Some of the best insights into Chinese culture can be gleaned from the real-life stories that are popular across the mainland. Just like everywhere else in the world, Chinese people will go to great lengths to keep the things they love or take drastic action to avoid a bad situation.

On an old-fashioned street in China lies a small blacksmith's shop. The shopkeeper is old and for him, the small shop is also his home. His old products have become increasingly hard to sell, but he's stuck to his old sales style all the while: no hawking, no bargaining, and no closing at night.

Everyone who passes by his shop sees him waiting on his bamboo chair, a small radio in his hand, and a Yixing purple clay teapot at his side. His income is just enough for his food and tea. He is getting so old that he does not need any extra things, so he is very content with his simple life.

One day, a teapot dealer passed by the forge shop by chance. Suddenly his face brightened up as he caught sight of the Yixing purple clay teapot sitting beside the ironsmith. It was ink-black, and looked very quaint and graceful. This style made the merchant think of Dai Zhengong, one of the most famous purple clay teapot makers in Chinese history.

The dealer went over to the old blacksmith, and picked up the pot. His eyes fell upon a small stamp on the spout. Sure enough, it was engraved with its creator's name: Dai Zhengong. The dealer was overjoyed, as Dai Zhengong was world famous for 'turning clay into gold' - the purple clay teapots he made cost much more than their weight in gold.

To that point, only three of his pots were known to exist, one in the New York State Museum, another one in the Taiwan Palace Museum, and the third one is in the hands of an overseas Chinese in Thailand.

The dealer offered 100,000 RMB (about USD $14,700) to buy this pot. The old blacksmith got a big surprise when he heard the amount, but in the end he declined. For the pot was passed down in his family, three generations had brewed tea in this pot.

The pot was not sold, but the old blacksmith could not fall asleep after the dealer left. He had been using the teapot for nearly sixty years, seeing it as an ordinary one all the time. He couldn't imagine a man actually wanted to buy it for such an extraordinary price! He tried hard to understand why, but he couldn't get the answer.

Previously, he constantly enjoyed tea without a thought to his pot. But now he sits up to take a look at it now and then. This makes him very uncomfortable. The most unendurable thing to him is that people start pouring in to ask whether or not he has other treasures, and some even want to borrow money from him. And what is more, some push in his door at night. His life is utterly disarranged. He doesn't know how to deal with this teapot.

A few days later, the merchant came over to the forge shop once again, bringing 200,000 yuan in cash. This turned out to be more than the ironsmith could bear. He called some of his neighbors to his shop, and broke up his purple clay teapot on the spot.

These days, the aged ironsmith is over one hundred years old. He is still running his small business.

The message from this story: The aged ironsmith deserted his priceless purple clay teapot, but regained his peaceful, carefree life again. Like him, sometimes we too need to give up something to get what we really want. Keep in mind: Minimum desire leads to happiness.

Posted under Tea

Some interesting Chinese stories related to purple clay teapots have been told for hundreds of years. Here are several that tell us something about finding purple clay, and how much purple clay teapots mean to some fanatical collectors.

A mysterious monk, the father of purple clay

A long time ago in a small town named Yixing in southeastern China, the local villagers farmed every day. On their spare time, they made bowls and jugs for daily use. In this way, they led a simple and ordinary life.

Then suddenly, the tranquility was broken. A mysterious monk popped up unexpectedly. He walked up and down, calling out, "Lucrative clay! Lucrative clay!" The locals looked around, with no idea what the monk meant. The monk then exclaimed, "Don't you want to become rich!?" The locals were dumbfounded, and didn't know how to reply. So the monk closed his mouth, and left.

One sly villager decided to find out the hidden meaning, and went after the monk. In a short while, they were at a nearby mountain. However, the monk was gone. The man tried to find the monk once more, but failed. Instead, he only found several freshly-dug caves. He cautiously came up to the mouth of one cave and looked inside. To his surprise, the caves were full of colored clay.

