Recently, the first archaeological survey report of the Department of Cultural Relics and Museology of Fudan University, "Lishui Baoding Kiln Site", was released and officially published as a book. As an important local type of Longquan kiln, the investigation of Baoding kiln sites will become an important supplement to the study of Longquan kiln.
The "Archaeological Excavation Report" is the core result of archaeology. As the first archaeological report of Fudan, "Lishui Baoding Kiln Site" highlights the speed and strength of the development of Fudan archaeology. The rapid development of the Department of Archaeology of Fudan University has laid the foundation for the establishment of an undergraduate major in archaeology.
Where did the first archaeological report focus?
Opening the title page and catalog of the archaeological report of "Lishui Baoding Kiln Site", the efforts made behind it are silently told. The archaeological team of Fudan University focused on the Baoding kiln site in Lishui, and recorded the initial firing of the Baoding kiln in Lishui and the early transfer of the kiln industry, the decline and 'kiln treatment' of the Baoding kiln, the evolution trajectory of the Baoding kiln installation and firing process, the interaction between the Baoding kiln and the surrounding areas, and the domestic and foreign sales of the Baoding kiln.
After the fieldwork, the timely collation of the report provides a strong proof for the role of Baoding kiln in the Maritime Silk Road by expounding the current situation of kiln site preservation, chronological inference, the relationship between Baoding kiln and longquan kiln core area, kiln site protection and subsequent utilization.
Why pay attention to the Lishui Baoding kiln site? What efforts did the team put into this archaeological report? What is the value of archaeological reports? All this also begins with the archaeological research of Longquan Kiln.
Fudan University's "Longquan Kiln Archaeology Research" National Social Science Foundation Major Project was approved
Longquan kiln is the famous kiln with the largest production scale in China's history, and it is also the ancient kiln field with the largest number of Chinese export products and kiln technology on the Maritime Silk Road. Its kiln fire lasted for thousands of years, and the celadon products produced were not only widely circulated in the country, but also loved by the court nobles and widely used by the commoners. At the same time, the historical fact that a large number of its exports have had a far-reaching impact on world civilization.
Precisely because of its important historical status and value, the core of longquan kiln industry, the site of longquan kiln, was announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit in 1988; in 2009, the firing technology of Longquan kiln was the only ceramic project listed by the United Nations as a world intangible cultural heritage; in 2013, Longquan dayao longquan kiln site and Cixi Shanglin Lake Yue kiln site were jointly included in the preliminary list of China's world cultural heritage - "ancient Chinese porcelain kiln site"; in 2016, Longquan kiln was listed by the state as an important cultural heritage site of the World Cultural Heritage Declaration on the Maritime Silk Road. LongquanYao National Archaeological Site Park was also completed and opened in 2017.
▲
Present-day Dayao Village, Longquan City
The archaeological work of Longquan kiln began in the 1920s, when the action of ceramic expert Mr. Chen Wanli to "walk out of the study" not only allowed Longquan celadon to enter the research field of the academic community, but also opened the prelude to the archaeological cause of porcelain kiln sites in mainland China. Later, in the late 1950s, under the instructions of Premier Zhou Enlai to "restore the famous kilns of the mainland dynasties", the Longquan kiln ushered in the first formal field excavation activities. From the 1970s to the early 1980s, in order to meet the construction needs of the Jianshuitan Reservoir, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage organized the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Chinese Museum of History, the Palace Museum, the Shanghai Museum, the Zhejiang Provincial Museum and the Nanjing Museum to jointly form the Archaeological Team of the Tight Water Beach Project, and carried out investigations and excavations of the ancient kiln sites in the flooded area of the reservoir in groups and regions. The results of this work are remarkable, which is the largest ceramic archaeology practice in China up to that time, and later evaluated by Mr. Su Bingqi as "a sign of the large-scale rise of ceramic kiln archaeology, an emerging branch of Chinese archaeology". From 2006 to 2007, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the School of Archaeology and Literature of Peking University, and the Longquan Celadon Museum jointly excavated the site of the Dayao Fengdong Cave Kiln site to explore the problem of the Ming Dynasty's official kilns. The rich excavated relics and strata with clear chronology provide valuable physical materials for clarifying the longquan kiln yuan, ming staging and technological development. At the same time, one of the most important achievements of this work is to determine the historical fact that Longquan kiln paid tribute to the court porcelain in the early Ming Dynasty. Later, in November 2010, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the School of Archaeology of Peking University and other institutions excavated the ruins of Wayao In Xikou and way of Wayao Road in Xiaomei Town. The discovery of black-terredum has once again sparked much discussion among researchers. From 2012 to 2014, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and other units conducted a comprehensive and systematic investigation and exploration of the kiln sites in Longquan, Jincun, including Qingyuan Shangyuan area, Shilong and Longquan East District, and thus established the basic problems such as the basic appearance, production core and product sequence of each kiln site of Longquan kiln.
