Dragon kiln

[4] By the early 12th century CE they might be over 135 metres long, allowing still larger quantities to be fired; more than 100,000 have been claimed.

[5] According to recent excavations in Shangyu District in the northeast of Zhejiang province and elsewhere, the origins of the dragon kiln may go back as far as the Shang dynasty (c. 1600 to 1046 BCE), and is linked to the introduction of stoneware, fired at 1200 °C or more.

[6] The type had certainly developed by the Warring States period,[7] and by the Eastern Wu kingdom (220–280 CE), there were over 60 kilns at Shangyu.

From the Southern Song period (1127–1279), some kilns were built as a series of chambers, stepped as they ran up the slope,[12] and with connecting doors to allow access to both the kiln-workers during loading and unloading, and the heat during firing.

Variations in the shades of white porcelains between and within the northern Ding ware and the southern Qingbai were also the result of the fuel used.

[23] Some of the most advanced chambered kilns were built to fire Dehua porcelain, where precise control of high temperatures was essential.