Sun Kaiqiang, 30, carefully strikes the semi-cylindrical ironware with a hammer, narrowing one eye from time to time to observe the object's arc.

In Sun's words, this is the most critical step in forging a Luoyang shovel, a traditional Chinese tool for archaeological excavations.

"If the arc is too large, the soil will not cling to the metal surface and can't be lifted out of the ground. If it is too narrow, the soil will get sandwiched inside, making it difficult to be poured out," said Sun.

The ancestral craftsmen passed down the arc design without any drawings or parameters for reference. "The appearance is etched to my heart," he said.

Sun hails from the rural area of Luoyang City, central China's Henan Province. He is an inheritor of the craft of forging Luoyang shovel, which was listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Henan in 2015.

In recent years, the traditional metallic tool has not only retained its role in archaeology but has also been enhanced for modern use, such as construction of water conservancy projects and oil exploration.

Sun's family has been engaged in Luoyang shovel forging for 100 years and the legacy is being passed on to generations. Since childhood, he followed his grandfather in the blacksmith's shop and was obsessed with the skills.

According to Sun, a shovel has to go through nearly 20 different processes such as forging, trimming, sharpening, firing, molding and quenching. Each step is closely linked and one single error will affect the subsequent steps.

"Once you decide to do it, you have to make it exquisite," he said, adding that one shovel takes 400 or 500 hits by hammers to take shape.

A person standing on the ground can use the shovel to dig up to 20 meters deep with the help of an extended rod and an attached rope. The rope allows the shovel to fall freely into the hole and then pull it out.

While the shovel is pulled out of the ground, a cylinder of soil gets attached to the inner surface of the shovelhead and is lifted out as well. By analyzing the structure, color, density and contents of the soil, archaeologists can assess soil conditions and determine if there is an ancient tomb underground.

Shi Jiazhen, head of the Luoyang City Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute, said the Luoyang shovel has played an important role in archaeological excavations.

Shi said many major archaeological findings, such as the ruins of the ancient city of Han (202 BC-AD 220) and Wei (220-265) dynasties in Luoyang, were located with the shovels.

"Luoyang shovel was not just popular in Chinese archaeology. In the early 1970s when the Chinese archaeological delegation visited Albania, the gift was a finely made Luoyang shovel," he said.

After several generations of painstaking practice and development, the shovelheads of Luoyang shovel have been developed from single size to more than 10 specifications, with the application scopes expanding from archaeology to other fields.

"We provided 300 Luoyang shovels for the construction of the Anyang section of the south-to-north water diversion project," Sun said, adding that the shovels, which are easy to use and less destructive, are used on construction sites where the application of large machines are inconvenient.

According to Sun, the shovels are also used for ice layer exploration during antarctic expeditions as well as oil explorations.

Although Luoyang shovels have been in short supply, Sun is facing difficulty in passing on the skills.

He said forging shovels is a grimy task and it is tiring to swing the hammer under intense heat, especially in summer. Most of the young workers hired had chosen to leave.

"I hope more people will know about the Luoyang shovel and retain the treasure left by our ancestors to benefit the modern society," he said. 

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)