Sands of time protect ancient treasure
A key archaeological site, along the Helan Mountains in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, had been buried under the sand for about a millennium. Once unveiled, it seems as if its shards of history, broken yet glittering, are hoping to tell their story.
The ruins of 13 porcelain kilns were found by archaeologists in Helan county, Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia, at the Suyukou site, which covers about 430,000 square feet. It was revealed at a recent conference of the National Cultural Heritage Administration in Beijing.
Though only 10,700 square feet, including two kilns, were excavated at the site during 2021 and 2022, the joint archaeological team from the Ningxia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and Shanghai- based Fudan University was amazed and delighted by key discoveries.
Exquisite white porcelain artifacts for various functions — bowls, plates, cups, vases and kettles — portray a picture of a high quality everyday life.
These findings indicate their exceptional status, linking them with Western Xia, or Xixia ( 1038- 1227), a powerful regime that ruled Northwest China until it was conquered by Genghis Khan.
According to Chai Pingping, an archaeologist with the Ningxia institute who briefed the conference in Beijing, the Chinese character guan (“the official”) was found to be marked on many manufactured tools like saggers — the boxes made of fireclay in which delicate ceramics are fired. “Suyukou should be the
guanyao ( official porcelain kilns serving the royal family) of Western Xia,” Chai said.
Some archaeologists view the Suyukou site as the “Pompeii of Chinese porcelain”. Thanks to the veneer of sand, the site has largely evaded erosion over time, making it one of the best preserved ruins of ancient porcelain production kilns in the country, Chai said.
Western Xia was founded by the Tangut people. Almost contemporaneous with the Song Dynasty ( 960- 1279), military conflicts were common between the two rivals.
Evidence of influence of the porcelain- making technique from the Hutian kilns in today’s Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province of East China, was found among the newly unearthed artifacts.
Wang Guangyao, a researcher at the Palace Museum in Beijing, suggested viewing the findings in the context of the bigger picture during the time of Western Xia and Song, when communication among ethnic groups contributed to the forming of the Chinese nation.