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In
the light of the characteristics of local fuelspine wood
Which has a high burning temperature and high flames,
the famous Jingdezhen kiln was set up and improved by drawing the
best of the Dragon Kiln， the Stairs Kiln and the Gourd Kiln and
taking the good points of the Mantou Kiln in the North for
reference． It has neither any types of shape bricks and
complicated fume extractors， nor any auxiliary equipment in
its structures． The gaseous atmosphere and temperature in the kiln
is appropriately controlled only seizing the right time to throw
wood and its amount． It has overcome the shortcomings of the
Dragon Kiln and the Stairs Kiln in
which
are difficult to heat up the tail parts and the high
temperature difference in the Gourd Kiln． Therefore， the
Jingdezhen Kiln has held an important position in the history of
porcelain kilns in China．
Today， many kiln models and the sectional drawings in
proportions have been exhibited in showrooms of museums. There are
three basic types of kilns： the Mantou Kiln， the Dragon Kiln and
the Jingdezhen Kiln．
The
structures of the Jingdezhen Kiln roughly include the
following
components：
①
Kiln entrance: the entrance for loading and unloading
wares .During
firing ，the lower part of the entrance is
sealed
and there is only a wood feeding port in the upper part for a
Ceaseless supply of woods．
②
Front end ：a place for fuel combustion and the grates and ash
pit are in the part．
③Large
belly： It is so called
as it is at the widest and tallest
part of the front end． It is for firing of the topclass fine
porcelain
and
high—glaze
porcelain． The temperature is very high in this area and the
firing temperature is between l300~l320℃。
④Small
belly： it is at the middle part of the kiln with less
width
and height that those of the large belly ．It is for
ordinary
fine porcelain． The firing temperature is a little bit
lower
，between l260-1300℃．
⑤
LOW—temperature
Area: 1t is called
“the
ideal zone”
by
the local people． It is for ordinary porcelains or low-temperature
color-glazed porcelains ．It has a low firing temperature ，only
between ll70~1260℃． Therefore， it is called the low temperature
zone．
⑥
Guayaokou ：It is at the juncture of the chambers and chimney and
functions as the control of the direction and speed of flames and
the draft control of chimney．
⑦
Residual Chamber ：It is a chamber at the bottom of the chimney for
loading and firing saggers and coarse porcelains
(such
as Zhatai Bowl) ．The firing temperature is between 1130～1170℃．
⑧Guanyin
Chamber ：It is the space created within the arch structure under the
top of the kiln． Taking a look from the front of the kiln ，it looks
like a temple．Thus ，it is called “Guanyin Chamber” (meaning the
temple of the Goddess of Mercifulness) ．It is used to accommodate
bricks for repair the kiln．
⑨Chimney
：the front side of chimney is connected with the upper part of
guayaokou and its back side with the back wall Of the kiln ．The flue
is above the residual chamber and connects directly with the
chimney ．Chimney is the very place which produces draft in the kiln．
⑩Kiln
Bottom ：It is the base of the whole kiln and is at an angle of 3
degrees to the horizontal line ．The bottom is covered with a layer
of violet quartz sand on which saggers stand with Majiao half in the
sand． It functions as a support to Stabilize the saggers． |
