In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when mature celadon was made in Shangyu, Zhejiang became the home and major producer of celadon. That gave rise to construction of many famous kilns across the province, including the Yue Kiln, Wuzhou Kiln, Ou Kiln, Deqing Kiln, Southern Song Guan (Imperial) Kiln, and Longquan Kiln.
　　Thanks to its unique advantages, the Zhejiang Museum collects a large quantity of ancient celadon unearthed over the years. They include fine objects from ancient tombs and kilns, and plenty of pottery specimens collected or excavated from various kiln sites.
　　In the evolvement from pottery to porcelain, stamped pottery and proto-porcelain modeled after bronze ware during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties became what mature porcelain originated from. From the Three Kingdoms through the Northern and Southern Dynasties, celadon of the Yue Kiln was of various shapes, reflecting the distinctive features of the age. The Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties underwent the unprecedented flourishing of Zhejiang celadon. Products of the Yue Kiln were known as "olive green porcelain", the best of which was unearthed from the tombs of King Qian's family of the Wuyue Kingdom. The late Five Dynasties saw the heyday of porcelain making of the Yue Kiln.
　　After the Northern Song Dynasty, while the Yue Kiln was going downhill, the Longquan kiln soon came to the fore. By adopting the advanced porcelain-making technique employed in the Northern Song Imperial Kiln, the Longquan Kiln produced thickly glazed porcelain pieces with special colors, such as light greenish blue, plum green, and dark green. After the Song court moved down to the South, thickly glazed pieces with a black base began to be turned out in some imperial kilns in Yue Prefecture and Lin'an (former Hangzhou) to satisfy the court's needs. That brought the celadon-making technology to a peak. The Longquan Kiln in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, known as the No.1 civilian kiln, produced a rich variety of utensils with different designs. The big utensils, for example, featured numerous decorative patterns and various decorating skills and techniques. Therefore, these two dynasties represent the best period of celadon history, in which all kinds of China objects were gathered and brought to their highest class. Since the Tang Dynasty, fine chinaware made in Zhejiang has gone overseas along the Silk Road on the sea.

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