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Traditional craft that's still cutting it after 350 years
By Wu Huixin |
January 30, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO craftsmen take turns striking a bar of red-hot iron, hammering out a rhythm as they fashion the bar into the shape they want. When the iron is forged into a blade, they quickly immerse it in a basin of water, where it sizzles, releasing plumes of smoke as it quickly cools.
All this takes place under the watchful eye of 80-year-old Shi Jinshui. The two craftsmen are his apprentices and are making Zhang Xiaoquan scissors under his guidance.
Every working day, Shi leads Ding Jican and Chen Weiming to repeat this process many times.
And once that is perfected, there are another 39 procedures waiting for them to learn.
Only once the craftsmen master all these steps can they truly say they are able to make a pair of Zhang Xiaoquan scissors.
Zhang Xiaoquan is a time-honored Hangzhou local scissors brand, dating from 1663. Its technique and the craft of making handmade scissors were listed as national intangible heritage items in 2007.
Today, Zhang Xiaoquan is still considered the finest brand of scissors of China, with thousands of pairs produced each year.
Although 80, Shi is the youngest successor of the intangible heritage of Zhang Xiaoquan handmade scissors. Other masters of the trade have quit due to age and health problems.
As Zhang Xiaoquan has been transformed into a modern enterprise with mechanized production, its traditional techniques and crafts are on the wane.
In order to preserve this endangered local craft, Hangzhou government and Zhang Xiaoquan Scissors Group established a studio in the Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion of the Hangzhou Crafts and Arts Museum.
The organizers tracked down the retired Shi and persuaded him to resurrect the old craft. Now through a protective glass screen, visitors can watch Shi and his apprentices forge scissors the traditional way.
Shi was 15 when he began learning the craft from a master of the time named Guo Lijin. "I learned it very fast," recalls Shi.
"Usually apprentices needed five years to learn all the techniques, but I spent only two years," says Shi.
Soon the young Shi was able to make 20 varieties of handmade scissors. "Every variety has its strict standards. Any deviation makes it substandard," Shi says.
Toughest procedure
In Shi's eyes, the key to making Zhang Xiaoquan handmade scissors - and also the toughest procedure - is embedding steel into iron. The cutting edges of Zhang Xiaoquan handmade scissors are made of steel, while other parts are forged from iron.
"This technique makes Zhang Xiaoquan different from other brands. The steel cutting edges make the scissors more shiny and durable," says Shi.
According to the history of Zhang Xiaoquan, founder Zhang Jiasi innovated embedding steel in iron. He is said to have adopted the technique from the Zhejiang Longquan sword, which was renowned throughout China for its durability and sharpness.
Although he has apprentices Ding and Chen, Shi still worries about the future of Zhang Xiaoquan handmade scissors.
"A few years ago, the group tried to employ some young men to learn the craft, but it didn't work out," Shi sighs.
It's a tough trade: masters, their hands thickly calloused from swinging a hammer every day, learn to endure burns from the flying sparks and cuts picked up when polishing sharp, newly forged blades.
Moreover, one pair of scissors takes two craftsmen a day to be completed. And the price is not proportional to the labor - the price of a pair of scissors ranges from 38 yuan (US$6) to 88 yuan.
"Making scissors is time consuming and tough work which needs perseverance," Shi says.
When the studio was founded two years ago, the Zhang Xiaoquan Group helped recruit Shi's apprentices from existing employees. Ding has been apprenticed for two years while Chen has been learning for a year.
"There is a gap between us and master Shi. But we're determined to learn his skills and become masters like him," Ding says.
At its peak in the 1950s, the Zhang Xiaquan factory employed more than 2,000 workers making scissors. Due to mechanization, the workforce today is down to between 400 and 500 workers.
"A machine can produce scissors easily and quickly, but only handmade scissors epitomize the superb level of Zhang Xiaoquan," says Shi. "Handmade Zhang Xiaoquan scissors can easily cut through 100 layers of cloth."
While tradition is vital in making Zhang Xiaoquan scissors, the craft is still open to innovation - not to mention green concerns - with procedures simplified and improved.
In the past, coal was used to heat the iron. Now coal stoves have been replaced by electric furnaces, which are more environmentally friendly.
And while making the earliest Zhang Xiaoquan handmade scissors contained 72 steps, the current process includes 40.
However, sticklers for tradition can still learn the detailed 72 steps for making Zhang Xiaoquan scissors at the China Knives and Scissors and Swords Museum, next to the Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion.
