張建成

“真沒想到，今年持續(xù)40℃的高溫天氣，幫我烤熱了泥茶壺銷售市場，我10天燒一窯，還是供不應(yīng)求?！?/p>

早晨5點，滿頭大汗忙完裝窯、準備點火的武義泥茶壺制作第五代傳人吳萬能，說起高溫帶熱的泥茶壺市場一臉的喜悅。

吳萬能家住武義縣王宅鎮(zhèn)孫里塢村伍仙亭自然村。為傳承祖上傳下的這把泥壺，他整整堅守了37年。

在當?shù)?，這種用泥燒制的茶壺，俗稱“西瓜壺”。過去，農(nóng)民到田里干活都會提著裝滿茶水的“西瓜壺”，天氣越熱，感覺壺里的水越?jīng)?，口渴之時，喝上幾口頓感清涼甘爽，很是解暑。

陶質(zhì)泥壺是最為傳統(tǒng)的茶壺，曾經(jīng)深受人們喜歡，后來才有瓷壺、紫砂和石壺、金屬壺，以及玻璃壺、塑料壺等，泥茶壺逐漸淡出消費市場。

吳氏一家是清朝道咸間從湖北黃石大冶遷來浙江金華武義的，一直從事泥茶壺手藝，如今他家門前仍在使用的燒制土窯就是祖先留下來的，至今有160多年的歷史。

1980年，只有16歲的吳萬能，在自家門前的公路邊擺了個專賣泥茶壺的小攤。他在讓過往客人選購的同時，虛心聽取評說意見，根據(jù)需求，在傳承祖上泥茶壺制作技藝中大膽創(chuàng)新，對泥茶壺的壺形、壺柄、壺嘴及壺蓋等進行改進，融入紫砂壺、玻璃壺的許多古典而又時尚的文化元素。

37年來，吳萬能手中拿捏過無數(shù)塊陶土團，幾分鐘，一只西瓜狀的泥茶壺就能做出來。特別是做壺嘴、壺蓋，既沒模具，也不用工具，他就憑手感活脫脫地制作好。吳萬能向筆者介紹，泥茶壺制作看似簡單，但前期工作要經(jīng)過10多道工序，然后晾曬，才可入窯燒制。他說，燒窯技術(shù)也很有講究，因泥茶壺是用柴火燒的，需20多個小時，窯溫控制在1000℃以下，溫度過低燒不透，溫度過高會變形開裂。

吳萬能純手工制作的各式泥茶壺名氣越來越大，產(chǎn)品除銷往金華、寧波、溫州、杭州、上海等地外，還被不少客人帶往新加坡、印尼、泰國、韓國、日本等10多個國家。

如今，武義泥茶壺制作技藝被武義縣和金華市確定為非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)項目，吳萬能是第五代代表性傳承人。采訪中，吳萬能感慨地說：“泥茶壺制作很辛苦，但它漂洋過海，為歐美、東南亞華人家庭，為港澳臺同胞使用時，我心里就很滿足，感覺堅守這么多年，值！”

（本文照片由作者拍攝）

But More Than a Teapot

By Zhang Jiancheng

“This years business was as hot as the scorching sun， which I did not expect. I have been working around the clock in the firing kiln， but supply still fell short of the ever-growing demand，” Wu Wanneng shared his excitement when getting ready for the work of a new round of firing， sweat dripping down from his face. The craftsman represents the fifth generation of the successors of the unique clay teapot craft from Wuyi County， Jinhua， in Zhejiang Province. To carry on the family glory that has spanned five generations， Wu Wanneng has dedicated 37 years of his life to the craft.

Now living in Wuxianting， a small village in Sunliwu， Waizhai Town in Wuyi， the family has its ancestral roots in Daye， Huangshi City in Hubei Province. The earth kiln used by Wu Wanneng was built by his ancestors about 160 years ago. Clay materials are shaped， dried and then fired in the kiln. The final characteristics of the products are determined by the composition and preparation of the clay body， and by the temperature at which it is fired.

The clay teapot the Wu family specializes in is called by the locals as ‘watermelon teapot， and had long been one of the life necessities of the farmers in the old times. The water kept in the magic ‘cold-insulation container is the best antidote to unbearable mid-summer heat during the farmers daily toil in the fields.

Teapots made of clay used to be popular， but faded out the market when the other materials such as porcelain， metal， glass and plastic prevailed because of lower cost and higher productivity.endprint

In 1980， the 16-year-old Wu Wanneng set up a booth on the roadside near his home to sell clay teapots. His innovation has never ceased since then. Practice makes perfect. Over the years， he trained himself into a teapot master.

It takes him a few minutes to shape a piece of clay into a teapot that looks like a mini watermelon， without using any mold or tool. “It is not as simple as it looks like； the preliminary work alone takes a dozen elaborate steps to finish， and the firing in the thermal insulated chamber that turns the clay into pottery takes at least 20 hours， not to mention lots of other time-consuming steps such as hardening and drying. The temperature in the kiln has to be well-controlled so that it stands below 1000℃ to avoid cracking on clay surface，” explains the experienced potter.

Recent years saw the comeback of the clay teapot in not only the market in China. The clay teapots produced by Wus wood fired kiln have drawn a following in Zhejiang and Shanghai， and have been shipped to more than 10 countries.

The clay teapot craftsmanship represented by Wus family has joined the citys cultural heritages legion. “For me， the biggest reward of my 37 years of sweating in the kiln is to see my teapots sail across the ocean to reach a global Chinese clientele.”endprint