Abstract: The Baofeng Qingliang temple kiln site was identified as the ruins of the Ru kiln in 1987, and in 2000, a sky-blue Ruguan porcelain firing area was discovered in Qingliangsi Village. According to the relationship between the Ruguan porcelain production area and the Large Kiln Area of the Qingliang temple kiln site, as well as the characteristics of the Ruguan Porcelain Production Area, it shows that the Ruguan porcelain production area is a gongyu kiln formed on the basis of a highly developed folk kiln, which was produced by the official "field" after the reform of the official procurement system in the late Northern Song Dynasty, representing the handicraft workshop of the contract purchase system. Probably undertook the task of "Liu Shang Bureau Tribute" to the court tribute porcelain. The selected porcelain is still available for sale and does not have the characteristics of being exclusively for royal use.
I. Overview of Ruyao Kiln and Archaeological Work
Ru kiln, ranked first among the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty, is the most famous porcelain product of the Song Dynasty, according to the literature, it has the nature of the production of the official kiln for the imperial use, and the porcelain literature of later generations has given it a high evaluation, indicating that it represents the aesthetic orientation of the elegant art of the Literati class of the Song Dynasty. (Figure 1) According to statistics, the total number of pre-existing Ru kiln artifacts found at the kiln site is less than 100, and a set of Ru kiln identification standards has been formed accordingly. First of all, the glaze color is mostly azure or sky blue, the texture is smooth and warm, uniform and elegant; the glaze layer is not too thick, which is slightly different from the thick glazed celadon fired by the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln and the Longquan kiln. Secondly, the kilns are not decorated, but there are many open pieces of different shades on the glaze, and the larger open pieces are inclined, called "fish scale open pieces" or "crab claw patterns", which have a natural beauty. Third, the tires of the Ru kiln are fine and fragrant gray. Fourth, the shape is elegant and concise, and the production is regular and exquisite. All in all, the utensils are full of elegant beauty. This kind of elegant vessel, which is known for its simple glaze color, was appreciated by the Northern Song Dynasty literati and doctors, so it was favored by the literati emperor Song Huizong.
Searching for the production site of Ru kiln is an important topic in the field of ancient ceramic research, after several generations of efforts, finally found the kiln site of Ru kiln in Baofeng Qingliang Temple, Henan Province, in 1987, Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics (now Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology) for the first time on the Qingliang Temple kiln site for the first time, found the same as the Forbidden City Ru porcelain the same azure and sky blue glazed porcelain more than ten pieces, to determine the location of the Ru kiln site. Subsequently, from 1988 to 1989, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics carried out two large-scale excavations on the kiln site with a length of about 1,000 meters from north to south and about 300 meters wide from east to west, but the excavations were mainly carved and printed celadon porcelain, white porcelain and black porcelain, and the number of azure glazed Ru porcelain for royal use was very small. Moreover, the firing time of the Qingliang Temple kiln site is very long, from the early Northern Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, which is inconsistent with the relevant records of ancient documents. Excavators have been working hard to find the firing area of the Ruguan kiln. In 1998, after 10 years of stagnation in archaeological work, the 4th archaeological excavation of the ruins of the Ru kiln of Qingliang Temple was carried out. According to the clues provided by the villagers of Qingliangsi Village, combined with the archaeological exploration and test excavation carried out in Qingliangsi Village in 1999, important clues of Ruguan porcelain were obtained.
In 2000, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology once again excavated the Qingliangsi kiln site based on exploration clues, and the excavation site was located at the residence of the four relocated villagers in Qingliangsi Village. After more than half a year of excavation, it was found that the formation containing rich Ruguan porcelain was found, and in some places the azure glazed porcelain pieces were piled up to 10 to 20 centimeters thick, and the number of azure glazed Ru porcelain excavated in the porcelain pieces accounted for 99%, according to which it was determined that this site was the firing area of Ruguan porcelain. Subsequently, in 2001 and 2002, two excavations were carried out in the Ruguan porcelain firing area. The area of the three excavations is more than 800 square meters. Groups of relics were cleared out, including 20 kilns, 3 workshops, 17 pottery urns for storage, 1 filter pond, mud pond, ash pond, etc., 3 wells, and 44 ash pits. (Figure 2) A large number of relics have been unearthed, and more than 500,000 pieces of azure glazed Ru porcelain alone have been unearthed. Subsequently, excavation reports were published in the area.
