located in the southwest zhejiang province and is adjacent to jiangxi and fujian, longquan, a renowned historical and cultural city in zhejiang, is known for its celadon-making. according to a survey of cultural relics, over 500 ancient kilns for celadon making have been found here, including more than 360 kilns within the longquan city. this tremendous celadon kiln system is historically known as longquan kiln, which features the longest time in use, the widest distribution, the highest product quality and the largest scope of production and export among all celadon kilns. celadon kilns first appeared in longquan in the western jin dynasty and prospered in the song and yuan dynasties, forming renowned longquan kiln system aschina’s biggest ceramics hub in the song dynasty enjoying centuries of splendor. according to historical documentation, in the song and yuan dynasties, “celadon kilns lined both banks of the ou river, where smoke and flames were seen from afar; ships transporting celadon busily sailed in the river.” longquan celadon include ge kiln and di kiln, the former featuring dark body and thick glaze, with cracks on the glazed surface forming an effect of “gilded line and iron thread, purple mouth and iron feet”. as the kiln temperature was difficult to control, celadon of top quality was very rare and was usually exclusively offered to emperors, generals and senior officials; while the latter features white body and thick glaze as well as smooth surface without cracks. pleasant to the eye, celadon from di kilns is of jade-like color, mirror-like brightness, paper-like thinness and bright, clinging sound when clashing into each other. in the song and yuan dynasties, most longquan celadon exported overseas was from di kiln. in the southern song dynasty, the crystal-clear, jade-like pink celadon and plum celadon was produced, marking the peak of the art of longquan celadon. longquan celadon used to enjoy international fame and was treasured by collectors all over the world. many of the 12,000 porcelain pieces that almost covered the entire porcelain history inchinaare celadon ware, which likewise appears in almost every porcelain collection in major museums around the world. in 1967, a sunken ship dated back to the yuan dynasty was found off the sea in sinan county,korea. among over 17,000 pieces of ceramics and potteries recuperated, over 9,000 were from the kilns of longquan, showing that longquan celadon occupied a primary status inchina’s export of ceramics at the time. the glory of longquan celadon gradually faded away since the mid ming dynasty. up to early 1900s, most celadon kilns were abandoned, with communities of major kilns reduced to deserted ruins by the 1920s and 1930s, leaving nothing but random pieces of celadon. in 1957, according to premier zhou enlai’s instruction to restore celadon production, a restoration group of eight experts in zhejiang province lit up the first kiln to resume longquan celadon in the spring of the following year. after 50 years of restoration and development, longquan celadon has entered a new era of prosperity with celadon artworks building a highly recognized brand on both domestic and overseas market; besides, celadon for everyday use has expanded its market in the trend of eco-friendly green lifestyle, and major efforts are being made in the development of celadon for packaging and industrial purposes. new breakthroughs have been made in modern longquan celadon on the based on inheritance and archaizing, with successful development of red copper glaze, high temperature black glaze, tigroid glaze, brown glaze, tea-leaf color glaze, dark gold glaze and azure glaze, etc. in terms of art design and decoration, celadon thin body, celadon compact design, celadon coloring under glaze, hieroglyphic cracked glaze, soft and rough cracked glaze, combination of celadon and white porcelain, combination of ge kiln and di kiln, etc. have been developed. renowned for its jade-like color, mirror-like brightness and clear sound when clashing against each other, longquan celadon is recognized as the pearl of ceramics and is famous among celadon lovers around the world. since the northern song dynasty, longquan celadon has been exported to thephilippines,malaysiaandjapan. in the southern song dynasty, the export of celadon and other ceramics increased. in the yuan dynasty when import-export trade prospered, longquan celadon was exported in large quantities as one of the major products to dozens of countries, includingindia,sri lanka,thailandandvietnam, etc. through ningbo, wenzhou and lishui ports. in the ming dynasty, longquan celadon was introduced to europe where it was earnestly sought by collectors at high prices. over the years, ancient longquan celadon works have been discovered in many places in the word and are among the collections of many museums as precious objects. longquan celadon enjoys high reputation around the world. longquan brand celadon is a recipient of china ministerial award for superior quality, and over 200 excellent works have won the national golden dragon award for new products. premium ge kiln 1525px plate “greetings to guests” and 1300px hanging plate are acknowledged as national treasures; 7-inch embedded ge kiln artistic hanging plate is accredited by the state council as state gift; while 51 precious pieces including ge kiln purple brilliance plate and purple brilliance bottle are collected and displayed by purple brilliance pavilion of zhongnanhai. excellent celadon ware have been exhibited on over 30 international expositions, offered as state gifts during overseas visits by chinese heads of state and collected by major museums in various countries. |