Master sword-maker keeps ancient craft alive
Back in 2000, Director Ang Lee''s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon amazed theater-goers with its jaw-dropping scenes of sword combat. The man responsible for the shiny blades was a blacksmith from Kaohsiung. Now in his 70s, Master Kuo Chang-hsi hand-forges replicas of ancient swords that are so exquisite, he has admirers from the world over. Few would guess that he comes from humble beginnings, making kitchen knives for a living. How did one young man with little to his name rise to become a global celebrity and national treasure? We give you the story of Kuo Chang-hsi in this Sunday special report.This is Kaohsiung’s Qieding District. Each morning after firing up the furnace, Master Kuo Chang-hsi lights an incense offering to a master metalworker who came before him.Kuo Chang-hsiSwordsmithThis is the actual skull of the legendary Ou Yezi. It was brought here from Longquan in Zhejiang, where he made his swords 2,000 years ago.Master Kuo lets us in on a sword-making secret: meteorite, known as sky-iron, which he had bought in bulk in Tibet.Kuo Chang-hsiSwordsmithThese meteorites contain iron. We heat it to extract iron ore and then use that to make blades. Iron typically melts at 1,350 degrees Celsius. This meteoric iron needs to be at 1,800 degrees.Master Kuo gathers up the fragments of meteor and puts them in the furnace. Next, he opens a porcelain urn that holds human bones.Kuo Chang-hsiSwordsmithI met a bone collector. I asked him, if you find bones that are unclaimed, bring them to me. Before he brings the bones, he throws divination blocks to get their permission. If the bones say it’s all right, he brings them to me. Human bones help purify the iron. Once bones have been added to the furnace, the temperature inside can rise to 3,000 degrees Celsius.Human bone contains phosphorus, which changes the color of fire from red to green. Nowadays, there are chemical alternatives that can support combustion and purify iron, but only bone can do both and give fire a mysterious glow.Master Kuo didn’t begin his career making swords. Three generations of his family were blacksmiths in Tainan who made kitchen knives, hoes, and sickles.Kuo Chang-hsiSwordsmithBack then people would say, the blacksmith trade is only good enough to put food on the table and clothes on your back. Working with your hands, there is a limit to how much iron you can strike. Say you make five kitchen knives today. Even if they were all sold, the next day all you can do is make another five knives.Taiwan’s agricultural industry began declining in the 1980s, and the demand for farming tools also decreased. Master Kuo moved his workshop to Kaohsiung’s Qieding District, near Singda Harbor, and he sold utility knives next to a fish market that needed sharp blades for slicing fish. One day, a director of a martial arts movie came knocking on his door.Kuo Chang-hsiSwordsmithAng Lee had been sent to me by way of director Joseph Kuo. He came along asking what types of knives I could make, what kinds of swords. I said, if you want to bring me a sample, contact me any time and I will make it for you. Master Kuo made over a dozen types of weapons for Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” As the film became a household name around the globe, the man who made its swords also became famous. The demand for his work increased, and his prices went up. But that alone didn’t satisfy Master Kuo. For him, making swords had become more than a way of making a living. He was driven instead by the pursuit of ever-higher artistic value. Voice of Kuo Chang-hsiSwordsmithThe original piece of iron may not be very hard. It needs to be enforced with a layer of spring steel at the core. Once the iron is wrapped, it is melted, forged, and shaped to become a finished sword.Again and again, Master Kuo welded together steel of varying levels of carbon content, smelting and forging until it became a single blade of multi-layered steel. Creation complete, he entered it in a national craft competition. Kuo Chang-hsiSwordsmithBack then when I signed up for the competition, the judges saw that I had ironware and disqualified me. They said ironware had no business being in the competition. What left the strongest impression on me was when teacher Wang Mei-jen of Tainan National University of the Arts said she thought my work did qualify to compete, and that’s how it got approval for entry. Wang Mei-jenTainan National University of the ArtsSteel with different carbon levels were forged and folded over repeatedly, so the blade patterns weren’t just a simple wave. The richness of the patterns really could have matched Damascus steel. What I find even more impressive is that he didn’t stop there. After he created that sword, his art has continuously evolved.These days, Master Kuo spends his time honing his craft and instructing his apprentices. Some of his students come from as far...