## My Miscellaneous Reflections on Replicating Products Before I began replicating the works of Shao Daheng, my skill level was still ordinary. Before the age of 20, driven by the necessities of life, I was quite meticulous in beating clay coils and slabs, maintaining both quality and speed. Therefore, my foundation was relatively solid—I could make thirty body cylinders in a single morning without difficulty. The first teapot I replicated from Shao Daheng was the "Yuanyuan Guo," which I made in 1936 when I was 22 years old. Prior to this, at age 20, I had replicated Yu Guoliang's "Daxian Yuan" and "Meihua Zhoupan," and at 21, I replicated Fan Dasheng's "Yinjin Zhuxiang" from Xiwangxu, as well as works by Pei Shimin. Now that you are engaged in replication work, you are allowed to make two pieces. After completing the first piece, you must definitely write notes on your experience, and you must be conscientious about it. Summarize your experience, identify problems, so that you can find ways to correct them when making the second piece. ## Several Points of Experience in Replicating Products: 1. The foundation must be solid; 2. Consideration must be thorough; 3. If you don't understand, ask; 4. Leave room for adjustment; The characteristic of making Yixing teapots is that you must make tools. If you cannot make tools, you cannot make good products. Yixing teapots generally feature linear decorations to varying degrees—some on the rim, some on the body, some on the lid, and some on the base. Because the positions differ, the methods of treatment are not entirely the same. Currently, there are many errors in the methods for treating body lines. The correct method should be: taking the "Youhe Hu" as an example—when applying lines to the body of the "Youhe Hu," the rim should face downward. The rim should be placed on a standard (so-called standard meaning appropriately sized and accurately leveled) cushion piece to apply the lines. Because the base may have deviations, it is not advisable to place the base downward; rather, one should use the rim.