Reading Yixing shape names

The four structural classes of Yixing teapots#

Four useful descriptive families are round bodies (圓器), faceted bodies (方器), ribbed or petalled bodies (筋囊器), and naturalistic modelling (花塑器). Round bodies can be formed from a clay cylinder; faceted bodies can be assembled from cut slabs. A lobed form repeats divisions across body and lid, while naturalistic modelling borrows forms such as trunks, fruit or bamboo. These are overlapping ways to describe construction and appearance, not four rigid boxes into which every pot must fit.

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• Lobed pot: A lobed teapot whose body is divided into equal petal-like sections. Zhou Gaoqi (1640s) says Dong Han first made the 菱花 form and that Xu Youquan and Shen Zice also made it; Gu Jingzhou's version has six equal sections and a slightly hollowed base.
• Gongchun pot: A naturalistic Yixing teapot form with an uneven, bark-like surface associated with the name Gongchun. The tree-burl appearance distinguishes it from smooth geometric pots. Stories about its early origin and the attribution of surviving examples are separate questions.

Look down on a square pot and follow a corner from shoulder to foot. In Wang Jianzhong’s photographed example, he cuts the walls from slabs with a template, brushes the edges with liquid clay and presses each join from inside before fitting the base. (1994, pp. 92–96 · 2017, pp. 103)

Turn the pot over. Liu and Li distinguish a continuous ring foot (圈底), individual feet (钉足), and a centre pressed inward (一捺底). A ring may be added as a separate piece or cut from clay already present in the base. The same outline can therefore result from different working methods.^{p. 119}

What a shape name fixes—and what it leaves open#

A shape name is a family of recognizable features, not a blueprint. Shipiao combines a body that widens toward the base with a straight spout and angular handle; potters vary the proportions and details. A proposed literary or historical inspiration should be identified as an interpretation unless a primary source connects it to a particular design.

Modern examples vary in height, belly width and handle angle. Compare the continuity of lid and shoulder, the short spout and the turned-back handle before relying on a trade name. Xishi and wendan labels can overlap in modern descriptions; a flatter or taller profile does not by itself prescribe which tea to brew.

In a July 2005 interview at her Dingshu home, Jiang Rong described the appeal of 花器, teapots modeled on living forms. Look at a branch-shaped handle twice, first as a branch and then as a place to grip the pot. She also recalled her father putting away his molds while he taught her to work by hand. (2008, pp. 1, 4–6)

Small gongfu shapes: Shuiping, Lixing, Longdan, and Julunzhu#

• Shuiping: A small teapot with a flat-round, lantern-like body and a straight, sword-like spout, popular in Guangdong, Fujian and Southeast Asia for gongfu tea. It is made in Yixing and is one of the common shapes of Fengxi (Chaozhou) hand-thrown pots.
• Longdan: A classic round teapot shape (圆器) whose tall, upright ovoid body tapers upward like a standing egg, paired with a short, wide-rooted conical spout ('fat-head spout'), an inverted or upright ear-loop handle, and a flush-fitting cap lid (截盖) topped with a small 珠 (pearl) or bridge knob.
• Julunzhu: A compact, thick-rimmed globular or slightly oblate gongfu teapot with a short, straight cannon-barrel spout ('fat tube spout'), a thick round loop handle, and a flat or slightly domed inset lid topped with a flattened bead knob. Made in Yixing zhuni/zini, Chaozhou Fengxi red clay, and post-war Nantou kilns, and exported to Japan during the late Qing and Meiji–Taishō periods where Senchadō practitioners prized its bold, unpretentious geometry.

Look at the spout from the side and follow its profile from the body to the lip. Liu and Li illustrate a straight spout (直嘴) and curved profiles that they call 一弯嘴, 二弯嘴 and 三弯嘴. These terms describe the contour. To judge how a particular pot pours, try it with water.^{pp. 116–117} Check the pour of an individual pot

Umbrella names versus individual profiles#

Watch out for names that describe a single feature or making method rather than the whole silhouette. Tiliang (overhead-handle pot) names any teapot whose handle arches over the lid—its body may be globular (like the 1533 Wu Jing pot), melon-lobed, hexagonal, or flat-cylindrical (like Gu Jingzhou's Tibi pot). Similarly, Shoula-hu (hand-thrown pot) names the wheel-throwing technique of Chaozhou rather than one silhouette, and Mengchen pot names the small gongfu brewing role across pear, horizontal, and flat-drum forms.

Use the volume to the intended fill level, rather than the exterior dimensions or shape name. Leave room for the leaves and lid, and choose cups or a serving pitcher that can receive a complete infusion. Two pots of the same named form may have very different working capacities.

At the mouth, follow the outline from the shoulder onto the lid. Liu and Li distinguish a lid that sits inside the opening (嵌盖), one that continues the outline as if the vessel had been cut across (截盖), and one whose edge overlaps the mouth (压盖). (2017, pp. 114–115)

To see how a lobed lid seats, look beneath it. Xu Sihai photographs a Hemei pot first with its lid in place and then with the underside facing the camera. The projecting flange follows the lobes of the opening in the pot. (許四海《吾壺四海》 (2009) · 合梅壺 · p. 34–35 (PDF 60–61))