Yulin Pavilion Kiln Site

At the Yulin Pavilion Kiln Site, two semi-crypt flat-flame inclined dragon kilns of the Song Dynasty cleaned in 1998 were respectively 73.2 meters and 113.1 meters in length. The base of the two kilns is about 2 meters in width. Remains of porcelain workshops including stone wash basins, wells, drainage ditches, ancient road sections, and shed foundation sites have been detected. It mainly fired black-glazed porcelain, mainly bowls and cups, and fired circa 80,000 pieces at a time. A batch of black-glazed porcelain bowls with “gold and silver color” were found at the site of the kiln. The color descriptions covered landscapes, flowers and birds, as well as “Shoushan Fuhai” (mountain of longevity and ocean of felicity) and “Mount Wuyi”. Some of the bowls were inscribed with Zhu Xi’s poems from Wuyi Rafting Chant. These black-glazed bowls with gold and silver colors were discovered for the first time in similar kiln sites in China. As black glaze bowls with gold and silver color are extremely rare in domestic varieties, and are collected in Japan and other foreign countries with their origin unknown, the materials discovered help resolve dispute on the origin of black glaze porcelain bowls in the academic world and thus add new content to in-depth study of the “Heijian” kiln system in Fujian. As a national key cultural relics protection site, it was incorporated in the World Cultural Heritage List in 1999. In May 2006, it was announced as among the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection sites by the State Council.