# Reflections on Technical Course Preparation Notes Pan Chiping This year marks the centennial exhibition of Mr. Gu Jingzhou. SDX Joint Publishing Company plans to publish *Purple Tones, Rare Sounds: Research on Gu Jingzhou's Zisha Art* as a commemoration. They have solemnly requested the publication of the notes from the eighteen technical lectures that Mr. Gu Jingzhou gave to the personnel of the special arts class at the Yixing Zisha Craft Research Institute back then. More than thirty years ago, I had only been making teapots for just over a year after transitioning from making flowerpots, and my practical knowledge was still lacking. However, I listened attentively and recorded carefully. After organizing the notes, Mr. Gu made some partial revisions. Subsequently, with the purpose of transmitting the true teachings of zisha craftsmanship, I agreed to all requests for photocopies. This is what is now called the "Eighteen Lectures on Zisha." It is also commonly seen online, and there are even those who falsely claim authorship to glorify themselves. Due to insufficient understanding and limited skill level at that time, there were many typos and incorrect characters in the organized manuscript, and even some places where I misunderstood the meaning. The versions circulating online have even more errors. Now, to be prudent, Zhao invited me to review it. Staying faithful to the original manuscript, I only corrected typos and incorrect characters. This has also been another opportunity for learning, and I truly have the experience and benefit of finding something new with each reading. From the establishment of the "Yixing Dingshu Pottery Production Cooperative" until the 1980s, Mr. Gu Jingzhou gave many concentrated lectures, and there were also quite good records of these. These are all precious treasures for the transmission of zisha craftsmanship. Because the zisha industry is a folk craft with grassroots origins, it has inherited many local dialects, homophones, and specialized terminology. For those not in the trade, it can sometimes be truly difficult to understand. Therefore, I have attempted to provide an exploratory interpretation of the jargon in the notes. 生活 (shēnghuó) — here refers to work, craft 馆饿刀 (guǎn'èdāo) — named for its fish shape, its form more closely resembles a willow leaf fish 沸坯 (fèipī) — due to the widespread application of gypsum molds, the two characters "挡坏" (dǎnghuài) are frequently seen, using "扩" (kuò)