Zhanggongxiang Kiln Site

Zhanggongxiang Kiln Site

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

The Zhanggongxiang Kiln Site is located in the southeastern part of Ruzhou City, Pingdingshan, Henan Province. The central area of the site covers approximately 3,600 square meters and is currently buried under residential buildings and urban roads.

The site was discovered in the spring of 2000, and dozens of typical kiln tools were unearthed, including plate-shaped, barrel-shaped, and funnel-shaped ones. In the spring of 2000 and the summer of 2001, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology conducted two small-scale archaeological excavations in Ruzhou’s Zhanggongxiang in coordination with a local housing renovation project. They discovered some relics resembling Ru kiln porcelain, kiln tools, and unglazed ceramic fragments.

In 2003, under the guidance of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Ruzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture organized personnel to conduct high-density drilling within a 2,500-square-meter area surrounding the original exploration trenches at Zhanggongxiang. By the end of 2003, the relocation of seven households in the Zhanggongxiang area was completed. Between February and April 2004, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology excavated two trenches on the eastern and western sides of Zhanggongxiang, covering an area of 124 square meters. The excavation uncovered four house foundations, four wells, 79 ash pits, and one filtration pool from different periods, as well as a number of intact or restorable porcelain items and kiln tools produced by the Zhanggongxiang Kiln. The unearthed body fragments featured uniformly thin and thick walls, demonstrating fine craftsmanship. These not only inherited the raised-foot support firing technique of the Qingliangsi Ru Kiln but also showed further development. Tests on the excavated glaze materials showed color consistency with the discovered porcelain shards, and the firing temperature reached 1,250 degrees Celsius, consistent with historical records of Ru official ware production techniques. Experts believe that the production period of celadon at the Zhanggongxiang Kiln can be roughly dated to the late Northern Song Dynasty to the early Yuan Dynasty.

The products made at the Zhanggongxiang Kiln are unique, exquisitely crafted, simple yet elegant, and of high quality, clearly not intended for everyday civilian use. Its nature is believed to be that of an official kiln. At the expert symposium on the new archaeological discoveries at the Zhanggongxiang Kiln Site held in Ruzhou in May 2004, many domestic and international ceramics scholars suggested that this site could be the long-sought Northern Song Dynasty official kiln.

In 2004, the Zhanggongxiang Kiln Site was designated as a Provincial-Level Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the Henan Provincial People’s Government. In May 2006, it was announced by the State Council as part of the sixth group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units