What is there to do in Chenlu Ancient Town, Tongchuan City?

From Tongchuan Wangyi District South Railway Station, drive through the culvert towards the mountain for more than ten kilometers, and you will arrive at the ancient Chinese ceramics town---Tongchuan Chenlu Town. During the Song Dynasty, China's porcelain industry flourished, and four major kiln systems were formed in the north: "Ding kiln, Jun kiln, Yaozhou kiln, and Cizhou kiln." These four kilns are famous in China for their exquisite craftsmanship and exquisite products. They are sold well overseas and are known as the four famous kilns in northern China. Chenlu Kiln is the inheritance and continuation of the ancient Yaozhou Kiln and an important part of the Yaozhou Kiln. Chenlu is named after the "pottery furnace display". Chen Lu Kiln has inherited the fire of Yaozhou Kiln for more than 1,300 years. It is the only Yaozhou Kiln kiln that has continuously fired and never stopped firing. It is a living Yaozhou Kiln and a living fossil for the study of ancient ceramics.

Attraction Information

Address: On the top of a mountain 15 kilometers southeast of Yintai District, Tongchuan

Tickets: No admission fee

Opening hours: Open all day

Transportation: It is recommended to take the train to Xi'an, get off and take the long-distance bus to Tongchuan at the "Xi'an Bus Station" opposite. It runs every 15 minutes from 6:00 to 20:30 every day. It takes about one and a half hours to arrive via the "Xitong Expressway" and the fare is 23.5 yuan. You can also take a taxi to Tongchuan, which costs about 200-300 yuan.

After arriving in Tongchuan, take a bus from Yintai District (old urban area) to Chenlu Town, which is about 30 kilometers away. The local transportation is not very developed and there is no concept of "route". You must check the destination of the bus before getting on the bus.

Contact number: 0919-3185751? 3185750 (Tongchuan Municipal Cultural Relics and Tourism Bureau)

Complaint number: 0919-3185751

Official website of the scenic spot: None

Related service facilities in the scenic area: there is a health center in the town; there are banks, hospitals, and gas stations in Tongchuan City.

Accommodation: The best accommodation and food is at "Taojiale" (similar to "Nongjiale", the locals make a living by making pottery and do not farm, so they are called "Taojiale"). There are more than a dozen in the town. . You can also stay in local people’s homes, which are all cave dwellings. The place is spacious and easy to entertain people. Don’t forget to eat the most distinctive local “饸”. The reference price is about 30 yuan a day.

Chenlu Ancient Town Orientation Map

Related information about the scenic spot

Chenlu is a rural town at the junction of the Loess Plateau and the Guanzhong Plain , is also the continuation of Yaozhou Kiln, the most famous folk kiln in northern China. The kiln fire in Chenlu has been burning for more than 1,400 years from the moment it was ignited, setting a record for the longest period of continuous kiln fire firing ceramics in one place. To this day, Chenlu's potters still use the most primitive craftsmanship inherited from generation to generation to make the "things" in their hands. They can be called living fossils and living specimens for investigating the production of ancient ceramics. ?

According to research, Chenlu was already in full swing as early as the Tang Dynasty. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it became the only kiln that continued to produce Yaozhou kilns. For thousands of years, private kilns have sprung up, the porcelain industry has flourished, furnace fires have spread, and traditional porcelain-making skills have been passed down from generation to generation. Old furnaces have created a wonder in the history of Chinese ceramics. Some people even call Chen Lu "the living fossil of oriental ancient ceramic production".

A "cave dwelling" town?

From the "culvert entrance" at the southeastern mouth of Tongchuan City, the "coal capital", take a car uphill and walk southeast for about 45 minutes. After a while, we passed another mountain pass and arrived at the small town of Chenlu. ?

On this loess land with a radius of dozens of miles, Chenlu is considered to be the most densely populated place. Surrounded by mountains, the undulating hills are dotted with large and small cave dwellings and kilns. The cave dwellings made of red bricks look like red fortresses under the setting sun. Against the white walls and burnt yellow earth, they look like a solemn oil painting.

Most of the people here continue the "cave-dwelling" lifestyle of their ancestors, just like what is described in the "Book of Songs" - "pottery covering pottery caves". In fact, as early as six or seven thousand years ago, in Banpo, not far from here, ape-men had already begun this kind of life in pottery kilns. Today you can still find 6 of China's oldest pottery kilns in the Banpo Ape Man Site. ?