From 2011 to 2016, in order to build the National Archaeological Site Park, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology conducted six large-scale excavations in the surrounding area of the excavation area (Area IV. from 2000 to 2002), with an excavation area of about 3400 square meters, far exceeding the area excavated in the past three years, revealing well-preserved kilns, workshops, building sites and ash pits, and unearthing a large number of relics. The excavators presented some of the results, published a catalogue, and published a briefing. After 2011, there are not many strata from the Northern Song Dynasty, but layers and remains from the Jin Yuanming period have been found. In the early years of the Jin Dynasty, some azure glaze and blue glaze porcelain were excavated, and the glaze color was mostly azure and turquoise, and there were moon white, egg blue, etc., with bright glaze and strong glass texture. The tire color is gray and white, the texture is dense and solid, the firing temperature is slightly higher than that of azure glazed Ru porcelain, the carcass is thicker, and the foot becomes a jade ring-shaped foot, these artifacts are more obviously different from the azure glazed Ru porcelain excavated in the Song Dynasty strata, which is called "Ru porcelain-like" by excavators. (Figure 3, 1, 3, 7) There are also some green glaze artifacts (excavators called plum glaze), (Figure 3, 2, 5) and a large number of plain tire utensils, many of which are imitation bronze-shaped utensils, (Figure 3, 4, 6) These utensils have a relationship with the Ru kiln in the Northern Song Dynasty, but whether from the perspective of process technology or the combination of vessel-shaped utensils, there have been obvious changes, and the author agrees with the excavators' time judgment that they should be the remains of the early years of the Jin Dynasty.
Through the archaeological excavation of the baofeng Qingliang Temple kiln site, especially the excavation of the azure glazed Ru porcelain, that is, the Ruguan porcelain firing area, we have a clearer understanding and understanding of the production of the Ru kiln, and at the same time have a new understanding of the organization and management of the porcelain production workshop of the song Dynasty official kiln. Based on the briefings, reports and introductory materials published on the 14 archaeological excavations at the Qingliangsi kiln site since 1987, this article will clarify the production appearance of the Ru kiln through the study of archaeological data, and then discuss the issues related to its production system.
Second, the production status of the Ru kiln reflected in the archaeological excavation data of the Qingliang temple kiln site
(1) About the production area of Ru kiln porcelain
After integrating the excavation sites over the years, the excavators divided the Qingliangsi kiln site into 4 excavation areas, of which areas I., II. and III. were the production areas of general commercial porcelain, and The IV. area, located in the northwest of the kiln site, was the place where the production of Azure glazed Ru porcelain products was concentrated, and was the core firing area of the Ru kiln. (Figure 4) From 2000 to 2002, the excavation and investigation of the ivy area was carried out for three consecutive years, and it was determined that the azure glazed Ru porcelain production area was about 80 meters long from east to west, about 60 meters wide from north to south, and the area was about 4800 square meters. In general, the product quality of the iv. zone is the highest and has the nature of official work, while the other districts mainly produce commonly used folk utensils, and there is a significant difference in the quality of the two products. After archaeological excavations of about 3,400 square meters in 2011-2016, excavators believe that the firing area of azure glazed Ru porcelain should be greater than 4,800 square meters. However, the author believes that the core production area that really made azure glazed porcelain in the Song Dynasty may be slightly smaller than originally speculated. However, compared with the entire Qingliang temple kiln site of about 300,000 square meters (one said 1.17 million square meters), this area is less than 1/60 of the area of the kiln site. Ruguan porcelain production area (IV. area) is located in the northwest corner of the entire kiln site with higher terrain, far from the river and the central area of the Qingliang temple kiln site, the first three areas are relatively close to the river, the terrain is gentle, and the IV. area does not see any production advantages in terrain and landform. In the early stages of the production of the Qingliang Temple kiln site, there were no kiln remnants in Area IV. and it was only in the late Northern Song Dynasty that kiln accumulation began to appear. Therefore, as the production area of the highest level of products in the entire kiln area, it may not be the natural result of the development of kiln production, but is artificially selected, with the intention of independent production away from the large-scale production area. At the same time, in the accumulation of porcelain pieces in area IV. T28, the proportion of azure glazed Ru porcelain reached 99%, indicating that this area had concentrated on the production of Azure glaze Ru porcelain in a certain period of time, in other words, Azure glaze Ru porcelain was the only product in this area in the centralized production stage. This is very different from the production situation in other areas of the Qingliangsi kiln site.
