Cha dao utensil set
The upright pot of implements that stands beside a gongfu tray, conventionally six: a needle for clearing a blocked spout, a scoop for dosing leaf, a funnel that widens a pot’s mouth, tongs for handling hot cups, a spoon for lifting spent leaf out, and the vase that holds them.
Identity
- Category
- Accessory
- Native name
- 茶道六君子
- Romanised
- cha dao liu jun zi, chadao
- Also called
- six gentlemen, gongfu tool set, tea utensil set
- Material
- Bamboo or hardwood; the vase sometimes ceramic
- Skill level
- Beginner
Porosity
Not porous. It contributes nothing of its own to the liquor, so it can be moved between teas freely and washed with detergent without consequence.
Where it comes from
Chinese, and a modern packaging of tools that were previously kept individually rather than an old set in itself.
Named here rather than presented as generic equipment. The object belongs to a practice, and TeaHQ describes it from the outside.
If you do not own one
A chopstick clears a spout and lifts leaf. Of the six, the funnel is the one that earns its place — filling a narrow-mouthed pot with dry leaf without it scatters half of it on the tray.
This one is not marked essential. The tea can be made without it.
Brewing methods it is used for
- Gongfu brewing (gaiwan) — A high-leaf, low-volume, many-infusions approach: a great deal of leaf in a small vessel, steeped for seconds at a time and poured off completely, repeatedly.
- Gongfu brewing (Yixing pot) — The same short-steep, high-leaf approach as gaiwan gongfu, carried out in a small unglazed clay pot that seasons over time and is dedicated to one tea.
Care and maintenance
Bamboo splits if soaked or left wet. Wipe, dry upright, and keep them out of the path of the kettle.
Other accessorys
- Alcohol burner
- Cha he (tea presentation vessel)
- Charcoal brazier (fenglu)
- Cup stand (chatuo)
- Electric ceramic tea stove
- Futaoki (lid and ladle rest)
- Hishaku (bamboo water ladle)
- Induction plate
- Kensui (waste water vessel)
- Kusenaoshi (whisk stand)
- Mortar and pestle
- Podstakannik (glass holder)
- Ro and furo (hearth and brazier)
- Ryoro (senchado charcoal stove)
- Stone tea mill
- Tea boat
- Tea cloth
- Tea cosy
- Tea mat (chaxi cloth)
- Tea pet
- Tea pick (cha dao)
- Tea tongs
- Tea tray (cha pan)
- Teapot warmer
- Waste water bowl (jianshui)
- Water cooling bowl (sukwoo)
- Water filter jug
- Yuzamashi (water cooler)
Sources
This page is TeaHQ synthesis. No external source stands behind the description, the material or the account of how the object is cared for. Where the record names a tradition, that attribution is TeaHQ’s own reading of common practice rather than a citation.
TeaHQ names no maker, brand or shop and has nothing to sell. Nothing on this page should be read as advice to buy the object — the substitute note above exists because owning it is usually optional.