Maifan Clay Water Margin Culture Heroes Cup

Maifan Clay Water Margin Culture Heroes Cup

　　The "Maifan Clay Water Margin Culture Heroes Cup" is created based on the heroic characters from one of China's Four Great Classical Novels, "Water Margin." Each cup features an engraved image of a hero from the classic tale. Crafted by Hao Qiang, the Chinese Intellectual Property Culture Ambassador, a master of Shandong folk handicrafts, an outstanding young ceramic artist in Shandong Province, and a recipient of the Shandong Taishan Literature and Art Award, using self-developed new ceramic materials. Produced by Shandong Zhitang Cultural Development Co., Ltd. (Shandong Yuncheng Longqiao Handicraft Professional Cooperative). Maifan stone is a valuable traditional Chinese medicinal material that has been used in the medical field since the Tang Dynasty. Li Shizhen’s "Compendium of Materia Medica" describes it as having a “sweet and warm scent, non-toxic, and highly effective in treating all types of abscesses and back sores.” Testing and analysis have shown that maifan stone can release over 50 kinds of essential macro-elements, trace elements, and rare earth elements necessary for the human body when immersed in water. In maifan clay pottery creation, traditional arts and crafts are combined with health benefits to produce items such as maifan stone-baked health teapots (cups). These are made from raw maifan stone ore through processes including crushing, tempering, clay preparation, handcrafting, and firing, all completed at temperatures of around 1100 degrees Celsius. The product has passed scientific testing by the National Light Industry Ceramics/Refractory Materials Quality Supervision and Inspection Station, meeting the national GB/T4734-1996 standard, and a test report has been issued. It demonstrates a high capacity to adsorb and remove heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and hexavalent chromium from water. It also removes harmful pollutants and various bacterial groups in water, transforming it into clean, active mineral water, while releasing multiple beneficial minerals and trace elements. The "Maifan Clay Antique-Style Teapot" was honored as a "Chinese Ethnic Art Treasure" at the 3rd Chinese Ethnic Art Treasures Cultural Festival, approved and hosted by the National Cultural Heritage Administration, and is permanently collected by the Chinese Ethnic Art Treasures Museum. The "Maifan Clay Tea Set Series" won the Silver Award at the 8th Shandong Provincial Tourism Commodity Innovation Design Competition, hosted by the Shandong Provincial Tourism Bureau, as well as the Silver Award at the 2010 China Ping’an Cultural Tourism Creative & Tai’an (Mount Tai) Tourism Commodity National Competition. It was also named one of the "Top Ten Branded Tourism Commodities of Shandong Province in 2010." — Heze Municipal Tourism Bureau, Yuncheng County Tourism Bureau, Shandong Zhitang Cultural Development Co., Ltd. (Shandong Yuncheng Longqiao Handicraft Professional Cooperative)