Selection and Evolution of Tea Ware 茶具的选配及变迁

选配茶具，除了看它的使用性能外，茶具的艺术性、制作的精细与否，又是人们选择的另一个重要标准。如果是一位收藏家，那么，他对茶具艺术的追求，更胜过对茶具实用性的要求。
Besides its basic functions, artistic value and craftsmanship are also important standard in selecing tea ware: collectors value the latter over the former.
因茶制宜
Teaware and tea should be suited.
古往今来，大凡讲究品茗情趣的人，都注重品茶韵味，崇尚意境高雅，强调“壶添品茗情趣，茶增壶艺价值”，认为好茶好壶，犹似红花绿叶，相映生辉。对一个爱茶人来说，不仅要会选择好茶，还要会选配好茶具。
All those who love drinking tea value both taste and artistic conception. They believe that if quality tea matches with quality tea ware, the tea drinking experience will be more pleasant and tea ware will appear more artful. Therefore, it is important for them to selec both quality tea and the right tea ware.
因此，在历史上，有关因茶制宜选配茶具的记述是很多的。唐代陆羽通过对各地所产瓷器茶具的比较后认为：“邢（今河北巨鹿、广宗以西，河南沙河以北地方）不如越（今浙江绍兴、萧山、浦江、上虞、余姚等地）。”这是因为唐代人们喝的是饼茶，茶须烤炙研碎后，再经煎煮而成，这种茶的茶汤呈“白红”色，即“淡红”色。一旦茶汤倾入瓷茶具后，汤色就会因瓷色的不同而起变化。陆氏从茶叶欣赏的角度，提出了“青则益茶”，认为以青色越瓷茶具为上品。
For this reason, there have been a great many books about matching tea and tea ware throughout history. Lu Yu, a tea expert of the Tang Dynasty, compared pottery tea ware produced in different parts of China and concluded that tea ware made in Xing (today’s Hebei and Henan Province) is superior to that made in Yue (today’s Zhejiang Province). In the Tang Dynasty, people drank cake tea, which needs to be baked and ground prior to brewing. The tea water is light red and its color will have a different appearance when it is poured into tea ware of different colors. Lu Yu believed that blue tea ware was the best in terms of appreciation of tea leaves.
从宋代开始，饮茶习惯逐渐由煎煮改为“点注”，团茶研碎经“点注”后，茶汤色泽已近“白色”了。这样，唐时推崇的青色茶碗也就无法衬托出“白”的色泽。而此时作为饮茶的碗已改为盏，这样对盏色的要求也就起了变化：“盏色贵黑青”，认为黑釉茶盏才能反映出茶汤的色泽。
In the Song Dynasty, people began to pour hot water into teapots instead of brewing tea in a kettle. As a result, the tea water appeared almost white. However, popular blue tea ware could not match this new color. People also replaced tea bowls with small tea cups, believing that small black tea cups are superior.
明代，人们已由宋时的团茶改饮散茶。明代初期，饮用的芽茶，茶汤已由宋代的“白色”变为“黄白色”，这样对茶盏的要求当然不再是黑色了，而是时尚“白色”。对此，明代的屠隆就认为茶盏“莹白如玉，可试茶色”。明代中期以后，瓷器茶壶和紫砂茶具兴起，茶汤与茶具色泽不再有直接的对比与衬托关系。人们饮茶注意力转移到茶汤的韵味上来了，对茶叶色、香、味、形的要求，主要侧重在“香”和“味”。这样，人们对茶具特别是对壶的色泽，并不给予较多的注意，而是追求壶的“雅趣”。
By the time of the Ming Dynasty, people had begun to prefer loose tea. In the early Ming Dynasty, tea water was a light yellow shade because young tea leaves were used. Accordingly, white replaced black as the most popular color for small tea cups. Tu Long, a tea expert at that time, believed that white cups would make it easier for people to see the real color of tea drink. Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, following the emergence of porcelain and dark-red enameled tea ware there was no need to match the color of the tea water with that of tea ware. People focused more upon the tea water - in specific its color, aroma, taste and form. Among these, aroma and taste were regarded as the most important qualities. Therefore, people shifted their interests from the color of tea ware to its aesthetic value and elegance.
