Jizhou Kiln National Archaeological Site Park

Jizhou Kiln National Archaeological Site Park
吉州窑国家考古遗址公园

Hours: 8:30am - 5pm
General admission:40 yuan ($6.19)
Tel: (+86-796)8760616

The Jizhou Kiln is a historical folk kiln complex in the southern region of ancient China, located on the west banks of the middle reaches of the Gan River (one of the principal tributaries of the Yangtze River), in today's Yonghe town, Ji’an city, Jiangxi province. The kilns were first built in the mid to late Tang Dynasty (618-907), thrived in the Song Dynasty and began to decline at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

The existing Jizhou Kiln site includes not only the kiln remains, but also the remains of workshops and streets from ancient city settlements. It covers an area of 3.1 square kilometers, in which 24 kiln relics have been discovered. The Jizhou Kiln park is therefore one of the largest and most well-preserved ancient kiln sites in the world.

The Jizhou Kiln park displays a wide variety of chinaware and different styles, and is most well known for its black-glazed ceramic tea ware with a leaf motif, also called the “Muye-Tianmu” (Literally, tree leaf -- heavenly eye). To produce this effect, the leaf is soaked in a corrosive liquid until only the skeletal struc-ture is left. It is then placed on the surface of the ceramic item, already glazed in black, before being covered in a translucent yellow glaze and fired in the kiln. The result is a sepia-hued lace-work of veins set against a dark backdrop, with the leaf itself having been vaporized during the high-temperature firing process. Jizhou Kiln occupies a very important position in the history of Chinese ceramics.

The Jizhou Kiln National Archaeological Site Park consists of a kiln site exhibition center, an ancient streets and villages display, a business area, and a ceramic culture exhibition area (including the China Jizhou Kiln Museum).The park opened in late 2013, at a time when it had not yet been added to the list of national archaeological site parks of China.