It can be said that the archaeological investigation and excavation of Longquan kiln in the past hundred years, especially a large amount of archaeological work since entering the new century, has accumulated enough materials to make comprehensive research on Longquan kiln and urgently need to be done.
Excavation site of the Dayao Maple Cave Kiln Site
Therefore, at the end of 2019, the "Longquan Kiln Archaeology Research" presided over by Professor Shen Yueming of the Department of Cultural Relics and Museology of our university was approved by the National Social Science Foundation of China. On June 27, 2020, the opening meeting of "Longquan Kiln Archaeology Research" was successfully held, and the project was officially launched.
The content of the project includes nearly 600 kilns centered on Longquan, involving relics, vessel-shaped tire glaze, loading and firing technology, decorative techniques, domestic and foreign flow cloth and other research aspects, and the core problems tried to be solved can be summarized as four important research contents, such as "the initial firing problem of Longquan kiln and the establishment of development genealogy", "Longquan kiln process innovation and relationship with the court", "technical exchange and influence of Longquan kiln" and "export and technical output of Longquan kiln products".
Professor Shen Yueming said that the project aims to conduct a comprehensive and systematic study of Longquan kiln, one of the most famous kilns in the history of Chinese ceramics, comprehensively explore the genealogy of Longquan kiln firing technology, scientific and technological innovation and achievements, fully understand the "Chinese wisdom" embodied in Longquan kiln, and establish the status and influence of Longquan kiln in the history of the development of ancient Chinese civilization. At the same time, Longquan kiln, as an important carrier of commodities exported from the outside world by ancient China in history and the cultural and commercial exchanges between China and foreign countries, conducts in-depth research and gives full play to its important role in interpreting Chinese civilization and telling the story of Chinese culture, which can not only effectively provide historical experience and lessons for the "Belt and Road" strategy, but also enhance China's influence and soft power, which is a powerful contribution to the construction of the "Belt and Road".
From longquan kiln to Baoding kiln, Fudan archaeological forces go out
At the same time as the "Longquan Kiln Archaeology Research" project was established, the Cultural Relics Protection and Management Institute of Liandu District of Lishui City entrusted the Department of Cultural Relics and Museology of our university to preside over and carry out the horizontal project "Investigation and Research on the Baoding Kiln Site in Lishui" in order to deepen the understanding of the local kiln industry and strengthen the protection and revitalization of cultural relics.
"Although Lishui Baoding Kiln is located on the outskirts of the core kiln area of Longquan Kiln, it is also a kiln field belonging to the Longquan Kiln System," Shen Yueming said, "And an in-depth exploration of the connotation of its kiln industry is necessary, which will not only provide empirical evidence for the development and evolution of the local traditional ceramic handicraft industry in the historical period, but also become an important supplement to the research of Longquan Kiln." Therefore, under the impetus of the needs of the project and the needs of the project, from July to August 2020, Professor Shen Yueming organized the relevant comrades of the Cultural Relics Management and Protection Institute of Liandu District of Lishui City, Zhou Xueyan, Zhou Yuhan, Chen Qi, Feng Haozheng, Fan Chong and other students of Fudan University to carry out field investigation, indoor collation, follow-up research and report preparation of Baoding kiln.
