Whom the Kiln Fire Does Not Light

The kiln fire lights up only a small patch of the workshop; everything else stays in the dark.

The firing is the most critical thing in the factory, yet the two old masters who control it appear on no roster. The owner says their names were submitted once, and never approved — the quota had long been taken by "the names that were supposed to be there."

They don't complain. They only ask: you've filmed us — can you let the outside world know how these tiles are made?

I said we could. That is why this column exists.