Through a comprehensive excavation of Zone IV, we see that in this small area, more than 20 kilns, workshops with glazed cylinders and reel pits, mud ponds, glazed lime kilns, and piles of porcelain pieces where waste are concentrated. Here we found the relics of the three major functions of preparing, forming and firing as a kiln site, and may also include the functions of storage of finished products and the unified stacking of waste products, showing a production method that is small and complete, which is complete and complete, which is completely different from the situation in other kiln farms with the main purpose of commodity production. Because in a porcelain production area with highly developed commodity production, the production process will have a higher degree of division of labor, and the functional areas will be concentrated in production, and they are scattered in various parts of the kiln, far away.
(2) About the characteristics of Ru kiln products
According to the ru kiln porcelain, it can be known that the ancient artifacts called the Ru kiln were a type of seiko-made azure glazed porcelain. The products produced in area IV of the Qingliangsi kiln site are in line with the artifacts of the Ru kiln that have been passed down from generation to generation. According to the excavation report of The Fourth District, the excavators divided the remains of this area into two stages: the initial stage of the Ru kiln and the mature stage of the Ru kiln.
The porcelain in the early stage of the Ru kiln was mainly blue glazed porcelain, and there were a small number of white glazed porcelain and black glazed porcelain, and there were very few azure glazed Ru porcelain. Most of the blue-glazed porcelain is a common vessel shape in the folk kilns around Ruzhou in the late Northern Song Dynasty, which is quite different from the ru kilns passed down from generation to generation. (Fig. 5) Most of them have engraving, printing and scratch decoration, most of the utensils are glazed with foot-wrapped, and fired by the method of gasket or pad cake support, (see Figure 5, 2) Only a small amount of foot-wrapped and burned method is used, but the traces of support are relatively large. (See Figure 5, 5) This shows that the products of this period were not simple. A total of 7 kilns were cleaned during this period, and it was a large horseshoe-shaped kiln. According to the excavation report, the tank pits and reel pits found in Area IV are not in the initial stage, which means that in the initial stage, there is a lack of molding workshops here, and the production in this area is not separated from the production system of the entire large kiln farm. The excavation report did not publish a very small number of specimens of "Azure Glazed Ru Porcelain" and specimens of white glazed porcelain and black glazed porcelain, so it is difficult for us to understand its true appearance. However, in the book "Ru Kiln and Zhanggongxiang Kiln Unearthed Porcelain", a wash was published, which, according to the excavators, was the only piece of "Azure Glazed Ru Porcelain" in the early stage of District IV. (Fig. 6) This artifact was not reported in the official report, but in the "Third Chapter "Relics", it is mentioned that in the part on the south side of the Y3 fire chamber, "a piece of light azure glaze wrapped foot washing was unearthed, and up to 18 pieces were broken, which were basically complete after spelling." Although this pale azure glaze foot wash is handmade, its shape and glaze color have completely departed from the folk kiln porcelain style." The artifact was introduced in a bulletin published in 2001 and described as a "blue-gray glaze". There was a conflict between the two reports, indicating that the excavators were not sure of the glaze color. Judging from the glaze color and the degree of refinement of the production of this artifact, it is similar to the more exquisite utensils produced in the early stage, and the gap with the utensils in the mature stage is large.
