Palace examples ,being grander than

Palace examples ,being grander than others ,often had large pits excavated under the eaves of an porch to take care of the fire making ,and during the summer these were ordinarily covered over with fitted wooden planking .Yet in poorer houses a small and simple “fire cart ”,an iron frame on wheels equipped with a diminutive asbestos stove to hold glowing balls ,made of coal dust mixed with earth or clay ,would be pushed into a narrow tunnellike aperture in the floor ,where would slowly give off heat and thus warm the upper surface through flues arranged with exterior vents .Or a small open fire could be built in a sunken ovenlike depression under the inner wall of the k’ang itself ,which could be stoked conveniently from within the room .