Quduigong Ancient Kiln Site - Song and Yuan Dynasty Porcelain

The Quduigong ancient kiln site spans an east-west width of 300 meters and a north-south length of a[...]

The Quduigong ancient kiln site spans an east-west width of 300 meters and a north-south length of approximately 150 meters, featuring 17 kiln sites. Over 800 kiln utensils and 670 relatively intact artifacts were unearthed. Characterized by their pure, smooth, and milky white color, the products exhibit the characteristics of Song and Yuan Dynasty porcelain in terms of shape and firing methods.
The discovery of this ancient kiln site provides solid physical evidence for determining the origin and dating of Chinese Dehua porcelain found in Southeast Asia, offering significant historical testimony for the study of the maritime ‘Porcelain Road’, the export of pottery, and friendly trade relations between China and foreign countries during the Song and Yuan periods. The kiln site measures about 300 meters in east-west width and 150 meters in north-south length. In 1976, an excavation revealed a chicken-coop kiln with 17 kiln chambers, 57.1 meters long and 1.4-2.95 meters wide, yielding 800 firing tools and 6,793 pieces of either complete or fragmentary daily-use porcelain.

Unearthed artifacts such as high-footed cups, straight-line patterned washes, waist-fold string-patterned washes, pedestal-style bowls, powder boxes, and military flasks are identified as Yuan Dynasty products. Particularly, the straight-line patterned washes bear engravings of figures in long robes, tasseled hats, and beardless, characteristic of Mongols, while the three-legged mat cakes bear the Yuan Dynasty’s official seal and Mongolian Phags-pa script.

Among the porcelain items, powder boxes, ewers, covered pots, military flasks, small-mouth bottles, lotus petal bowls, pedestal-style bowls, high-footed cups, phoenix-shaped bowls, and string-patterned washes are types of export porcelain from the Song and Yuan times, discovered in Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. Some powder boxes are stamped with the words ‘Longevity New Ship’, indicating that the products were exported via sea routes.

The discovery of the Quduigong ancient porcelain kiln site provides invaluable physical materials for the study of the ‘Maritime Silk and Porcelain Road’.

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