasn't such a mess as it is today. Much less fakes and scams.

Thank you for your reply.

When he was alive, he was very honest and strict with a talent in Yixing tea pot.

He is the milestone in Yixing tea pot.

No one can be better than him.

I don't understand if this was started in good faith or if like the rest of your posts is part-trolling, part-misguided enthusiasm... Why even bother discussing anything or making any assertions if Gu Jingzhou was "the only and best Yixing tea pot master for the past five hundred years" and only what he said matters? Also, would he approve of your collection of replicas? Imitation is artistry and flattery, sure, but your continuous posts here seem more than a little disingenuous. To a large extent, having tea and owning teaware is a deeply personal thing. Aside from debatable notions of measurable criteria for beauty, it also matters if the owner personally finds the piece useful and lovely in its own right. But it's wrong to peddle replicas as genuine and deflect by using random pictures sent from your WeChat buddies either in cahoot or just as misguided.

[steanze]

These 2 posts are more fun, but I must praise you Steanze for using Daivd Oistrah's mastery of the violin to make your argument about Go & yixing.

I am also fond of Bok's argument of the crazy man summarizing work as if he were a professor who magically got a job at some university & we are ignorant first semester students who would not have a clue how stupid & ignorant he is. However, sometimes hubris & perservance works.

I had a fellow student come to my apartment for dinner for a first date. I played an Oistrah recording of Brahms' violon concerto. I talked about why I preferred his interpretation & about how movements of the concerto sometimes seemed to me to be separate pieces of music yet they came together so well & I could not imagine how else or why the concerto would be different. I thought I was brilliant that night because it turned wonderfully romantic leading to 6 1/2 years of living together (first love).

2 years after that night, Cindy & I had someone over who was fluent in Russian. I played the Oistrah record & she looked at the album cover (written in Russian). Our dinner guest told us that the David Oistrah's son was playing the violin while his father was conducting the orchestra! What a laugh

Thanks for reminding me Steanze. I don't know of Lipatti but will look him up & hope Spotify features some of his recordings.

Thanks for sharing this story! For Lipatti, I recommend the recording of the Besancon recital, you can also find it on youtube