World Center of Teapot Making Yixing China (DVD)

Format: DVD
Run Time: 53 minutes
Studio: Chinese Ceramic Art Council USA (2007)
Language: English
Dimensions: 5.1" x 4.9" x 0.25"
Shipping Weight: 0.13 lbs.

Yixing (e-shing in English pronunciation), also known as Yangxian in ancient time, is about three hours' driving distance from Shanghai. Ceramic production in the local areas can be traced to Neolithic time, and the purple sand ("Zisha" in Chinese)—brownish clay is made into palm-sized unglazed stoneware teapots—the best known are from Yixing. Yixing City has been famously named the "Pottery Capital" of China. Yixing also attracts tourists with its famous bamboo, tea, and caves. There are over eighty caves in the mountain area.

The Yixing art that amazes Western culture is perfected in the artists' craftsmanship, variation of a design, details of decoration (realistic insects, flowers, leaves, tree trunks or wood textures, all hand building techniques. Yixing ceramists join Chinese scholars, literati, painters, calligraphers, poets and patrons—all together creating a rich teapot history.

The film is about 53 minutes and in sections. The first section introduces the environment of Yixing and the history of Yixing teapots. The second section is about the ceramic cultural exchanges between Yixing and the international ceramic world. The last section demonstrates the whole process of Yixing teapot-making techniques demonstrated by well-known artist Meiqun Gu.