A Comparison of "Boiled Salt" and "Decocted Salt"

Due to a lack of understanding salt-making method in ancient China,people tend to equate boiled salt with decocted salt.As a matter of fact,the method of decocted salt and the method of boiled salt are two different methods of making salt in ancient China.The former,which originally appeared in the Shang and Zhou Dynasty,is to boil the brine obtained from coastal beach or salt well in deep and belly-shaped containers and then to put coagulating materials to make the salt crystallized.The latter,which appeared in the Tang Dynasty,is to decoct the brine extracted from the ash or alkaline earth in flat plates.