"This Baoding kiln survey and organizing students to work together are not only to complete teaching practice and scientific research tasks, but also to find cultural self-confidence and historical self-confidence." Shen Yueming said, "When your cultural self-confidence is insufficient, go to the Longquan Kiln and you will be resurrected with blood, because there is enough source of your cultural self-confidence." ”
"Looking at the glory of our ancestors in those years, and looking at the highlight moment of the Longquan kiln, is there any reference significance for our national rejuvenation?" In this way, with problems, Fudan archaeological forces went out and converged in Baoding Village, Lishui.
Archaeology is a high-intensity work. In the middle of the summer, Professor Shen Yueming led the students to conduct field investigations. Zhou Xueyan, a doctoral student in the Department of Cultural Relics and Museology, introduced that they first clarified the research ideas based on the published research results, secondly determined the order of sample collection at the kiln site, and then carried out fieldwork.
The group members walked more than 10 miles a day to collect samples of utensils and kiln utensils at the twelve kiln sites in Baoding Village, and collected information on the iconic historical sites around them.
The investigation team is located near the site of Kiln 4
Shen Yueming led the investigation team to investigate
In the process of sample collection, under the guidance of teacher Shen Yueming, the team members first looked for the specific orientation and trend of the kiln, and then selected the accumulation layer suitable for collecting samples according to the actual situation, and after removing the weeds that interfered with the surface soil layer, they used hand shovels, brushes and other tools to reprocess the accumulation surface until the sample of utensils was exposed in the soil layer, and carefully removed and put into the woven bag corresponding to the kiln number. At the same time, considering that the investigation of kiln sites is difficult to achieve the effect of comprehensive information collection by archaeological excavations, the survey team will choose 3-4 different locations to work in each kiln site to reduce the accident of sample collection.
The investigation team conducted fieldwork on the scene
The investigation team cleaned, dried and packed the 1704 ceramic samples collected, and after more than half a month of sample collection, the investigation team transferred from Baoding Village to Liandu District Cultural Center and entered the data collation stage. The survey team sorted out, selected, statistical numbering, queuing analysis, line drawing, artifact description, cultural relics photography, typological analysis and a series of research work on the collected ceramic samples.
"What is the process of formation of the kiln field? What is the relationship process between this kiln farm and the formation and development of the local village? Should the village conceive the kiln farm or should the kiln farm conceive the growth of the village? After the specimen collection, these questions require us to analyze and study. Shen Yueming said.
Specimens of porcelain pieces collected by the group
The investigation team soaked in the cultural center every day, "noisy" for the classification criteria of the samples, the queuing method, the chronological sequence, etc. Many times when the cultural center was closed, the members were still enthusiastically "inferring". In mid-August, the investigation team completed the finishing work.
The Liandu District Cultural Center sorted out specimens and materials
When talking about the hardships in the investigation, Zhou Xueyan frankly said: "The weather is relatively hot and stuffy, and there are many mosquitoes in the summer, especially we are all in that kind of jungle, and it is quite hard. "Under the poisonous sun, the members of the group have also experienced different degrees of discomfort, especially those who participated in fieldwork for the first time, but they all worked hard to overcome it.
After completing the specimen collation work, in order to further understand the interaction between the Baoding kiln and the surrounding kilns in the same period, the investigation team also went to a number of kiln sites and cultural relics units in Taizhou and Ningbo to observe and verify, accumulating comparative materials for the dissemination route and interactive research of kiln technology.
Sketch of the cover of the report designed by Zhou Xueyan
At the beginning of December 2020, under the guidance of Professor Shen Yueming, the team members collaborated to complete the first draft of the archaeological report, of which Zhou Xueyan was responsible for the preparation of the report, field color photos, digital illustrations, map production, etc. In addition, she likes graphic design on weekdays and also works as the cover designer for reports.
"How does the kiln yard in the core area of Longquan Kiln affect the surrounding area? How did it radiate or spread to areas like East Asia and even North Africa? Without research, without investigation, there is no solution to the doubt. Shen Yueming said that through investigation and research, timely publication of research results can provide information for follow-up joint research.
The difference is that in the past, scholars writing archaeological reports were generally less likely to give further opinions on conservation issues. However, in the archaeological report of "Lishui Baoding Kiln Site Investigation and Research", the value of the kiln site was evaluated from three levels: historical value, scientific value and artistic value, and 6 preliminary site protection and planning opinions were put forward.
