Shiwan Ceramic and Pottery Collecting Group Forum

Castle Peak Pottery Kiln [青山陶窰] or Dragon Kiln [龍窰]) c1940-1982, Tuen Mun
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Tuen Mun

The History of Tuen Mun can be traced back to 4000 BC. The archaeologist excavated the ancient remains in three main archaeological sites in Tuen Mun including Shek KokTsui, So Kwun Wat and Lung Kwn Tan which yield fundamental evidence of humanactivities from the prehistoric to the historic periods.

Tuen Mun had been administered by five counties in total from Qin dynasty to Qing dynasty. Due to its proximity to the sea, Tuen Mun was a port since Qin dynasty. According to the The New Book of Tang, Tuen Mun not only was a port, but also an area of garrison soldiers defence. Tuen Mun literally means an entrance of garrison soldiers defence.

The earliest record of the local industries in Tuen Mun can be traced back to theTang dynasty. Trading industry was the main local industry in Tuen Mun during that time. Until Song dynasty, salt manufacturing industry and fishing industry gradually developed. Together with the trading industry, salt manufacturing industry and fishing industry became major local industries in Tuen Mun. After WWII, the gate had been totally opened to the industrialization in Hong Kong. Various kinds of manufacturing factories developed in Tuen Mun during the time, including brick works, textile and ceramic factories. Manufacturing industry and fishing industry thus became the two major industries in Tuen Mun in the 20th century. In the late 20th century, the government began to develop Tuen Mun as a new town. In the late1960s, the government proposed a land reclamation plan. According to the plan, the government wanted to create new land from a part of Castle Peak Bay area and develop a new town with public housing area, industrial area and Typhoon anchorage on the new land. The new town development based on the land reclamation plan finally led to the gradual decline of the fishing industry in Tuen Mun. Since then, Tuen Mun has developed into a modern town with an industrial area.

The Castle Peak Area

Castle Peak is a mountain located in Tuen Mun which is a sacred mountain to the local people, especially the Buddhist since years ago. It had various names in the past. According to
The New Book of Tang, it was named Tuen Mun Shan. There is a famous folktale about the elderly Buddhist monk, Pui To and Castle Peak. Therefore, it was more commonly known as Pui To Shan during the Song dynasty. It also had other names, such as Sui Ying Shan.

After Hong Kong became a Crown colony in the 19th century, the British named it as Castle Peak because of its silhouette. Due to the folktale mentioned above, Castle Peak has become a place where the temples and monasteries were built since ancient times. Tsing Shan Monastery, one of the three oldest temples in Hong Kong is situated in Castle Peak. In addition, a number of other Buddhist and Taoist temples are situated at the foot of the Castle Peak, near the Tuen Mun New Town nowadays.




History of the Ceramic KIln

The Ceramic Kiln is situated at Hin Fat Lane in Tuen Mun, off Castle Peak Road. It was a kiln constructed by an overseas Chinese named Szeto Nu Ta in the1940s. Szeto originally constructed the kiln to produce the pottery and planned to sell the pottery to the foreign market. However, the efficiency of the kiln and the quality of the pottery produced by the kiln were not satisfactory, and thus the Ceramic Kiln was used to produce village and household pottery instead. The 20-meter-long Ceramic Kiln was built according to the topography of the hill, of which the shape of the kiln is similar to a dragon climbing uphill. Therefore, it is also known as Castle Peak dragon kiln. The Ceramic Kiln was the third dragon kiln built in Hong Kong and it was considered to be the largest dragon kiln in Hong Kong.

In 1951, the foreman at the kiln, named Leung Sum bought and took over the kiln. He realized the problem of the kiln and modified it so as to ensure a better draft. The Ceramic Kiln is a cross draft kiln with higher efficiency since then. After the modification, the Leung family started to produce a variety of ceramic products, for example cooking utensils, male urinal bottle and burial urn (Kam Tap in Cantonese)and the products were sold under the company name of Kung Hop Pottery Kiln or Hong Kong Ceramic Arts Studio

According to Mr. Leung Pak Chuen the son of Mr. Leung Sum, the production of Ceramic Kiln was operated as a labor-intensive industry. The workers took part in collecting firewood from the hillside nearby, firing the ceramic products and monitoring the firing, packing and delivering the ceramic products. The Ceramic Kiln had over thirty workers in its heyday. During that time, Leung Sum’s compatriots from Shiwan came and produce the ceramic products with the kiln. The Ceramic Kiln also attracted famous ceramic artists, such as local artist Liu Yuan and Lai Chiu from Shiwan.




