Rabbit Hair Jian Ware兔毫盏

Rabbit's Fur Jian Ware is a prestigious black-glaze tea bowl produced by Jian Kiln in Shuiji Town, Jianyang, Fujian Province, China. It got its name from the fine, silky thread-like crystal stripes on the dark glaze, which resemble the soft fur of a rabbit.

It first emerged in the late Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty, and became one of the most celebrated porcelain wares of that era.

In the Song Dynasty, tea contest (Doucha) was a nationwide fashion popular among emperors, scholars and ordinary people. People ground tea cakes into powder, whisked it with hot water to create white froth, and judged the quality by the color and lasting time of the tea foam. As the famous Song tea classic Record of Tea mentioned, white tea foam matches perfectly with dark tea bowls. The deep black glaze of Rabbit's Fur Jian Ware set off the white tea froth sharply, making it the best vessel for tea contests.

Emperor Huizong of Song highly praised it and listed it as a royal tribute. Many literati of the Song Dynasty also wrote poems to admire its natural and subtle beauty. Its random, natural kiln transformation embodies the ancient Chinese aesthetic philosophy of harmony between man and nature.

After the Song Dynasty, the art of making Rabbit's Fur Jian Ware declined and was almost lost due to the fading of the tea-contest custom. In modern times, the traditional craftsmanship has been revived, and it is now regarded as a treasure of Chinese ceramic culture, also highly treasured in Japan and other East Asian countries.