The Jinsha Monk

Nobody knows his name, we only know he was a monk lived in the Jinsha Temple in the Zhengde Era in Yixing city. He was the first people who refined the Zi
Sha clay and made a tea pot with the special purple sand. However, he never put his name or stamp on his tea pots, nor were they described by the later tea
books. Therefore even if we see his products today we still cannot distinguish them.


Gong Chun

Gong Chun was a servant of Wu Yishan, a scholar in the city of Yixing. Wu rented a room in the Jinsha Temple and read book there. Gong Chun visited the
Jinsha Monk when he was not on duty and learned the Jinsha Monk's skills. He made some tea pot resembling tea trunks and became welcome by the current
people. One of his tea pot is reserved in the National Museum of History in Beijing. His name is carved inside the tea pot and his finger print is still
subtly visible. This tea pot was discovered by Wu Dacheng, later bought by Chu Nanqiang in the 1930's. Mr. Chu donated this tea pot to the government in the
1950's.


Shi Dabin

Son of another famous tea pot maker Shi Peng. He was specialized at refining the clay, molding and carving. Many people think he was equal to another Zi Sha
master Gong Chun. His tea pot resembled many daily utilities such as plum blossoms, hexagon, octagon, handle bar, stamp, hat and persimmons. His product is
very rare now and there are many counterfeits.

Shi Peng

Father of Shi Dabin, his tea pots were all simple and plain.

Li Zhongfang

Apprentice of Shi Dabin, son of another tea pot maker Li Yangxin. His tea pots were very exquisite and artistic. Many of his tea pots had Shi Dabin's name
carved on them. Therefore it is difficult to recognize his products from Shi Dabin's.


Hui Mengchen

Another great Zi Sha master after Shi Dabin. He lived from the end of Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty. His big tea pots were plain and small ones were
exquisite. He used bamboo knives to carve his name on the tea pots. He was famous of carving small stamps inside the lids. His Zi Sha products such as Long
Body Pear-Shaped Tea Pot is still well reserved today.

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