Today I would like to talk about the original material for making porcelain. What’s it? It’s "Kaolin".
Kaolin is a clay mineral with kaolinite as the main component, rich in minerals such as aluminum, magnesium, zinc, silicate. It’s soft and earthy, with a pure color and flawless color, very detailed, and it’s also called white cloud soil.
The chemical composition of the soil is very stable, and it has good plasticity and fire resistance. It is the most important raw material for making porcelain.
The difference in texture composition can directly affect the changes of porcelain in the kiln. The higher the purity of the kaolin, the higher the whiteness after firing, and it is not easy to leave impurities.
Therefore, high-quality kaolin can make very good porcelain. Around the kaolin mining area, well-known kilns will also be established in accordance with the convenient location. Such as,Jingdezhen is the best example.
In fact, the name of kaolin is derived from the "Kaolin Mountain" in the suburbs of Jingdezhen Jiangxi Province, China. In the early Qing Dynasty, the mining industry was extremely prosperous, and the soil produced was the highest in the country. Of course, the quality was also the best. No one could compare with it.
In order to distinguish it from porcelain clay in other places, it was named after "kaolin". The word kaolin in English was transliterated back to Europe when missionary who went to China to preach in 1712. After being widely circulated, it is now a universal name in the world.