What Longquan Sword Factory (浙江省龙泉市宝剑厂) is known for
This state-recognized Chinese Time-Honored enterprise traces to 1956, continuing a Longquan swordsmithing tradition dated to the Spring and Autumn period, more than 2,600 years ago. Master craftsman Zhang Yesheng still forges on site at a factory that doubles as a national industrial-tourism site.
Longquan's swordsmithing history is conventionally dated to the Spring and Autumn period, more than 2,600 years ago, but the modern factory behind this listing traces only to 1956, when local artisans were organized into the Longquan County Sword Production Group to keep the craft alive under state industry. It was formally reconstituted as the Longquan Baojian Factory in 1978, and the present company, Zhejiang Longquan City Baojian Factory Co., Ltd., was established in 2003.
Its current chairman and master craftsman, Zhang Yesheng, was born in 1968 and has apprenticed in the trade since 1986; he holds the title of Zhejiang Arts and Crafts Master and is recognised as a transmitter of the region's intangible cultural heritage. Under that continuity of hands-on leadership, the factory has collected a run of state designations: China Famous Trademark status from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Chinese Time-Honored Enterprise recognition from the Ministry of Commerce, and a National Special Cultural Industry Key Project designation from the Ministry of Culture.
The site is also rated a National 3A-level scenic area and a National Industrial Tourism Demonstration Site, open year-round with public access to its forging workshops, grinding shops and exhibition halls -- a working factory that doubles as a heritage attraction.
Best for — Handcrafted Longquan swords
Longquan, Lishui, Zhejiang, China
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