Standing on the several hundred meters long Chenlu Street, you can take in the entire town. The cave dwellings built along the slope are dotted with chimneys and porcelain kilns of different sizes and styles. Chenlu is also named because of this "pottery furnace display" landscape. ?

Walking in the winding alleys is more like walking through a historical time tunnel. The road went left and right, up and down, and it seemed that there was no way forward, but "Another Village with Dark Flowers and Bright Flowers" bypassed the courtyard wall of a house, and wide streets and alleys appeared in front of us again. Sometimes, it looks like it's a main road, but I accidentally touch someone's yard. He apologized and asked questions hurriedly, but what you saw was a smiling face that understood everything. ?

You will know it if you walk a lot. Walking along a path, it leads up to the houses on the top of the mountain and down to the potter's courtyard at the bottom of the ditch. But no matter where you go, you will always be greeted by a sincere smile and a simple greeting. As soon as he says "here", he directly invites you to his kiln as a guest, making tea and passing water, and is busy non-stop. There is no alertness and unfamiliarity of city people at all. ?

When you stand in a potter’s courtyard, you often step on other people’s roofs. You can see every move of the neighbor’s house below at a glance. The most interesting thing about Chenlu is that you can often see the wives of the people below having fun with the people on the roof.

Ancient handmade pottery?

People in the ancient town have been making porcelain for generations. Almost everyone is a folk artist making porcelain, and every family is a porcelain-making family. Until now, the ancient porcelain making process is still used here. If you walk into a random house, the potter who is busy pulling out the pottery is probably using techniques and techniques passed down from his ancestors, and he may even be using his grandfather's pottery cart. The only difference is that the manual kiln car has been changed to an electric one. ?

The most lacking thing in Chenlu is water, and the most indispensable thing is the crucible soil for making porcelain. For thousands of years, generations of ancestors have relied on this land to make a living. Once it was discussed, it lasted for thousands of years. The scorching kiln fire has illuminated the history of Chenlu for thousands of years. ?

Chenlu Town is located in the transition zone from the Guanzhong Plain to the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi. Geologically speaking, it is a sedimentary rock zone, which contains a large amount of raw materials for porcelain clay and glaze, as well as a large amount of coal, limestone and other mineral resources. Judging from the observation of accumulation faults in some crucible soil mines, the thickness of the crucible soil layer is several meters as thin as several meters as thick as tens of meters thick. Some of them are like a crucible soil mountain, showing the huge reserves of raw materials. Rich resources provide a material foundation for the sustainable development of Chenlu's porcelain industry. The potters brought back the crucible stones from the mountain, smashed them, sieved them finely, mixed them into mud, kneaded them, put them on the slowly rotating turntable, and pulled them into the prototypes of various utensils at will. After a while, pots, pots, pots and various household utensils will appear in front of you. ?

When you walk into a random house, there must be a fire pit next to the door. One end of the fire pit is connected to the only window in the cave dwelling, and the other end is connected to the stove. with simple furniture. Many people's kilns are located next to the entrance door. The place was spacious, so we simply built the kiln in the open space outside the gate. In fact, the living style of Chenlu people is inseparable from the work of the early potters. In the early days, porcelain workshops were basically family-based handicraft workshops, and potters mostly focused on the kiln. In the era when "the furnace mountain never sleeps", in order to save time and facilitate porcelain making and firing, they lived and ate in the blank houses built next to the kiln. Over time, the living pattern of Chenlu people today was formed. ?

Different from the industry refinement in Jingdezhen, in Chenlu, each family is an independent handicraft workshop. Therefore, a potter must be able to do all the decathlons, from processing the raw materials in the first step to firing the finished product out of the kiln, and he must be able to handle and put down each step. ?

Chenlu potters are generally divided into three types. ?

