When Zhao Songting 16 years old, his father died, and the painter's wish failed. In order to reduce the burden on the family, Zhao Songting went to Shaofu, a famous purple sand artist in Yuan Village, to learn the skills of making purple sand pots. By the fifth year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1879), the market situation of purple sand had improved, and Zhao Songting's imitation drums and bamboo drums were dignified, elegant, round and clean, which were deeply loved by people. In the seventh year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (188 1), imitation of ancient wares prevailed, and Zhao Songting made his famous work "Bamboo Drum with Tibetan Corner" one by one. Later, I worshipped Wu Yueting as a teacher and learned his seal cutting skills. Wu Yueting saw that Zhao Songting was smart and studious, and he also knew that he had studied calligraphy and painting since he was a child. He was very willing to teach him, but he refused to be his apprentice. As a result, Zhao Songting and Wu Yueting became friends who have forgotten the past year. With the deepening of communication, the two became friends who never turned against each other. Wu Yueting taught him how to use the knife and how to show his skills. Also taught him "single knife", "double knife", "clear engraving" and "empty engraving". Zhao Songting learned carving skills from his father's paintings and calligraphy at an early age. Because he often writes landscapes, draws pictures and sketches in front of his house, he got the stage name "Dongxi", and the inscriptions on the pot all used the stage name "Dongxi". In the 19th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1893), Zhao Songting, whose reputation was growing day by day, was hired by Wu Dacheng, a great Suzhou collector, and went to Five Blessingg to imitate ancient artifacts. In Five Blessingg, Zhao Songting visited's collection of Zhong Ding antiques and various ancient ceramics, imitated them first, and then created his own purple teapot. Because the seal of Wu Dacheng's collection should be printed on the bottom of the pot, he took the name of "Zhiquan" one by one and put it on the lid of the pot on the grounds that Hu Shaojia, where he studied, was a tributary of the orthodox Ming pot. During this period, the teapot made in Zhao Songting was simple and elegant in style, simple and lively, and carved with flowers and painted on it, leaving many traditional classics.

Planning and operating red porcelain pottery

At the end of the 20th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1894), he insisted on Wu's re-employment request and returned to Shangyuan village in Yixing, where he began to prepare for the operation of purple sand pottery. While making his own pot, he found a good pot maker. At the same time, he began to customize other people's teapots and rented their own kilns to burn. Zhao Songting was busy day and night, and in a few years, he successfully completed the ordering and ordering of batches of teapots from merchants in Shanghai, which made his business have a smooth start and laid a certain foundation.

In the 31st year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1905), Zhao Songting personally taught his son, Zhao Liantai, who was over 6 years old. In the thirty-second year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1906), Zhao Songting ordered a batch of export pots exported to Nanyang in Shanghai. After returning to Yuan Dynasty, he hired a group of purple sand artists to make their own imitation pots, among which Shao Buyun (also known as Yunfu), Chu Ming, Pan and others were all famous craftsmen. Since 1906, Zhao Songting has produced and exported "Du Niu Tong" to Thailand, which has been well received by Thai people. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zhao Songting successively studied various glaze colors and various purple clay colors, and applied decals, hanging glazes and adding colors, which achieved success one after another.

Reconstruction of Longyao 13 years (1924), warlords scuffled, potters evacuated, purple sand fell into a trough, and the kiln industry was at a standstill. In the second half of the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925), Zhao Songting invested all its own funds (and raised other funds) to rebuild the Longyao, named it Fuxing Kiln, and opened factories and workshops.

After two years' efforts, Zhao Songting not only gained a firm foothold, but also provided products for tea shops, and developed its business to all concessions in Shanghai, taking the lead. Zhao Songting's "Gongju" series pots and "Gongju" series pots were customized in Shanghai Concession, and they were re-exported, which was in short supply. Zhao Songting personally supervised the production, and skillfully used people's antique psychology, either carving or inscription, or printing or money, and asked the guest master of the workshop and his son Zhao Liantai to copy all kinds of Zhu mud sketches and red mud sketches. In the handed down products. A large number of horizontal pots, such as Gongju, Shunzhi Gongju, Yongzheng Gongju, Ganlong Gongju, Antique, Gong Hu and Longfeng Seal, are all made and supervised by Zhao Songting. Although Zhao Songting is very happy, there are also pro-products mixed in. At that time, many famous artists from Shushan and Shangyuan participated in the imitation of Gong Hu series. Zhao Liantai, Pan, Shao Buyun, Shen, etc. They are all good at making "tribute pots". The surface of Zhao Songting's horizontal "Gong Hu" pot is either left untreated, or the mouth edge is covered by a whole piece, and the pot foot is covered.