As an ancient saying goes, "Water is the mother of tea, and the vessel is the father of tea." For tea ceremonies, the selection of vessels is not only a manifestation of taste but also an obsession for collectors. Silverware has been a symbol of status since ancient times, and throughout the dynasties, it has been regarded that "silver pots are the most precious for boiling water and the most respected for making tea." A silver pot that combines intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship, master's ingenuity, and practical aesthetics is even more a masterpiece among tea utensils, boasting both the pleasure of drinking and collection value. Today, Tongxinshe Teahouse brings a heavyweight masterpiece to tea lovers and collectors - the 9999 fine silver "Thousand Flowers Beam Pot", personally designed and made by Master Mu Binglin, the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage Heqing Silverware Forging Technique. It conveys the essence through the vessel, allowing people to appreciate the ingenuity together.
The world highly praises silver pots, first and foremost for their quality. Silver itself is clean, tasteless, and not easy to rust. When made into a pot, it can produce "silk-like water" when boiling, which is delicate and smooth. When used to make tea, it can make the tea soup taste gentle and long-lasting, with a sweet aftertaste like spring water. It not only extracts the essence of tea leaves, enhances the aroma and awakens the taste, but also fully releases the mellow flavor of Pu'er and the charm of Oolong, achieving the ultimate expression of tea's color, aroma, taste, shape and rhythm, adding a unique charm to the tea ceremony.
When it comes to silver pot craftsmanship, one cannot bypass Heqing in Yunnan, a place where "small hammers have been striking for a thousand years". Since the Nanzhao period of the Tang Dynasty, it has been a handicraft center for gold, silver and copper utensils. In 2014, the Heqing Silver Ornament Forging Technique was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage, and the ancient craftsmanship has been passed down from generation to generation in the sound of craftsmen's hammers. The Bai craftsman Mu Binglin, born in Xinhua Village of Heqing, carries this thousand-year-old ingenuity. Xinhua Village has been famous for silverware processing since the Ming Dynasty, and generations have been engaged in metal craftsmanship. Mu Binglin has been associated with gold and silver since childhood. At the age of 14, he took up the burden to be a "small furnace craftsman" and traveled from village to village, which was also called "traveling to Yifang". After years of tempering, he became the inheritor of the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage techniques in 2018. He has always believed that "the soul of artistic design lies in culture". All the utensils he makes take culture as the backbone and craftsmanship as the soul, with both temperature and vitality.
The "Thousand Flowers Beam Pot" brought by Tongxinshe Teahouse this time is a masterpiece that embodies Master Mu Binglin's ingenuity. The pot body is made of 9999 fine silver as the framework, supplemented by wood-grain gold and gold decorations, integrating multiple complex techniques such as wood-grain gold, forging, chiseling and inlaying. With a capacity of 1000ml/570g ,it is not only suitable for daily tea tables but also appears grand and dignified. Its design ingenuity lies in every detail: the pot body is formed by forging, and the body is chiseled with a belt of winding thousands of flowers. There are graceful peonies, chrysanthemums hiding autumn frost, roses with dewdrops, elegant lilies, as well as sunflowers, camellias, crabapples, plums, peaches, lotuses, chrysanthemums and hydrangeas complementing each other. The beauty of hundreds of flowers in four seasons is integrated into one vessel, which exactly corresponds to the beautiful meaning of "Thousands of flowers are not vulgar, and prosperity never ends". On the pot lid, butterflies play among the flowers, vivid and lively, echoing the flower belt on the pot body from afar, forming a natural charm. The beam and the pot knob are exquisitely made with the master's representative wood-grain gold technique, which not only highlights the unique aesthetics but also makes the overall temperament elegant and extraordinary.
Beyond practicality, the ingenuity is more evident. There are 13 lotus-shaped air holes hidden at the bottom of the pot knob. When boiling water, the hot air spreads around, which not only prevents scalding and heat insulation but also implies purity and perfection. The structure of the pot ear is cleverly designed to effectively insulate heat, so it won't burn when held, eliminating the trouble of rope weaving or handle covers, and perfectly integrating practicality and aesthetics. Just as Master Mu Binglin's philosophy of making utensils goes: a good pot should take beauty as the appearance and utility as the essence. Only when both are available can it be a masterpiece.
This "Thousand Flowers Beam Pot" is a vivid carrier of intangible cultural heritage techniques, the ultimate presentation of the master's ingenuity, and a rare treasure in tea utensil collection. It can accompany daily tea ceremonies, improving the texture of tea soup with the purity of silver and the elegance of the vessel; it can also be carefully collected as a treasure, carrying the cultural heritage of thousands of years of craftsmanship and the scarce value of the master's handiwork, making this ingenuity of "endless prosperity" more precious over time.