Abstract：China is one of the earliest countries in the world that discover, mine and exploit coal.Coal mining and the use of it play a vital role in China's social progress and economic development.In ancient China, the place of production of coal was called coal pit.Coal pit differs from coal mine in that the production tool of the former was mainly hand tools and most of jobholders were farmers who concurrently worked in slack farming season.Ancient coal pits were located in almost all regions of China, but with different forms of exploitation.In terms of the management system of ancient coal pits, there were not only official monopoly and coal mining license system, but also the private sector "guo huo" and "ren quan" system, etc.A number of coal pits with rich reserves and convenient geographical location had gradually become the birthplace of China's modern coal mines.

Keyword：ancient coal pit;near modern coal mines;birthplace;