It only takes more than an hour to drive from downtown Changsha to Tongguanyao Ancient Town in Wangcheng District. There is a replica Arabian wooden sailboat at the entrance, the Belitung, which sank near a large black reef in the waters of Belitung Island, Indonesia. It was precisely because of the discovery of the sunken ship of the Blackstone that the mystery of Tongguan Kiln was revealed.

Regarding porcelain, we often say that there are "five famous kilns" in China. In the earlier Tang Dynasty, Changsha Tongguan Kiln products were already exported to home and abroad. Compared with the porcelain played by later officials and aristocrats, the products produced by Tongguan Kilns are more practical and people-friendly, and can be affordable to ordinary people. Very lucky, on the eve of National Day, I followed the "Tianya Community, Day Study Hunan" team to visit the ancient town of Tongguanyao in Changsha. It was a deep experience of the "past of Tongguanyao".

The new packaging of the ancient town cost more than 10 billion yuan and was spread out around Shizhu Lake. It includes 8 museums, 5 performing arts centers, 3 star-rated hotels, 20 B & Bs, 18 cultural attractions and 4 parent-child amusement parks, etc. project. It is large in scale and has many projects, integrating culture and tourism, making it unforgettable and eye-opening. According to the staff, today we can experience 5D cinema, Flying Theater, Blackstone Stunt Show, Tongguan Kiln Legend Show, Tongguan Water Show, Underground River Rafting and other amusement projects.

The "Heishi Stunt Show" is the highlight of the ancient town of Tongguanyao. The thrilling actions such as fighting, artillery, and water craft are one after another, making people feel as if they have traveled to the Tang Dynasty and face the pirates face to face. The "Tongguan Kiln Legend Show" theater recreates the sinking process of the merchant ship Heishi loaded with Tongku Kiln porcelain in the waters of Belitung Island, Indonesia, vividly demonstrating the scene of our ancestors fighting against the wind and waves and fighting against the sky and earth, which is exciting to watch.

The cultural tourism project in Tongguanyao Ancient Town is listed as a model project for the construction of the "Belt and Road", which is actually related to the discovery of the Heishi. With the development of navigation technology, maritime trade emerged during the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the goods going to sea were mainly silk, ceramics and tea, while most of the imported goods were spices. Therefore, this road is also called the "Maritime Silk Road","Ceramics Road" or "Spice Road", and the legend of Tongguan Kiln began on this road.

Tongguan Kiln is the birthplace of colorful underglaze ceramics in the world. Different from "overglaze color","underglaze colorful" is a general term for all colored porcelain that is colored below the transparent glaze layer of porcelain, such as blue and white colorful, plain triple color, etc. Colorful under craft glazing is usually fired in the kiln in one go. In the early Tang Dynasty, the "green south and white north" dominated the world. Changsha Kiln pioneered the colorful underglaze, which stood out from many famous porcelain and formed the pattern of "green south and white Changsha Color". It was praised as a "milestone in the outward expansion of Han culture" and has epoch-making significance in the history of world ceramics development.

According to the Maritime Silk Road route map of the Changsha Kiln Museum, the porcelain from Tongguan Kiln was shipped from Xiangjiang River, all the way east to North Korea and Japan, and all the way south to Guangzhou to sea. On the way south, we first take the Xiangjiang River, then pass through the Lingqu River and the Pearl River to Guangzhou Port. Guangzhou was the "sea-to-sea route" at that time, directly reaching the Persian Gulf and even the Red Sea coast. It was the longest ocean route in the world at that time.

In fact, the Maritime Silk Road began to truly make money. During the Tang Dynasty, the court set up a "city ship envoy" in Guangzhou, who "served as an official at that time" and "served as a Lingnan Marshal to supervise them. An urban area was established. Now, those who came to pay tribute from the barbarians became the city, and some profits were collected and transferred to the government... Tibetan traders taste four colors of borneol, agarwood, cloves, and white cardamom, and draw a point."

After the Song Dynasty crossed south,"funds were scarce and everything relied on sea ships." At that time, the government's fiscal revenue was "less than 10 million yuan", and "the three cities 'overseas companies could earn about 2 million yuan every year." The revenue from the market and shipping actually accounted for 20% of the total revenue, which shows the importance of overseas trade in the country's economic activities. status. The economic source of the small court mainly relied on the income of market ships.

There is a Persian style plate in the Changsha Kiln Museum. It seems that the Tongguan Kilns at that time were already able to receive orders for the shapes specified by the "Fan Merchants". The Blackstone is an Arab "sewn" ship, that is, the hull is spliced with wooden boards and then tied in series with ropes made of coconut shell fiber. The whole ship does not use nails and iron bolts. The ship set out from Guangzhou and planned to reach the Persian Gulf, but was hit by stormy waves and sank in Indonesian waters. In 1999, it was salvaged by a German, and the cultural relics on board settled in Singapore.

More than 67000 ceramic products were salvaged by the "Blackstone", 98% of which were Chinese ceramics, of which about 56500 were Changsha kiln ceramics, mainly bowls, followed by pots.

Porcelain is so popular that it has become a leading product in China's foreign trade. If silk and tea are resource-based products, while porcelain is truly technology-based products, it shows that China could already rely on technological advantages to make a fortune during the Tang Dynasty. This technology continued until the Qing Dynasty. Porcelain is not only used for civilian use, but is also often given as a national gift.

After visiting the Changsha Kiln Museum, night falls and the "Copper Officials Water Show" is about to begin. In fact, there are some real old houses in Huxiang opposite the inn, which you can take a closer look. There is still an old Tongguan Street no matter how far away, but unfortunately I don't have time, so I have to look forward to going again next time.