As early as 5000 years ago, the ancient people are already equipped with the knowledge of putting shaped piles of mud into holes for firing. Whereas the dragon kiln is the traditional way of firing ceramics in China, with its history tracing over 2000 years back to the Warring States Period. The dragon kiln is a long tunnel-shaped kiln, usually built on hillslopes, from the bottom to the top, utilizing the feature of height differences in the slope and the theory of rising flames, the design showcasing the wisdom of the ancient people.
The name ‘dragon kiln’ is attributable to the shape and sloping build similar to that of a crouching dragon, the interior is built by laying bricks, and the exterior is welded using clay. The structure of the dragon kiln is divided into three sections: kiln inlet, kiln floor, and kiln outlet. The kiln inlet is built downhill, mainly functioning as the fuel chamber, and is also known as dragon head. The kiln floor is a dome-like vault, and is made up of hoppers for firing ceramics. The chimney where the furnace spread backwards to discharge is the kiln outlet, namely dragon tail. As the operational cost for running a dragon kiln is high, labour-consuming, and has high requirements for pottery firing skills and exquisite control over the temperature used, dragon kilns are gradually replaced by modernized electrical kilns.
At present, two ancient dragon kilns remain at Sin Cheak Seng in Ipoh. According to the person-in-charge Mr Chin Kam Peng, clay mud of high quality could be found along Ipoh’s Jalan Kuala Kangsar in the earlier days. In the golden age of the pottery industry, there were over 60 dragon kilns, globally famous for their excellent pottery. Due to the riverside topography is unable to house the traditional sloping dragon kilns, the potters make changes to suit the circumstances by building flat dragon kilns, which is a feat in itself.
With the diminishing of the pottery industry, abandoned dragon kilns were dismantled one by one, Mr Chin heaved a heavy sigh. Nevertheless in recent years, a few local pottery artists spurred the spirit of crafting wood-fired ceramics. As if awakening the unextinguished dragon kiln fire inside Mr Chin’s heart, employing his amazing skills in kiln-building, he rebuilt two mini dragon kilns using the red bricks from dismantled ancient dragon kilns for the usage of pottery hobbyists, with the hope of promoting the craft of wood-fired pottery.
Text: Daniel Lim & Pua Hui Wen
有你 UNI Production
Producer : Mok Yii Chek
Coordinator : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Evon Pang
Video Editor : Evon Pang
Music : Laki from Felt Music
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