清代以后，茶具品种增多，形状多变，色彩多样，再配以诗、书、画、雕等艺术，从而把茶具制作推向新的高度。而多茶类的出现，又使人们对茶具的种类与色泽，质地与式样，以及茶具的轻重、厚薄、大小等，提出了新的要求。一般说，饮用花茶，为有利于香气的保持，可用壶泡茶，然后斟入瓷杯饮用。饮用大宗红茶和绿茶，注重茶的韵味，可选用有盖的壶、杯或碗泡茶；饮用乌龙茶则重在“啜”，宜用紫砂茶具泡茶；饮用红碎茶与工夫红茶，可用瓷壶或紫砂壶来泡茶，然后将茶汤倒入白瓷杯中饮用。如果是品饮西湖龙井、洞庭碧螺春、君山银针、黄山毛峰等细嫩名茶，则用玻璃杯直接冲泡最为理想。至于其他细嫩名优绿茶，除选用玻璃杯冲泡外，也可选用白色瓷杯冲泡饮用。但不论冲泡何种细嫩名优绿茶，茶杯均宜小不宜大大则水量多，热量大，会将茶叶泡熟，使茶叶色泽失却绿翠，其次会使芽叶软化，不能在汤中林立，失去姿态；第三会使茶香减弱，甚至产生“熟汤味”。此外，冲泡红茶、绿茶、黄茶、白茶，使用盖碗，也是可取的。
Variety in tea ware increased in the Qing Dynasty. With varying shapes and colors tea ware became more artistic and was integrated with poetry, calligraphy, painting and sculpturing. The development of tea varieties also set new requirements for the color, texture, shape, weight, thickness and size of tea ware. Generally speaking, when you drink scented tea, you should make it in teapot and drink in porcelain cups because the fragrance of flowers and tea is preserved well in teapots. If you drink black tea or green tea and focus on the taste of tea, you should make it using teapots, teacups or tea bowls with a cover. Because sipping is very important in drinking Oolong tea, dark-red enameled tea ware is the right choice. When drinking broken black tea or congou black tea, it is best to make it in a porcelain or dark-red enameled teapot and drink from white porcelain cups. If you drink famous tender teas such as West Lake Longjing Tea, Dongting Biluochun Tea, Junshan Yinzhen Tea and Huangshan Maofeng Tea, it is better to make and drink them in glass. White porcelain cups are also a good alternative choice to glass for other famous tender green teas. However, no matter what kind of quality green tea you drink, the tea cups should not be too big. Large cups hold more water, thus they will also hold much more heat, which will stew the tea. As a result, the ripe tea will lose its green color and shape and become soft. It will also lose some of its fragrance or even gain an unpleasant taste.
因地制宜
Different regions prefer different tea ware.
中国地域辽阔，各地的饮茶习俗不同，故对茶具的要求也不一样。长江以北一带，大多喜爱选用有盖瓷杯冲泡花茶，以保持花香，或者用大瓷壶泡茶，尔后将茶汤倾入茶盅饮用。在长江三角洲沪杭宁和华北京津等地一些大中城市，人们爱好品细嫩名优茶，既要闻其香，啜其味，还要观其色，赏其形，因此，特别喜欢用玻璃杯或白瓷杯泡茶。在江、浙一带的许多地区，饮茶注重茶叶的滋味和香气，因此喜欢选用紫砂茶具泡茶，或用有盖瓷杯沏茶。
China is a large country, wher people have different customs in drinking tea and their own preferences for tea ware. In the north of Yangtze River, people usually choose to make scented tea in porcelain cups with a cover to preserve the tea’s fragrance. They also like to make tea in big porcelain teapots and drink in handleless small cups. In big and medium cities in the Yangtze River delta and North China such as Shanghai, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Beijing and Tianjin, people love drinking famous tender teas. They focus on taste, fragrance as well as color and form. Therefore, they prefer to drink in glass or white porcelain cups. In many areas in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces, people pay more attention to taste and fragrance, so they choose dark-red enameled tea ware or porcelain cups with covers.