Judging from the product appearance of the initial stage of The IV. Area, the products are generally more exquisite, and most of the glazed porcelain objects are stable in color, full of glaze, with engraving, scratching, and printing decorations, and are well-made. If it is considered that the products at this stage are already Ru kilns, then the product appearance of Ru kilns at this time is basically the same as that of other kilns in Ruzhou area during the same period. For example, the Yanhedian kiln in Ruzhou, the overall level of products in the late Northern Song Dynasty may be slightly inferior to the products of The Qingliang temple kiln area IV, but it also produces a small number of utensils that are as exquisite as the early stage of the Qingliang temple ru kiln. From this we can draw two possible views. First, the production appearance of the early stage of Qingliangsi Kiln Area IV was not the "Ruguan kiln porcelain" used by the tribute, but the kiln industry expanded in the late Northern Song Dynasty, and new workshops, or "kiln households", appeared in the northern marginal area of the kiln site, and the production level of this kiln was slightly higher than that of other kilns in Qingliangsi kiln. The newly emerged "very small amount" of azure glazed Ru porcelain, if it can be ruled out that it is a late relic disturbed during excavation, may be a newly invented product. Second, the remains of the early kiln industry in Area IV indicate that the newly emerged remains here represent the initial stage of the production of the Gongyu kiln. The products it produces are derived from the products of the same period in other areas of the Qingliang Temple kiln, but the product quality is more sophisticated than that of other regions, and has developed into a mature Ruguan porcelain production area. The author prefers the first point of view, that is, the remains of the early stage of Area IV are not the Ru kilns used by the tribute, which is very important, and it is related to the time of the creation of the Ru kilns.
The product appearance of the Ru kiln at the ripe stage has undergone tremendous changes. Excavations in this period unearthed more than 500,000 pieces of porcelain of various types, of which azure glazed Ru porcelain accounted for 99%. The types of utensils include bowls, plates, plates, washes, mussels, plum bottles, lids, pots, cups, cups, saucers, bowls, pots, smokers, bottles, cups, cans, boxes, lions, unicorns and utensil seats. (Fig. 7) The shape of the utensils is significantly different from that of the products of the early stage and other kilns, and there are many similarities with the old Tibetan Ru porcelain of the Qing Palace, such as the high and outer-rolled circle foot and the washing and furnace and other utensils that are close to the form of metal utensils. Utensils not only include daily utensils such as bowls and plates, but also decorative utensils such as tea, wine, flowers, incense utensils and porcelain sculptures that reflect the exquisite life of the Song people. The glaze color is mainly azure and light azure, and there are also a certain number of light blue glaze and turquoise glaze, which are slightly milky. The enamel is uniform and warm, and the glaze layer is thicker and covered with small pieces of open flakes. The tire color is mainly gray and light gray, and there are also a small number of gray-brown, and the tire quality is finer. The shape of the utensils is very regular and well-made; most of the utensils are plain, only a small amount of engraving and scratching decorations; most of the utensils are fired by the method of wrapping the foot and burning, the nails are as small as sesame seeds (see Figure 7, 4), and a small amount is the foot scraping glaze pad burning (see Figure 7, 1), but all are glazed, and the cassette bowl is used to burn alone, showing the fineness of production.
A number of models have been unearthed in the strata of this period, including the inner and outer models, indicating that at least some of the artifacts are molded. A number of primitive artifacts have been excavated in the formations at a later ripening stage (Fig. 8), indicating that from this time onwards, the thick glaze process of secondary firing appeared, which was very important in the history of celadon development. Today, when the Northern Song Dynasty official kiln has not yet been discovered, the thick glaze process of the Ru kiln is one of the earliest examples of the invention of this technology, which has had an important impact on the later Southern Song Dynasty official kilns. The kiln of this period is a small oval kiln, the kiln bed area is less than 1 square meter, a total of 12 cleaned, 2 1 group, the report does not group these kilns, from the direction of the kiln, at least can be divided into 4 groups, the largest group has 6 kilns. These kilns form a production system with Workshop No. 1, 17 pottery urns, mud ponds and reel pits. The remains of this period should be typical of the royal Ru kiln.
Through the excavation of the Ruins of the Ru kiln, we can finally get rid of the shackles of a limited number of heirlooms and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the appearance of the Ru kiln porcelain. As mentioned earlier, the excavated utensils include daily utensils, as well as tea, wine, flowers, incense utensils and porcelain sculptures, which has changed the traditional view that Ru kilns only burn for play and decorations, and enriched the understanding of Ru kiln utensils. Some utensils such as incense burners (see Figure 7, 7) and large bowls (see Figures 7, 5) are larger, which challenges the traditional saying that "Ru porcelain has no large utensils". Different from the heirlooms, there are also carved flowers and carved pattern ornaments on the surface of some excavated artifacts, especially the lotus petal pattern is common, (see Figure 7, 2) and some plaster decorations (see Figure 7, 7), which is rare in the Glaze Color Victory Ru Kiln Heirloom, which greatly broadens people's understanding of the Ru kiln.
