Interesting legends on purple clay teapots
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Who was the first person that discovered the distinctive purple clay ideal for making teapots? How deep do purple clay teapot collectors love their treasures? There are many interesting Chinese legends and folklore that aim to answer these questions.
A mysterious monk, the father of purple clay
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.
One elderly villager was so curious that he followed the monk. When they went to Mt. Huanglong (Yellow Dragon) in Yixing, the monk disappeared suddenly. The elder looked about for him, but all he could find were some newly-opened caves. Looking inside the caves, he found multicolored pottery clay.
Now the old man understood what the monk had said, so he brought some of the clay out of the cave. He tried to make some pottery. After firing, the pottery gave him a big surprise. They were in purple, yellow, and green. "Oh, I have never seen pottery with these colors," the old man murmured. Then he showed the pottery to his friends. They were pleasantly surprised, and called the material 'purple clay.'
A beggar and his 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.
Once, a ragged panhandler wandered over to the man's house. He asked for a cup of tea, rather than food. With no prejudice, a butler ushered the panhandler in, and poured a cup of tea for him. The panhandler caught a glimpse of the tea, and then surprisingly commented, "The tea leaves are not good enough."
"It seems this man has a taste for fine tea," the servant thought, and then brought in another cup of tea. The pauper smelled at the tea, and remarked, "This tea is all right, but the water is not good. If only you had mountain spring water."
"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 beggar took an exquisite purple clay teapot out of his bosom, and asked the servant to make another pot of tea using it. Sure enough, the tea tasted remarkable. The rich man stood up and made a bow with hands folded in front, and said, "I'd like to buy your pot. Money is no problem. How much do you want?"
The pauper rapidly set the pot in his bosom again, and was about to depart. The rich man bade right way, "I want to buy your teapot at the cost of half of my property." After receiving no response, the rich man raised his offer, "No, all of my property!" Ultimately, the pauper responded with a smile, "I was once as rich as you, but I would rather become as poor as a church mouse than sell of this pot."
A purple clay teapot more valuable than life?
Once at a tea party, a maidservant was serving tea to the administrator and his friends. All of a sudden, an accident took place. The cherished purple clay teapot accidentally slipped from the maidservant's hand, and broke into pieces. The administrator hit the ceiling, and wanted to get reimbursed by taking the frightened girl's life.
As this incident reached the potter's ears, he resolved to save the maidservant and teach the administrator a lesson. He ran to the administrator's dwelling with ten choice purple clay teapots he crafted hanging on his carrying pole. He offered, "Choose one of my most precious teapots, and set the maidservant free."
This suggestion made the administrator quite pleased. He picked one of the ten pots, and ordered his guards to unshackle the maidservant.
Subsequently, the official made a request to the potter, "May I buy all of the other pots brought with you?" Without a word, the artist stood up, gathered all of his strength, swung his carrying pole, and broke up all the teapots left.
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!
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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