Is "full handmade" always better than "half handmade"? How do you think about "half handmade pots"?

Some pot friends only play pots "full handmade pots", while "half handmade pots" is disdain, scorn. Some newbies even mistakenly believe that half handmade pots are half handmade and the other half are made by machine. Mr. Ding Yiqin believes that the main function of a pot is for tea, followed by the connotation embodied in the Zisha pot, so as long as it meets the requirements of the pot, is their favorite pot type and clay can be, do not pay too much attention to the half handmade or full handmade.

In fact, the so-called "full handmade" and "half handmade" is very difficult to strictly distinguish. From the history of the development of zisha, known as the originator of zisha for spring pots, also with the help of wooden mold to make pots. Although the model was not used when it came to Shi Dabin, he invented a whole set of special tools for making pots by "sharpening the bamboo like a blade", which is called "if you want to do a good job, you have to sharpen your tools first", and therefore it is not a pure sense of "full handmade". Therefore, it is not purely "handmade". Even Gu Jingzhou produced the first pick up the ball pot also used more than one hundred and twenty tools.

Of course, we now say "semi-handmade pots", not the wooden mold recorded in the history books, but refers to the plaster turned mold, mainly with its molding. Then the other steps are done by hand. In fact, the difference between the full and half-handed pots now is whether or not the mold is caught in the initial stage of molding, and the molding step only accounts for one-third of the overall production. The introduction of the plaster process was first passed on to the Yixing Zisha Craft Factory in 1958 by two masters of turning plaster molds from the Huishan Clay Figure Factory in Wuxi. This process has both advantages and disadvantages, from the advantageous side, unified product specifications, improve the accuracy of the shape, conducive to production, shorten the cycle of skilled workers to learn the art. The disadvantages are: as a work of art of zisha pots, its personalized art production and the spirit of innovation has been limited to a certain extent, the content of handmade skills to reduce, and for the imitation of the work provides a means.

Zisha pots have always been divided into: daily necessities, crafts and works of art. For general daily necessities, the model is conducive to the standardization of form, to meet the needs of the public. The full expression of the artist's personality of the creation of works of art, it is necessary to skillfully master the handmade pot technology, in order to be able to play their own inspiration, to create a unique Zisha pot. But the words can not be absolute, because the handmade pots if the shape of the lack of creativity, craftsmanship is not in place, so the pots can not be a work of art. On the contrary, handmade supplemented by model (in fact, the production of model pots can not be separated from the hand, such as rubbing the mouth, handle, "Ming needle" work), carefully crafted, but also to make fine products.

Here, I also remind the pot friends, full handmade, half handmade is not the only standard to judge the quality of a pot, not to mention the distinction between works of art and daily necessities of the boundaries. The key is to look at the pot of clay, craftsmanship, styling and charm how, that is, the work of the "shape, God, gas, attitude", only when you really improve the ability to appreciate, discerning eye, in order to find their favorite teapot, and not be deceived.