--- still had to climb. I will do everything in my power to bring glory to my motherland and to the Yixing pottery craft.[1] On the evening of June 2, 1996, Gu Jingzhou, hospitalized with cardiopulmonary disease and sensing that his life's journey was nearing its end, struggled in his hospital bed at the Yixing First People's Hospital in Jiangsu Province to write his final testament: "Yixing pottery fate." Afterward, he asked his family to return home to fetch his fountain pen. In his final moments, he summoned all his remaining strength to write the last words of his life: "Yixing pottery artistic fate." > "Fate arises, fate falls, fate finally ends; flowers bloom, flowers fade, flowers return to dust." At 2:00 PM on June 3, the 81-year-old Gu Jingzhou peacefully departed from this world. Throughout his life, he spent every day in the company of Yixing pottery. His thoughts and style influenced several generations of Yixing pottery artisans who came after him. His works—robust yet rigorous, flowing yet measured, archaic yet elegant, finely crafted yet beautiful, refined and graceful—embodied a beauty of both softness and strength, and became a benchmark that later generations eagerly sought to emulate. Having labored his entire life, Gu Jingzhou transmitted his exquisite skills without reservation to his many apprentices, making an indelible and immense contribution to the branching and flourishing of the Yixing pottery craft. He became an important milestone in the modern history of Yixing pottery development. --- [1] The original text appears to begin mid-sentence, suggesting this is an excerpt from a longer passage.