[ Applause. ]
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me introduce myself first
I am Kuo Chang Hsi.
I used to be the spokesman for Sanyo Whisbih Group
and the previous spokesman was Chow Yun fat.
And then was me.
More and more people now get to know swords
It is likely that most of the people have watched the movie .
The Green Destiny Sword is famous in that movie
So in recent years, people got an increasing understanding of swords.
But in other words,
We have had blacksmiths since human society come into being.
Nowadays, the modren technology is so advanced
I had thought that people already forgot blacksmithing
But why didn't that happen? Despite the advancing technology
you must have a kitchen knife and fruit knife so that you can cook the meal.
In the 1960s
In Taiwan，if there were no blacksmiths to make farm tools
our current economy wouldn't be so prosperous.
In the early time, that is the 1960s
if places needed to develop
you must have blacksmiths
Every place is in the same situation.
So our work as a blacksmith is thus the most painstaking job.
To date, this job is going to die out.
Because the young generation are ambitious
and those who do this job are getting old
Nobody my age(70 years old)still does this job.
But in the early times, our blacksmith
using this kind of materials to forge
what it becomes in the end?
It has metals in it.
After forging it, it probably has gold in the end.
It does have gold in it.
So after forging it
Why did blacksmith forge in this way in the past like this?
For example, making a kitchen knife,
two sides of the kitchen knife are made of soft materials,
in the middle of it contains a hard material.
So why make kitchen knife like this?
Because the middle of a kitchen knife is just like our bones
it needs skin to cover it.
In that way can kitchen knife be used .
That's the difference between hard and soft materials.
Now Ｉ can...
I can show you,
This is made of soft materials
and when you blacksmithing it
It definitely won't break.
You can bend it with your hands.
So, what is the hard material?
Hard material is...
You can't blacksmith it
Why can't we blacksmith it?
It will break if you forge it.
Watch carefully.
It will break when you are forging it.
You have to take some extra steps to process after forging it
If you didn't tackle it,
This is hard material
The hard one can be cut by the kitchen knife.
Look！
The kitchen knife is still in good shape without any cut.
But this one got a huge cut.
So in the early time, people said,
our fine swords can cut copper and iron.
Cutting copper and iron, the iron is soft
and so is the copper.
Just like this, this steel wire rope,
It can be cut by our kitchen knife,
and it instantly will be cut away.
So you believe that in the early time
In ancient China
whichever country did a great job in forging swords
and victory belongs to the country.
If you were involving a war
you must use swords to fight with your enemies in the cold weapon time.
And for example, if you finish this one
and it is very soft
this is the one in the movie
when we made the Green Destiny sword
this is the very first one.
It is so soft
that it is unable to be cut and broken.
This needs to be forged.
So the people in the past,
this one is hard,
and we can use the hard one to cut it.
Look!
Is it sharp? Absolutely!
The soft one can cut through iron as if it were mud
It truly can cut through iron as if it were mud
If we want to forge a sword
generally speaking
You take a piece of iron
just forging it.
You must go through a lot of procedures to finish it.
Three generations of the family,
including my grandfather,
my father and I
I have been forging swords with my father since I was ten.
Now I am 70 years old,
and I have been forging swords for almost 60 years.
People asked me, " Why do you keep doing this job? "
I have no choice, I said.
You have to devote yourself to this traditional crafting technique.
In other words,
In the early days, my father said about blacksmithing.
If you just focus on making kitchen knives
or hoes
no one will buy the stuff you made.
Therefore, you can not confine yourself on making kitchen knives and you must step out.
What is needed when you want to step out?
You have to make something else.
Don't just make some kitchen knives.
You have to forge swords, art swords,
and make something that can catch the trend of times.
For example, Damascus steel
To forge Damascus steel is a really difficult task to do.
Cause’ the art like blacksmith
Many people have said that
Blacksmithing is a coarse industry.
But
Actually, there’s variety ways to forge the swords.
Like this one
This one is soft the other one is the hard one.
If you forge it like this
This is what the Japanese use to cut sashimi
Japanese they usually use flat steel
But in China,
like this one
after you finish blacksmithing this one
you’ll need to put one piece of steel in the middle
This is the hard one.
The soft one beside it is
Easier to sharpen it
Also to protect the hard part of it
So when you are having a duel it, it won’t break.
So for example, we use Damascus steel to make these
Like this one is done already
And then in here
This sword I made
Helped me get a Crafts Achievement Award in Taiwan.
This one the four sides
This is so called pattern-control.
Even though I’m just a blacksmith,
I have three invention patents.
The first one is forging.
Because I know how to forging the Damascus steel.
The second one is the pattern-control.
When you finish forging the sword, how are you going to shave it?
What kind of pattern do you want it to represent?
That’s how you make the sword.
So, for example, like this one:
This one called Gan Jiang and Mo Ye.
After Gan Jiang was finished, there was the turtle-shell-pattern on it.
Mo Ye, the one over, that one there has the pattern looked like water splash on it.
This one may look common, but it’s also a sword.
This, this one can slash things, as well.
Does the sword become broken? Nope.
So if you…
In the past during the war time,
If you had a relatively inferior sword and I had a better one,
You would certainly be hurt or killed by me.
Nowadays, I’m…
People say I’m just a blacksmith, a coarse person.
Everyone thinks I’m a coarse person
But I have been interviewed.
I have already been put into documentary for 138 times.
Not only Taiwanese media,
but also the Associate Press,
Al Jazeera, and the National Geographic Channel.
There are plenty of media from foreign countries to visit me!
So, no matter what career you are,
as long as you work hard enough, you’ll succeed.
Thank you, thanks everyone!
Subtitles by the Amara.org community