Xu Sihai (c. 1946 – June 5, 2020) was a Chinese teapot creator, artisan, collector, and curator. Xu was an expert and authority on purple clay teapots, also known as the Yixing clay teapot.^[1] In 1992, Xu founded the Sihai Teapot Museum, the first private museum established in modern Shanghai.^[1][2]

Xu was born in Yancheng, Jiangsu province.^[1] He moved south to the city of Shanghai when he was 10-years old.^[1] He joined the People's Liberation Army when he was 23 years old and was sent to North Vietnam during the 1960s.^[1] Xu first became interested in creating purple clay teapots while still enlisted in the military. After leaving the army, Xu returned to Shanghai with a truck full of purple clay teapots he created.^[1]

Xu continued making purple clay teapots during the 1980s. His creation, a teapot called "Summer," won a national competition in 1985.^[1] That particular teapot was later acquired by the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.^[1] His first solo exhibition of his teapots took place in Singapore in 1989.^[2]

Examples of his teapots are now displayed in both Chinese and international museums.^[1]

In 1992, Xu Sihai opened the Sihai Teapot Museum, the first private museum in Shanghai.^[1] He also opened "A Hundred Buddhas Garden" in 2009, a 3.07-hectare complex which encompasses the original Sihai Teapot Museum, as well as the China Tea God Museum and a tea processing factory located in the city's Jiading Districts Zhenxin neighborhood.^[1]

Xu Sihai died on June 5, 2020, at the age of 74.^[1]