Hello Danica,

There seems to be a bit of confusion with the Yixing clay

Zhu Ni (modern or original) is a Hong Ni and Hong Ni is a Zi Sha.

Zi Sha includes 5 colors:
- Hong Ni (red clay: Zhu ni - Xiao Hong Ni...)
- Hei Ni (black clay)
- Zi Ni (purple clay: Qing Shui Ni - Tian Qing Ni...)
- Duan Ni (this clay can be yellow or green)
- Lu Ni (green clay)

Zhu Ni is a red color clay that is classified into Hong Ni category and
it is one of 5 Yixing Zi Shas.

The Zhu Ni that was used prior the early 20th century was a mining
clay, which means it hadn't been mixed with colors nor other type of
clays. However, the production of that original Zhu Ni was already
extremely limited by that time and no more mining/production during the
early R.P C. period.

The Zhu Ni that we have today is in fact a re-creation of the original
Zhu Ni, which has been mixed with colors and other types of clay to get
the closest color and texture of the original one. Therefore, to
separate the difference between the two, some of the collectors or even
honest Yixing makers would rather call the re-created Zhu Ni "Modern
Zhu Ni".
As the original mining Zhu Ni is nowhere to get now, the high quality
modern Zhu Ni can also do a very nice job in tea brewing.

Hope this helps to clarify.

SEb

wrote:
> I have bought a teapot that a vendor told me is modern zhuni clay. How
> does this differ from hong ni clay or zisha, since real zhuni is
> extinct? Does anyone have an idea? I haven't received it yet so I
> don't know how it performs.