700 years ago, Longquan Kiln was powdered like this.
On the first day of the New Year, if you don’t travel far, and want to see the human geography, there is a very good choice in Zhejiang Museum: “Dayuan Cang-Cultural Relics Exhibition of Fancunjing Site in Taicang”.
Zhejiang Longquan Kiln has a history of thousands of years, which is the kiln system with the longest firing time, the widest distribution and the greatest influence on the world in the history of porcelain making in China. At its peak, it sold well all over the world, but after all, it was an era when the traffic was inconvenient, and there were no expositions or Taobao. How did Longquan Kiln become famous all over the world?
After watching this exhibition, you may have an answer. This New Year’s Eve exhibition in Zhejiang Province gathered the “explosion” of global porcelain in Yuan Dynasty. 700 years ago, Longquan Kiln was like this.
How popular is Longquan Kiln
It was settled just after it came out of the oven.
In Yuan Dynasty, China had direct “Maritime Silk Road” trade with more than 60 countries.
Taicang, in the southeast of Jiangsu Province, on the south bank of the Yangtze River estuary, is a very important point of the “Silk Road on the Sea”. Zheng He, who led more than 200 seagoing ships to the Western Ocean that year, set out from Nanjing, gathered in Liujiagang, Taicang, Jiangsu Province, and then went to Fuzhou to sail to the western Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.
In January 2016, when Taicang excavated the river to borrow soil, the site of Fancunjing in Taicang was discovered. In the past two years, a total of more than 150 tons of porcelain pieces have been excavated, a large number of which are Longquan kilns in the middle and late Yuan Dynasty.
More than 95% of these porcelains are brand new, gathered in Taicang, waiting to go global.
Interestingly, some of the utensils were also packed with kiln furniture, such as bedding cakes, which were used in firing. They were almost shipped out of the kiln, and the scene recorded in the literature that “the fire in the kiln was stopped, and the merchants tried to sell it” was reproduced. It can be seen that Longquan kiln porcelain was selling well at that time.
Among the cultural relics on display in this exhibition, some are intact, some are restored to their original appearance, and there are many porcelain specimens.
Shen Qionghua, chief research librarian of the Ceramic Department of Zhejiang Museum, introduced that two characteristics of Yuan Dynasty porcelain can be seen in this exhibition: First, the glaze color of Southern Song Dynasty porcelain was mostly pink and plum, and in Yuan Dynasty, pink and cyan were still in use, but less, and turquoise was used more; Second, the porcelain wares of Yuan Dynasty were larger, such as Gao Zubei (also known as Horse Cup), which was close to the size of our wine glasses.
Du Hao, the librarian of Fang Ceramics Department and the curator of this exhibition, said that there are two pieces of blue glazed bowls with lotus patterns on the bottom, and the word “Zhi Yuan Si Nian” on the lotus petals. The discovery of this kind of chronological celadon provides important information for the confirmation of the age of sites and relics, and it is also the only two pieces unearthed at present.
In the site, experts also found the large storage base in the middle and late Yuan Dynasty, as well as the remains of the river channel, revetment and other harbor branches. They believe that this place is probably an official porcelain trade distribution center with lost literature.
“Six Kingdoms Wharf” Taicang
Reproduce the flourishing trade of Maritime Silk Road.
Longquan kiln is one of the most important trade products of the ancient Maritime Silk Road.
Starting from the stone road of Longquan Ancient Road in the embrace of the mountains, Longquan celadon has continuously traveled to East Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, Europe and Africa by land and sea.
By land, the traditional Silk Road is still open, from the Yuan Dynasty to the west through Ningxiang, Ganzhou, Xinjiang and other places, leading to countries in Central Asia and West Asia, and further to Europe.
Sea transportation was more developed in Yuan Dynasty. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the main destination of Longquan celadon exported to East Asia was Japan, and Qingyuan Port (now Ningbo Port) was the main origin of Longquan celadon exported to Japan.
In 1975, South Korean fishermen discovered a sunken ship in Yuan Dynasty in Xin ‘an sea area, which is one of the largest ancient trading vessels ever discovered. From the wooden slips of the sunken ship, such as “June 2nd, the 3rd year of Zhizhi”, “Tofuku-ji Temple” and “Diaoji Temple”, and the bronze right of Qingyuan (equivalent to the current weight), it is inferred that the ship was an overseas trade merchant ship that sailed from Ningbo Port to Hakata Port (Fukuoka, Japan) after the 3rd year of Zhizhi in Yuan Dynasty (1323). There are more than 14,000 pieces of porcelain from kiln outlets in China, and more than 9,000 pieces of Longquan celadon, which fully demonstrates the weight of Longquan celadon in the porcelain exported to Japan. The exhibition will also display the artifacts made by Japanese temples.
Taicang in Yuan Dynasty enjoys the reputation of “the wharf of six countries”. The celadon of Longquan Kiln unearthed at Fancunjing site has the same kind and shape as that of Longquan Kiln in Yuan Dynasty, which was salvaged from the sunken ship in Xin ‘an, South Korea. It also proves that a considerable number of celadons are exported. It provides archaeological evidence for the historical records that “Qing Dynasty and Xuan Dynasty traveled abroad, and all Koryo and Ryukyu nationalities traveled to and from the city”.
In addition to Zhejiang Longquan Kiln and Jiangxi Jingdezhen Kiln, the porcelains unearthed from the Yuan Dynasty site in Fanjing also involved many kilns in the north and south of Song and Yuan Dynasties, such as Cizhou Kiln in Hebei, Quyang Ding Kiln, Tiedian Kiln in Jinhua, Zhejiang, Pukou Kiln in Lianjiang, Putian Zhuangbian Kiln, Minqingyi Kiln, Jinjiang Cizao Kiln, etc. These porcelains have obvious export properties, and most of them can be confirmed with sunken porcelains in Xin ‘an, South Korea, and Sandaogang, Suizhong, Liaoning, which are of Yuan Dynasty.
This exhibition is the first public appearance of the latest archaeological achievements of the Yuan Dynasty site in Fancunjing, Taicang, and the fifth special exhibition of the Maritime Silk Road series launched by Zhejiang Museum after the Dayuan Sailing Shadow-Exhibition of Water Relics of Sinan Shipwreck, South Korea and Yangfan Nanhai-Special Exhibition of Water Relics of Huaguang Reef No.1 Shipwreck.
service area
Time: December 29th, 2017 to January 28th, 2018
Venue: Wulin District, Zhejiang Museum