Yue Kiln Celadon Tradition

Timeline

1. c. 850–874Housi'ao kiln site, Shanglin Lake · ZhejiangLate Tang Yue kilns in the Shanglin Lake area formed a system for firing secret-color ware, using sealed porcelain saggars to maintain a reducing atmosphere, producing a lustrous green glaze. In 874 the Famen Temple crypt was sealed with Yue celadon, and the clothing-account stele explicitly recorded it as 'porcelain secret color,' providing the earliest material and textual mutual confirmation of secret-color ware's existence.
2. 907–978Lin'an (capital of Wuyue) · ZhejiangThe Qian rulers of Wuyue offered Yue kiln secret-color ware as tribute to the Tang and Song courts, appointing officials to supervise the kilns at Shanglin Lake. Secret-color ware was forbidden to officials and commoners, reserved for the royal house and ritual use, forming a complete tribute firing system. Secret-color pieces excavated from tombs such as that of the Shuiqiu clan reflect the highest porcelain-making level of the time.
3. c. 960–1000Shanglin Lake kiln complex · ZhejiangIn the 10th century Yue kilns further refined body and glaze recipes and firing techniques, with secret-color glazes shifting from greenish-yellow toward low-saturation blue-green. Archaeology shows the Housi'ao kiln site was the core production area of late Tang and Five Dynasties secret-color ware, whose regular forms and sparse decoration influenced later celadon aesthetic traditions such as the Ru and Longquan kilns.