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.

Who found purple clay first?

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.

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.

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 pauper with his only purple clay teapot

Several hundred years ago, a wealthy man liked drinking tea very much. He would make friends with tea lovers. Regardless of whether they were rich or poor, anyone who paid a visit would be well-received with 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.

“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.

When the tea was ready, the rich man and the beggar drank a cup of it together. Then the beggar remarked, “Well, this time the tea leaves, water, firewood and fire are good, but the pot is not good.” “This is the best pot I have,” the rich man replied.

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 equals a maid’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.

But one day a poor servant girl broke the teapot by accident when serving tea. The magistrate got so angry that he registered a claim for the 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.”

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.

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.

Shocked, the official was at a loss for a minute. Then he asked in confusion, “What did you do that for?” Calmly and firmly the artisan replied, “I smashed them at the cost of no life.

Post from: www.mccoy-pottery.net

Great Chinese Anecdotes About Purple Clay