New Finds of Yuan Dynasty Blue-and-White Porcelain from the Luomaqiao Kiln Site, Jingdezhen: An Archaeological Approach

The Period of Yuan dynasty (1279-1368 AD) is an important historic time for both cultural and material exchange between China and other countries, and also for the ceramic industry of Jingdezhen city. This book focuses on 14th century porcelain with underglaze blue painting from this period, the earliest blue-and-white porcelain of China and the world. During that time, along with its interaction with outside craftsmanship and cultures, Jingdezhen’s ceramic technology further developed and thus laid a solid foundation for the birth and development of the brilliant blue-and-white porcelain.This book reports Yuan blue-and-white porcelain newly discovered at the Luomaqiao kiln site, which were jointly excavated by archaeologists from Peking University and Jiangxi. The excavation uncovered remains of porcelain production as well as tons of fragments of various porcelain types, which span the Northern Song (960–1127) to the Qing dynasty (1644–1911).

The Period of Yuan dynasty (1279-1368 AD) is an important historic time for both the cultural and material exchange of China and the West Asia, and the ceramic industry of Jingdezhen city. During that period, along with its absorption of outside craftsmanship and culture, Jingdezhen's ceramic technology and products reached their peak and thus founded a solid base for the birth and development of the brilliant blue-and-white porcelains. From Nov. 2012 through Dec. 2015, in order to cope with the infrastructural development of Jingdezhen city, the author worked as the executive director of an archaeological team for the excavation project of Luomaqiao ancient kiln site in the township area. Consequently, a great number of ceramic industry remains and tons of porcelain shards, dating from the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127 AD) through the Late Qing dynasty(1636-1911 AD), were found at the site. Among them, the Yuan blue-and-white pieces are of the most valuable ones in terms of arts and stories. On the basis of an academic review of the kiln sites and porcelain products of Jingdezhen in the Yuan dynasty, the book mainly covers the following works. First of all, in a matter of archaeological typology and with full illustrations, this book introduces all the categories and typical samples of the Yuan blue-and-white porcelains found at the Luomaqiao site. Secondly, with the application and analysis of a large-scale of statistical data and scientific tests on the unearthed wares, the book contributes a reliable and detailed database for further studies on the product structure, firing method and decoration techniques of the Yuan blue-and-white porcelains. Lastly, combined together with literature and archaeological findings on other sites, the book explored the origin, material, manufacturing period, product structure, and markets of Yuan blue-and-white porcelains, and furthermore the system of Yuan official kilns.