Longquan Celadon Museum : Some People Juggle Geese

I went with my mom, dad, and husband Siqi to visit the Longquan Celadon Museum, which tells about the history of celadon, a type of green-glazed porcelain or stoneware.

The museum is a big building on a hill that’s part of a larger campus devoted to supporting porcelain art.

Siqi accidentally wore an appropriately blue-green t-shirt.

Off to the museum we go to be tourists!

(Siqi doesn’t want spiders and bots to find photos of his face online so I’ve put sunglasses on him.)

See below for 14 more photos of our visit to the celadon museum.

Entrance

After climbing the outdoor steps, we also had to climb some indoor steps, which were styled to look like the inside of a kiln, complete with red light representing flames.

Then we arrived in the big cone you can see from outside, which looks like an alien spaceship from inside.

The museum was not crowded (though the few other people there of course stared at us, especially the kids). There were audioguide devices for Chinese only, but there was okay English on the signs. The first of the signs said:

Foreword: Longquan celadon, famous for its jade-like glaze and elegant shapes expressing the greenth and moist from nature, is one of the most exquisite artworks among all kinds of celadon wares. In the history of Chinese porcelain, Longquan kiln center was one of the porcelain centers with the most age-old history, broadest kiln scope, largest production and largest export sale. It learned techniques from both north and south celadon wares and developed in the communication between both official and non-official kilns. Therefore, it synthesizes all kinds of celadon craftsmanship and represents the peak of Chinese celadon. In the history, Longquan celadon as a symbol of the great Chinese culture was shipped globally, admired and appreciated by the people all over the world.

There you have it: Longquan celadon expresses the greenth and moist from nature.

Old Celadon

The first section of the museum had old objects.

Vase with dragon design, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); water dropper, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); small vase with double ring ears, Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

I was pleased to eventually see this Guanyin statue because I’d admired it on the touchscreen display I interacted with in the first room of the museum.

How Celadon Is Made and Traded

Another section of the museum explained how celadon objects were made (20 steps; a “symphony of earth and fire”!) and traded around China and the world.