One type is specialized in making bowls, which is locally called Wanyao. The most typical one is the "Yaozhou Dalao Bowl" or "Haiwan" that is commonly seen in Guanzhong. The largest "Yaozhou Dalao Bowl" has a diameter of 25 centimeters and can hold 2.5 liters of water. The bowls commonly used by the people to hold noodles or entertain guests are one size smaller than this. Now, in the Shaanxi area, whether it is a restaurant selling snacks such as mutton steamed buns, water basin mutton, gourd head, or farmyards, when it comes to serving meals, they use these smaller bowls. The scene is really shocking to those who are new to it! One type specializes in making large vats, basins, and pots, which is locally called Weng kiln. It mainly fires large items for home use. There is also a kiln that specializes in making teapots, vases, bowls and other miscellaneous utensils, also called a black kiln. Among these three industries, making a black kiln is the most difficult and has the highest technical requirements. In Chenlu, these three elements do not interfere with each other and are passed down to future generations. This is what the locals call "the three elements do not interfere with each other". ?

After the porcelain is made, it is bought by the "Fa Ke" from Fuping. "Fa Ke" people go to Chenlu to buy porcelain, and they eat and stay in whose house they buy porcelain. After selecting the porcelain, we hire special footmen to carry it out of the mountains on mules, transport it to Yaoxian County, and then forward it to various places. According to the old rules, there was no need to pay when transporting the porcelain, and the accounts were settled together at the end of the year. If a potter doesn't have enough money to make porcelain, "Fa Ke" will give him three to five hundred yuan, which will be settled together at the end of the year. Buyers and sellers rely solely on their credibility and do not need to sign any contracts at all.

"Cans and cans are built up walls to prevent them from falling down"?

The most valuable thing in an old furnace is the kiln mud, and the most abundant thing is the discarded pottery. The local people used local materials and used the discarded "saggers" to build kilns, build courtyard walls, pave roads, reinforce slope protection... Therefore, "can walls" were erected between kilns and kilns, between courtyards and courtyards, and between roads. Everywhere you look, you can see paths paved with pieces of saggers planted vertically in the ground. ?

A sagger is actually a thing for holding porcelain blanks. It was once a major innovation in ceramic filling and firing technology. Its appearance prevents the porcelain glaze from being directly contaminated by smoke during firing, thus improving the quality of the porcelain. The sagger first appeared in the Tang Dynasty and is still in use today.

After the sagger is used to a certain extent, it must be updated, otherwise it will fall down from the kiln due to its brittleness. Therefore, the replaced sagger became a treasure in the eyes of Chenlu people because of its hardness and lightness.

Chenlu is located on a hillside, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with little flat land, making transportation inconvenient. In addition, the nature of the rocks also increases the difficulty of building cave dwellings. So the local people sifted the remaining coarse materials from the pottery clay, turned them into bricks, and then calcined them to make red bricks similar to refractory bricks, which were used to hoop kilns and build houses, which were both durable and affordable. However, the pressure resistance of the red brick cave dwellings is limited, and the residents above cannot repair the courtyard walls. At this time, discarded saggers, urns, and jars became the best materials for the wall. As a result, every household in Chenlu had this wall of red and yellow cans. People who are fastidious bring in white ash and apply a thick layer of snow-white on it. Under the clear and sunny sky, it is dazzlingly white and dazzling.

When the sun sets, looking around, the red and white slopes are eye-catching and eye-catching. The entire three-sided slope of Chenlu is like a warm-toned oil painting. ?

In addition, the chimneys in every household are made from local materials, such as thick porcelain pipes, water tanks with holes in the bottom, or simply hollow vases. It is built with saggers that were discarded after being fired in the kiln.

The legend of the celadon national treasure "Backflow Pot"?

Chenlu is the main producer of civilian porcelain in the north. Most of the porcelain produced in Chenlu is daily-use porcelain, covering all needs in life. Cups, plates, bowls and lamps are almost all available. Only a small number of private porcelain workshops are imitating some antique porcelain and craft porcelain that require higher craftsmanship. In the Lijia Porcelain Workshop, the old potter Li Shengke showed us the exquisite Yao porcelain that his family has copied over the years. Lao Li used to work at the Yaozhou Kiln Museum, specializing in the antique reproduction of porcelain. After retiring in 1998, he opened his own porcelain workshop, specializing in replicating porcelain. According to Chenlu people, Lao Li's family should be engaged in black kilns. In the cave dwellings, we are really feasting our eyes on the pieces of Yaozhou celadon that are "as skillful as Fan Jin" and "exquisite as jade". ?

