"What kiln was this porcelain pagoda from?"
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Honestly, although Shen Le specialized in ancient architecture rather than porcelain restoration, he could roughly identify the category and age of this porcelain pagoda.
It was white porcelain, but its glaze was not that warm, jade-like, creamy white—not Yongle Sweet White Porcelain;
nor was it the clear, lustrous white of a child's pillow, so it was not Song Dynasty white porcelain;
and of course, its body was not coarse and thick, nor was its glaze bluish or yellowish, visibly off-color. So it definitely was not the sort of white porcelain from the Han Dynasty or the Three Kingdoms period, made before iron impurities could be removed.
All things considered, it was probably white porcelain from the Northern and Southern Dynasties through the Sui and Tang periods—very likely produced by Xing Kiln, Gongyi Kiln, Baihe Kiln, Xiangzhou Kiln, or somewhere similar.
But as for the exact dynasty and specific type of kiln, he would have to... conduct experiments and consult books...
The experiments had already been done. X-ray diffraction scans had been performed on the porcelain's surface, its fractures, and its base.
Based on spectral analysis and extensive calculations—the calculations had been outsourced to his junior brothers and sisters, which also counted as giving them a little stipend—the composition and elemental ratios of each part of the porcelain pagoda had been roughly determined:
For the body, silicon dioxide accounted for 62.5%, aluminum oxide for 27.8%, and iron oxide for 0.85%;
Most notably, the potassium oxide content was remarkably high, reaching 5.9%. Shen Le had casually tested several porcelain and pottery pieces from home, and none had shown such a high potassium content!
Then Shen Le had to hug a huge pile of books and papers, laboriously flipping through them for