Teapot craftsman makes innovation, passes down techniques

Xie Hua, a fifth-generation inheritor of the handmade Chaozhou red clay teapot craft, in his studio, May 5, 2016 [Photo/IC]

Xie Hua, a fifth-generation inheritor of a time-honored teapot craft in Chaozhou, South China's Guangzhou province, has managed to improve the technique and pass it down to hundreds of young disciples.

With a history of more than 300 years, the handmade Chaozhou red clay teapot is as famous as the Yixing purple clay teapot, produced in Yixing, East China's Jiangsu province.

The craft involves dozens of elaborate processes all conducted by hands. Even when mechanic production is prevalent today, no precision instrument can produce as good a teapot as that made by hand.

According to tradition, the craft of making the Chaozhou red clay teapot was only passed on to male descendants of a family.

Xie started to learn the craft handed down from his family in 1980s. In the years around 1990, he began to integrate techniques for Yixing purple clay teapot into his work. Later he also drew on the local porcelain making techniques.