Autumn Stroll in Wanyao Ancient Village: Ordinary Mountain Dwellings Hide the Splendor of a Millennial Porcelain Capital in Southern Zhejiang
In early autumn, the sky is high, the clouds are light, and the autumn air is crisp. I strolled into Wanyao Ancient Village in Cangnan, at the southern foot of Yucang Mountain in southern Zhejiang. Surrounded by green mountains and encircled by streams, the stone paths have been polished smooth and shiny by centuries of footsteps. Mushroom-shaped thatched pavilions stand quietly in the mountains, offering visitors a place to rest and cool off.
At first glance, Wanyao is not stunning. It lacks the carved beams and painted rafters of ancient villages in southern Anhui, and the delicate pavilions of famous towns in Jiangnan. The scattered wooden dwellings are simple and plain, representing the most ordinary mountain living style in southern Zhejiang—rustic, humble, and down-to-earth, reflecting the most authentic appearance of mountain life.
Yet, it is precisely this simplicity that hides its most breathtaking foundation.
Many people misunderstand Wanyao, thinking its appeal lies in elegant architecture. In reality, the soul of Wanyao has never been its architecture, but its millennial handicraft porcelain industry. This ancient village, founded during the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, was a true folk porcelain capital of southern Zhejiang during the Qing Dynasty. The quiet and secluded valley of today was, 200 to 300 years ago, a large-scale handicraft porcelain production base with blazing kilns, thousands of people working, and constant noise throughout the day.
The mid-to-late Qing Dynasty was the peak of Wanyao's prosperity. Among the mountains, 18 dragon kilns were spread out along the slopes, arranged in sequence like 18 fire dragons dormant in the mountains. Up and down the hills, hundreds of workshops were arranged in rows, and over 40 water-powered hammers used the stream's power to crush porcelain clay day and night. Nearly 10,000 villagers made a living from this, living here for generations, with men, women, old, and young all involved in the porcelain trade. At that time, almost no one in Wanyao farmed; every household made porcelain. It was the liveliest, busiest, and wealthiest town deep in the mountains.
Standing before the remains of the ancient dragon kiln, I traced back through time, as if seeing the grand scene of handicraft production from back then:
As dawn broke, the valley awakened. The stream drove the water hammers to rise and fall day and night, and the thumping sound of crushing clay echoed through the valley, never ceasing. The entire valley had no sound of machinery, only the rustic rhythm of ancient handicraft and human labor.
Men added firewood to the kilns, watched the fire to control the temperature, and sorted goods from the kilns, working in shifts day and night while guarding the 1,300+ degree kiln fire, relying on experience to observe smoke and temperature to control the kiln's nature. Women sat by the workshop windows, calmly painting flowers and patterns, their fingertips moving gracefully, applying elegant blue and white colors onto coarse porcelain bowls and dishes. Strong laborers went back and forth to wash clay, tread clay, throw pottery, trim, and glaze. Every process was purely handmade, meticulous, complex, and progressive.
Children shuttled through the workshop streets and alleys, merchants from the north and south stayed here all year round waiting for shipments, and groups of porters were ready to go, gathering their strength. 18 dragon kilns were lit simultaneously. When night fell, the entire valley was illuminated by the fire, turning the mountain ranges red. Each kiln firing could produce nearly 200,000 pieces of civilian blue and white porcelain. With kilns burning day and night, a steady stream of porcelain bowls and dishes was transported out of the mountains via the ancient porcelain-carrying paths, carried on the shoulders of thousands of porters over mountains and ridges, and then sold to various places along waterways, spreading far and wide.
At that time, the East Gate Old Street was the most prosperous commercial street deep in the mountains. Shops along the street were filled with goods, the fragrance of porcelain overflowed, merchants from north and south gathered to stock up, and the streets were bustling with noise and constant activity. The village stage had gongs and drums playing every night, not just for tourists, but to reward the craftsmen who worked all day and to comfort the merchants who came from afar—a unique human warmth in the prosperity of that era.
