Secrets of Kaolin Clay From Mud to Masterpiece One Minute China.

Every piece of porcelain you have ever seen began from this white dust, once one of China's best-kept secrets, discovered in the Gaolin Mountains of Jiangxi Province over 700 years ago. This is kaolin. It all began when a kiln master turned this white mineral into a remarkable new clay. This is Mr. Lin, a traditional maker of kaolin bricks. Kaolin stones are pulverized by giant pestles powered by a water mill. The powder is added to water, drained, and slowly thickened into mud. With kaolin, pottery could be made thinner, taller, and finer than ever before. It is said that kaolin is the bone of porcelain, while other minerals are the flesh. Imperial records describe the resulting porcelain vessels as clear as the sky, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, and resonant as a musical stone. It wasn't until several hundreds of years later that the secret of kaolin was shared to the rest of the world, fueling a global obsession with a translucent, glass-like material the world had never before seen.