A celadon wine cup with a faucet in the cup has a resounding name: "Justice Cup". It is said that it can detect whether a person is greedy for drinking. It turns out that the mystery of this wine glass is that there is a dark hole in the body of the dragon in the glass. When pouring wine, as long as it does not exceed the horizontal line of this hole, it is a good glass of wine. If someone is greedy for drinking and pours wine over this line, the wine will leak out from the bottom of the cup without a drop remaining, as a punishment, hence the name "Justice Cup".

In the blank room, several female workers were carving patterns on the body of the pot. The blank rack is neatly filled with semi-finished products of the "backflow pot". Speaking of the discovery of the "Backflow Pot", there is a little-known legend. In 1968, a farmer in Chengguan Town, Bin County, Shaanxi Province accidentally dug up a porcelain pot. In 1982, when his relative Gao Lixun returned to his hometown to visit relatives, he saw this antique porcelain pot with exquisite patterns carved on it. He felt that this thing had a great origin and sent it to the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. Later, expert appraisal confirmed that it was a finished product from the Northern Song Dynasty, and based on the rare phoenix pattern painted on the body of the pot, it was determined to be a tribute. So far, this Song Dynasty engraved celadon backflow pot is the only unique piece of Yaozhou celadon discovered. As for how it came to be among the people and buried underground, it is still an unsolved mystery to this day, and no one knows the mystery. ?

The height of the backflow pot is 19 cm, the belly diameter is 14.3 cm, and the bottom diameter is 7.5 cm. The whole body is covered with olive green glaze, and there are carved patterns with strong decorative effect under the glaze. The lid is integrated with the handle and body. The handle is shaped like a lying phoenix, spreading its wings and flying. What's amazing is the kettle flow (the spout from which water comes out), which is shaped like a lioness lying on its side, with its head on all fours and its mouth open, which is cleverly used as the spout of the spout. , the idea is very ingenious. What's interesting is that there is a lion cub under the belly of this lioness, sucking breast milk. The expressions of the mother and the two lions are meticulously and lifelike, and have a strong artistic appeal. ?

This national treasure not only has a unique shape and gorgeous and meticulous decoration, but what is even more unique and attractive is the complex structure inside the pot and its ingenious and unexpected design. ?

There is a plum blossom-shaped hole in the bottom of the backflow pot. When you need to fill the pot with water, turn the pot over and pour the water through the plum blossom hole in the bottom of the pot until water flows out of the spout. , it means it’s full. The strangest thing is that when the pot is filled with water and turned upside down, the water will not flow out at all. When drinking water, you only need to tilt the spout down slightly, and the water will flow out of the spout. In fact, the secret of the backflow pot is that there is a long water injection pipe in the pot. As long as the height of the water in the pot does not exceed it, the water will not flow out from the plum blossom hole. So even though there are holes in the bottom of the backflow pot, it can still leak water. ?

The backflow pot is a first-class treasure in terms of shape, art, and technology, and has become a representative artifact among the existing ancient porcelain unearthed from the Yaozhou kiln. By the 1990s, workshops began to copy backflow kettles in the Tongchuan area.

Unique worship of kiln gods and gods?

In China, all walks of life have their own ancestors. People worship Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty in the performing arts shop, worship Lu Ban in the carpenter shop, and worship Confucius in the scholar shop. When craftsmen eat, clothe or work, they will never forget the founder who gave them their jobs. ?

People in Chenlu also worship their kiln gods. What’s interesting is that Chen Lu has not just one kiln god, but three. According to the "Reconstruction of Kiln Temples" in the 57th year of Kangxi's reign: "Kiln Temples originated from Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty", and the kiln gods worshiped in the temple were "Yan Di, Lao Jun and Lei Gong".

As for why there are three kiln gods, few people can tell the truth. According to a local old potter, the Chenlu people would rather believe in the presence of gods than in the absence of gods. As long as I can keep my kiln prosperous and produce good porcelain, I will not refuse anyone who comes, and everyone in Chenlu will give me the due respect. The worship of gods by Chenlu people is actually the worship of gods. This is why Chenlu was once home to many ancient temples and temples in history.

There is also a custom in Chenlu to tie the kiln god with an iron chain. ?

It is said that Chenlu originally had a kiln temple, which was dedicated to Emperor Shun. Because Emperor Shun once taught people how to make pottery and gave the potters a job, the locals regarded Emperor Shun as the kiln god. What is different from other places in the country is that the god whom Chenlu people call "ye" is actually tied up with iron chains by the locals.

