[Rural Revitalization] Knife forging a happy life with more than one hundred years of craftsmanship

　　【Explanation】Following the rhythm of dingdong and jingle hammering metal, located in Xiaodao Village, Yingjisha County, Kashgar District, Xinjiang, nearly 50-year-old knifemaker Ababekre started a busy day.

Holding a hammer in his right hand and a device in his left hand, he knocked and hit more than a hundred times. In a short while, the prototype of a hand-made knife appeared.

　　[Explanation] Recently, I walked into Xiaodao Village, Yingjisha County, where more than 1,000 knifesmiths live, and forged knives with their own characteristics, through the development of express delivery business, went from a family workshop to a broader market.

As the national intangible cultural heritage of the Yingjisha knife, Ababekre is the fourth generation of self-made heirs who inherited the craftsmanship of the knife. He inherited the skills of his ancestors and unreservedly passed on the family skills to young people one after another. Now, under his training, hundreds of heirs have started a long artistic career.

　　[Concurrent] Ababakre, a knifemaker from Yingjisha Xiaodao Village, Xinjiang

　　I am the fourth generation of self-made knives. I have been making knives for 40 years. Over the past 40 years, I have trained more than 150 apprentices. They are now making knives by themselves and opening knives shops. Now our knife business is also very good.

　　[Explanation] The Yingjisha knife is named after the place of origin Yingjisha County. It has exquisite shapes, beautiful patterns, and sharp blades. It is known as one of the three famous knives of Chinese ethnic minorities.

The knife is made of high-quality steel forged by hand, and after quenching, the blade is sharp and can cut mud. The handle is embedded with gold, silver, copper, jade, bone, gems and other materials. It is known as "the flower of the Silk Road".

　　[Explanation] With the continuous promotion of rural revitalization, the human settlement environment in the village has undergone major changes.

Folk houses have become farmhouses and tourist homestays, and the visits of more tourists have given a new look to the remote Xiaodao Village.

Ab Lati, who runs a knife business, became a little excited when he saw the camera facing him.

　　[In the same period] Abraiti, the operator of Yingjisha Xiaodao Village, Xinjiang

　　I’ve been in business for 10 years, and the business is okay, earning more than 8,000 yuan a month in winter.

There are many tourists in summer, July, August and September. We send out the knives they buy by express delivery.

　　[Explanation] Yingjisha County, famous for its knives, was once a post on the Silk Road and one of the eight important towns in southern Xinjiang.

Leveraging on the reputation of the knife and the good momentum of rural tourism, the village has successively introduced handicrafts such as clay pottery and wood carving, and went north and south with the knife, and more people are living a happy life with the help of "culture + tourism".

　　Yang Tao reports from Kashgar, Xinjiang

Editor in charge: [Ji Xiang]