Abstract

The Yue celadon has its unique status and function in the development of Chinese ceramic，just as the latter has its unique status in the development of ceramic in the world.Started from Eastern Han Dynasty and ended in the early Southern Song Dynasty，during the1000years the Yue Celadon explored，developed and finally formed a comprehensive Celadon industry system based on the midstream of Cao’e River in Shangyu，the Shanglin Lake in Cixi and Dongqian Lake in Ningbo as its main production area and included other Celadon kilns in the surrounding area.The products of Yue Celadon in its history contain the'jade-like'celadon，the'ice-like'celadon and the'mountainous green'celadon which had been highly appreciated and had been not only transported throughout the domestic market but also exported to Asia，Africa and other places overseas.

As a crucial production area of Yue celadon，Dongqian Lake kilns experienced different stages as the creation in the late Eastern Han Dynasty，the depression in the Six Dynasties，the interval from Sui Dynasty to the early Tang Dynasty，the recovery in the mid-late Tang Dynasty，the development in the Five Dynasties，the prosperity in the early-middle Northern Song Dynasty，the decline in the late Northern Song Dynasty and the termination in the early Southern Song Dynasty.The distribution of the kilns were centered in the nowadays Dongqian Lake area and Dongwu Town of Yinzhou District in Ningbo，and surrounded by two wings as Wuxiang Town of Yinzhou District to Xiaogang Subdistrict of Beilun District and Shangtian Town to Xiwu Subdistrict in Fenghua District.The products of the kilns were mainly celadon for civil use and for export，with certain amount of the custom-made celadon and tribute celadon.These marvelous products with unique design were once in active demand both in domestic and oversea market，which occupied an important status in Chinese ceramic development history，Yue celadon development history as well as the history of Maritime Silk Road，and still has a huge impact to this day.

The content of the book was mainly based on the archaeological discoveries and complemented by the historical documents，which can be divided into six chapters as Introduction of Yue Celadon，Introduction of Dongqian Lake Celadon Production，Dongqian Lake Celadon Kilns，Products in Different Periods，Yue Celadon Discovered in the World，as well as Protection and Display.The book has tried to combine texts and illustrations to systematically introduce every aspect of the kilns in Dongqian Lake to meet different demands.As a monographic study as well as a popular culture reading，the purpose of this publication is to promote the archaeology，research，protection，display，inheritance and innovation of the culture of Yue celadon in Dongqian Lake.