It is said that Emperor Shun had a bad temper, and Chenlu people were afraid that he would run away. Moreover, Emperor Shun was an emperor, and by tying him, he also tied the gods. They would help each other to ensure the prosperity of the kiln. ?

In the folklore of Chenlu, the twentieth day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the kiln god. At that time, in order to please the kiln god and other gods, each community will kill pigs and sheep and prepare sumptuous sacrifices so that these "men" can eat and drink enough, calm down and bless the prosperity of the kiln. ?

In addition, Chenlu’s Dongsanshe, Xibashe and other societies also held a variety of social fire performances in the streets and alleys to entertain the gods and let the kiln gods celebrate their birthdays happily. This day is a major festival for Chenlu. The various communities prepared lively performances such as land boat, core, and yangko, which not only entertained the gods but also people. ?

The Kingdom of Yao Porcelain - the past and present life of Chen Lu?

Chen Lu, as the manufacturing base of a single line of Yaozhou Kiln, still maintains strong vitality. The history of porcelain making in Chenlu can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty at least 1,400 years ago. At that time, there were already records of "flames pouring out of the furnace". ?

In the late Yuan Dynasty, the firing scale and porcelain production level of Chenlu kiln had caught up with and surpassed the Huangbao kiln of Yaozhou kiln in the same period. The production center of Yaozhou kiln gradually moved to the Chenlu area. transfer. After that, Chenlu Kiln gradually developed into the successor and replacement of Huangbao Yaozhou Kiln, and then became the largest porcelain kiln and porcelain production base in Shaanxi and even the northwest region during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The products have been sold well in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Henan, Shanxi and other provinces and regions. ?

It has been confirmed by archaeologists that the Yaozhou ancient kiln in Chenlu is divided into 14 ceramic firing areas, with Chenlu Town as the center, about 3 kilometers long from east to west and 2 kilometers wide from north to south. , distributed in a band shape. ?

In people’s minds, there is only Yaozhou kiln in the northwest region, and only Chenlu Town is still alive today.

Yaozhou famous porcelain?

Yaozhou kiln was one of the famous porcelain kilns in the north during the Song Dynasty. Centered on Huangbao Town, Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province, it includes the surrounding kilns such as Chenlu Town, Lidipo, Shangdian, Yuhua Palace, and Yaoxian. Because Tongchuan was formerly known as Tongguan and belonged to Yaozhou during the Song Dynasty, later generations collectively called this kiln system Yaozhou kiln. ?

Yaozhou Kiln was founded in Huangbao Town, Tongguan County (now the suburb of Tongchuan City) in the Tang Dynasty. In the early days, there were various types of porcelain fired. Later, through various explorations, the number of celadon products increased day by day in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Entering the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty, it became a famous kiln and famous porcelain in China and became the representative of celadon in northern my country. ?

The Song Dynasty was the heyday of Yaozhou kiln. The kiln has made great innovations and creations in the porcelain making process. The fired celadon has a graceful and delicate shape "as skillful as Fan Jin", a glaze as "warm as gold" and "fine as jade", and is equipped with sharp, free and easy yet flexible and changeable carvings, as well as rich Diverse and vivid patterns. The products displayed in front of people are beautiful pictures with multiple layers and multiple tones under the crystal green glaze, revealing a free and unrestrained artistic style in fresh elegance. Due to its exquisite texture and decorative patterns, Yaozhou porcelain became a regular tribute vessel from local governments to the imperial court. ?

The glaze colors of Yaozhou porcelain include celadon glaze, turmeric glaze, black glaze, sauce glaze, tea powder glaze, blue and white two-color glaze, fragrant yellow glaze, black glaze blue and white, white ground black flower, rust flower, red Green colored porcelain, etc. The devices are mainly bowls, plates, basins, jars, bottles, boxes, lamps, stoves and other daily necessities, as well as some display vessels, offering vessels, porcelain carvings, etc. The device has various shapes and decorative techniques, making it a unique product. ?

The skillful and unique engraving and printing techniques of the Yaozhou kilns of the Song Dynasty influenced the porcelain making techniques of a number of kilns in Yaozhou, Shaanxi Province and the country, making it a self-contained porcelain kiln system. The famous kiln in the north is as famous as the famous five kilns Ding kiln, Ru kiln, Guan kiln, Jun kiln and Ge kiln.

?