At this moment, the man suddenly saw the light: This must be the so-called 'lucrative clay'! So he carried some of it away and attempted to craft some pottery. When his work was done, he just couldn't believe what he saw. They presented distinctive colors unlike any he had ever seen before. He excitedly presented his creations to the locals, and they were amazed as well. As most of the items were purple, they gave a name 'purple clay' to the unusual material.

A pauper with his only purple clay teapot

A long time ago, an affluent landlord reveled in savoring tea. He was fond of meeting new friends who loved tea as well. He always treated rich and poor visitors equally well, and with good tea.

On one occasion, a pauper turned up. He asked for nothing but a cup of tea. A servant prepared one and passed to him. The pauper glanced at the tea, and complained that it was not very tasty.

The servant realized that the beggar knew something about tea, so he promptly changed it to another kind of leaves. The beggar smelled it, and said, "This tea is good, but the water is not good. Only spring water from the mountains is suitable."

"This guy seems to be a tea expert!" the butler murmured, and once again brewed a pot, this time with mountain water. This time, the panhandler took one sip of the tea, and remarked, "The mountain spring is good, but the firewood is not good enough. Hearing these words, the valet wondered is this a real panhandler? He quickly took in some of the best firewood, brewed one more time, and then sent for the landlord to deal with this eccentric visitor.

After a warm greeting, both the rich man and the pauper took a sip of the freshly brewed tea. This time, the pauper said, "This tea tastes better. Everything is all right except the pot." "But it is my best teapot," the rich man claimed sincerely.

The panhandler then reached and pulled out a dainty purple clay teapot featuring soft and inviting luster. "Try again with this one," he said with a smile. This time the tea tasted so good that no one could say no to it. Realizing the true value of this pot, the landlord made a prompt decision: He offered to purchase the teapot from the panhandler on the spot.

The beggar hastened to empty his pot, put it away, and intended to leave. The rich man stopped him right away, and exclaimed, "I'd like to pay half of my family possessions for your pot!" With no response, the beggar just wanted to move away. The rich man was so eager that he raised his voice again, "Ok, I'd like to give you all of my family possessions for your pot!" This time, the beggar laughed, and replied, "I wouldn't have been so poor to this extent today if I was willing to part with this pot."

A purple clay teapot equals a maid's life?

In the old days, there was a magistrate who was crazy about collecting and admiring purple clay teapots. At that time, the most famous potter was nicknamed Big Shot. The magistrate had a teapot made by Big Shot, and he thought it was a rare treasure.

One day at tea time, a maid accidentally dropped and broke the precious pot as she served the official. The official flew into rage, and he demanded the maid compensate for his pot with her life.

When the potter heard this news, he picked up a dozen of his purple clay teapots and hurried to the magistrate's residence. The master potter made a suggestion to the magistrate, "Pick one of my best teapots and let the servant girl go."

This suggestion made the administrator quite pleased. He picked one of the ten pots, and ordered his guards to unshackle the maidservant.

After that, however, the magistrate said, "Could you sell the other teapots to me as well?" The master potter didn't reply, but with a sweep of his shoulder pole broke all the remaining pots into pieces.

The magistrate was stupefied, and felt deeply regretful. He asked why the master potter would rather break the pots than sell them to him. The potter answered, "I broke them and they don't have to be reimbursed by anybody's life. But if they are broken in your home, who knows how many people will have to die!

Posted under Tea

Intriguing legends about purple clay have been passed on the lips of Chinese tea lovers over time. Through these stories, we get clues about the start of purple clay tea ware and the status a good purple clay teapot may give its owner.

The discovery of purple clay

Long, long ago, in southeast China's small town named Yixing, the locals were enjoying the tranquility of the country life.

