Sun, Apr 27, 2014 page3

• FEATURE: Kinmen’s last blacksmith to silence furnace

  • By Wu Cheng-ting and Jason Pan / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  It is the end of an era for Kinmen’s traditional blacksmith trade, as the last remaining metalwork shop on the island is set to close at the end of this month.

  Proprietor Chen Tai-shan (陳泰山), 74, said that on that final day, he plans to forge his last cleaver knife, with a pounding hammer and anvil, as he has done through his six-decade-long career.

  “But I really hope to pass on the skills, for someone to take over. If a young person wants to learn it, I will teach him all the tricks of the trade,” Chen said.

  

  Blacksmith Chen Tai-shan works in his workshop in Kinmen County on April 18.

  Photo: Wu Cheng-ting, Taipei Times

  His shop is small and can easily be overlooked in the crowded market street. However, the livelihoods of many Kinmen residents depended on products made by Chen over the past 60 years.

  Chen and his furnace have produced all types of tools and implements used by the island’s farmers and fishermen, such as plows, hoes, fish knives and oyster shucking blades.

  Known as the “Last Blacksmith of Kinmen,” Chen lamented the passing times.

  

  Blacksmith Chen Tai-shan works in his workshop in Kinmen County on April 18.

  Photo: Wu Cheng-ting, Taipei Times

  “The property values in this town have skyrocketed in recent years, and everywhere the housing prices are going up. So the landowner of this place has decided to clear the way for a high-rise building here,” he said.

  “My son is in Taiwan proper and works at an electronic products company, so I could not pass on the trade in my family. I am very worried that this traditional business will soon fade out and disappear,” he said.

  Everything inside his shop sports a black veneer — metal oxide smoke deposits emitted by the furnace and the metalworking process.

  Chen said his family originally came from the Nanan region of China’s Fujian Province, and settled in Kinmen to establish a metalworking practice.

  “My family can make all the iron tools used by farmers and fishermen. I began to learn the trade when I was 13,” he said, adding that “people came to me for special requests. For all the Royal Lord Temples (王爺廟) on Kinmen Island, seven or eight out of 10 ceremonial swords in their prize-holdings were made in my shop.”

  In recent decades, as the blacksmith trade became a sunset industry, other people advised Chen to change his business model to selling cleavers and kitchen knives made by factories instead. However, the blacksmith refused.

  Some individuals asked him to make bian zuan (扁鑽), a type of short dagger favored by gangsters as an attack weapon, but Chen refused this, too.

  “Doing this profession, one must be ethical and stick to principles. We should earn money only from honest labor,” Chen said.

  Most other blacksmith shops have turned into showroom displays for tourists, while Chen’s shop remains true to its profession, since he insists on producing customized handmade knives and iron tools.

  Long-standing customers visit his shop for sharpening or small repairs.

  “In an average month with a normal amount of work, one could earn about NT$20,000. If a young person works diligently and makes good use of the skills, they can earn about NT$40,000 to NT$50,000,” he said.

  Chen said he hopes the central government can provide help to sustain this profession, by hiring and training young people to promote sustainable employment.

  “If this is not done, then all those handmade knives and iron tools out there would become ‘orphans,’ with no one to take care of them,” he said.

  Despite his commitment to traditional metalworking, Chen keeps up with technology in other areas and is a smartphone user.

  “If the government would come forward to save this disappearing profession, I will certainly click ‘Like’ on its fan page,” Chen said.
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