The invention discloses a cooling system for a glass kiln and a method for prolonging the service life of the glass kiln. The cooling system comprises cooling bellows arranged at two sides of the glass kiln and a cooling pipeline which is connected to the cooling bellows and is used for blowing air to the glass kiln; the cooling pipeline comprises a main pipeline connected to the cooling bellows and a plurality of branch pipelines which are connected to the main pipeline; air outlets of the branch pipelines face the glass kiln; first valves for controlling the air volumes of the air outlets and scales for marking the opening degrees of the first valves are arranged on the branch pipelines. The first valve on each branch pipeline can control the air volume of cooling air blowing the furnacewall, and the opening degree of each valve is further monitored according to the scales of the corresponding branch pipeline, so that the cooling air in the cooling pipeline can slowly blow towards the glass kiln, greater temperature difference between the upper part and the lower part of the glass kiln is prevented, cracks are effectively avoided, long-term safe operation of the glass kiln is ensured and the service life of the glass kiln is prolonged.