Hangzhou Southern Song Guan Kiln Museum

Hangzhou Southern Song Guan Kiln Museum

The Hangzhou Southern Song Guan Kiln Museum is located at the foot of Turtle Mountain, west of Zhakou on Fuxing Road in Hangzhou, on the southern edge of the West Lake Scenic Area. Established in 1990, the museum covers a construction area of 3,300 square meters and features an antique wooden structure with short ridges and sloping roofs in the Song Dynasty style. Its dignified shape and unique design make it stand out. Based on the ruins of the Southern Song Guan Kiln, it has profound historical and cultural significance, and is China’s first thematic ceramic museum.

The Southern Song Guan Kiln was an imperial porcelain kiln specially established by the Southern Song court. The ceramics fired here were known for their dignified shapes, lustrous glazes, thin bodies, and thick glaze layers. Regarded as the foremost among the Five Great Kilns of the Song Dynasty, it holds a unique place in the history of Chinese ceramics. The museum building is constructed in the Southern Song architectural style and is divided into three sections: the ancient kiln site protection hall, the unearthed relics exhibition hall, and the traditional workshop production area, with a total construction area of about 4,000 square meters.

The museum houses three exhibition halls: the first mainly displays representative ceramic relics from various dynasties in China, outlining the evolution of ancient Chinese ceramics; the second extensively showcases the historical features, craftsmanship, and types of artifacts of the Southern Song Guan Kiln, vividly recreating its former charm; the third is a temporary exhibition hall that hosts outstanding domestic and international exhibitions on a regular or irregular basis.

The Southern Song Guan Kiln site is the authentic location where official kiln ceramics were produced and fired over 800 years ago. After archaeological excavation, it has been well preserved, with the current site covering approximately 1,500 square meters. Major remains include dragon kilns and ceramic workshops. The heritage protection hall built along the terrain is one of the largest of its kind in southern China. To vividly and intuitively recreate the production process of Southern Song ceramics, the museum has restored a set of traditional ceramic tools and equipment. Visitors can try their hand at making imitation antique ceramics and experience the joy of it.

Focusing on the characteristics of pottery art, the Southern Song Guan Kiln Museum emphasizes visitor participation in its displays. It features a uniquely designed Guan Kiln Pottery Bar, which not only directly presents ancient traditional ceramic techniques but also provides visitors with the opportunity to create pottery themselves. This initiative pioneered visitor participation in museums across Hangzhou. Here, visitors can create their own distinctive pottery works and personally experience the challenges and joys of ancient ceramic artists who created pottery culture with clay and fire. Generation after generation of young people have learned through fun here, gaining a more comprehensive understanding of ceramic culture.

The Southern Song Guan Kiln Museum fully leverages its unique advantages in ceramic culture. In addition to delivering educational exhibitions through its permanent displays, it actively establishes collaborative relationships with schools, communities, and military units. By organizing cultural and museum summer camps, launching mobile exhibitions, offering guided tour classes, bringing pottery art into communities, hosting pottery exhibitions for primary and secondary school students, and training young guides, the museum conducts patriotic education both internally and externally. It has built a positive social image, achieved fruitful results, and played an active and effective role in the spiritual civilization construction of Hangzhou. It was recognized as an Advanced Unit in the Construction and Management of Patriotic Education Bases in Hangzhou for the year 2003. It has now become one of the preferred locations for primary and secondary schools in Hangzhou to conduct patriotic education.

Further Reading:

·National Second-Class Museum of China