This interview has been recorded under the wearing summer heat of a mid-July afternoon, in Long Quan, hometown of Zhou Zheng Wu, located in the Chinese coastal province of Zhejian. We are delighted to share with you our encounter with this extraordinary person whose craftsmanship should best illustrate the true value of a quality work, yes, made in China.

Haiyun Chiang: Master Zhou, could you tell us about the history of forging tradition in Long Quan?

Zhou Zheng Wu: Long Quan’s forging tradition can be traced back to more than 2500 years ago. The very first swordsmith established here, named Ou Ye Zi, made several masterpieces, one of which is exhibited today in a museum in Hubei Province. Swords of this period are known to be made by alloying bronze and zinc. Ou Ye Zi would be the first swordsmith to use steel-based forging methods. Since then, Long Quan has gained its reputation as the origin of steel forging.

Later on, two other swordsmiths followed the footsteps of Ou Ye Zi: a couple named Gan Jiang (probably a disciple of Ou) and Muo Xie. They are remembered by the history for their remarkable works, and two were actually named after them. In Chinese literature, tales were written to describe the mysterious power of these noble weapons. These swordsmiths worked for emperors and the greatest warlords of their time. However, some finest men of letters, fascinated by these swords, that became the greatest collectors.

Chinese government is aware of the precious forging tradition of Long Quan, and has worked to preserve this cultural heritage. Long Quan, as home to the best swords in China, owes a lot to its rich natural resources such as iron, wood (extraction of high quality carbon, wood for making tailstock spindle and grip), as well as to the superior quality of spring water running through this mountainous region, crystal clear and perfect for use in forging techniques. These conditions have all but favoured the birth of supreme quality swords.

Haiyun Chiang: Master Zhou, please tell us how you became passionate about forging.

Zhou Zheng Wu: My father is a swordsmith, and naturally, I carried on this family tradition. I grew up in a swordsmith’s workshop and became interested in forging since I was 6 years old. I got this scar on my eye bone at the age of 8, while playing with a half-finished Chinese sword. Forging was to me, when I was young, a simple work, but not any more now, since I realised that the know-how of traditional Long Quan forging is disappearing with time. That is why I consider it as my responsibility to preserve this cultural heritage.

Zanshin: Can you tell us more about your career as a swordsmith?

Zhou Zheng Wu: there was once in Long Quan a forging school named Qian Zi Hao, which existed for over 300 years. My father was one of its last disciples. I began to learn forging at the age of 16 with my father, who was then running the only forging workshop left in Long Quan. Since he was extremely occupied by work, I spent much of my time learning alongside my uncle and other artisans. According to Chinese tradition, a disciple should follow only one master. As I had the possibility to be with different craftsmen, I was able to learn different working methods. At the age of 25, my research on Chinese swords led me to meet the most renowned specialists in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. During these encounters, we focused our study on numerous ancient texts, in order to recover traditional forging techniques. This has been a truly impassioning and rewarding experience.

I have been working as a swordsmith since 24 years now, and perfection is what I constantly search for. Even now, I still spend a lot of time researching to find new forging methods. I also contribute part of my time on the new project of building a traditional weapons museum in Long Quan. Today, I am proud to say that I make the best swords of whole China.

Haiyun Chiang: Given all your passion for Chinese swords, why did you start making Japanese swords?

Zhou Zheng Wu: In 1990, I got to see for the first time in my life an authentic Japanese sword. It was sent to me from a 6th dan Kendo master living in Shanghai, in order to make a dozen of duplicates. Since I was never given a mission like this, I went on a research which proved to be very fascinating. Making a Japanese sword is a totally different work. Based on somewhat limited documentation found through my research and various sources of knowledge collected from some specialists and Internet, I started to work on the swords. It was far from being easy, because it was like putting together different pieces of puzzle to finally get the whole picture. However time-consuming the work has been, it has been as great an experience.

Haiyun Chiang: If one had to compare your swords with that of some Japanese masters, what would you say?

Z.Z.W.: We should be recalled that the origin of Japanese swords came from China in Tang Dynasty. During a visit in China, some Japanese diplomats brought the forging techniques back to Japan. If you ever had a chance to see a Tang Dao (sword of Tang Dynasty), you would notice the similarity between it and a Japanese sword of the same period. It was only 1000 years later that the Japanese forging technique reached a mature stage. At the same time, in China, we were slowly losing our know-how through Ming and Qing Dynasties, because people were not allowed to possess neither to make any weapons. This has been the dark age for the forging know-how in China. Even in Long Quan, only the technique of “Maru” lamination (forging with single bloc of steel) was left. As for today, with over 20 years of research and work experience, I am determined to recover and preserve this cultural heritage. I can make Japanese swords of almost equally good quality as that of those renowned masters in Japan.

Further more, I often receive swords from Japan for restoration, very beautiful works of art treasured by those great masters and passed on within the family from generation to generation. I consider it as an honour from those great masters and recognition of the quality of my work. Let along the help of which these precious swords have been to improve my work. When I was young, a Japanese company asked me to work for them, in order to transfer my know-how in making Chinese swords. I was very enthusiastic, but had to finally give up this opportunity when my request for visa was turned down for the third time. I have no regrets though, because today, right here, I have achieved much more than what Japan could have offered me.

Haiyun Chiang: The swords you made are of great quality, not of mid or low range. How do you see your products in the foreign market?

Z.Z.W.: I do not know much about the foreign market. But the least that I could say is that here, in Long Quan, a great majority of the local manufacturers deliver low-end products. As you can see, Chinese people are capable of making the best as well as the worst. They are profit-oriented and would make the least effort. This kind of work cannot give me satisfaction. Not only because it is a pity for those buyers who themselves practice martial arts, but the future of our country is also wasted in the hands of these manufacturers. Most of all, it is no longer a craftsmanship, but a mass production. These products are exported to the whole world, above all to Japan. I fully understand that there is a market for this type of product, but I simply find it sad that such a noble object like a sword had to be made this way.
I would like to see the nobility of this art form live through my work. And fortunately, nowadays, we get to meet more and more connoisseurs and passionate collectors from the whole world.

Haiyun Chiang: As a master, could you tell us how you pass on this know-how to your disciples?

Z. Z. W.: Becoming a fine artisan requires at least 10 years of experience. 10 years at least. However, it is quite difficult to take such a long time to pass on the full experience. What I do is to let each one of my disciples work on one specific technique, and through their teamwork, we get to build a sword that is satisfactory. Meanwhile, according to each disciple’s talent and capacity, they get on to different steps of the whole forging process. Thus, we can keep our workshop working and ensure an excellent quality.

Besides, I carry out quality control by myself at each steps of forging process. If the least problem occurs, I take over the entire step. I am also personally in charge of the most delicate parts of work. There are currently 20 persons in our team. Three of them are my direct disciples, one is foreigner.

Haiyun Chiang: Could you tell us a bit about your business relations with Japan?

Z. Z. W.: There are quite a few swords lovers from Japan interested in my work, and I get frequently visits of Japanese clients living abroad, for it is not possible to import any foreign swords into Japan. Despite the ban, one Japanese company still got around the regulation and managed to import my swords for personal collection. Several other individuals also managed to bring some of my swords back to Japan.

Haiyun Chiang: What would be your response to someone who says that you as a Chinese cannot make quality Japanese swords?

Z. Z. W.: (smiles…) I am not sure there would be a response. But should there be a response at all, it would be an invitation to visit my workshop. See my work and know for yourself.