Tongguan Subdistrict

Tongguan () is a subdistrict of Wangcheng district, Changsha, China. It is located on the eastern bank of Xiang river, the subdistrict is bordered by Dingziwan subdistrict to the south, Qiaoyi and Chating towns to the east and north, Jinggang Town and Gaotangling subdistrict across the Xiang river to the west. Tongguan has an area of with a population of 50 thousand, its administrative centre is at Huacheng village. the subdistrict has five residential communities and nine villages under its jurisdiction.translation according t
wangcheng.gov (2016-03-07)
/ref> Tongguan is located on the eastern bank of Xiangjiang River in the northern part of Wangcheng District. It has one provincial-level cultural relic protection unit, one municipal-level cultural relic protection unit, four county-level cultural relic protection unit and two county-level cultural relic site. Tongguan has been known as "Town of Ceramics" and "Ancient Tongguan Town".

Tongguan is a national famous tourism town with characteristic landscape published in 2015, also a small town with a particular character of Hunan; it was designated a famous historical and cultural town of Hunan province in 2007.historical and cultural town of Hunan province (first batch

/ref>
/ref>

Early history

Tongguan is an ancient town with a history of over 2,100 years. There was a bridge named Wuchu (吴楚桥) at Shigang (誓港), According to legend, the bridge was at the boundary point of Wu and Chu states in the Warring States period (476–221 BC). The unearthed earthenwares at Mawangdui proved that at latest Tongguan started to produce potteries in the western Han Periods (206 BC–9 AD). The archaeological excavation at Tongguan Kiln Site showed that, the technology of underglazed color figure was originated there in the Tang (618–907 AC) and Five Dynasties periods (907–960 AC). The production of underglaze wares was once prosperous at the later Tang period, and declined in the Five Dynasties periods in the place.

During An Lushan Rebellion (755 – 763 AC), the Land traffic from the North, Northwest China to the Middle East Arabdom and Persia was blocked, meanwhile the maritime trade was thriving in the South China. As a commercial port and one of pottery industrial centres, early in the Tang Dynasty, pottery trade between Tongguan and other areas already began, the place should be also the earliest export trade port in the history of Changsha.Hunan Daily (2014-05-07)
/ref> A Tang Belitung wreck was discovered by fishermen in 1988 At Belitung island, Indonesia (Gaspar Strait). Radiocarbon dating of the ship's timber produced a relatively wide range date of 710 - 890 A.D for the wreck. the cultural relics was so-called "Tang treasure" in the salvage of the wreck, the majority of that are wares from Changsha produced in kilns in Tongguan, and the text transcript on relics used the calendar era of Tang period (618 - 907 AC). What above-mentioned is a strong evidence, as once a trade-exported port and centre of pottery production, the place of Tongguan played an important role in the history of China or Hunan.

Subdivision

The Tongguan subdistrict was formed by merging the former Tongguan town (), Shutangshan subdistrict (), Guoliang village () of Chating town and a portion of Shenjiaqiao residential community () of Dongcheng townOn November 19, 2015, Guoliang village of Chating town was ajusted to Tongguan under its under jurisdiction; meanwhile there were 7 residential groups, they are Yuejin (), Ranjiang (), Hejia (), Yaojia (), Wushan (), Daguan () and Yuxin () from the Shenjiaqiao () residential community of Dongcheng which were merged to Huacheng village under its jurisdiction. on November 19, 2015; there were 10 villages and five residential communities in the subdistrict at that time.See the result on adjustment of township-level administrative divisions of Wangcheng on November 19, 2015
xzqh.org: administrative division adjustment of Hunan in 2015
and ttp://hn.people.com.cn/n/2015/1208/c195194-27267598.html people.com (2015-12-08): result in 2015 adjustment of township-level administrative division in 105 county-level divisions of Hunan/ref> Tanzhou residential community was formed by merging Taifeng village () and Hongjiazhou residential community () on March 23, 2016; the subdistrict has nine villages and five residential communitiesThe full '
result on the village-level administrative division adjustment of Wangcheng on March 2016
'' in 2016.

Unearthed pottery at Tang Belitung wreck

The following are the showpieces of Tang Belitung wreck at Marina Bay Sands museum, Singapore. the showpieces are the unearthed cultural relics from the wreck, the potteries made in Tongguan in Tang period.

File:Packing jar and bowls from the Belitung shipwreck, ArtScience Museum, Singapore - 20110618.jpg
File:Ewers with palmettes from the Belitung shipwreck, ArtScience Museum, Singapore - 20110618.jpg
File:Feline figure and bird whistle from the Belitung shipwreck, ArtScience Museum, Singapore - 20110618.jpg
File:Tang Shipwreck Gallery, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore - 20151114-06.jpg
File:Guangdong Sheng Bowuguan 2012.11.18 11-15-53.jpg
File:Changsha bowls from the Belitung shipwreck, ArtScience Museum, Singapore - 20110618-03.jpg
File:Changsha bowls from the Belitung shipwreck, ArtScience Museum, Singapore - 20110618-04.jpg
File:Changsha bowls from the Belitung shipwreck, ArtScience Museum, Singapore - 20110319-03.jpg
File:Changsha bowls from the Belitung shipwreck, ArtScience Museum, Singapore - 20110618-01.jpg
File:Changsha bowls from the Belitung shipwreck, ArtScience Museum, Singapore - 20110618-02.jpg
File:Changsha bowls from the Belitung shipwreck, ArtScience Museum, Singapore - 20110618-05.jpg
File:Bowl found in shipwreck off Beilitong Island, Sumatra, Changsha ware, China, Tang dynasty, late 9th century, glazed stoneware - Cincinnati Art Museum - DSC03182.JPG

Culture

The Tongguan pottery firing technology was selected into the list of state-level intangible cultural heritage.

Attractions

Tongguan Street, Fanjia Kiln of the Tang dynasty (618-907), Waixing Kiln of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Yixing Kiln of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), Du Fu Shoufeng Pavilion (), Wuchu Bridge (), Dongshan Temple (), ancient tomb complex of the Warring States period (475 B.C-221 B.C) () and ancient architecture complex of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1912) () have innumerable links to the ancient marks of Tongguan.

References

{{Divisions of Wangcheng, Changsha

Township-level divisions of Wangcheng
Wangcheng