The Shunaiji kiln is a so-called Southern Song official kiln, and was the kiln at which celadon was fired by the Southern Song chamber prior to the Xiaodanxiaxin official kiln. The most credible record of this kiln is the Southern Song Dynasty’s Ye Writings (垣斎筆衡), which states: “Crossing the Zhongxing River, there was a man named Shao Chengzhang, who was a member of the Shunaiji kiln. The name of the kiln is “Nei”, which means that the kiln was modeled on the clear mud and was extremely exquisite, and the color of the oil was very clear, making it a rare item in the world. In other words, after the Song dynasty (960-1279), Shao Chengchang was appointed as a supervisor of the official kilns of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1279) at Shunaiji (a government office related to food preparation), and produced excellent celadon wares. Although the details of the rise and fall of this kiln are not clear, it is believed to have continued from the early to mid Southern Song period. The kiln is located at the foot of Phoenix Mountain, south of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and its character has been clarified through detailed research by Yoneuchiyama Yonguo. According to shards from the kiln site and artifacts in the National Palace Museum and other collections, this piece was made with a fine grayish-white clay body, formed in a neat shape, and covered evenly with a very thorough celadon glaze. Ice crack patterns sometimes appear, but they are usually not as fine as those of the Gue kiln. However, there are still many unknowns regarding Song dynasty official kilns, including Shunaiji, and further study is needed.
