Rong County has a long history. It has been more than 1,700 years since the Jin Dynasty established the county. Historically, Rongxian County had administra- tives, roads, counties, prefectures, and prefectures. Rongcheng is the seat of governance, state governance, and county governance, and is an important political, economic, and cultural center in Lingnan. Yuan Jie, a famous poet from the Tang Dynasty, served here as an envoy to manage economic affairs. Li Gang, a famous general from the Song Dynasty, and Su Dongpo, a literary giant of the generation, all stayed here and wrote poems. Xu Xiake, a famous geographer from the Ming Dynasty, even made a special trip here to inspect. The scenic spot - Tiandu Qiao Mountain, one of the 36 caves in China, wrote an article to praise it.
Historical Celebrities
Rong County has outstanding people, a long history and numerous celebrities. It is the hometown of Concubine Yang Guifei, one of the four beauties in ancient China, and Xu Songshi, a pioneer in studying the history and culture of Lingnan ethnic groups in the world. It is the hometown of Concubine Yang Guifei, and the hometown of He Tao, the young prince of the Yongzheng Dynasty (the teacher of Emperor Qianlong). During the Republic of China There are five provincial presidents including Huang Shaohong (Huang Xuchu, Xia Wei, Wu Tingyang, and Yang Yuangong). Huang Shaohong and others also served as ministers of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Republic of China and other important positions. There are more than 70 officers at general level and above, and more than 380 other military and political officials. Rong County is also the largest hometown of overseas Chinese in Guangxi, and many overseas Chinese play an important role in the economic circles of Southeast Asian and other countries.
History of Ceramic Industry
Rong County was established as a county since the Jin Dynasty. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was one of the five administrative offices in Lingnan, with jurisdiction over more than 60 counties in 14 states. It has become the political and military center of southeastern Guangxi, and the local economy and culture have accordingly developed significantly. Rongxian County had become a regional economic and cultural exchange center in the Tang Dynasty, and the ceramic industry also developed accordingly. In the Song Dynasty, due to the political stability and the government's implementation of government-run and private-run industrial and commercial policies, the social economy was unprecedentedly prosperous. This prosperous economy determined the unprecedented prosperity of the porcelain industry. The introduction of Jingdezhen's blue and white porcelain industry to Guangxi has a lot to do with the Song Dynasty government's focus on foreign trade in Guangzhou. Porcelain was a bulk commodity exported at that time. The government's emphasis on and encouragement of Guangzhou's import and export trade attracted many merchants and handicraft households to move to the south, stimulating the production of porcelain in Guangdong and Guangxi regions. Due to its superior geographical location, Rongxian County (Rongguanzhizong, also known as Rongzhou) has attracted a large number of talents, including the Jingdezhen kiln department. In addition, the local porcelain-making resources are very rich, so the porcelain industry in Rongxian County has been able to flourish. developed rapidly. In order to meet the needs of export, the skilled craftsmen of Rong County absorbed and integrated the advanced technologies of famous kilns from various places on the basis of inheriting the traditional skills of the Tang Dynasty. They also strengthened their contacts and exchanges with each other, learned from each other, constantly innovated, and gradually formed a own style and characteristics. The seawater fish porcelain now in the Rongxian Museum is one of the classic works. Blue and white porcelain sunflower petal dish As the saying goes, "If you don't have diamonds, you can't do porcelain work." During the Song Dynasty, not only did the scale of porcelain kilns in Rong County become larger and larger, but also the craftsmanship became increasingly sophisticated, the quality became more refined, and the craftsmanship was constantly innovated. In September 1992, at the International Symposium on Ancient Ceramic Science and Technology held in Shanghai, the participating experts unanimously identified Rongxian County as one of the first areas in the world to fire copper-green glaze and copper-red glaze on porcelain. Famous British ceramic archaeologists Ross Mapon Turcotte and Ross Kerr also published special papers praising the technological innovation of Song porcelain in Rongxian County. They believe that such diverse technological innovations in ceramic firing are important achievements in the science and technology of ancient Chinese ceramics, and the records of Rongxian people making porcelain should be mentioned in Chinese history books. The Rong County Museum now preserves these rare green and red glazed porcelain pieces in the world. This is a unique patina glaze using copper oxide as colorant. It is fired at high temperature at one time, and the glaze color is mostly emerald green, which is very beautiful. Due to the influence of the firing temperature, some are green with yellow flashes, some are green with purple, some become brown, and a few objects are fired into colorful red glazes due to the reduction flame, which is breathtaking. At present, there are more than 60 kilns that still have traces of the Chengguan kiln site, and local people say there are as many as 99 kilns. It was a miracle at the time that there were so many kilns and such high-quality porcelain, and most of their products were sold to other places or abroad. According to experts, cultural relic workers have successively discovered Chengguan kiln porcelain among the cultural relics unearthed in Nanning, Guilin, Liuzhou and Guangzhou, Guangxi.
At that time, more Chengguan kiln porcelain was exported down the Xiujiang River through Guangzhou to Japan, Southeast Asia and other countries and regions. Therefore, the foreign trade exports of the Song Dynasty created the most prosperous period for the development of Rongxian porcelain industry. Unfortunately, at the end of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, turmoil broke out in the Rong County area, and the porcelain industry production was severely affected. According to the Ming Dynasty Yongle edition of "Rong County Chronicles": "From Dading Jiazi to Renchen, there were many barbarian raids and wars. Many people suffered from disasters, and all the property and housing were in ruins." Under the complex and turbulent social and historical background, The Guan Kiln in Rong County had to stop firing and was abandoned. The legacy of the ancient kiln still exists today. Before liberation, the Chengguan kiln site was close to the city and was a concentrated area for factories. Therefore, the ancient kiln site was almost completely destroyed during the progress of urban construction. There are very few remaining identifiable kilns, and those that still exist are overgrown with weeds. It was not until more than ten years after the liberation of Rong County that the Chengguan ancient kiln site in Rong County received considerable attention from relevant departments. In May 1979, the cultural relics team of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region excavated the Chengguan kiln site in Rong County and unearthed more than 500 relics. Before and after, the county cultural relics department also conducted many investigations on the site and collected more than 3,000 specimens. The discovery of these unearthed cultural relics has further unveiled the mystery of the Chengguan kiln site in Rong County, allowing the world to appreciate its unique charm.