A river or canal in Dingshan close tro YaYa’s studio.
Four days in Dingshan
For anyone familiar with world ceramics, especially Chinese ceramics, Yixing is one of the major sites, famous mostly for its zisha (purple sand) clay and the making of teapots. Our friend Zhen Wei, professor of art at Beijing Normal University, arranged for us to travel to Dingshan, or Dingshu town, in Yixing city for four days in July (2019). It just so happens that Zhen Wei has relatives who are master Yixing teapot artists. His cousin, Deng YaYa, kindly hosted us in her and her mother’s studio as well as guided us through the old pottery village, the historic dragon kiln site, the China Zisha Museum, a contemporary tunnel kiln where local artists fire their work, and a shop bursting with clay tools, many specific to the making of teapots. We also were able to attempt to make teapots with the local clay and techniques thanks to a lot of assistance from YaYa and her students. She devotes a couple of days a week to teaching young would-be teapot makers at the local community center adjacent to her studio. In addition we were treated to the wonderful cooking of her mother for lunch each day. Zhen Wei aranged for us to stay in the countryside at a hotel in a region with mountains, bamboo forests, lakes, and tea farms. We got to enjoy this local landscape on our drives on winding roads in and out of town.
Tea farm adjacent to where we stayed and near Dingshan.
The old pottery village
A mix of current artisans and shops as well as preserved residences of past, revered masters, including historical information and photos.
The Qian-shu Dragon Kiln Site
This site contains the preserved kiln as well as a small museum. According to locals it is about 300 years old, repaired many times over the years. There were at least 10 similar kilns in this area in the late 1800’s.
The China Zisha Museum
This museum has an extensive collection of zisha teapots, as well as other types of ceramic wares. More information can be found at the following link: http://www.yxtcbwg.com/indexe.asp
Also, I have put together a gallery of several teapots that were on display. Follow this link: Zisha Teapots
One of the currently operating local kilns
YaYa took us to a local tunnel kiln where potters can have their work loaded into saggars and fired.
Deng Li’s teapot shop & a pottery tool store
YaYa also took us on a short shopping trip to buy some teapots and pottery tools. The teapot shop was operated by one of her former students, Deng Li, who had quite a selection of pots, and who was generous with his time and giving us information about the work. We were then taken to a pottery tool store that had an overwhelming array of tools. Needless to say, we walked away with several pots and a lot of tools!
