Tóngguān

Tongguan was the historic county associated with present-day Tongchuan, north of the Guanzhong plain in Shaanxi. It should be distinguished from the similarly pronounced Tong Pass farther east. The county belonged to Yaozhou through the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing periods. At Huangbao in the old county, potters produced the ceramics known as Yaozhou ware, named for the prefecture to which Tongguan belonged. The kilns were especially renowned in the Song period; production later declined during the Yuan and Ming. The county's history therefore joined a long administrative connection with Yaozhou to a ceramic tradition rooted in its own workshops and local resources.