Song Kaiyou moves a baked crock from his kiln in Lipu town, Jinhua's Jindong district. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]
Song Kaiyou, a professional crock-maker in Lipu town, Jinhua's Jindong district, has been accustomed to sweating and enduring the heat from an ancient kiln and summer's burning sun.
The ancient kiln culture of Lipu town has a history of more than 600 years, starting from the the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Today, there are still many craftsmen who make crocks using kilns.
Song said that summer is a good time to make crocks using traditional techniques, which include soil extraction, stirring, blank making, molding, air-drying, and firing. It takes about one week to half a month to complete a product in this way.
Song has been engaged in crock-making for over 40 years. A crock must be baked in an 800-degrees Celsius kiln for 24 hours until it becomes hard. During this period, Song must stay near the kiln and add firewood periodically to maintain the temperature. As the temperature can reach as high as 50 degrees Celsius around the kiln, Song usually drinks over 10 liters of water a day.
Song said he feels his efforts paid off when achieving reorganization from his clients. In recent years, Song's products have also been exported abroad to countries in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia.
Song places his finished crocks outside. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]
Crocks are overlapped in a kiln. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]
