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| Archaeology from the Song to the Ming(1) |
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2006-05-22 10:46:54
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Feudalism was to reach its zenith in China in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). However it was poised to enter a time of gradual decline from the Song to the Ming Dynasty.
History divides the Song Dynasty (960-1279) into the Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern Song (1127-1279).
Broadly contemporaneous with the Song were the Liao (Chitan) that ruled northeast China from 916 to 1125, the Xixia (Tangut) centered on Ningxia from 1038 to 1227 and finally the Jin that ruled in north China from 1115 to 1234.
The Song Dynasty was followed first by the Yuan (1279-1368) and then by the Ming (1368-1644).
Archaeology brings us a vivid picture of the social, economic and cultural development of this prolonged period. Song Dynasty palaces and royal gardens have yielded up their secrets in excavations. The tomb of the Liao Emperor Yelü Yu and the Ding Mausoleum, an imperial mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, have both told their stories. The wealth of china goods together with gold and silver vessels that has come down to us from the Song and the Ming has added a richness of color, perspective and highlights to the historical canvas of these far off days.
Scholars now have a good insight into the overall arrangement and design of ancient gardens. Important sources for their research have been a Northern Song flower garden attached to the government offices in Luoyang city, Henan Province and the mansion of the Southern Song Empress Gongsheng Renlie in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Archaeology has shown that the cast iron smelting technology, which had first appeared back in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), became more widely used after the Song Dynasty. This has been evidenced by excavations at post-Song iron smelting workshops in Anyang city, Linxian County and Nanzhao County, all in Henan Province.
After the well-known tri-colored glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty, the ceramic industry was to go on to enjoy a new heyday in the Song. There was an upsurge in both court and private porcelain kilns. The so-called “Five Famous Kilns” of the Song -- Ru, Guan, Ge, Ding and Jun kilns -- became household names.
Digs at the Jun Kiln site in Yuzhou, Henan Province have revealed the story of this renowned court porcelain kiln from its early beginnings to its most prestigious days.
Since 1985 over 15,000 pieces of porcelain have been unearthed at the Ding Kiln site. It covers an area of more than 100 square meters near Jianci village, Quyang County, Hebei Province. The finds have added much to the body of knowledge on this ancient north China kiln.
Excavations in 2000 uncovered delicate chinaware at the Ru Kiln site in Baofeng County, Henan Province. This did much to help unravel its mysteries, as there are few accounts of this porcelain kiln in the historical record.
Extensive excavations have also been made at private kiln sites of the Song Dynasty. These have included the famous Longquan, Yaozhou, Jizhou and Cizhou kilns. For example ten kiln sites were excavated in Cixian County, Hebei Province in 1987. Among the results of these digs some 300,000 pieces of broken porcelain from the Cizhou Kiln came to light. These demonstrated that this particular kiln could be dated back to the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Dynasties founded by ancient nomadic peoples in China’s border regions such as the Liao, Xixia and Jin have all contributed their own artifacts to the archaeological record.
In 1999, archaeologists from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, working in Helan Mountain found the foundations of 62 pagodas that had lain buried for hundreds of years. They were to unearth almost a hundred models of pagodas and statues of the Buddha. These artifacts are of great importance for they show the relationship between Tibetan Buddhism and the Xixia culture.
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