Ancient Kiln Site at Gaozhuang, Tongbo Mountain

Ancient Kiln Site at Gaozhuang, Tongbo Mountain

The Ancient Kiln Site at Gaozhuang, Tongbo Mountain, is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

The ancient kilns of Tongbo were actually a few unremarkable small hills and abandoned sites scattered across the Tongbo Mountain area in Guangfeng County, where only fragments remained. They had long gone unnoticed and lacked any documented articles or introductions. In 1982, a cultural relics survey team discovered eight ancient porcelain kiln sites in Gaozhuang, Ligao yang, Waigao yang, and Huangshan in Gaoyang Village, Tongbo Mountain, Guangfeng County. In October 1990, the county cultural relics management office conducted a re-inspection of the ancient kilns. After on-site investigations by professionals, all were identified as ancient porcelain kilns producing celadon. Excavated samples included: celadon jars, carved small-footed bowls, banana-shaped lids, grinding bowls, and funnel-shaped pottery saggers. At the time, the Shangrao regional cultural relics department authenticated them as ancient kiln sites from the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty. They belong to the Longquan celadon series, a very famous official kiln system in ancient southern China. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, they declined due to the development of the porcelain industry in Jingdezhen.

The area around the Gaozhuang ancient kiln site is surrounded by overlapping mountains and dense vegetation. Additionally, the fields around the natural village of Gaozhuang store large quantities of porcelain clay resources, which, after sampling and testing, were found to have a high iron content. As a result, the region provided an excellent location for the porcelain industry. This discovery filled the historical gap in Guangfeng’s porcelain-making history. In mid-July 2008, Mr. Bai Ming, a teacher at the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, a renowned contemporary Chinese artist, and a well-known modern Chinese ceramic artist, personally visited the Tongbo ancient kilns. He believed that the Tongbo ancient kilns are of great value for studying ancient Chinese porcelain production.

(Ancient Kiln Site at Gaozhuang, Tongbo Mountain (Aoli), Ancient Kiln Site at Gaozhuang, Tongbo Mountain (Kiln Li), Ancient Kiln Site at Gaozhuang, Tongbo Mountain (Reed Mound), Gaozhuang Kiln Site at Tongbo Mountain (Water Bucket Hollow))

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Jiangxi Province