By CHEN CHUNTAO & BAI YANJU

SWORD-MAKER Gao Qingmin first dreamt of making swords when standing by his father at the furnace. As a teenager, he was apprenticed to his blacksmith father Gao Xikun, and schooled in stories of master ironsmiths Ou Yezi and Gan Jiang, both famous for forging high-quality Tangxi swords.

In the 1930s, Gao Xikun worked at a German machine factory in Tianjin, where he learned metallurgical techniques. After the founding of new China, he returned home to Tangxi Village to start his own iron workshop, with his son Qingmin as his help. Tangxi, located alongside the river of the same name, had been part of the Han state during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period (770-221 B.C.), and was home to an ancient technique of sword forging. After Gao Xikun attained fame as a blacksmith, he and his son worked on resurrecting the lost tradition of his village.

The two discussed sword-forging techniques by the remains of a large furnace found along the Tangxi River, that archeologists believe to be from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period. They consulted historic records about the Tangxi sword and made many unsuccessful attempts at forging it. When a broken section of a Tangxi sword was unearthed in a nearby field, Gao Qingmin received permission from the local cultural relics administration to have it analyzed.

In 1987, almost 40 years after his first taste of the sword-forger's dream, Gao Qingmin succeeded in producing a sword with qualities that matched the descriptions in historical records. Gao Qingmin, now head of the Tangxi Sword Factory in Henan's Xiping County, makes his swords from traditional designs, and decorates them through the original process. His broadswords can chop iron and jade without being blunted, and one of his rapiers springs back to its original position from a 90-degree angle.

Gao has now achieved fame by celebrating his idols, Ou Yezi and Gan Jiang. In 1989, experts from a national seminar on Chinese metallurgical history gathered in Xiping to learn about Gao's swords. In 1991, the Tangxi sword passed the provincial technical test and won several local and national awards. It has since been exported to over 30 countries and regions. For his contribution to traditional Chinese culture, Gao Qingmin has won honorary titles and is now vice chairman of the Xiping County Committee of the CPPCC and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Xiping County People's Congress. Gao has preserved a cultural tradition, and also completed a mission that began more than 70 years ago.