First, the official kiln
The official kiln was built in Bianliang, the capital of Song Huizong, and the kiln site has not been found so far. The official kilns mainly fired celadon. During the Daguan period, moonlight, pink and green were the most popular glaze colors. The carcass of official porcelain is thick, the azure glaze is slightly pink, and the glaze has large stripes.
This is due to the different expansion coefficients of tire and glaze after heating. Porcelain feet are unglazed, and after firing, they are iron-black, with thin glaze at the mouth and slight fetal bones, which is commonly called "purple iron feet". This is a typical feature of official kiln porcelain in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Second, Ru kiln
Ruyao was an official kiln established in Song Huizong in the late Northern Song Dynasty, which lasted less than 20 years. The kiln site is located in Shenzhen Town, Ruzhou, Henan Province (in Baofeng Qingliang Temple, Henan Province), hence the name. Ruyao is mainly celadon, and its glaze colors are pink, bean green, egg green, shrimp green, etc. Ruyao porcelain has a thin matrix, a thick glaze layer, a jade-like texture, and a very thin glaze.
Ruyao porcelain adopts Zhi Ding branch firing method, leaving tiny traces of Zhi Ding at the bottom of the porcelain. Most of the vessels are modeled after ancient bronzes, mainly washing, furnace, statue and plate. There are less than 100 works handed down from ancient times in Ruyao, so they are very precious.
Third, Jun Kiln
Jun kilns are divided into official jun kilns and civilian jun kilns. Guanjun Kiln is the second official kiln established after Ru Kiln in Song Huizong. Jun Kilns are widely distributed in Yuxian County, Henan Province (called Junzhou), hence the name Jun Kilns. The Baguadong Kilns and Juntai Kilns in the county are the most famous, firing all kinds of royal porcelain. Jun porcelain was fired twice, the first time in plain firing, glazed after leaving the kiln, and then fired again.
The glaze color of Jun porcelain is unique and ever-changing. Red, blue, cyan, white and purple blend together, and it looks like clouds. Poets in the Song Dynasty once praised it as "the sunset is purple and green suddenly becomes blue". This is because in the firing process, the ingredients are mixed with copper vapor, which is an artistic effect. This is a great invention in the history of porcelain making in China, and it is called "kiln change".
Because of the thick glaze layer of Jun porcelain, the glaze naturally flows to fill the cracks during the firing process, and regular flowing lines are formed after coming out of the kiln, which is very similar to the traces of earthworm crawling in the soil, so it is called "earthworm walking in the mud". Jun kiln porcelain was mainly used for the "Flower Stone Class" in the late Northern Song Dynasty, and flowerpots were the best.
Fourth, ding kiln
Ding kiln is a folk kiln in Song Dynasty. It was built in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Northern Song Dynasty, and finally reached the Yuan Dynasty. It was burned for nearly 700 years. Kiln sites are located in Cijian, Yanchuan and Lingshan villages and towns in Quyang County, Hebei Province. It belongs to Dingzhou in the Tang Dynasty, so it is called Dingyao. Ding kiln mainly burns white porcelain, which is delicate, thin and shiny, and the glaze is moist as jade. Black glaze and sauce glaze are called "black glaze" and "purple glaze", which are also unique, exquisite in production and elegant in shape.
There are many kinds of patterns, such as carved flowers with knives, embroidered flowers carved with needles, "bamboo brush patterns" and "tear patterns" made by special effects. The words "Guan" and "Shang Shi Ju" were found in the unearthed Ding Kiln porcelain, which indicated that some products of Ding Kiln were burned for the official government and the court.
V. Geyao
Ge kiln, the exact kiln site has not been found so far. According to historical legend, two brothers, Shengyi Zhang and Zhang Sheng, each built a kiln in Chuzhou and Longquan County, Zhejiang Province. The kiln built by the elder brother was called "Ge Kiln", and the kiln built by the younger brother was called "Di Kiln", also known as Zhang Kiln and Longquan Kiln. Some experts believe that the porcelain of Ge Kiln in the Palace handed down from ancient times was actually fired in the official kiln of Neisi during the Southern Song Dynasty.
The main feature of Ge Kiln is that there are large and small irregular cracked pieces on the glaze, commonly known as "cracked pieces" or "civil and military pieces". Those as small as roe are called "roe patterns", those with arc-shaped slices are called "crab claw patterns", and those with the same size are called "hundreds of scraps". The texture of the small grain is golden yellow, and the texture of the large grain is iron black, so it is called "gold thread and iron thread".
Among them, the porcelain imitating the official kiln in the Northern Song Dynasty is black, and it also has "purple mouth and iron feet". The matrix of Geyao porcelain is thick or thin, and the glaze colors are mainly pink, moonlight and beige. The glaze is as shiny as skin, which is the top grade. The shapes of utensils are washing, furnace, plate and bowl.