After Returning from Baoding, Professor Shen Yueming wrote an article entitled "From "Longquan Tianxia" to "Tianxia Longquan":The Change of the External Output Mode of Longquan Kiln in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties", which was published in the magazine "Museum" as a phased result of "Longquan Kiln Archaeological Research".
"The archaeological excavation report only solves the problem of the first layer", Fudan Archaeological Road goes this way
"For a long time, the archaeology and research of cultural relics have mostly stayed at the level of artifacts and cultural relics, and they are far from reaching the height of seeing people through things, history, life, and spirit." Lu Jiansong, head of the Department of Cultural Relics and Museology at Fudan University, said.
"Archaeological excavations are not the ultimate goal, it is necessary to understand the history behind the artifacts." Lu Jiansong stressed, "Any cultural relic or a site has a historical and cultural story behind it. It reflects the cultural inheritance and creation of human beings in the fields of production and lifestyle, science and technology, religion and belief, aesthetics and thinking, records the footprints of human self-development and self-improvement, and carries Chinese wisdom, Chinese strength, Chinese spirit and Chinese values. We must conduct multidisciplinary research on the basis of archaeological excavation reports, and the results will reach the goal of seeing people and things through, and disseminating the culture behind cultural relics. ”
What is different about Fudan Archaeology? "In view of the problems and development direction of Chinese archaeology, Fudan Archaeology should find our positioning." Lu Jiansong said, "It is necessary to extend the focus of archaeology from field excavations to the collation and research of archaeological materials, from traditional archaeological research to multidisciplinary cross-integration, from excavation research to the display and utilization of archaeological results, to achieve the role of 'witnessing history, learning from history, and enlightening future generations' as President Xi Jinping said, and to tell people historical wisdom." The ceramic archaeological excavation report only solves the problem of the first layer of center of gravity shift, and on this basis, multidisciplinary research will be carried out to spread the culture behind the use of ceramics.
During the fieldwork of Baoding kiln, Shen Yueming's investigation team took into account the subsequent dissemination and utilization when collecting and researching, and at the same time selected students from interdisciplinary backgrounds to participate in the survey, laying the foundation for the subsequent exploration and research of the kiln field in the core area of Longquan kiln.
In the subsequent study of the kiln field in the core area of longquan kiln, scientific and technological archaeology will become an important force supporting research.
In 2017, Fudan University established the Most Distinctive Institute of Science and Technology Archaeology in Archaeological Construction, and established 6 laboratories for environmental archaeology, animal archaeology, plant archaeology, isotope analysis, ancient DNA, and ceramic archaeology. In the future, scientific and technological tests will be used to solve the problems of dating and comparative analysis of tire glaze of porcelain excavated from Longquan kiln, providing an important reference for on-site excavation and research.
After winning the qualification of field archaeology team excavation leader of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2019, the archaeological department construction team accelerated the pace of field archaeological excavation and quickly ranked among the first echelon of the national archaeological department. How will Fudan archaeology develop in the future?
"In the "14th Five-Year Plan" and for a longer period of time in the future, the faculty and students of the Institute of Science and Technology Archaeology and the Department of Archaeology of the Department of Culture and Science will continue to cooperate with the "Belt and Road" initiative, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and other major national strategies and major national cultural projects, strengthen the integration of archaeological resources and collaborative innovation, and serve the overall situation and strengthen the transformation and promotion of scientific research achievements through active archaeology and participation in rescue archaeological exploration and excavation of major national construction projects; at the same time, we will also increase cooperation and exchanges with domestic cultural institutions. Establish a long-term cooperative relationship and erect the brand of archaeological science and technology radiation and research of Fudan University in the industry. In terms of archaeological achievements and the popularization of traditional culture, it is necessary to actively write and publish popular science books to spread the splendid history and excellent culture of the Chinese nation. Lu Jiansong said that we should strive to build the archaeological brand of Fudan University.
It is expected that the comprehensive exploration and research of Longquan Kiln will witness the growth of Fudan archaeology.
Composition
Fusion Media Center
Text
Zhang Peilin, Zhou Xueyan
Image
Respondents provided
Editor-in-charge
Wang Zhenyi
▼For more Fudan news, please pay attention to the official website of Fudan University.