But one day, a strange monk showed up at the town. He shouted while walking, "Clay makes you rich! Clay makes you rich!" The villagers looked at the monk curiously. The monk saw the confusion in the villagers' eyes, so he shouted again, "You can be rich if you are not royal family members!" Hearing these words, the villagers grew more bewildered, and gazed at the monk moving about. Soon the monk raised his voice, and set off in quicker paces.

A judicious old man realized there must be something behind the monk's words, so he darted after the monk. Before long, they arrived at Yellow Dragon Mountain, but the monk vanished from view. The old man tried his best to catch sight of the monk again, but he saw nothing except several caves he never noticed before. He looked into the caves, and wow! There was colorful clay everywhere!

At this moment, the man suddenly saw the light: This must be the so-called 'lucrative clay'! So he carried some of it away and attempted to craft some pottery. When his work was done, he just couldn't believe what he saw. They presented distinctive colors unlike any he had ever seen before. He excitedly presented his creations to the locals, and they were amazed as well. As most of the items were purple, they gave a name 'purple clay' to the unusual material.

A panhandler keeps his purple clay teapot

Once upon a time, there was a rich man who particularly enjoyed drinking tea. No matter who came to his home for tea, rich or poor, he would treat them well.

On one occasion, a pauper turned up. He asked for nothing but a cup of tea. A servant prepared one and passed to him. The pauper glanced at the tea, and complained that it was not very tasty.

"Does this guy know what good tea is?" the servant said to himself, and made another cup of tea with the best tea leaves. The panhandler smelled at the rim of the cup, and commented again, "The tea leaves are good, but the water is subpar. The best water for brewing tea comes from the mountains."

The servant perceived this guy was not a common beggar, so he brewed another cup of tea at once with their well-reserved spring water. The beggar took a sip, and said, "This water is good, but the firewood is not good. Firewood gathered from this side of the mountain is inferior. The wood from the other side of the mountain is compact and hard, which is indispensable for brewing the best tea." The servant then hurried to fetch the best firewood, made tea once more, and asked his master to join them.

After a warm greeting, both the rich man and the pauper took a sip of the freshly brewed tea. This time, the pauper said, "This tea tastes better. Everything is all right except the pot." "But it is my best teapot," the rich man claimed sincerely.

The panhandler then reached and pulled out a dainty purple clay teapot featuring soft and inviting luster. "Try again with this one," he said with a smile. This time the tea tasted so good that no one could say no to it. Realizing the true value of this pot, the landlord made a prompt decision: He offered to purchase the teapot from the panhandler on the spot.

Saying nothing at all, the panhandler picked up his belongings and was about to go away. The landlord stood in the way at once, offered in a high voice, "I want to exchange half my house and property for that teapot." The panhandler did not reply, and just tried to leave. The landlord grew so anxious that he raised his pitch again, "All right, my entire house and property, ok?" Recognizing how much the landlord loves a good purple clay teapot, the panhandler smiled and said, "Well, I used to be wealthier than you, but now I have lost everything except this pot, and there's no way I'll trade it for anything."

Is a purple clay teapot worth a poor girl's life?

Once in China, a local administrator cared for purple clay teapots more than anything else. In his collection, he especially cherished an outstanding pot made by the most prominent potter at that time.

One day at tea time, a maid accidentally dropped and broke the precious pot as she served the official. The official flew into rage, and he demanded the maid compensate for his pot with her life.

When the potter heard this news, he picked up a dozen of his purple clay teapots and hurried to the magistrate's residence. The master potter made a suggestion to the magistrate, "Pick one of my best teapots and let the servant girl go."

The magistrate was very glad to hear that. He selected a purple clay teapot that he liked best, and then set the poor girl free.

Later on, the administrator brought forward another question, "Sir, would you like to sell me the other teapots?" The potter rose to his feet silently, and smashed every one of them.

This unexpected act made the administrator jump out of his skin. He blankly stared at the fragments and the potter, asking, "Why did you do such a thing?" The master potter responded in a resolute voice, "I broke them to save the human lives that may be lost if they were broken in your home.

Posted under Tea