Location: Jingdezhen, East China's Jiangxi Province

Period: Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911)

Excavation period: October 2002-January 2003, October-December 2003

A joint team of researchers from Peking University , the Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relics Archeological Research Institute and Jingdezhen Porcelain Archeological Research Institute, led by Liu Xinyuan.

Findings

From 2002 to 2003, Chinese archeologists carried out two excavations at the royal kiln site in Zhushan of Jingdezhen, East China's Jiangxi Province, unearthing wall remains, kiln ruins and house foundations in an area of 788 square meters.

A group of six gourd-shaped kilns were discovered arranged in a straight line. The kilns, dating back to the Hongwu to Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), were all built with wedge-shaped red bricks and consisted of a kiln door, fire chamber, front chamber, rear chamber and protective walls. This is the first time that gourd-shaped kilns were discovered in royal kilns.

Large quantities of porcelain craftworks were harvested at the site, such as bottles, pots, jars, bowls, plates, cups, flowerpots and boxes, to name a few, most with inscriptions. Various types of porcelain from the early and mid Ming Dynasty were the pride of the excavation, which produced some of the rarest porcelain in history.

Significance

The new findings provide valuable materials for further study on royal kilns, firing techniques and characteristics, and the porcelain-manufacturing administration system of the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) period, inspiring contemporary artists to create works comparable to those made by their ancestors.

Jingdezhen, reputed as "the porcelain capital of China", has a history of more than 600 years. During the Ming and Qing dynasties the "Imperial Porcelain Factory" -- royal kilns producing porcelain exclusively for the imperial family -- was set up in Zhushan of Jingdezhen, boosting the porcelain-making skills in Jingdezhen. It is recorded that when the factory had just been established, there was a total of 20 kilns; by the time of the Xuande (1426-1435) reign the number had reached 58.