For Kuo Chang-hsi 郭常喜, sword making has been a lifetime occupation. The sword maker, now 67, has been working with Chinese swords and Japanese swords for the past 30 years. But swordsmithing in Taiwan is a dying art. Modern sword smithing mass produces swords. Even the hand made ones are completed in a day or two. Kuo Chang-hsi spends several weeks on a sword. This is the way to get the best quality work.He branched into sword-making around 1980, and it is now the signature element of his trade. His workshop in Che Ding, a small fishing port in the south of the island, stands among market stalls in a town square smelling faintly of fish.
The tradition of sword making this expert adheres to, involves adding a special ingredient to the steel. He adds human bones. Kuo's sword-making process begins when he inserts a slab of mixed iron and steel into a small kiln preheated to more than 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. After heating until it is supple enough to work with, he transfers the metal to a piston-shaped electric press, shaping and flattening it under rapid fire thrusts. Then, over an anvil, repeated hammer blows shape the metal. The cycle is repeated again and again until just the right mixture of strength and suppleness is achieved, a process that in some swords can take days. The insertion of bones into the kiln is a key to his success.
"Before the human bone is burnt, it contains phosphorus. If it is burnt, the phosphorus will be mixed into the metal. After burning a while, the metal will contain phosphorus and the fire will give a turquoise glow." Sometimes relatives of a deceased person will have a sword made with the addition of their ancestor's bone. It is added to the kiln when the metals have been softened at 2,400 degrees F. The phosphorus from the bones is reputed to improve the quality of the steel. Such swords are also sought after for religious purposes. “When I first tried to make a Kanjiang 干將 sword I failed,” he says, referring to a famous weapon first made in China some 2,400 years ago. “Then I remembered — there's a saying that if one wants to make a good sword, one needs human bones.” Some of them come from disused cemeteries, left over when the bodies were reburied elsewhere. Or from relatives who believe a sword containing their loved one's bone will make a fitting memorial. These bones are retrieved years after the death. A whole side industry of bone-washing exists in Taiwan.One of this craftsman's greatest acheivements was the Green Destiny sword he created for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon directed by his fellow Taiwanese, Ang Lee.
Kuo Chang-hsi began a blacksmithing career at the age of thirteen and harks from a family of blacksmiths with a lineage from 1888. It wasn't his first choice of occupation, but his father insisted. He later transitioned to making swords. He has not enforced the family tradition on his own son, allowing him to pursue his preference of occupation, and hiring a young apprentice. If the young man carries on this style of sword making, the art will continue. Kuo Chang-hsi plans to spend the rest of his life making beautiful Chinese swords and Japanese Swords. He sees his occupation as a calling of God. He has his own collection and weapons museum in the South of Taiwan. 郭常喜藝術兵器文物館(Kuo Chang-hsi Museum Of Weaponry Art)高雄市茄萣區民生路226號
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