The term zisha (紫砂, "purple sand") can be traced back to the late Ming Dynasty. The earliest verifiable written record appears in a poem by the Ming literatus Xu Wei (1521–1593).
In his poem Thanking a Gentleman for the Gift of Huqiu Tea (《某伯子惠虎丘茗谢之》), Xu Wei wrote:
"The spring tea of Huqiu is wondrously roasted and steamed,
Seven bowls down—why worry, not ascending to the realm of immortals?
Green bamboo wrappers of old, sealed with the mark 'Grain Rain,'
A new zisha jar purchased from Yixing."
It should be noted that the "zisha" objects mentioned in Xu Wei's poem refer primarily to vessels such as tea caddies or storage jars, not to the zisha teapots that would later become specifically associated with the term. During the mid-Ming period, when zisha teapots flourished, contemporary texts more commonly referred to them as shahu (砂壶, "sand pot"), minghu (茗壶, "tea pot"), or Yangxian hu (阳羡壶, "Yixing pot"). The fixed designation zisha had not yet taken shape.
After Xu Wei, the term zisha appears only rarely in literature. It does not resurface until the late Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, in the work Yangzhou Huafang Lu (《扬州画舫录》, The Pleasure Boats of Yangzhou), where zisha ni (紫砂泥, "purple sand clay") is recorded. Thereafter, the term gradually gained widespread acceptance and became the standard name for the purple-sand tea ware produced in Yixing.
(workers from Siyutao are picking up authentic yixing zisha ore)
