Jiaotanxia and Hulaodong Kiln Sites

Jiaotanxia and Hulaodong Kiln Sites

The Jiaotanxia and Hulaodong Kiln Sites are listed as Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

The Jiaotanxia and Hulaodong Kiln Sites are located at the western foot of Turtle Mountain, south of Jade Emperor Mountain in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

The Jiaotanxia Kiln Site was discovered in the 1920s. In 1956, the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Management Committee conducted the first partial excavation in the southern part of the site, clearing a dragon kiln and excavating a pile of porcelain fragments near the kiln. From October 1985 to January 1986, the Lin’an City Archaeological Team carried out a formal excavation of the site. In the winter of 1988, further archaeological work was conducted due to the construction of the Southern Song Dynasty Official Kiln Museum, covering a total area of over 1,400 square meters. The excavation revealed one kiln structure, one workshop site, including three house foundations, one clay refining pool, two potter’s wheel pits, two glaze tanks, one material pile pit, one bisque firing kiln, as well as remnants such as bisque-fired ceramic piles, drainage ditches, and roads. Over 30,000 pieces of porcelain fragments and several thousand kiln tools were unearthed.

The Hulaodong Kiln Site is located at the northern foot of Phoenix Mountain in Hangzhou, less than 100 meters south of the northern wall of the Southern Song Imperial City and approximately 2.5 kilometers southwest of the Jiaotanxia Kiln Site. The kiln site was discovered in 1996, and in November of the same year, the Hangzhou Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute conducted a one-month archaeological survey, identifying two kiln structures and a workshop site. In 1998 and 1999, two large-scale excavations were carried out, with an actual excavation area of about 2,300 square meters, uncovering all cultural layers of the kiln site.

The discovery of the Jiaotanxia and Hulaodong Kiln Sites provides valuable physical materials for the study of ancient Chinese official kilns. The excavation of the Hulaodong Kiln Site was nominated for the Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China in 1998 and was awarded one of the Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2001. In 2006, the Jiaotanxia and Hulaodong Kiln Sites, as ancient sites dating from the Song to Yuan dynasties, were included in the sixth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level by the State Council.

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Sixth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level