chafyiTeaware
English

Shape Taiwansources cited

Tea boat

chá chuán

Also written 茶池 · pot boat

A shallow basin that holds the teapot (and sometimes the cups) in gongfu tea and catches the hot water poured over them. The National Palace Museum shows a Qing blue-and-white basin (茶池) and says it is also called a tea boat; in Taiwan the small pot, four cups and a tea boat made up the everyday set later nicknamed 'old men's tea'.

On this page
Tea boat (shallow basin), side view
Tea boat (shallow basin), side view
  1. 1Body
  2. 2Rim
  3. 3Base
A round Chaozhou tea boat with a fitted upper tray and a central drain opening. The example in Li Bingyan and Lin Nan, figure 4-106, was thrown by Wu Ruiquan and decorated by Wu Peiqiang.Approximate size

In use#

First follow the water used to warm the pot. Wu Deliang sends it into the tea boat during wet preparation, or into a separate shuifang waste-water vessel during dry preparation.

  1. Warm the pot with hot water.
  2. Empty that water into the tea boat, or into the shuifang for dry preparation.
  3. Add leaves and brew. In Wu’s serving example, the infusion then goes to the pitcher and drinking cups.

吳德亮《台灣的茶園與茶館》 · PDF 36–37 · 圖2 / fig. 2 · PDF 38

Compare the documented serving routes

Form#

Body
1wide, shallow circular or foliate basin (茶船 / 茶池) in porcelain, stoneware, or zisha clay — either a single open dish with a flat floor or a double-tiered basin with a perforated upper plate (雙層茶船)
Rim
2everted, upright, or foliate mouth rim wide enough to cradle the teapot and catch boiling water poured over the lid
Base
3broad recessed ring foot (圈足)
Handle
none

135 Numbers mark the parts described under Form.

Capacity#

200–500 mL (basin overflow volume); Ø 14.0–20.0 cm, H 3.8–7.0 cm1. The late-Qing / early-Republic blue-and-white radish-motif basin in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (清末民初 青花萊菔紋茶盤［茶池／茶船］, inv. 購瓷000462) measures H 3.8 cm, rim Ø 16.8 cm, and base Ø 13.0 cm.

Variants and sub-types#

Name中文DifferenceSources
Single-basin Tea Boat (Danceng Chachi / Chaxi)單層茶池 / 茶洗Open, shallow flat-floored porcelain or stoneware basin (Ø 14–18 cm, H 3.5–5.0 cm) in which the teapot sits directly in the hot rinse water; exemplified by the late-Qing blue-and-white radish-motif dish in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (inv. 購瓷000462, H 3.8 × Ø 16.8 cm).123
Double-tier Lotus-pod Tea Boat (Shuangceng Chachuan)雙層蓮蓬孔茶船 / 茶墊Two-part vessel documented in Weng Huidong's 1957 Chaozhou Chajing (「底托作雙層，上層有五孔，如蓮蓬」): a removable upper saucer pierced with five lotus-pod drainage holes supports the teapot above a lower catch basin so scalding water 淋壺 drains away without soaking the pot's foot.45

History#

  1. Qing to early RepublicIn Chaozhou, Minnan, and Taiwanese gongfu tea, the teapot rests inside a shallow porcelain or stoneware basin called a 茶船 ('tea boat'), 茶池 ('tea pond'), or 茶洗. A late-Qing / early-Republic gongfu set in the National Palace Museum, Taipei includes a blue-and-white radish-motif dish (青花萊菔紋茶盤, inv. 購瓷000462, H 3.8 × Ø 16.8 cm), which the museum notes functions as a 茶池 or 茶船.15
  2. 1957Weng Huidong's Chaozhou Chajing: Gongfucha (翁輝東《潮州茶經·工夫茶》) describes the 茶墊 (locally called 茶船) as a saucer-like basin with five drainage holes in its raised floor (「底托作雙層，上層有五孔，如蓮蓬」) that drains scalding water poured over the teapot while keeping the pot base dry.5
  3. before the 1970sIn Taiwan, the everyday domestic 'old men's tea' (老人茶) set consisted simply of a small red-clay pot, four cups, and a 茶船; boiling water was poured directly over the pot and cups sitting inside the boat.2
  4. 1982–1984Early Taiwanese tea-art (茶藝) reports list the 茶船 / 茶池 among the four core vessels of the tea table, before dry-brewing (乾泡法) in the 2000s shifts preference toward smaller, shallower pot stands (huchen).34

Attributions are shown as the source states them.

Names and drainage

Follow the name together with the action. Wu calls the serving pitcher 茶海. Li Bingyan and Lin Nan also use 茶海, 茶船 and 茶洗 for a washing basin. In their illustrated tray-and-basin arrangement, rinse water drains through the upper tray into the lower basin.

李炳炎、林楠《潮州茶器（1860—2020）》 · 第四章 第六节 器型 · 三、茶洗、茶盘、茶垫 · 圖4-106

Related#

Shapes

Tea trayPot stand

Mentioned in

Taiwanese gongfu tea and tea-art teaware

Sources#

  1. 芳茗遠播：亞洲茶文化展（清代蓋碗、臺灣與工夫茶器）國立故宮博物院 (National Palace Museum, Taipei; includes 清末民初 青花萊菔紋茶盤［茶池／茶船］ inv. 購瓷000462, H 3.8 × Ø 16.8 cm) · Reference works · Accessed 2026-10-19 ↗
  2. 老壺新泡──「茶鄉」原來在蓬萊 (1998-09)台灣光華雜誌 Taiwan Panorama · Press · Accessed 2026-11-02 ↗
  3. 禮失而求諸野——淺談中國茶藝 (1982-02)台灣光華雜誌 Taiwan Panorama · Press · Accessed 2026-11-02 ↗
  4. 愈用愈美的「古董」——茶藝與茶壺 (1984-01)台灣光華雜誌 Taiwan Panorama · Press · Accessed 2026-11-02 ↗
  5. 翁輝東《潮州茶經·工夫茶》 (1957)Chaozhou local history and tea treatise · Primary texts
  6. 吳德亮《台灣的茶園與茶館》PDF 36–38 · 圖1 / fig. 1 · PDF 37; 圖2 / fig. 2 · PDF 38
  7. 李炳炎、林楠《潮州茶器（1860—2020）》暨南大学出版社 · 2022 · EPUB · 第四章 第六节 器型 · 三、茶洗、茶盘、茶垫 · 圖4-106 · “茶洗也称茶船或茶海”
Status and editorial notes sources cited

Sources are listed below. Their presence does not certify every claim; source-specific interpretations and unresolved questions are identified in the text. This page has not received independent expert approval.