among the most striking of the northern wares,

especially those black-glazed bowls called " Henan

tienmu". The name "tianmu" is closely related to

South China because during the Tang Dynasty when

tea-drinking was popular, it was the southern people

who first discovered that black glaze exhibited most

beautifully the green color of the tea in a bowl.

"Temmoku," as called by Japanese, is an equivalent of

the Chinese "Tianmu," which is named after the Mt

Tianmu near Hangzhou . The first truly good tianmu

bowls were made at Jianan in Fujian Province in

the tenth century. This dark stoneware bodies were

decorated with a thick, oily iron glaze. The main

color was a dark brown. The glaze often ran to big

drops at the foot. Streak of blue or steel grey, known

as "hare's fur," or the bluish "oil spots," appeared

on both the inside and outside surfaces by natural

coagulation of grey crystals. During the periods of

the Tang and the Sung, some Japanese monks took

tianmu tea bowls back to Japan , and since then the

bowls have become popular with Japanese people.

Japanese ceramic artists in general, even today,

consider it a great honor if they can bring out good

temmoku.

Heguang Tianmu and Da Qi Zhi Ren

In Taiwan , ceramic artists nowadays are adept at

the making of comparable and even better tianmu

in various forms, all radiant with lovely colors.

Tianmu ware made in the "Tithing Kiln” is called

"Heguang Tianmu" ( Tianmu ware merging into lifegivng

lights of Nature) to connote a hope that on the

one hand its pure forms and peaceful radiance can

take away spiritually the pollutants of the turbulent

society from human beings , remove their pressures,

and engender new energy in them to work on for a

better life, and on the other hand to revere and praise

the Creator for his using warm light in making all

sentient beings grow so well in the

universe. As Heguang Tianmu

is conceived in such a spirit,

it is given another epithet: "

Da Qi Zhi Ren," meaning

that great things begat

great kindness as they are

born of magnanimity.

Oil-drop Temmoku / Tian-mu Ware

Zheng Shun-ren

No 51-27, Xin Zhung Zi , Sanzhi , Taipei County , Taiwan

Phones(Home)：(02)2636-5286

(Studio)：(02)2636-8580

Mobile：0988-777-183

Email：tithing.kiln@gmail.com

坐看爐火純青，心懷天目涵碧

As I watch the kiln reach the right heat

I wait for the glittering of the tianmus