What is most moving is the complete closed loop of this entire ancient porcelain-making system. From extracting clay from the mountains, crushing it with stream water, washing it in settling ponds, throwing pottery by hand in workshops, drying and glazing, firing with firewood in dragon kilns, transporting by human power on ancient paths, to commercial trading in the streets—a single ancient village deep in the mountains formed a complete millennial handicraft porcelain industrial chain, relying not on machinery but entirely on human ingenuity and craftsmanship to support a prosperous era.
Today, the prosperity has faded, and the hustle and bustle have returned to silence. The fires of the 18 long dragon kilns have all been extinguished, leaving only one ancient dragon kiln from the Kangxi period lying quietly on the hillside. With its 14 pillars and 13 chambers layered one upon another, and a slope that is steep and gentle in turn, the kiln walls are covered with the traces of smoke and fire from the years, quietly telling the story of the past glory. Beside it, a uniquely shaped inverted-flame round kiln stands quietly. Climbing to the top, one can overlook the entire village, where ordinary mountain dwellings are scattered peacefully, no longer echoing with the bustling scene of thousands of people working.
The water hammers that once clattered day and night are now reduced to only 4, standing quietly by the stream. The water still murmurs, but there is no longer the ceaseless sound of crushing clay. The long, ancient porcelain-carrying path has shed the busyness of trembling shoulder poles and hurried footsteps, leaving only smooth stone paths winding through the forest, allowing future generations to walk on the stones to reminisce and listen to the echoes of time.
After visiting the kiln sites and workshops, you can continue along the mountain road deeper into the valley. The Three-Fold Waterfall is hidden at the end of the forest, with three levels of cascading water rushing down, creating a mist in the mountains. The waterfall-viewing pavilion halfway up the mountain is a great place to stop and enjoy the scenery. Within the scenic area, there is also an ancient Red Army path connecting the mountains. In 1937, the Red Army Advance Detachment led by Liu Ying and Su Yu retreated to Xian'an Mountain in Wanyao and fought a fierce battle there. Local people risked their lives to scout for information and deliver food for the Red Army, and after the battle, they tearfully buried the fallen soldiers. The green mountains and ancient paths preserve this piece of Red history. Walking through it, beyond the charm of porcelain, there is an added layer of profound Red memory. The connected ancient stage and Sanguan Temple are also worth stopping at; the exquisite caisson ceiling paintings preserve the old times of Southern Opera. The Wanyao Museum, converted from the Zhu Family's ancient residence, allows you to calm your mind and take a close look at various ancient porcelain and old porcelain-making tools unearthed locally.
The ancient village is quiet, but its cultural heritage has never been severed. Yu Zhenman, an intangible cultural heritage inheritor over 50 years old in the village, is the last kiln keeper. He has spent half his life adhering to the original intention of ancient porcelain making—throwing, trimming, painting, glazing, and firing in the kiln—a complete set of pure handmade craftsmanship that has never been interrupted. In the years when no one paid attention, he silently guarded the 600-year-old porcelain kiln roots and the spirit of craftsmanship of Wanyao.
The mountains and rivers remain the same, and the autumn wind is as it was. The Wanyao that people see today is a quiet, serene, and simple ancient mountain village. But those who understand it know: today's simplicity is exactly what remains after the precipitation of yesterday's immense handicraft prosperity. It does not rely on architecture to amaze the world, but it has revitalized a village with one industry, and with a corner of the deep mountains and thousands of craftsmen's hearts, it has supported half the sky of folk ceramics in southern Zhejiang. A half-day leisure trip in early autumn allows you to visit ancient kilns to recall the past of the handicraft industry, watch waterfalls and listen to springs, and walk the Red Army ancient path to cherish the glorious years. The entire scenic area combines humanities and landscapes, making it worth a slow stroll. The beauty of Wanyao lies not in the exquisiteness of its buildings, but in the millennium of kiln fire; not in its static ancient charm, but in the vast landscape where thousands of people once worked and created everything by hand.