The engineering man has been obsessed with purple sand for 20 years, and mortgaged a suite for a pot
Fujian purple sand collector Gan Weimin,
Master of Engineering, Professor-level Senior Engineer of Building Structure,
It is also recognized as the "purple sand treasure" in the circle.
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A corner of the study
He fell in love with purple sand because of tea,
has both the rationality of an engineering man and the literary DNA of the family,
Obsessed with purple sand art for nearly 20 years,
Slowly build up your own collection system.
I also mortgaged a house for a pot.
One visited Gan Weimin's home in Fuzhou.
He took out a famous pot of Gu Jingzhou from the forties
Have a chat with us.
Editor: Ye Li
An auction is coming up
"2023 Purple Sand & Tea Props Autumn Auction"
Auction Preview Time:
Thursday, December 7 – Saturday, December 9, 2023
Offline Auction Hours:
December 9, 2023 (Saturday) 14:00
Auction Venue:
Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao Xiangyuan Grand Ballroom West Hall
1116 Hongsong East Road, Minhang District, Shanghai
Scan the QR code to add an exclusive auction consultant
A selection of Christmas-themed masterpieces, lively colors, warm atmosphere, click on an art APP to enter
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Gan Weimin (left) and Mu Wenbo, the manager of a collection, taste the pot together
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Gan Weimin's study and a corner of the purple sand collection
Walking into Gan Weimin's house is like walking into a small purple sand pavilion. In a long display case, all kinds of purple sand ware from the end of the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China are neatly arranged, large and small, and in different forms. On the wall of the tea room, there is also a painting made by his friend and famous purple sand scholar Huang Jianliang, especially for one of his favorite purple sand - "Dabin Pot".
The bookcase is also full of ancient books, more than one-third of which are directly related to Zisha, and many Zisha atlases in the early years have been carefully collected. In addition to the pot, there is also a purple sand water note on the desk, a "Palace Museum Cultural Relics Monthly" published by the National Palace Museum in Taipei, he is reading about the research on the hidden yuan purple sand pot of Wanfukuji Temple in Kyoto, Japan...
On weekdays, he likes to drink alone, taste pots, and light incense here.
Although he is engaged in very rational structural engineering research and design work, he said that he has been literary and artistic since he was a child, and he loves to read and learn calligraphy the most, but in fact, the liberal arts are better than the science in high school. "Maybe it's also because I'm a Scorpio, superimposed literary attributes," he added with a hearty smile. Talking about Zisha, his eyes were full of light, excitement, joy, and awe.
The following is Gan Weimin's account.
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Eight years ago, when he visited the Zisha Palace-level holy relics, Dabin made a full Ruyi pot. This is also the avatar that Gan Weimin has used to this day
I was born in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, born in 68 years, majoring in architectural structures, and after graduating from university, I have been engaged in the research and design of architectural structures.
In the first ten years of work in the nineties, I was very busy, and after my career was relatively stable in my thirties and forties, I slowed down and fell in love with drinking tea. Because of drinking tea, I fell in love with Zisha.
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An old family heirloom
Qing Qianlong Jiaqing period
Purple sand is born from tea. Fujian is a large tea-producing province, every household in southern Fujian and northern Fujian drinks tea, and in my memory, my grandfather has an old pot to make tea, which is always placed in a high place, which makes people have a sense of awe, and the love related to traditional culture seems to be engraved into the DNA.
In order to drink tea, I started to play with a simple new pot, and almost all of my spare time was spent on learning and studying purple sand, and later entered the world of the old pot, and since then it has been uncontrollable.
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Late Ming Dynasty Dabin pot
When I first saw Da Bin Pot in 2013, I couldn't sleep all night.
Shi Dabin is the late Ming Dynasty purple sand pot maker, is an epoch-making figure in the history of purple sand, has the reputation of "once in a lifetime", the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty is a peak of purple sand, we joke about the end of the Ming Dynasty purple sand "shot is the peak", patting, inlay and other a complete set of purple sand molding process, in the era of Shi Dabin has been finalized and passed down to this day.
Shi Dabin traveled to Loudong, communicated with Chen Jiru and other literati, and pioneered making the pot smaller, opening a precedent for literati purple sand ware. "Dabin pot" is a dream masterpiece of the purple sand collection. The overall proportions of the Dabin pot, the excess of the shoulders, and the echo of the flow handle, are all high-end. The knife strength of the "Dabin" carving at the bottom is done in one go.