Address: 450 Xiaohe Rd
Hours: 9am-5pm (closed on Mondays)
All this takes place under the watchful eye of 80-year-old Shi Jinshui. The two craftsmen are his apprentices and are making Zhang Xiaoquan scissors under his guidance.
Every working day, Shi leads Ding Jican and Chen Weiming to repeat this process many times.
And once that is perfected, there are another 39 procedures waiting for them to learn.
Only once the craftsmen master all these steps can they truly say they are able to make a pair of Zhang Xiaoquan scissors.
Zhang Xiaoquan is a time-honored Hangzhou local scissors brand, dating from 1663. Its technique and the craft of making handmade scissors were listed as national intangible heritage items in 2007.
Today, Zhang Xiaoquan is still considered the finest brand of scissors of China, with thousands of pairs produced each year.
Although 80, Shi is the youngest successor of the intangible heritage of Zhang Xiaoquan handmade scissors. Other masters of the trade have quit due to age and health problems.
As Zhang Xiaoquan has been transformed into a modern enterprise with mechanized production, its traditional techniques and crafts are on the wane.
In order to preserve this endangered local craft, Hangzhou government and Zhang Xiaoquan Scissors Group established a studio in the Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion of the Hangzhou Crafts and Arts Museum.
The organizers tracked down the retired Shi and persuaded him to resurrect the old craft. Now through a protective glass screen, visitors can watch Shi and his apprentices forge scissors the traditional way.
Shi was 15 when he began learning the craft from a master of the time named Guo Lijin. "I learned it very fast," recalls Shi.
"Usually apprentices needed five years to learn all the techniques, but I spent only two years," says Shi.
Soon the young Shi was able to make 20 varieties of handmade scissors. "Every variety has its strict standards. Any deviation makes it substandard," Shi says.
Toughest procedure
In Shi's eyes, the key to making Zhang Xiaoquan handmade scissors - and also the toughest procedure - is embedding steel into iron. The cutting edges of Zhang Xiaoquan handmade scissors are made of steel, while other parts are forged from iron.
"This technique makes Zhang Xiaoquan different from other brands. The steel cutting edges make the scissors more shiny and durable," says Shi.
According to the history of Zhang Xiaoquan, founder Zhang Jiasi innovated embedding steel in iron. He is said to have adopted the technique from the Zhejiang Longquan sword, which was renowned throughout China for its durability and sharpness.
Although he has apprentices Ding and Chen, Shi still worries about the future of Zhang Xiaoquan handmade scissors.
"A few years ago, the group tried to employ some young men to learn the craft, but it didn't work out," Shi sighs.
It's a tough trade: masters, their hands thickly calloused from swinging a hammer every day, learn to endure burns from the flying sparks and cuts picked up when polishing sharp, newly forged blades.
Moreover, one pair of scissors takes two craftsmen a day to be completed. And the price is not proportional to the labor - the price of a pair of scissors ranges from 38 yuan (US$6) to 88 yuan.
"Making scissors is time consuming and tough work which needs perseverance," Shi says.
When the studio was founded two years ago, the Zhang Xiaoquan Group helped recruit Shi's apprentices from existing employees. Ding has been apprenticed for two years while Chen has been learning for a year.
"There is a gap between us and master Shi. But we're determined to learn his skills and become masters like him," Ding says.
At its peak in the 1950s, the Zhang Xiaquan factory employed more than 2,000 workers making scissors. Due to mechanization, the workforce today is down to between 400 and 500 workers.
"A machine can produce scissors easily and quickly, but only handmade scissors epitomize the superb level of Zhang Xiaoquan," says Shi. "Handmade Zhang Xiaoquan scissors can easily cut through 100 layers of cloth."
While tradition is vital in making Zhang Xiaoquan scissors, the craft is still open to innovation - not to mention green concerns - with procedures simplified and improved.
In the past, coal was used to heat the iron. Now coal stoves have been replaced by electric furnaces, which are more environmentally friendly.
And while making the earliest Zhang Xiaoquan handmade scissors contained 72 steps, the current process includes 40.
However, sticklers for tradition can still learn the detailed 72 steps for making Zhang Xiaoquan scissors at the China Knives and Scissors and Swords Museum, next to the Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion.
Address: 450 Xiaohe Rd
Hours: 9am-5pm (closed on Mondays)
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