"Literati pot" is a word we often hear, but its connotation is not well known. Today, the "literati pot" has become the selling point and gimmick of many purple sand products, but people have different interpretations of it, which is confusing.
1. The origin of the term "literati pot".
The term "literati pot" should have originated from Mr. Chen Mansheng. Chen Mansheng is the founder of Yixing Shushan School, and has devoted his life to integrating traditional Chinese culture into purple sand tea sets. He is good at expressing his creative ideas and understanding of traditional culture with inscriptions, integrating the body of the pot with the inscriptions, and becoming a "literati pot" representing his style. From this point of view, the connotation of "literati pot" is to convey the maker's creative ideas and understanding of traditional culture through the purple clay pot, which is essentially different from ordinary painting or calligraphy decoration.
However, with the popularization of the term "literati pot", many people mistakenly refer to the purple clay pots that the literati participated in the production of as "literati pots". In fact, the participation of literati in the production is a necessary condition, but it is not enough to constitute a "literati pot". To become a true "literati pot", it also needs to have an inscription that expresses the idea of the maker, as well as the harmony and unity of the pot body and the inscription.
So, what is a "literati pot" in the true sense? Let's take a look at Chen Mingyuan's "plum pile pot".
This pot is based on plum blossoms, and the inscription of the pot reads: "Among the three friends, occupy a hundred flowers." Sanyou refers to pine, bamboo, and plum, which expresses the spirit of plum blossoms in the lofty status and proud snow among the three friends. The body of the pot fits perfectly with the inscription, incorporating the maker's praise for the resilience of plum blossoms into the pot.
Another example is Chen Man's "but the moon pot", the inscription of the pot is "the moon is full, it is lost, put it in the corner, think I rule". These few words express the author's life insights obtained by observing the moon, which echoes the shape of the pot.
Mei Tiaoding's "Bolang cone pot" is to integrate the traditional cultural connotation into the pot, and the pot is Mingyun: "Iron for it, sand for it." That time, this time. It expresses a feeling of the rise and fall of the old country, which is cleverly combined with the conical shape of the kettle, and has a profound meaning.
From the above examples, we can see that a true "literati pot" needs to have the following characteristics:
1.The body of the pot and the inscription are highly unified, and the two should be integrated into one and intertextually inscribed;
2.The inscription should be inspired by the body of the pot and be consistent with the theme of the body;
3.Inscriptions can express the creator's creative thoughts or understanding of traditional culture.
Only when the purple clay pot meets these three conditions at the same time can it be truly called a "literati pot".
In addition to the "literati pot", we will also hear the term "cultural pot". There are certain differences between the two:
"Cultural pot" generally refers to the pot that adds other cultural elements to the purple clay pot, such as calligraphy and painting, seal carving, etc., these cultural elements are added later, and the body of the pot is not intrinsically unified. The representative figure is Qu Yingshao, who decorated the purple clay pot with his own calligraphy and paintings, but did not consider the overall design of the pot.
The cultural connotation in the "literati pot" is an essential attribute, not a later decoration. Through the fusion of the body of the pot and the inscription, it integrates the creative ideas of the maker into it.
Therefore, the literati pot must be a cultural pot, but the cultural pot is not necessarily a literati pot. In order to become a "literati pot", its cultural connotation must be rooted in the body of the pot, and the culture added externally can only make it a "cultural pot".
Nowadays, many merchants abuse the term "literati pot" and label some mediocre decorative pots as "literati pots", which has gradually drifted away from the original meaning of the word. The "literati pot" needs to be rich in connotation and beautiful in style, and it cannot be compared with just a few graffiti.
What's more, some makers with little cultural background blindly pursue the so-called "literati" atmosphere, and as a result, they produce bizarre and dysfunctional "literati pots", which not only lose the beauty of the shape, but also lose the spiritual core of the "literati pot".
These misuses have seriously affected the correct name of the "literati pot" and misled consumers. As industry professionals, it is necessary for us to clarify the true connotation of "literati pot" and improve our ability to identify in order to avoid market chaos.