The mud of this pot, which we call "black mud" in the industry, is a symbiotic mine, blue-gray, and the slurry on the black mud is moist and has a sense of age, which is the charm of the old pot.
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Dabin pot painted by Huang Jianliang
Twenty years ago, when I first started researching purple sand, there was far less information than there is now. In addition to reading books, I accidentally came into contact with several special purple sand websites (such as China Humi.com), and purple sand lovers from all over the world gathered on the Internet, holding physical pictures and materials to communicate warmly, and that atmosphere touched me very much.
The first stage of the purple sand collection - to distinguish the authenticity. Zisha identification is actually comparative study, taking the "right" thing as a reference, constantly comparing, constantly looking, and accumulating, "practicing a thousand songs and then knowing the sound, watching a thousand swords and then recognizing the instrument".
After you have a certain ability to discern, you can look for high-quality products.
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Early Qing Dynasty Chen Mingyuan void flat pot
The pot of Chen Mingyuan, the "first person of purple sand" in the early Qing Dynasty, is also the dream of every purple sand collector. This one was once hidden in the Monterey Museum in California, USA, and all the lines are clean and clean.
In terms of purple sand technology, the more flattened, the more difficult it is, and there are ingredients to show off skills.
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Republic of China Gu Jingzhou made vermilion clay bowls and light pots
Gu Jingzhou is a generation of masters who inherit the past and the future. Feng Qiyong called it: the first class of the hundred generations of pot dug. This year, I was very lucky enough to have a pot from his forties.
In the past, when I looked at Gu Jingzhou's collection, I was very interested in this pot, which came from tradition and innovation. At that time, this pot was collected from Taiwan for auction, which was one of the focuses of the auction at that time, and even friends from Taiwan came from afar to bid, and finally got the auction as desired, which was very lucky.
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In the early Qing Dynasty, Ming Qian made purple mud grape cups
The history of purple sand spans more than 400 years, and when the collection accumulates to a certain number, about more than 100 pieces, it slowly begins to think about establishing a collection framework: vertically, from the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, almost every stage of the purple sand representative boutiques have been collected.
Horizontally, the boutiques of the same era are as rich as possible, in addition to the purple sand pot, there are also miscellaneous pieces of purple sand, which are also included.
For more than 20 years, it has come slowly.
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In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Mansheng drew a straight pot
It is also a great pleasure to interpret the inscription on the purple sand - it has content, temperature, and soul.
Mansheng, who pioneered the inscription system, each of his inscriptions is very short and timeless. After you read it, it seems that life has been opened.
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In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Ziye Qin Quan
The middle of the Qing Dynasty was a peak of literati pots, and under the influence of Mansheng, more Jinshi calligraphy and painting were brought to the purple sand.
Ziye's bamboo painting is good, and the bamboo carved on the pot has a kind of artistic conception of wind and rain, and it is like the calligraphy of Yang Ning, the "Yang Maniac" of the fifth generation. If it rains outside the window, looking at such a pot, the scenes blend.
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In the late Qing Dynasty, He Xinzhou made a beam pot on the eastern slope
Yucheng kiln is an important kiln mouth of literati purple sand. Dongpo Tiliang pot is the representative work of Yucheng kiln. "The rough grass does not let the former sages wonderful" means that although it is rough, the beauty is not inferior to the former sages, and it is modest and full of self-confidence.
In fact, there are this kind of literati in their bones, we say "you can't be arrogant, but you can be arrogant".
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In the late Qing Dynasty, Jin Shiheng and Wang Dongshi cooperated with Feihong Yannian pot
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The story of the kettle made engraved in the lid
The pot that the literati participated in the production of was very gentle. Jin Shiheng's pot, a bridge-shaped handle, was made into the body of a wild goose. Jin Shiheng is Ziye's apprentice, and the Japanese call him "Tao Zu". In the lid, he also recounted the experience of making the pot.
The first time I got it, I couldn't sleep one night.
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The jade kiln is filled with water, and the engraving on each side is different
Many people say that they can't get out after playing purple sand, and they are often very specific, because purple sand is a comprehensive carrier of various traditional arts. Purple sand is fired out of clay, people and soil have a very natural sense of intimacy, purple sand color looks warm, and very restrained, and can be used to play, people can't put it down.
I also write calligraphy, and I am very sensitive to fonts and the breath of calligraphy and painting. The calligraphy and painting on the paper will have a richer expression on the pot, and there will be more gold and stone flavor, I will work hard to appreciate and experience, and it is also a means to distinguish the authenticity.