(3) The production time of the Ru kiln
During excavations from 2000 to 2002, two "Yuanfeng Tongbao" were excavated from the Y3 and T42 layers of the early Ruyao kiln, and one "Yuanyou Tongbao" coin was excavated in F2 (minted in 1086-1094). If it is determined that the early stage of the Ru kiln has belonged to the Ruguan porcelain used by the gong emperor, its firing time will not be earlier than the first year of the Song Zhezong Yuan Yu (1086) in which the coin was minted, and this coin provides an important basis for the upper limit of the firing of the early stage of the Ru kiln. If it is determined that the ru kiln in the mature period in the report belongs to the Ruguan kiln used by the gong emperor, it will be very different. At the bottom of the mud layer belonging to Workshop No. 1 (F1), the main relics of the mature Ru kiln, 1 piece of "Yuan Fu Tongbao" and "Zhenghe Tongbao" were found, and since the material mud layer is a pile of the workshop during the period of use, it can be used as the basis for the workshop's generation. Accordingly, the upper limit of firing time of the Ru kiln in the mature period should not be earlier than that of the Zhenghe period (1111-1118). Ruguan porcelain stopped burning no later than the second year of Jing Kang (1127) at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. If the Ruguan kiln was first burned in the first year of Zhenghe, its firing time would be only 17 years at best.
Proceeding from the literature, it is also reasonable to limit the firing time of the Ru kiln to the political and political years. During the Northern Song Dynasty, there are two documents mentioning ru kilns, one is Xu Jing's "Xuanhe Feng envoy Goryeo Tujing" volume 32 "pottery furnace" article: "Fox out of incense, also emerald color, there are squat beasts on the top, there are lotuses under it to inherit, the utensils are the most exquisite, the rest are Yuezhou ancient secret color, Ruzhou new kiln ware, probably similar." The book was written in the sixth year of Xuanhe (1124), just over a decade after the reign of Zhenghe, and it is still appropriate to compare the Yue kilns, which were mainly burned in the 10th century, called "Ruzhou New Kiln Ware". If the Ru kiln dates back to the year of Emperor Yuanfeng of the Divine Sect, more than forty years apart, it will feel a little unreasonable. The second is Shi Huihong's "Unlearned Tea Begging Poem", "Where the government and officials bake, the queen of the sun window is boiled together; the silver bottle is swept through the wind and rain, and gradually feels the sound of the sheep's intestine; the cup of deep buckle looks at the floating milk, the tea is three ambiguous and raoru; the partridge spots suck spring dew, (hereinafter que text)". This poem mentions "Zhenghe Guanbao", referring to the tuancha made by the Jian'ou Imperial Tea Garden, then the poem should be written after Zhenghe, and at this time the Ru kiln was already a famous tea drinking vessel. Huihong died in the second year of Jianyan (1128), which shows that Huihong's later years were the most prosperous and famous period of Ruyao. In addition, according to the "Song Shi Wu xing zhi", "in the fourth year of (Zhenghe), between Fuqi and Rucai, even the mountains and large stones became agate, and Shangfang took them as treasure belts and played with them very richly", indicating that large-scale agate mines were discovered during the Zhenghe years. If, according to the literature, the Ru kiln is characterized by agate glazing, its appearance should be later than zhenghe four years. In this way, by the end of the second year of Jingkang, the firing time of the Ru kiln was only 13 years.
