A flame-lighting ceremony was held on Feb. 5 to unveil a ceramic making facility constructed at the ancient Qiong Kiln site in Qionglai, a county-level city, 75 kilometers southwest of Chengdu.

The Wenjun Kiln is built with the aim to carry forward the profound ceramic making tradition in Sichuan. Traditional techniques and modern technologies will be integrated in its future ceramic production.

The new kiln structure and the ancient kiln site will be encompassed in a cultural and creativity park to be built with a 10-billion-yuan investment, as part of the local government’s protective development initiative.

Qiong Kiln refers to a group of ancient folk kilns discovered across the Chengdu Plain, known for rich varieties of celadons, ceramic sculptures and ceramics with painted decoration. The production history of the kilns dates back to Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) and lasted till Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

The ancient kiln group has been listed in the national Great Sites Conservation directory and is reckoned as one of the three most important archeological sites in Sichuan along with the Sanxingdui Ruins and the Jinsha Site.

The Shifangtang kiln site in Qionglai represents the highest achievement of ceramic production among all Qiong Kiln sites with the largest land coverage, longest-lasting history, greatest diversity of unearthed artifacts and broadest scale of product circulation.