The development of porcelain in the Song Dynasty reached a peak, and the most outstanding kilns are renowned in the history as the “Five Famous Kilns”.

Ru Kiln: Ruzhou in Henan Province is the hometown of Ru porcelain. The kiln site is now in Baofeng County, Henan Province. The glaze is sky blue, warm and soft; “After rain the sky looks clear and the clouds are gone, and this color must be a good omen.” Following the instruction of Huizong of Song Dynasty, kiln workers produced unprecedented porcelain with sky blue. The Ru Kiln survived for a relatively short period of time, leaving only more than 60 pieces of Ru porcelain.

Guan Kiln: It is located in today’s Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi Province. The Guan Kiln in Song Dynasty was specially made to fire imperial articles for the emperor and palaces. The demand for porcelain to enter the palace was so severe that few remained. The characteristics of the porcelain made in Guan Kiln: the best glaze color is moon white, and there are ice cracks, plum blossom, crab claws and other minor cracks in the glaze, as well as oil spots with eel blood.

Ge Kiln: According to experts, today’s Zhejiang Longquan Kiln is the ancient Ge Kiln. Its characteristics are as follows: the glaze is opaque glaze; the glaze color is mainly grayish green and beige; the wares have the feature of “purple mouth edge and iron brown foot”.

Jun Kiln: It is the top one of five famous kilns, which is located in Yuzhou city, Henan Province. Jun porcelain is recognized in the world for its unique art of “single color in, and various colors out”; it is well known as “the family has a million, no better than one Jun porcelain piece”.

Ding Kiln: The kiln site is in today’s Quyang County, Hebei Province. It is characterized by the production of white porcelain with black and brown glaze: the surface of the ware is decorated with carved, scratched and printed patterns, vivid and natural, which has a strong three-dimensional sense.