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Not long ago, when I visited again, Dabin made a full Ruyi pot. Gan Weimin sighed with emotion, "The salute is the same, the shock is concentric, but things are not people, Huafa is common, sigh that art is eternal, and life is a guest." ”
A fun place in Zisha is that you can get started.
On weekdays, I like to drink tea alone in the study, and choose different pots because of different situations. If it rains a little, I will take a pot engraved with plantain and listen to the rain and taste tea, as if I heard the sound of the rain hitting the plantain, and I enjoy this casual and freehand way of drinking tea.
Collections are often about fate. Sometimes when I see a good pot on the auction, I think that maybe I will never encounter it again in my life, and I must have to take it down even if I grit my teeth. I once came up with the house to buy a pot, and I am grateful for the support of my family.
Collecting has changed me a lot, playing things to nourish my ambition.
When I am making tea, I suddenly feel that I may have something in common with the ancients at some point, or suddenly I remember their situation, why did he create in this situation? Everyone has a reason to express it.
Reading history books, the people and events of each era are very general, but I got an artifact and saw a specific person. For example, Wu Dayi, knowing that he was a collector in the late Qing Dynasty and a family, how did his things scatter among the people and fall into our hands?
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Appreciating the big bin flat pot
Because drinking tea and tasting pots, I also have a spiritual home, so that I can be quiet, not impetuous, and not follow the trend.
After I collected it myself, I slowly remembered some things from my childhood. My grandfather collected calligraphy and paintings at that time, and when I was very young, I vaguely remembered that my grandfather would take out the paintings and calligraphy when the weather was good, and let my father and them look at them.
My grandfather told my dad that when you look at a painting, you don't talk when you look at the painting, otherwise it will spray spittle, and it is better to carry your hands behind your back, not to touch the painting... Whatever the way, it gave me a sense of awe for ancient art from a young age.
The purple clay pot can also be regarded as the plastic art of space, we often say that a pot is "very tense", in fact, it means the beauty of its structure and mechanics. This seems to have something in common with my professional studies, and the beauty of science and art is highly consistent.
Personal energy and ability are also limited, it is not easy to do a good job in a collection category, Zisha is already a big world for me, and I am also grateful that this era has given us the opportunity to contact so many famous products.
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On the right is a pot atlas of Huang Yulin
The collection is endless.
Although Zisha is only 400 years old, the knowledge in it is still vast. The books in my current study may account for one-third of the books related to purple sand. The information of the purple clay pot is very important, and it is necessary to work hard to study, learn, and accumulate, because I like Huang Yulin's pot, and I have bought Huang Yulin's pot ink painting atlas, which cost tens of thousands of yuan.
In fact, in recent years, the purple sand collection has also ushered in a good time, and a large number of fine products have returned from overseas.
Regarding the future planning, the first is of course to hope to be able to collect better and more favorite boutiques, and leave it in our domestic purple sand collection circle.
I am now slowly writing some research articles about Zisha, researching and exploring the cultural history of Zisha from my own collection. At the same time, I also want to continue to sort out my collection and share it with more people, "it is better to be happy alone than to be happy with everyone".
See more and move less, this is the case with collections in any field. Zisha is born because of tea, you can first try to buy one or two purple sand pots suitable for you to make tea, "mud, type, work, style", mud is the first. If you just drink tea, don't be entangled in the handmade pot and semi-handmade pot, the mud is positive, the shape meets your own aesthetics, the process meets the requirements, the capacity is appropriate, and the use is handy, you can buy it to make tea.
If you are interested in entering the field of collecting, you need to constantly improve your knowledge. Read more books, go to museums to see classics, go to auctions to get your hands on fine works, arm yourself well, and you will always have a chance to buy good things.
If you have a good teacher, you can take a lot of detours, and even overtake in corners. If you work the road of collecting, and have understanding, and then meet mentors and friends, you can indeed overtake in corners.
"It is better to retreat and close the net", young people who are really interested in collecting, don't talk on paper, and boldly participate in buying and learning will make progress.
(Some photos provided by Gan Weimin)
An auction is coming up
"2023 Purple Sand & Tea Props Autumn Auction"
Auction Preview Time:
Thursday, December 7 – Saturday, December 9, 2023
Offline Auction Hours:
December 9, 2023 (Saturday) 14:00
Auction Venue:
Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao Xiangyuan Grand Ballroom West Hall
(1116 Hongsong East Road, Minhang District, Shanghai)