Tenmoku Pottery: Understand in 3 Minutes

Tenmoku pottery, with its unique glaze color and firing techniques, has become a unique flower in the field of ceramics in China. During the Song Dynasty, tea was an indispensable part of daily life for people from all walks of life, from emperors to commoners. The way of drinking tea in the Song Dynasty was different from our current loose tea brewing method. The "pointing tea" method was a popular new way of drinking tea during the Song Dynasty, which involved grinding the tea into powder and then drinking it all in one go with warm water. At that time, the trend of "competitive tea-drinking" was prevalent everywhere, and in addition to high-quality tea leaves, exquisite Tenmoku pottery was also necessary to match the tea. As an important tool for pointing tea and competitive tea-drinking, Tenmoku pottery can be said to be a perfect combination of art and aesthetics.

   As time passes and dynasties change, Tenmoku pottery, as a leader in tea culture, has been sleeping in the long river of history. However, its brilliance has not been obscured by time. The legendary Tenmoku pottery has become more and more fascinating over time, arousing people's desire for exploration. If you still don't know what Tenmoku pottery is, spend three minutes reading this article and you'll understand.

1. Why is it called Tenmoku?

For modern people who have never heard of Tenmoku pottery before, the first time they see a Tenmoku with a large mouth and a small base that resembles a funnel, they may mistake it for a bowl. Friends who are unfamiliar with the history of Tenmoku pottery would surely have this question: why do people call this heavy, black tea bowl a "zhan"?

The Jian kiln began producing ceramics in the Tang Dynasty, mainly producing Jianzhan Tenmoku ceramic. With its unique firing techniques, the Jian kiln was renowned for producing exquisite black-glazed tea bowls and gained high recognition from the Song Dynasty emperors. Its main focus was producing items required by the imperial court.

Generally speaking, a large kiln would produce multiple products such as bowls and dishes to meet people's various needs. However, Jian Kiln only specialized in producing tea cups, which was a shock to later generations as it allowed this kiln, which was over a hundred meters long, to maintain production. The black iron-glazed cups produced by Jian Kiln had a high iron content, thick cup bottoms, large openings, deep glaze colors, varied shapes, and colorful patterns on the glaze surface after being fired at high temperatures.

According to historical records, the original meaning of "盏" was a small and shallow cup. If called a "碗" (bowl), it would be too colloquial and difficult to distinguish, so it is most appropriate to call it "建盏" to reflect its uniqueness.

2. What are the characteristics of Tenmoku?

Tenmoku is mainly in gray-black color and belongs to the black glaze category, with an iron content as high as 8%. According to the mouth of the Tenmoku cup, it can be divided into four categories: tied mouth, closed mouth, open mouth, and tilted mouth. According to the size of the cup, it can also be divided into big and small open mouths, etc.

The temperature for firing Tenmoku in the kiln is over 1300 degrees Celsius. Various patterns naturally form on the surface of the Tenmoku during the firing process, including rabbit hair, partridge spots, and iridescent changes. The name of Tenmoku is also named after the characteristics of these patterns. Due to the high firing conditions, the yield of Tenmoku is very low. Moreover, it is difficult to find two identical Tenmoku cups. Each Tenmoku is unique and therefore more precious.

Rabbit hair Tenmoku is the most representative category of Jian kiln, which was highly popular at that time. However, due to the high firing requirements, the product was difficult to meet the needs of the general public, making rabbit hair Tenmoku very precious.

Rabbit hair Tenmoku has fine and slender brown-white stripes that appear through the black glaze. Each stripe shines with a silver light, resembling the hair on a rabbit's body, hence the name "rabbit hair Tenmoku." It is also called "golden rabbit hair" or "silver rabbit hair" Tenmoku. The rabbit hair pattern shines brilliantly in the tea water, making it irresistible. Su Dongpo, a great literary figure in the Song Dynasty, mentioned rabbit hair Tenmoku in his poems and essays.

Oil drop Tenmoku has silver-gray metallic small dots densely distributed on the surface of the cup. These are iron oxides produced at high temperatures and crystallized after cooling, named after their shape resembling oil drops. In order to form oil drop spots, the temperature must be strictly controlled during the firing process. If the temperature is too low, it is difficult to form spots, and if it is too high, it is easy to form streamline shapes. Therefore, the production of oil drop Tenmoku is low, and the number of intact oil drop Tenmoku unearthed is currently rare.

According to the record in "Jun Tai Guan Zuoyou Zhang Ji," "Oil Drop Tenmoku is the second most precious treasure, worth 5,000 pieces of silk, while Rabbit Hair Tenmoku is worth 3,000 pieces of silk." Therefore, it can be seen that oil drop Tenmoku is more precious than rabbit hair Tenmoku.

3. History of Tenmoku.

Tenmoku originated in the late Tang and Five Dynasties period and flourished during the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty was a period of great prosperity in the development of Chinese tea culture, which also drove the rapid progress of ceramics. During the Northern Song Dynasty, people's way of drinking tea changed from steeping and boiling tea to "pointing" tea, and they enjoyed the fun of "competing" with each other in tea tasting. Tenmoku was born as a tea ware designed for this purpose.

Tenmoku not only became a tea utensil for the royal family but also a favorite tool for the common people. The literati and scholars of that time each had a Tenmoku to showcase their social status. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty can be said to be the number one fan of Tenmoku. He personally wrote the "Da Guan Cha Lun" to endorse Tenmoku, which detailed the relevant content of Tenmoku and left valuable resources for the study of the tea culture of the Song Dynasty.

In the late Northern Song Dynasty, the invasion of the Jin army caused a sharp decline in the social economy, and the once-popular trend of tea competitions gradually lost its luster. By the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, who came from a humble background, deeply hated the complicated way of tea drinking in the previous dynasty. In addition, at the beginning of the founding of the country, the national strength was relatively weak, so Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the abolition of the previous way of tea drinking and banned tea competitions. People could only drink tea by simple brewing.

With the change of people's way of drinking tea, Tenmoku gradually disappeared from people's sight, and this once-famous porcelain went from glory to decline. Later, Jian Kiln was also ordered to stop production, leading to the loss of the firing technology.

After the establishment of New China, an archaeological team was specifically established to investigate the Jian Kiln site. With the excavation of the site, a large number of finished Tenmoku and fragments were unearthed, and Tenmoku, which had been buried for hundreds of years, re-entered people's sight. After a long period of exploration by ceramic craftsmen, the firing technology of Tenmoku gradually recovered, and the products became rich and diverse. Tenmoku plays an irreplaceable role in our understanding of the long-standing Chinese tea culture and the promotion of national traditional culture, and the inheritance and protection of its skills have important practical significance.