Suzhou imperial kiln BRICs production technology

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: golden brick making skills of Suzhou imperial kiln

Applicant: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Item No.: 382

Project No.: VIII - 32

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Jiangsu Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Protection unit: Suzhou lumuyuyao BRICs factory

Brief introduction of Suzhou imperial kiln's gold brick making technique:

Applicant: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

According to the records of the ancient book "floor plastering with BRICs", BRICs are fine-grained square bricks specially made for the imperial palace. They are fine in grain and dense in texture. They are used as the sound of gold and stone. It is also known as "Beijing brick" because it will be transported to Jingcang in Beijing for the exclusive use of the imperial palace.

Jinzhuan imperial kiln is located in Yuyao village, Lumu Town, Xiangcheng District, Suzhou city. For thousands of years, the villagers here have specialized in kiln burning. In Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, the founder of Ming Dynasty, moved his capital to Beijing and built the Forbidden City. Recommended by the craftsmen of Xiangshan gang in Suzhou, the Ming Palace specially sent officials to Suzhou Lu tomb (now Lu Mu) to supervise the production of gold bricks. Because the yellow mud of Lumu town is suitable for making bricks, and the workmanship is exquisite, the firing is square, and the technique is unique. The gold bricks produced are delicate and hard, "there is sound when knocking, and there is no hole when breaking", so Emperor Yongle granted Lumu brick kiln as "Imperial kiln". The imperial kilns are used in the Taihe hall, Zhonghe hall and Tiananmen tower of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

There are more than 20 working procedures for making imperial kilns. The main working procedures include selecting mud, refining mud, making billet, loading kiln, firing, scenting water, discharging kiln, polishing and so on. Every process is closely linked, and all previous achievements are wasted.

Royal kiln bricks are a wonderful work in China's kiln brick making industry. Since Ming and Qing Dynasties, they have been favored by emperors and become special products for imperial palace buildings. By the time of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, the firing of BRICs was in its heyday. After the end of the Qing Dynasty, because of years of war, the production of BRICs was on and off, and it was not until 1984 that the production of BRICs was fully resumed. It has been nearly 600 years since the imperial kilns began firing gold bricks in 1413.

Yuyao gold brick has high practical value and ornamental value. It is a bright pearl in our national architectural culture. The floor paved with gold bricks is smooth and wear-resistant, the more polished it is, the brighter it is, and it is not slippery and wet. It can not only prevent the underground moisture from rising, but also set off the palace with more magnificence and magnificence, and decorate the ancient houses with more magnificence.

With the acceleration of modernization and urbanization, not only palace style buildings have become history, but also folk classical hall buildings are dying out, giving way to high-rise buildings. The market demand for BRICs is very small, resulting in the production scale has been unable to expand. Firing BRICs is a highly skilled and complex manual work, with long learning cycle, large labor input and low economic benefits. Young people have no intention to get involved in it, and there is no successor in the whole industry. At present, there is only one imperial kiln in Suzhou, and there are more than 20 craftsmen working on the production of gold bricks. Therefore, it is urgent to take protective measures for the ancient folk craftsmanship of imperial kiln.