In the previous excavations of the IV. district, the strata and remains of the JinYuan period have been discovered, and the exquisite azure glaze porcelain (see Figure 3, 3, 7), the blue glazed porcelain (see Figure 3, 2, 5) and the imitation bronze ceremonial vessel (see Figure 3, 6) have been excavated, indicating that the IV area and other kiln areas of the Qingliang Temple kiln site after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty continued to be produced, and the products of the IV. area continued the characteristics of the Ru kiln at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the products were still more exquisite, and the production of this fine artifact continued at least until the middle of the Jin Dynasty. Since then, the entire Qingliangsi kiln has been integrated here, and special products are no longer produced. Qingliangsi kiln continued to produce porcelain in the Jinyuan period, the output is very large, mainly engraved and printed celadon porcelain, and later a large number of jun porcelain and white ground black flower porcelain, the product appearance is consistent with ruzhou and its surrounding areas of hundreds of other kilns, completely become a kiln of the nature of a folk kiln. Its production continued until the Ming Dynasty.
The Qingliang Temple Kiln Area IV began to appear after the Northern Song Dynasty Zhezong Yuanyou period, and after the Huizong Zhenghe period to the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the production of Azure Glazed Ru porcelain was concentrated, marking the emergence or maturity of the Ru kiln. The production of azure glazed Ru porcelain for the imperial court of the Northern Song Dynasty should stop burning after the Jing kang change. The real Ru kiln (or the mature stage of the Ru kiln) has only a maximum of 17 years of production time. According to the description of the bulletin published in 2001 and some of the elaborations in the official report, the 17 years may be further divided into two paragraphs. Some important technological innovations, such as molding, thick glaze process and sealing of cassette bowls, have appeared or become popular in the later stage, indicating the continuous innovation and improvement of their production technology and processes. After the Ru kiln ceased firing, in the fourth area of the Qingliangsi kiln, in the early Jin Dynasty, some special utensils that were different from the products of other areas of the kiln farm continued to be produced, such as high-quality azure glaze, blue-glazed porcelain and imitation bronze ceremonial vessels fired by thick glaze process, which may be related to some ceremonial activities of the government in the early Jin Dynasty. After the middle of the Jin Dynasty, the products of The IV. District were the same as those of the Qingliangsi Kiln in the other three districts, and were integrated into the production system of the entire kiln.
3. Discussion of related issues
The discovery and excavation of the Ruguan kiln firing area has given us a basis for further understanding and further discussion of the production methods of the so-called "official kilns" or Gongyu kilns in the Song Dynasty.
(1) The transmutation from the official handicraft industry to the government procurement system during the Northern Song Dynasty
During the Northern Song Dynasty, especially before the Northern Song Dynasty, the official handicraft industry was very developed, for example, in Fenjing, there was a "Fenjing Eight Division" that specialized in the construction and production of various utensils. The Song Hui Will Compile The Official's 30-7 years: "The East and the West Are Eight Divisions, the Old Division is Divided into Two Envoys, and the Stop One Division ... Its eight works are known as mud work, red and white work... There are also guangshi commanding the main city, a total of twenty-one works, known as large wood works, sawmill works... Qingyao zuo, cave zuo, erfang collar miscellaneous service Guangqi four command, craftsman three command. "In addition, there is a special production of weapons, the Chopper Bureau, and the General Courtyard and the Wensi Academy also have different fabrications. These government-making agencies are engaged in their own production, while also sending overseers to workshops in other locations. Therefore, the production sites of official works are not all in the capital, but are distributed in various places. In the early Northern Song Dynasty, there were many such officially controlled handicraft workshops, and the products basically covered the various needs of the royal and official governments, including porcelain. The officially controlled porcelain handicraft workshops should be the so-called "official kilns".
This mode of production in which the government took care of all the required products changed from the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. For example, after Wang Anshi changed the law, he implemented the policy of "peace and buying" and "peace and employment", and the part of the Eight Works Division was abolished. The supply of utensils originally produced, especially ceramics, should have two possibilities. First, the production of the tribute kiln ordered by the government, or the special production of the official government", after the kiln produces the product, the official government sends people to select, and the kiln worker can get the wage, which is also the production method of the Ru kiln that will be discussed below. Second, some local government kilns controlled by local governments produce.
Regarding the process of change in the official handicraft industry of the Song Dynasty, special attention should be paid to the following points.
