Photo: CCTV

TheMK sports Korea earliest known examples of China's "high-quartz porcelain" have been uncovered at the Suyukou porcelain kiln site in the county of ­Helan, Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, challenging previous assumptions about the development of porcelain in China. This discovery has advanced the timeline of a crucial porcelain technique, specifically the "two-component recipe," pushing its origins from the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) to the Xixia period (1038-1227), reported CCTV on Sunday.

Cui Jianfeng, deputy dean of the School of Archaeology and Museology at Peking University, told the Global Times that the "two-component recipe" refers to the blending of two primary ingredients, with an elevated proportion of quartz in the mixture of the high-quartz porcelain found at the Suyukou site.

"There is a significant difference between the formulas used in northern and southern China for making porcelain. The southern region often uses magnetite as an ingredient, while the northern region used kaolin. The firing temperature in the north was typically higher, resulting in thin porcelain that is rarely transparent. In contrast, the kiln at the Suyukou site from the Xixia period innovatively adjusted the ingredient mix, allowing for better translucency in the porcelain," Cui said.

To achieve thinner and more translucent porcelain, the key approach was to lower the firing temperature. It is believed that the kiln workers at Suyukou increased the quartz content and reduced the kaolin ratio, improving the porcelain's light transmission properties.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the Suyukou kiln site was an important production center for white porcelain during the Xixia period and represents the earliest known Xixia kiln site discovered in China. 

The site provides crucial insights into the scale, structure, and technical processes of kilns from the Song (960-1279) and Yuan dynasties. These findings will serve as a vital reference for reconstructing kiln sites from the same period across the country.

During the archaeological excavation, the best-preserved and most complete ancient porcelain workshops were also uncovered. These comprised relics resulting from techniques, including quartz and clay processing, wheel throwing, trimming, glazing, and firing. Notably, workshops for processing quartz, drying, and firing quartz in kilns were discovered, helping to build a more complete picture of porcelain production.

Additionally, the excavation revealed a rare combination of kiln resources at the site, including deposits of clay, quartz, limestone, coal, and water - an unprecedented find in China's porcelain archaeology.

The discovery also revealed that the Suyukou kiln site was the location where porcelain for the Xixia palace was made. 

Professor Zheng Jianming from Fudan University's Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology noted that the archaeological findings reflect the cultural exchanges and fusion between different regimes. The discovery of the site provides valuable material for studying the cultural exchanges and integration between the Xixia period and the Song Dynasty. 

Zheng noted that through the study of porcelain, we gain insight into the cultural interactions between different ethnic regimes of the time, shedding light on shared elements of the cultural identity of various ethnic groups. This has significant value for understanding the formation and development of the multi-ethnic, unified structure of the Chinese nation.

Covering an area of approximately 40,000 square meters, the Suyukou kiln site was first discovered by the Ningxia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology during a survey in 2017. From 2021 to 2024, the institute, in collaboration with Fudan University, conducted formal excavations of Kilns 1 - 6 to explore the making of fine white porcelain in the region and investigate other sites like the Xixia tombs and temples. The excavations revealed six complete kiln workshops and nearby mining pits for raw materials such as porcelain clay, coal, quartz, and limestone.