Jun Tai Jun Kiln Site

Jun Tai Jun Kiln Site

The Jun Tai Jun Kiln Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Jun Tai Jun Kiln Site is located in Yuxian County, Henan Province.

Jun Kiln was one of the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty in China. It earned the collective name "Jun Kiln" because the highest-quality ceramics were produced at kiln sites around Jun Tai and Bagua Cave within the county. In 1951, Mr. Chen Wanli from the Palace Museum discovered a number of kiln sites here, in 1962 the museum conducted an archaeological survey of the area, and in 1973, the Henan Provincial Museum carried out an archaeological excavation at the Jun Tai and Bagua Cave sites in Yuxian. These excavations confirmed that the kiln reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty and functioned as an official workshop dedicated to producing porcelain for the imperial court.

The distribution area of the kiln sites is extremely vast, spanning over 300,000 square meters, with densely arranged kilns and layers of ceramic deposits generally over 1 meter thick, and in some cases exceeding 2 meters. The Jun Tai Kiln site is believed to have been an official artisan workshop, where a total of 11 kilns, workshops, and ash pits have been discovered. The kilns are aligned in a row, with the workshop situated in the center, enabling continuous production through all stages—from forming the ceramic blanks, glazing, loading the kiln, to firing the finished pieces. The kiln structure evolved from semi-side-flame pottery kilns into semi-subterranean earthen kilns dug directly into the ground, typically featuring a single firebox, with only one double-firebox kiln found. The design and firing method of the kilns allowed for precise control over temperature, reaching up to 1,200 degrees Celsius.

A wide variety of ceramics were produced, including Jun porcelain, Ru porcelain, shadow-blue porcelain, as well as Tenmoku ware and white-ground black-patterned porcelain. The products feature dignified and substantial shapes, with glossy and lustrous glazes. Particularly notable is the kiln-transmutation effect of Jun porcelain, where red and purple hues interplay brilliantly.

The glaze colors of Jun porcelain are highly varied, mainly including sky blue, bean green, moon white, purplish-red, azure blue, and beige. The surfaces often display naturally formed crackled patterns, known as "earthworm-trail textures" or crackles. The shapes include various types of flower pots and pot stands, such as sunflower-style, lotus-style, crabapple-style, hexagonal, square, and rectangular designs, as well as spouted vases, open-mouth vases, bowls, basins, incense burners, bowls, and washing basins.

Jun Kiln was first established in the early Northern Song Dynasty and flourished towards the end of the dynasty. The copper-red glaze of Jun Kiln is the most renowned, and its successful production marked an innovation in ancient Chinese ceramic techniques. During the Jin and Yuan dynasties, the style was widely imitated across various regions, but it gradually declined after the Yuan Dynasty, ceasing production entirely in the Ming Dynasty. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, to preserve the traditional art of Jun porcelain, a factory was established at Jun Tai to resume its production.

Recent archaeological surveys have revealed that, in addition to the Jun Tai Kiln site, other Song Dynasty Jun Kiln sites have been found in Shenhou Town, Yuxian County, Henan, as well as in Linru, Zheng County, Xin’an, Dengfeng, Anyang, Hebi, and in parts of Hebei and Shanxi. However, these sites were smaller in scale and operated as local, civilian kilns. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Third Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units