The clay strips and slabs receive force evenly, avoiding uneven thickness. Additionally, because zisha clay is beaten multiple times, the "clay gate" can easily become loosened; if beaten too little, the clay's plasticity is poor. Gu Jingzhou summarized from experience that beating around thirteen times is relatively scientific. All of this comes from his keen sensitivity to zisha clay, long-accumulated experience, and rigorous attitude toward zisha creation. Ge Taozhong recalled: "Master Gu had precise specifications for the size of clay slabs. If a 10-centimeter clay slab was needed, then when beating the clay slab, it could only be beaten to just over 11 centimeters. There were precise specifications for how large and how thick a piece of clay could be beaten—it couldn't be too large, nor too small. The calculations were very precise." Gu Jingzhou had strict regulations for the method of beating the body cylinder. When beating the bottom, he required four rounds of beating, and the method for each round was different. If the upper opening was slightly larger, only three rounds were needed. When others made teapots according to Gu Jingzhou's designed dimensions, the flavor of the finished product would be different. One important reason for this lies in his unique and distinctive techniques for the beating method and force applied to the body cylinder. ## Gu Jingzhou Beating Clay Slabs Regarding the wall thickness of the zisha teapot body—that is, the thickness of the beaten clay slabs—Gu Jingzhou had his own unique insights. He did not blindly pursue excessively light or thin finished vessels: "Zisha vessels (walls) cannot be made too thin, because zisha vessels are different from metal vessels; they must have the texture of pottery, and thus must maintain a certain thickness."[1] He also did not approve of clay slabs being too thick, as that would result in finished vessels being too heavy and appearing stiff and rigid. He had different requirements for the body walls of teapots of different capacities. In terms of the relative weight of Gu Jingzhou's zisha teapots, they were neither light nor heavy—that feeling was just right, moderate without being excessive. His skilled craftsmanship enabled Gu Jingzhou to feel whether the thickness was uniform just by taking a clay strip in his hands. The reason for this: "There is no other principle—only familiarity of the hand." --- [1] Fei Yunxiang, ed., *Interviews with Zisha Masters* (Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, April 2008), p. 114.