Deqing Primitive Celadon Kiln Sites

　　Deqing is situated in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta, facing Shanghai to the east, bordering Hangzhou to the south, nestled against the foothills of Tianmu Mountain to the west, and connected to Taihu Lake to the north. With a long history and a wealth of cultural talent, the area has nurtured many prominent historical figures, such as Shen Yue, a renowned literary figure of the Southern Dynasties, Meng Jiao, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, and Yu Yue, a master of classical studies.

　　Deqing is the birthplace of "Deqing Kiln" ceramics in the history of Chinese porcelain. For a long time, cultural heritage departments and professionals have been dedicated to the survey, discovery, protection, and research of ancient kiln sites, resulting in the identification of nearly 100 new ancient kiln sites. These sites date from the Shang Dynasty, through the Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, Warring States, Han, and Six Dynasties periods, all the way to the Tang and Song Dynasties, proving that Deqing’s ceramic industry spanned more than two thousand years — a record unmatched by other kiln sites in China. The Deqing Kiln is a renowned and independently developed kiln system in Chinese history. Among these, the most dazzling are the Shang and Zhou Dynasty primitive celadon kiln sites, which are unique in the country to this day. Their craftsmanship and kiln technologies represent outstanding cultural heritage of the nation and provide invaluable physical evidence for studying the origins of celadon in China and even the world.

　　In May 2007, an archaeological team jointly formed by the Palace Museum, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and the Deqing Museum conducted a large-scale excavation at the Huoshan Primitive Celadon Kiln Site in Shizhai Natural Village, Longsheng Village, Deqing Economic Development Zone. The site dates back to the Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn period, and the excavation yielded significant discoveries: this kiln site is the only one in China excavated so far that earliest utilized the slope of a hill to construct kilns for firing primitive celadon. It provides important evidence for exploring the origin of dragon kilns, which are often referred to as the cradle of celadon.

　　From October 2007 to March 2008, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, together with the Deqing County Museum, excavated a kiln site at Tingziqiao in Dongshan Natural Village, Longsheng Village, Deqing Economic Development Zone. This site dates back over 2,000 years to the Warring States Period. The excavation at Tingziqiao uncovered seven kiln remains, yielding a large number of primitive celadon ritual and musical instruments modeled after bronze ware, as well as various types of kiln tools. The excavation data indicates that the Tingziqiao kiln site was a workshop during the Warring States Period that produced high-end ceramics for daily use and burial purposes for the royal family and upper nobility of the Yue Kingdom. The excavation achieved significant results, which hold great academic importance for studying the history of Chinese ceramic development, especially the origins of mature celadon in China.

　　Since the 1980s, and particularly in the early 21st century, a number of large-scale Yue Kingdom noble tombs in areas such as Shaoxing, Hangzhou, Yuhang, Changxing, Anji, and Haiyan in Zhejiang have unearthed a large quantity of high-quality primitive celadon ritual and musical instruments modeled after bronze ware. In 2005, the Jiangsu "Wuxi Hongshan Yue Kingdom Noble Tomb," recognized as one of the "Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China," unearthed more than 500 bronze-like primitive celadon ritual vessels and 140 primitive celadon musical instruments, which shocked the archaeological and ancient ceramic studies communities. Experts analyzing the grade and purpose of these ceramics concluded that the ability to produce such high-specification items, used exclusively in royal and noble tombs, over 2,000 years ago could not have been accomplished by ordinary civilian kilns. It is highly likely that they originated from the "official kilns" of the Yue royal family.

　　The archaeological excavation of the Deqing Tingziqiao Kiln Site has finally answered this question. The excavation unearthed a large number of bronze-like ritual and musical instruments. The advanced level of their firing techniques surpasses that of many later kilns, and the quality is comparable to that of mature celadon produced after the Eastern Han Dynasty. The types of artifacts cover almost all the varieties of primitive celadon ritual and musical instruments previously excavated from large Yue noble tombs in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in recent years. They bear a striking resemblance to the bronze-like primitive celadon ritual and musical instruments found in the Jiangsu "Wuxi Hongshan Yue Kingdom Noble Tomb." This suggests that the excavation of the Tingziqiao Kiln Site has identified the definitive origin and production site of the bronze-like primitive celadon ritual and musical instruments found in Yue noble tombs over the years, confirming that the "official kilns" specializing in producing high-end daily and burial ceramics for the Yue royal family and upper nobility during the Warring States Period were indeed located in Deqing. Official kilns, as opposed to civilian ones, were workshops dedicated to producing high-grade ceramics primarily for the royal family and nobility, representing the highest level of ceramic craftsmanship of the time.

　　Experts believe that the Deqing Tingziqiao Kiln Site is a Warring States Period Yue Kingdom "official kiln," predating the previously academically recognized emergence of official kilns by a thousand years. The Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, compared it with mature celadon, and physicochemical data shows that Deqing had already produced mature celadon long before the Eastern Han Dynasty. The emergence of mature celadon in China can thus be dated back by at least 500 years. Prior to this, it was widely believed that the Shangyu Xiaoxiantan Eastern Han Dynasty kiln site was the earliest origin of mature celadon in China.