Background of Shiwan Dragon KIln

The Ceramic Kiln was built following some examples of ceramic kilns in Shiwan, such as Shiwan dragon kiln archaeological site at Qishi Village, Nanhai District Xiaotang, Shiwan Wen Kin, Nanfeng Ancient Kiln, Gao Kiln and Tongquing Kiln.

Shiwan dragon kiln has a long history, with the earliest one could be traced back to the Northern Song Dynasty. The Shiwan dragon kiln before Yuan Dynasty was not performing satisfactorily. The slope of the kiln was not deep enough, while the stroke holes which allow addition of extra fire woods were located on the lateral sides of the kiln resulted in weak sucking power, short flame and an uneven temperature inside the kiln. There was a breakthrough improvement to the dragon kiln during the Ming Dynasty, where the stroke holes were relocated to the top of the kiln, with five holes in each row. By doing so, the addition of fire woods could cover more areas which improved the uneven temperature issue.

The production of Shiwan ceramics was in its heyday during the Ming and Qing Dynasty. There emerged dragon kiln builders who were specialized in the construction of dragon kiln in Shiwan. Today, only three Shiwan dragon kilns are left in Shiwan. Hong Kong is lucky enough to have one which is still in its authentic form.

The earliest kiln that modelled after Shiwan dragon kiln could be found in Hong Kong dated back to approximately 1930 at Wing Lee Wai Wine Factory in Tai Po Market, which was used for the production of ceramic wine vessels in the Shiwan tradition. Another one was built in 1939 at Castle Peak Road for the production of Shiwan pottery figurines owned by Keen Sang Brickworks, which was believed to have the involvement of Leung Sum during the construction of the ceramic kiln. The Ceramic Kiln built in the 1940s by Szeto Nu Tao was the third dragon kiln built in Hong Kong, and was considered to be the largest dragon kiln in Hong Kong.

Ceramic KIln

The Ceramic Kiln is considered to be the sole example of this design in the territory and may possibly be unique in Hong Kong. It consists of a front furnace downhill of around 2m long, a single firing chamber of around 13.7m long, which ends with an afterburner connecting to an underground flue of around 4m long which connects to the brick chimney stack. (Fig. 11) The front furnace is a rectangular mass at the beginning of the entire ceramic kiln downhill. Originally there were two openings on the west side and two smaller openings on each side elevations, where the west side openings were blocked later and only rely on the side openings for the input of fire woods. (Fig. 10)



The fire chamber is a long-vaulted tunnel climbing uphill with one single chamber. There are two entrances to the south side of the fire chamber, which are basket arched doorways. Potters would fill up the entire space inside the fire chamber to get it full, known as ‘full kiln’ to the Shiwan people. (Fig. 13) The arrangement of the pottery would be thoroughly done to make sure the air draft within the fire chamber, as well as to facilitate the addition of firewood branches during the firing. The two entrances would then be enclosed with bricks before starting the front furnace. The heat would be transmitted from the front furnace through a brick grille to the fire chamber. (Fig. 14) Today, the crystalline remnants known as ‘kiln sweat’ are stillretained on both sides of the interior walls.



The Ceramic Kiln was built by mud bricks, with the fire chamber flanked by stone rubble walls on both sides for the protection of the kiln. (Fig. 15 - Fig. 16) The stone walls are slightly lower than the fire chamber, where the top of the walls and timber rack across the kiln allow circulation for the potters during the addition of fire woods through the stroke holes. (Fig. 17) The timber rack and some of the fire woods could still be found nowadays. (Fig. 18 - Fig. 20)



At the end of the Ceramic Kiln uphill, there is an opening for the passage of smoke to the after burner, which is known as the throat of chicken] to the Shiwan people. (Fig. 21) A wall constructed of pottery produced previously from the Ceramic Kiln is found above the after burner. (Fig. 22) The smoke would transmit through the underground tunnel connecting from the after burner to the square brick chimney of 7.65 m high. (Fig.23)



The entire Ceramic Kiln was originally sheltered under a series of stepping-up pitched roofs following the slope of the Ceramic Kiln uphill, which are supporting on timber trusses onto five pairs of brick pillars on both sides of the Ceramic Kiln. The roofs were originally covered with four pitched roofs, but was deteriorated throughout the time and subsequently removed. Currently the Ceramic Kiln is sheltered under later-added corrugated metal roofs. (Fig. 24 - Fig. 27)




Comparative Research on Castle Peak Dragon Kiln, Hong Kong and Foshan Shiwan Kilns and ceramic craftsmanship in Guangdong and Ceramic archaeology, industrial development history of South China and ceramic art education.

Sharon Wai-yee Wong, May Ho, Wendy Ng. Published 2019