Throughout history, the people of Taizhou have always been fond of tea and teapots, a fact evident from the Ming Dynasty hexagonal tall-handled teapot and small purple clay cup (housed in the Taizhou Museum) unearthed in recent years. Historically, Taizhou and Yixing maintained frequent trade through canals and Taihu Lake, with deep-rooted cultural exchanges and mutual influences. Moreover, since the Ming Dynasty, Taizhou's commerce and industry flourished, and its civic culture thrived. It was the birthplace of the "Taizhou School," which embodied the most authentic Chinese populist thought. Given this context, it is not difficult to understand why purple clay art was so cherished in Taizhou. Today, Zhao Yue of Taizhou, after handling a large number of Gu Jingzhou's works, has compiled a major scholarly work on Gu Jingzhou's purple clay art research. This continues the historical connection and accomplishes a remarkable service to the purple clay craft. Master Gu never imagined during his lifetime that someone would summarize his life's work with such great enthusiasm and in such detail. He would surely feel gratified in the afterlife. I remember in early 1996, during the final period of the old master's life, when Chinese craft culture and craftsmanship spirit were most lacking, he solemnly told me for the third time that he wanted to leave all his purple clay works to me. I had politely declined the first two times, but this time, fearing I might hurt the master's feelings and intentions, I shared my true thoughts with him. The gist was as follows: > Your historical position in the purple clay industry is extraordinarily special, truly serving a pivotal role in linking past and future. In recent decades, the traditional craft and fine arts industry has experienced a historic break in transmission, creating a generational gap. Your inheritance, synthesis, and development of purple clay craftsmanship techniques—from procedural principles to tool improvements, and further to the research and promotion of traditional vessel forms—have all reached a level comparable to the highest peaks in history, becoming the most precious exemplar. Your works, as well as the tools used to create purple clay pieces, are destined to become textbooks for Chinese craft and fine arts and representatives of the Chinese craftsmanship spirit. Your purple clay tools cannot belong to me personally, nor solely to the purple clay industry. Speaking more broadly, they are cultural heritage of the entire Chinese creative spirit. Leaving them to museums and to future generations will greatly benefit the nation. Perhaps my words moved the master. He smiled and nodded, and from then on never mentioned the matter to me again.