The tea was without a doubt discovered by the Chinese. How about teapots? The history of teapots is still being debated by the scholars from the East and the West. The scholars from the Far East like to believe that the tea pots were invented by the Chinese just as tea was. The scholars from the West however, believe that the Chinese did not invented tea pots. It was believed that the Chinese brewed tea directly from tea cups and not tea pots before tea pots became known to the European. Although the Chinese believe the beginning of Chinese glazed pottery can be dated as far back as 2,000 years ago, the earliest Chinese (partially) glazed clay tea pots exist to day can only be dated between 960 to 1279 (Song Dynasty). The Chinese pottery can be dated before human knew how to write. The earliest coarse gray earthenware found today can be dated long before Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC). During the Shang Dynasty, the finer white pottery started to appear. Before Ming Dynasty, the Chinese pottery with the shape of "tea pot" was not actually a "tea pot". Before Ming Dynasty the "tea pot" was a "cook ware" used to "cook herbal medicine" or a wine pot. The spout on the "herbal medicine pots (kettles)" served as a "filter" to filter the "herbal left over". The "tea pot" was called "medicine pot". To brew tea with hot water was not started until Ming Dynasty. Once people started to brew tea with hot water, smaller "medicine pots" named "tea pots" started to appear in China. Are you a bit dizzy with all those "pot talk"? I don't know about you. I know that I am. The way I see who invented tea pots in my view is a great debate between Italian spaghetti and Chinese noodle. I personally do not care whoever invented noodle or spaghetti first. As long as they taste great and less fillings.

NOTE :
        1 The herbal medicine was put into the "medicine pot or kettle". The medicine pot was then filled up with water. Bring it to boil and let it simmer until the water go down to 1/3 to 1/2 of the pot. Strain the herbal the spout on the medicine pot will do the trick) and drink the fluid. This is how the Chinese herbal medicine work for the past thousand of years. The clay tea pot was actually a smaller version of the traditional Chinese medicine pot. However, it is possible that the tea was made in the "herbal medicine pot".

        2 The earliest pottery pot that has the shape of today's tea pot can be dated between 7th to 8th century Tang Dynasty). The pot was unglazed. It is believed that the pot was used to serve wine since before Ming Dynasty, the way to make tea was the same as to make herbal medicine.

        3 The earliest pottery pot found today can be dated between 3000BC to 2000BC. The pot was found in Yangshao village in Northwestern China and in Lungshan in Northeastern China in Shandong Province.

        In this section, we are to explore the arts and history behind some of the greatest tea pots in the world to date. To date, people can not talk about tea pots without talking about Yixing. The clay tea ware from Yixing today however, is not as sophisticate as those from Ming Dynasty. Between 1950 to 1975, the art works of pottery from Yixing were in such a pool quality that the name "Yixing" seemed to become the symbol of a long forgotten city. For the past 20 years, many famous artists publish their works of great pottery tea pots that have nothing to do with Yixing at all. Yixing is a city with a big name and a lot of tea pots. For people who want to find highest quality of tea pots made for the past twenty years, Yixing may not be the light place to go. For that reason, we are going to discuss the tea pots of the good old days only and, the arts of picking a good tea pot.

HOW TO PICK A GOOD TEA POT?
        A good tea pot is not only a piece of good tea ware but also a piece of great art work that its value can never be understated. In Feb, 2001, we are going to Taiwan to interview Mr. Cheng, a tea ware expert who has collected More than 500 piece of traditional Chinese tea pots. We will present a few great pictures and articles to you after our interviews. Please stay tuned. For now, let just talk about the knowledge that we already have. The way to pick a good tea pots can be summarized as follows,
        l Beauty - A great tea pot is the one that you don't want to drink tea without it. You pick a good tea pot like you pick a wife. You want to look at your tea pot (wife) for the next 50 years and, she will still be beautiful.
        2 Material - The tea pots can be clay or porcelain. I personally like clay tea pots. A good clay tea pot need to be bright and hard. Put the tea pot on your palm and tip it with your finger. Feel the sound. With a few practices, you will be able to tell how hard the clay is.
        3 Smell - Smell! Are you serious? Yes! That's the word, smell. A brand new clay tea pot will come with clay smelt. If you pick a new tea pot that smell charcoal, oil or other smell, chances are that is not a good tea pot.
        4 Tightness - The lid and the pot should be tight. The clay tea pot have a vent on the lid. Fill the pot with water and use your index finger to cover and compress the vent as you tilt the tea pot. If you see the water coming out from the spout, it is not a good tea pot.
        5 How's the water now? - Release your finger from the vent as indicated in step 4. A better tea pot will have water now out of the spout smoothly with an opened vent.
        6 The gravity center of the tea pot - Fill the tea pot (75% filled) with water. Lift the tea pot and try to pour the water out of the tea pot. If you feel you hand out of balance a bit when you try to pour the water out, it is not a good tea pot.
        7 What kinds of tea are your going to use on the pot? - The character of tea is an important factor for the type of tea pot you are going to choose. The tea that emphasis on "smell" such as flower flavored tea needs to retain heat in the pot in order to bring out the smell. In this case, a high frequency tea pot is better (referred to #2 for tipping sound). The tea that emphasis on taste such as Oolong tea or Tie Guan Yin tea needs a tea pot with sound of lower frequency.