Tea drinking habits have a long history in our country. Ancient literati often gathered together, using pots and jars to sip and drink tea, considering it as a way to gain endless pleasure. According to historical records such as the "Huayang Guozhi" of the Han Dynasty, the "Fan Jiang Pian" by Sima Xiangru, and the "Fangyan" by Yang Xiong, tea was already used as a tribute during the time of King Wu of Zhou, reflecting the practice of buying, brewing, and drinking tea in the Western Han Dynasty. The great poet Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty once said, "A person cannot live without tea for a day." It can be seen that tea drinking occupied an important place in the lives of ancient people.

Before the Tang Dynasty, tea utensils and food utensils were not distinguished. With the popularization of tea drinking, tea utensils became more exquisite. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the ideal teapot for tea drinking - the purple clay teapot - appeared. Made from purple clay, it was carefully crafted by artisans, with a deep purple color, soft texture, classic shape, and elegant luster, as valuable as bronze vessels. During the Song Dynasty, purple clay teapots were widely used among scholars, and the great poet Ouyang Xiu once wrote a poem: "Happy to share the purple pot, singing and sipping; I envy your graceful and refined sentiments." In this poem, "Zi Ou" refers to the purple clay teapot. The rise of Yixing's purple clay production from the late Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty quickly made it the center of national purple clay production. For hundreds of years afterward, Yixing remained at the forefront of Chinese purple clay teapot making, and still does today.

Yixing is located at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces, by the shore of Tai Lake. It was called Yangxian in ancient times. By the Tang Dynasty, it had become a famous tea-producing base, with many famous teas annually presented as tributes for the imperial court. The "Tea Immortal" Lu Siyun of the Tang Dynasty once said, "The Son of Heaven must enjoy Yangxian tea; no other plants dare to bloom first." Therefore, in Yixing, people had long been using the soil from Dingshan and Shushan to make tea-drinking purple clay teapots. In the book "Yangxian Ming Hu Lu" by Zhou Gaoqi of the Ming Dynasty, it is recorded that the appearance of the purple clay craftsman Gong Chun during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty pushed Chinese purple clay crafts into a new stage. Gong Chun's original name was "Gongchun." As a young servant to Wu Yishan, he would take time off to secretly visit the monk Sha Jin and carefully select and refine the clay, diligently shaping it, eventually becoming a master. After Gong Chun became a master of Yixing purple clay craftsmanship, his works were called "Gongchun Teapots," which were praised as "better than gold and jade" at the time. From then on, the production of Yixing purple clay wares developed rapidly, with numerous new varieties emerging and many outstanding masters appearing.

During the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Chen Hongshou, one of the "Eight Masters of Xiling," joined the design and production process of purple clay teapots. This integrated calligraphy, painting, and craftsmanship, and the teapots immediately received social recognition, being praised as "Man Sheng Teapots" as another milestone in the history of Chinese purple clay teapot making. Since then, many calligraphers and painters participated in the painting and calligraphy on purple clay teapots. For example, Ren Bonian, the leader of the Shanghai School of Painting, and Wu Changshuo, who were deeply devoted to purple clay teapots, almost neglected their own professions. This custom has continued to this day.