The first kilns to explore underglaze decoration on stoneware were at Changsha in Hunan province situated on an inland network of lakes and rivers that connected northern and southern China. Abstract and geometric patterns, flowers and animals, and Chinese and even Arabic inscriptions were among the motifs painted in copper and iron pigments on a layer of slip, then covered with glaze. Most of Changsha’s production, including numerous bowls of this type, was exported from Yangzhou in Jiangsu province and has been found in Korea, Japan, Indonesia, the Middle East, and Africa. The kilns operated from the mid-8th to the mid-10th century, when economic and market conditions led to their decline in favor of those in the coastal Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Northern Cizhou kilns, however, continued to decorate utilitarian stoneware with underglaze painting after the 11th century.