First of all, we should be clear that the products of these "official kilns" are for the use of the royal family and the government. Through literature combing, we know that the financial expenditure items of the Song Dynasty mainly include: military expenditure, royal and management expenses, sacrifices, old coins, xingxue, farmland water conservancy, official industry and commerce and public works expenses, and relief. These expenditures of the Song government continued to expand in the early Northern Song Dynasty, including various constructions and various handicrafts, as well as the production of weapons, which made the government's financial burden increasing. At the same time, the demand of the government is closer to the demand of the market. "With the development of the commodity economy, the prosperity of the city's economy and culture, the increase in the number of people in the inner court, and the reform of the financial system, the original supply and delivery system of the inner court can no longer meet the immediate needs of the palace, making the court's demand for the market extremely urgent, and the connection with the market is more extensive." In other words, the products produced by the official handicraft industry could not fully meet the needs of the government and the court, and more and more products needed to be purchased from the market. The increased burden on the government gave birth to two reforms during the Northern Song Dynasty, the "Qingli New Deal" and the "Wang Anshi Reform Law". As far as the Northern Song Dynasty was concerned, an important shift occurred during the Shenzong period, when the government's monetary income exceeded its income in kind. Government spending has also shifted more to market purchases based on expropriation and forced purchases.
Secondly, court and official supplies, except for the products produced by the official handicraft industry, were obtained by the Song government through purchase. The "Continuation of the Zhizhi TongjianChang" records the "branch rate" of Renzong's purchase method with mandatory characteristics: "All the middle schools use department stores, and the three divisions regard the accumulation of wealth in the treasury to count the number of roads, and the terroirs of the various roads are suitable for the customs and the thickness of the people's property, which is called the rate of science." Those who are not vegetarian in the use of various roads are also in the people. However, there are priorities, and things have weight, so what is needed from above, the light is heavy, the unworthy is against expensive, and the people are affected by their disadvantages. "The drawbacks of this system are very obvious, but the section rate is basically a market exchange behavior."
This system began to change from the time of Emperor Shenzong, and it was also a new policy adopted by Wang Anshi to overcome "redundancy". During Wang Anshi's change of law, through the contract management implemented by the "municipal yiwu", more materials were obtained through purchases, even in Beijing. One of the 38th Edition of the Song Hui Zhi Zhi Beg for money and recruit people from their own business to contract it so that the people can also. "This reform represents a shift in the way purchasing is made, from compulsory requisition to on-site acquisition or contract acquisition.
The purchasing execution agencies in the Kyoshi are miscellaneous purchase affairs, the Inner East Gate Worship Division, and so on. The predecessor of the miscellaneous purchasing service was the Municipal Purchase Division, which was responsible for the purchase of various supplies from the government. The Inner East Gate Worship Division is a subordinate agency of the Inner Inner Servant Province, responsible for supplying the needs of the court, "all treasures and goods, the number of contributions, the value of the city easy pieces, the salty xuanso in the division, the acceptance in the forbidden, where the prohibition requires, repair, and feasting, all are scheduled in advance." The way to buy may be "contract purchase". That is to say, the central government issues purchase tasks or organizes production in the form of "edicts" and "command", and the elected officials are specifically responsible for purchasing, which is higher than the market price and can be paid in advance (detailed later).
(2) Ru kiln is a tribute kiln that has grown up in developed folk kilns
As mentioned above, the method of customizing products from a certain type of product production area or specific workshop at the expense of the government starting from The Song Shenzong is that "the selection of officials in the state is ordered to be disposed of at the production site and the material is requested" (detailed later). Ru kiln is in the late Northern Song Dynasty Wang Anshi change in the government's supply system changes, in the territory of Ruzhou near the capital city of Baofeng Qingliang Temple kiln, relying on the technical advantages of the previous porcelain making, in the form of contract purchase to establish a kiln for the palace and the government to supply porcelain.
Through archaeological excavations, it is proved that the Qingliang Temple kiln site began to be fired from the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty had a rapid development, the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty became one of the kilns with the highest production level in the central and western regions of Henan, and the late Northern Song Dynasty produced exquisite blue-glazed carved porcelain (Figure 9, 1 to 3), pearl ground scratch porcelain (Figure 9, 4), low-temperature yellow-green glazed porcelain (Figure 9, 5, 6), black glaze, black glaze convex line vessels and sauce glazed porcelain (Figure 9, 7) and other high-end fine porcelain at that time. In particular, the production level of celadon was second to none in Ruzhou at that time. With its superb production level and proximity to the capital, the Ru kiln was chosen by the government as a tribute kiln.
