Tea sets, in ancient times, generally refer to various tools used for tea making and drinking, including tea picking, tea making, tea storage, tea drinking and other categories. Nowadays, the special utensils specifically related to making tea mainly refer to tea drinking utensils. The aromatic and mellow tea leaves are paired with elegant tea sets, which can bring out the color of the tea juice and maintain the rich tea aroma. A set of exquisite tea sets can not only make tea and drink it, but also provide people with beautiful enjoyment. The earliest tea sets in my country were mainly pottery. After the invention of porcelain, ceramic tea sets were gradually replaced by porcelain tea sets. There are many varieties of porcelain tea sets, the main ones are: celadon tea sets, white porcelain tea sets, black porcelain tea sets and red porcelain tea sets. These tea sets have played a glorious page in the history of the development of Chinese tea culture.
Celadon Tea Set
As early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, the production of pure, transparent and luminous celadon began. In the Jin Dynasty, the Yue kilns, Wu kilns and Ou kilns in Zhejiang had reached considerable scale. The main production areas were in Zhejiang. The most popular one was a spouted teapot called "Jitou Liuzi". After the Six Dynasties, many celadon tea sets were decorated with lotus flowers. The teapot of the Tang Dynasty was also called "Chazhu" and the spout was called "Liuzi". It was short in shape and replaced the Jitou Liuzi of the Jin Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, tea cups were popular for drinking tea. Tea cups, also called tea cups, are small tea bowls that help bring out and maintain the aroma and taste of tea. With the competition of porcelain kilns in the Song Dynasty and the improvement of technology, the types of tea sets increased, and tea cups, teapots, tea cups, etc. were produced in many varieties and styles. Among them, the most famous celadon tea set produced by Ge Kiln in Longquan County, Zhejiang was even exported to the European market for the first time. In the Ming Dynasty, celadon tea sets were famous both at home and abroad for their delicate texture, dignified shape, green glaze, and elegant patterns.
In contemporary times, Zhejiang Longquan celadon tea sets have made new developments, and new products are constantly coming out. In addition to having many advantages of porcelain tea sets, this kind of tea set is also more beneficial to the beauty of the color of the soup when used to brew green tea because of its green color. However, if you use it to brew black tea, white tea, yellow tea, and dark tea, the tea soup will easily lose its original appearance.
White porcelain tea set
White porcelain has the characteristics of dense and transparent body, high glazing and pottery fire, no water absorption, clear sound and long rhyme, etc. Because of its pure white color, it can reflect the color of the tea soup, and has moderate heat transfer and heat preservation properties. In addition, it is colorful and has different shapes, so it can be called a treasure among tea drinking vessels. The popularity of tea drinking in the Tang Dynasty promoted the corresponding development of tea set production. The porcelain industry flourished in many places across the country, forming a number of famous kilns that mainly produced tea sets. Each kiln farm competes with each other for beauty and wonder. In the Yuan Dynasty, white porcelain tea sets from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province were sold abroad.
Nowadays, white porcelain tea sets are widely used in people’s lives. White glazed tea sets are suitable for brewing all kinds of tea. In addition, white porcelain tea sets are exquisite in shape and elegantly decorated. The outer walls are often painted with mountains and rivers, flowers and plants of the four seasons, birds and animals, human stories, or decorated with celebrity calligraphy, which is of great artistic appreciation value.
Black porcelain tea set
Since the Song Dynasty, the method of drinking tea has gradually changed from the method of frying tea in the Tang Dynasty to the method of ordering tea. In the Song Dynasty, tea fighting was popular in Fujian, and black porcelain The rise of tea sets created conditions. When people in the Song Dynasty measured the effect of tea-fighting, they first looked at the color and uniformity of the noodle soup flowers, and prioritized "fresh white"; second, they looked at the presence or absence of water marks at the junction of the soup flowers and the tea cup, and the sooner or later they appeared, based on "the color of the tea cup." "No water marks" is the best. Based on experience, tea-fighting enthusiasts believe that the black porcelain tea cups produced by Jian'an kiln have thick porcelain and good heat preservation properties, making them the most suitable for tea-fighting, hence their fame. Therefore, the black porcelain tea cups of the Song Dynasty became the largest variety of porcelain tea sets.
Jian Kiln in Fujian, Jizhou Kiln in Jiangxi, Yuci Kiln in Shanxi, etc. all produce black porcelain tea sets in large quantities and have become the main producing areas of black porcelain tea sets. Among the kilns that make black porcelain tea sets, the "Jian Zhan" produced by Jian Kiln is the most praised. The unique formula of Jianzhan makes the glaze appear rabbit hair stripes, partridge spots, and sunbeam spots during the firing process. Once the tea soup is poured into the lamp, it can radiate colorful dots of light, adding to the interest of tea fighting. In addition, Yuyao and Deqing in Zhejiang have also produced black-glazed porcelain tea sets that are dark, shiny, beautiful and practical. The most popular one is a chicken-head teapot, that is, the mouth of the teapot is shaped like a chicken head. Since the Ming Dynasty, because the method of "cooking" was different from that of the Song Dynasty, the black porcelain jianzhan "seemed unsuitable for use" and was only used as a "preparation".
Red porcelain tea set
Red porcelain is also called underglaze red. As the name suggests, red porcelain is based on the traditional Chinese color of bright red, a symbol of good luck and good luck. The bright red bottle is wrapped with exquisite patterns made of gold and other precious metals. The whole thing is filled with wealth and good fortune. The reason why red porcelain is valuable is not only its excellent luster, color and precious material, but also its unique craftsmanship and complicated refining process. It has become a porcelain treasure. In feudal society, only the royal family could enjoy it.
Chinese red porcelain began in the late Tang Dynasty, but from a technological perspective, the technological maturity of red porcelain was in the Yuan Dynasty. Jingdezhen in the Yuan Dynasty developed and innovated the underglaze red technology that had been used in the previous dynasties, and began the history of mass production of underglaze red. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the peak period for the development of red porcelain. The Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty was the first peak period in the history of the development of underglaze red. In this dynasty, most of the underglaze reds were lighter in color, with a halo of red. The decorations were mainly flowers, and there were more flat chrysanthemum patterns, which is a major feature of the era. The Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty was another peak in the development of underglaze red porcelain. During this period, red porcelain was innovatively divided into two categories: underglaze red and blue and white underglaze red. The Qing Dynasty was of great significance in the history of the development of red porcelain. The manufacturing technology of Kangxi red porcelain in the Qing Dynasty is quite outstanding.