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Discovery of
Tang Porcelain Kiln
in Jiangxi Province
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????A
porcelain kiln and blue porcelain ware recently discovered and excavated
at the Hongzhou kiln site at Fengcheng (618-907) in Jiangxi Province
provide evidence that the area was the cradle of China's porcelain
production.
???? Fengcheng is a key cultural relic unit under state protection.
The excavation work is being carried out by a group of archaeologists
from the Institute of Cultural and Historical Relics and Archaeology
of Jiangxi Province and the Department of Archaeology of Beijing
University.
???? The new discoveries can be dated back to the first century or
the fourth century (during the Eastern Han, the Three Kingdoms and
the Western Jin periods.) A great deal of Western Jin (265-316)
saggars and high quality porcelain wares unearthed from the site
move back the earliest date for using saggars for porcelain making
from the fifth century (the Southern Dynasty) to the third century
(Western Jin). The use of saggars for porcelain production was a
Chinese invention.
???? The Hongzhou kiln was one of the six leading kilns during the
Tang period. The kiln has been surveyed three times, with 27 rectangular
units being dug and an area of 568 square meters disclosed. A total
of 11,985 pieces of various kiln tools and blue porcelain articles
was unearthed. Five kilns built in the Sui and Tang periods were
also disclosed. The best preserved two of them are kept under protection.
???? The unearthed articles and objects include blue porcelain jars,
bowls, cups, basins, inkstones, big and small cups, dou (stemmed
bowls), incense burners, broad-mouthed pots, dishes and seven-in-one
basins, all of fine quality, and brightly and smoothly glazed. A
blue round ink-stone with two water holders is the most valuable
object unearthed. The skills of under glazed relief decoration,
incised patterns and embossed decoration used on the blue porcelain
wares of the Hongzhou kiln are unique and extraordinary. The pattern
designs were those popular during the Tang period.
???? The diversified variety of products, with unique models, and
well-balanced and exquisite patterns and decorations, shows that
Hongzhou porcelain had reached a new technical height during the
Tang Dynasty. The shapes of the saggars of various periods show
obvious differences. They prove that the kiln used the saggar technique
not later than the Western Jin period, pushing the time back a long
way.
???? Through surveys and excavations, the site of the Hongzhou kiln
was found to have been a large one. About 20 ancient porcelain kilns
are widely distributed in the five townships and 18 villages under
the jurisdiction of Fengcheng City, being linked up as a whole by
the Ganjiang River.
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