(3) The government procurement of Ruyao kilns may adopt a "contract purchase" system
Volume 516 of the "Continuation of the Zizhi TongjianChang" "Yuan Fu 2nd Year September Xin Mi" article: "Edict: The things that are offered to the officials, the transshipment division Yu Xianxiang calculates the money, so that the elected officials of the prefecture will dispose of the site at the production site, and the material will be requested, and the money will be added and bought than the market price." And Xu Xian summoned the insurance for money for one year, and sold it in the number. If you throw down the county to buy, and create a search for people, and use the theory of violation, it is not easy to go to the official pardon and reduce the original reduction. According to this record, the contract purchase is carried out by the Trans-Shipment Department and the subordinate states to select special personnel to produce in places with high production levels, that is, "where the production is convenient". That is, it is responsible for a special person (to elect officials in the state), organized (to set up a field), have a plan and budget (Yu Xianxiang calculates the amount of money), and gives a certain development and production cycle (and allows the first year to recruit and ask for money), specializing in the production of utensils purchased by the government. This system began around the time of Emperor Shenzong and was considered a good law, strictly popularized and applied during the reign of Emperor Zhezong, and was implemented in the late Northern Song Dynasty until the Southern Song Dynasty.
From the archaeological excavations, it can be seen that after the Qingliangsi kiln was selected as the Gongyu kiln for the government's targeted procurement of porcelain, the area dedicated to firing tribute porcelain was separated from the main kiln field with an area of 300,000 square meters, forming a kiln area with a small area, but the production processes such as preparation, blank making, and firing were relatively concentrated, and Seiko produced Gongyu porcelain. In the mature period of its production, the product was quite single, producing only Seiko-made azure glazed porcelain, indicating that the production purpose of this small area was completely different from other kiln areas for the purpose of commodity production in the Qingliangsi kiln.
(4) The specific methods of the Imperial System of Tribute in The Ru kiln
From the literature, we do not know that the Ru kiln is placed by the government and has become a specific form of management for the production of porcelain workshops for official use, but from the literature and archaeological materials, it can be seen that some of its products should be used by the court, and the specific management method is that the government sends people to select high-quality and qualified products for official use or court use. An important documentary record of the Ru kiln is the "Fixer" article of the Qingbo Magazine volume 5 of the Southern Song Dynasty Zhou Xuan: "And the Ru kiln, which is forbidden to burn in the palace, contains agate powder as oil, and is only allowed to be sold by the imperial selection party, which is especially rare in the near future." This account is the most frequently cited document by those who discuss the Ru kiln, and the above is the usual punctuation. However, there are many points in this account that are confusing or obviously false. After revision, it may be: "And ru kiln (for) the palace forbidden to burn (person), there is agate powder as oil, only for (canon or bong) royal inspection and retreat, only allowed to sell, especially rare in the near future." This shows that the Ru kiln is a kind of official kiln, and it is a product used by the tribute. According to the History of the Song Dynasty, the imperial envoy or the imperial envoy was the chief of the "Six Shang Bureaus" who supervised the offerings of Tianzi's jade food, medicine, and imperial service. The presence of the imperial envoy or the imperial envoy in person indicates that the Ru kiln was for the use of the court, and at least some of it was for the use of the Liu Shang Bureau.
After the imperial envoy or the imperial envoy selects qualified and high-quality utensils, the remaining products can also be sold. Therefore, in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, when the Ru porcelain used in the palace was destroyed by the Song-Jin War, the powerful minister Zhang Jun could also present more than ten exquisite Pieces of Ru porcelain to Emperor Gaozong. In addition, it can also be seen from Huihong's "Unlearned Tea Begging Poems" that the tea utensils of the Ru kiln were the favorite tea sets of the literati and scholars at that time, and they were also favored by the people and were not monopolized by the royal family. The accumulation of porcelain pieces found in the excavation area is mainly waste and kiln tools, and no porcelain chip pits specially used to bury defective products in the ruins of the Southern Song Dynasty official kilns and the ruins of the Ming Imperial Ware Factory in Jingdezhen have been found, which proves that the inferior quality defective products were not preserved in the kiln yard, but were sold to the people.
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