With so many tea cups available, why do people prefer to use Tenmoku?

   There are so many types of tea cups available in the market today, such as the warm and jade-like white porcelain cups, the jade-like blue porcelain cups, and the excellent textured purple clay cups. It seems that any of them would be suitable for tea drinking, but why do so many tea enthusiasts still prefer Tenmoku?

Using a Tenmoku as one's own special tea cup while drinking tea is another meaning of "tea competition." It is said that this is how people show off their taste in that circle.

Tenmoku is a wonderful tool for drinking tea. Xu Cishu wrote in "The Classic of Tea" during the Ming Dynasty: "Tea nourishes in water, water depends on the utensil, and the fire is necessary to make the tea. The four elements are interdependent, and lacking one will result in failure." This statement fully illustrates the dialectical relationship between the four elements of tea, water, utensils, and fire. Today, tea sets of different materials and styles are constantly emerging, which can be said to be dazzling, but those that can truly be called excellent tea utensils are few and far between.

The people of the Song Dynasty had a natural love for tea. When making tea, they would first grind the tea leaves into powder and then put it into a Tenmoku. Boiling water was added from a tea pot, and then the tea was whisked with a tea whisk, a process known as "whisking tea." A milky foam would appear on the surface of the tea, hanging on the walls of the Tenmoku. When several people gathered to drink tea, the first person whose foam disappeared was considered to have lost the competition known as "tea fighting." Therefore, in Emperor Huizong of Song's "Treatise on Tea," he wrote: "The color of the Tenmoku should be dark blue or black, and the one with the finest rabbit hair pattern is the best."

These porcelain bowls with black glaze were originally fired in various kilns in the north and south, but Cai Xiang and other literati especially favored those made in Jian'an kiln. This led to the fame of "Tenmoku," which then prompted other kilns to imitate them.

Tenmoku has special functional designs in selecting the iron content and sand content of the clay body, controlling the thickness of the clay body, and the thickness and density of the glaze. Using Tenmoku to drink tea can keep the tea warm for a long time, improve the alkalinity of the tea soup, ensure a better taste, and stimulate and enhance the aroma of the tea. It can fully achieve the effect of tea drinking and provide an ultimate smooth, sweet and refreshing taste. If you want to enjoy a high-quality tea, you must use the best combination for tea brewing - Tenmoku.

Tenmoku contains chemical components such as silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, iron oxide, and calcium oxide in its clay body and glaze. Therefore, the high iron content in Tenmoku can continuously release divalent iron ions during use and can also adsorb chloride ions in water. It is easily absorbed by the human body, which can increase the carrier of hemoglobin and the function of red blood cells, prevent anemia and hypertension, regulate the central nervous system, and achieve a soothing effect.

On hot summer nights, leftover food was put into a covered white bowl and a Tenmoku and stored in a kitchen cabinet. The next day, the leftover food in the Tenmoku was still edible and did not spoil, while the leftover food in the white bowl had gone bad and emitted a sour and pungent odor.

At the same time, tea was brewed in a covered white bowl and a Tenmoku respectively. The tea brewed in the Tenmoku was durable and had a pure taste, while the one brewed in the white bowl was not durable and tasted astringent and difficult to drink.

Despite its small size and dark appearance, Tenmoku has a historical status that other tea cups do not have, and its benefits for drinking tea have been pursued by many tea enthusiasts. However, there are also many "fake Tenmoku" on the market. To buy a genuine and good Tenmoku, the antique shop with professional industry certification, such as Guzhan Tang, is naturally the first choice for everyone.