Hong Pi Long Ni (Red Dragon Skin Clay)
The "red" lies in its purplish-red color. This is the only hard mine that deviates from the ordinary seams. The mine is not deep, so it is known as "skin." People call it the “dragon” because of its vertical and horizontal shape.
Hong Pi Long is formerly known as "Wild Red Clay," is a rare type of clay in the market these days. It contains a comparatively high amount of quartz and mica. It is quite porous and very versatile. Thus, the longer you use it, the ruddier it becomes.
Hong Pi Long is blocky with a silty structure. It is hard with a relatively high quartz content and very well balanced with a good amount of white mica fragments.
The firing temperature ranges from 1170 ℃ to 1200 ℃. After firing, its color changes from brown-red to dark-red and purplish-red and becomes super-rich and durable.
Oftentimes, it is mistakenly considered as a type of Hong Ni because of its color, however, the ratio of shrinkage during firing is very different from that of Hong Ni. Although it has some of the characteristics of Zini. Therefore, Hong Pi Long is a type of Zini.
Key characteristics of Hong Pi Long
The raw clay of Hong Pi Long is very unstable, and thus it is very easy for it to crack during the crafting process. Therefore, the process must be completed without stopping under the perfect external conditions, such as weather, temperature, and tools. This process requires excellent skills and expertise. It is easy to cause “Tiao Sha”, deformation, and even cracking during firing. While preparing the pot, it can very easily chip and crack. It requires adequate experience, skill, and patience to make a teapot with Hong Pi Long. The success rate of the finished product is very low.
Therefore, it is very rare to craft excellent works with Hong Pi Long.
Recommended tea to pair with: Pu'er Tea (Raw or ripe), Roasted Oolong, and Hong Cha.
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