质量

[Page 567] # Lesson Seven, December 30, 1981 Quality—from the literal meaning of the characters, "quality" (*zhi*) refers to the material nature, and "quantity" (*liang*) refers to the amount. In common parlance, it simply means whether something is good or bad. Quality encompasses two aspects: one is external appearance, the other is internal substance. The problem currently existing in our factory is that we focus only on external appearance and neglect internal quality. External quality is nothing more than surface scraping, smoothing, and polishing, whereas internal quality is what truly matters. Several aspects where products are prone to defects: 1. False bottom too thick or too thin; 2. Lid floating on top, not adhered tightly; 3. Carelessness when attaching the spout and handle; 4. Spout not hollowed out properly, middle section blocked; 5. Spout base and spout hole misaligned, blocking the spout hole; 6. Height of spout does not meet requirements (generally a teapot's spout should be level with the rim; those with knobs can be slightly lower); 7. Rim not uniform, one side wide and one side narrow, clay accumulated inside, inner rim cut too slanted, making the wall appear thin; 8. Clay strips used when forming the body too thick or too thin. Several operational methods to ensure internal product quality: 1. Good foundation; 2. Correct operational techniques and procedures; 3. Appropriate tools. [Page 568] # Technical Guidelines for Yixing Pottery Construction A. Begin with the clay material, correctly mastering the proper consistency of the clay, and prepare good clay coils and slabs. B. The body cylinder must be beaten well. If there are wrinkles when beating the clay or forming the body cylinder, wrinkles will appear after firing. If the hollow body cylinder is formed by hand, it must be consolidated. Expanding the body cylinder is to strengthen its resistance and make the cylinder round and even. The timing for consolidating the body cylinder must be well controlled—when the resistance limit and hand feel are just right. If the resistance limit is exceeded, it will require much greater effort to consolidate again. Expanding the body cylinder has another function: according to general principles, after the bottom is gathered and closed, the diameter of the belly will necessarily be larger than the circumference. To achieve the correct form, this requires the method of beating first (Figure 1, Figure 2). > Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 C. When rolling out slabs, attention must be paid to proper consistency. D. Tools must be used properly, and moreover, tools should be considered beforehand and necessary auxiliary tools prepared in advance. E. Attention must be paid to processing aspects. For example, to ensure the mouth and lid fit properly, one should use a mouth-opening gauge to measure the outer root of the already formed mouth rim. If it is correct, then the mouth and lid will certainly fit well. For straight large mouths, a separate gauge for measuring the mouth rim should be prepared to ensure the quality of the mouth and lid fit. ## Detailed Operations A. Key points for opening the mouth: (1) The mouth-opening gauge must be good. The mouth rim area should not be scraped; only the sharp edge needs to be beveled. (2) The lower edge of the mouth cannot be slanted; it must be straight. If it is uneven, simply use a pointed knife to level it. (3) To remove the lower edge corner, a specialized scraping tool should be made to scrape evenly and uniformly. (4) To make the inner mouth even and uniform, use a needle tool to make a scraping tool and scrape evenly (Figure 3). B. For the interior walls and bottom of the teapot, the marks from the small paddle should appear in a radial pattern. The junction between the bottom and walls must be pushed smooth and润. *Shanshuicun* [Page 569] # Handle Treatment and Quality Inspection ## Handle Treatment **Handle Treatment:** (1) The foot of the handle should be thin rather than thick, and the curled foot must be cleanly trimmed; (2) The position of the air hole should be carefully selected, with appropriate size—it must serve both practical and decorative purposes. ## Quality Inspection When inspecting product quality, attention should generally be paid to the following points: Whether the form is correct, whether the ring body has expanded feet, whether the lines are clear, whether the mouth and lid are flat, whether the spout base and the upper leg of the handle are properly attached, whether they are unobstructed, whether the spout tip is flat and straight, whether the bottom is flat, whether the interior of the body is clean, whether the needle marks are even, whether the clay added for attaching the spout is just right, and whether the air hole is ventilated. Additionally, pure red clay and pink red clay bodies must not be damaged, and pure red clay bodies should be trimmed when in the greenware state.