When the bus we were riding on to meet the interviewee passed through the overcrowded urban area, the peaceful scenery of the countryside came to us. The bus took us to our destination, Gongbuk-ri, Moksadong-myeon, Gokseong-gun, South Jeolla Province. There was a typical farm village with a market that opens every five days. Green rice plants grow on the field and an earthen wall decorates the calm village. It is not indifferent from other farm villages but two differences are noticeable: A post saying “Han Byung-moon, master of the bamboo ornamental knife” and the bamboo trees all over the village.

The sounds of a breeze awaken a bamboo forest and a stream flows through a valley, which are often glorified as the sound of nature in old Korean poems. These verses praise the lovely rustling sound bamboo leaves make whenever the wind blows through a dense stand of bamboo sounds that are delightfully fresh and cool. It is the delicate whispers of nature. The history of making the bamboo ornamental knife has breathed inside the bamboo.

As you walk along the earthen-wall decorated village, you can see the workshop of Master of the bamboo ornamental knife. The owner of the workshop is 66-year-old Han Byung-moon.  He welcomes us warmly. Unlike his common-looking appearance, he is great artist who has succeeded in creating Nakjukjangdo, or bamboo ornamental knife, as a Human Cultural Assets. It is a traditional Korean carpentry craft, which is designated as an Important Intangible Property No. 60 of Korea. He has made the knife for over 50 years.

 Nakjukjangdo is a combined word of the Nakjuk and Jangdo. Nakjuk means drawing patterns or writing letters on leather or wood with heated irons. Jangdo is well-known for Eunjangdo, the silver ornamental knife for women. It is a short knife, less than 15 centimeters in length and is for daily usage. The history of the knife is not well known to us, yet. However, we can assume it from an old rusted-out sword made for the 19^th century famous bohemian poet, Kim Byung-yeon, who is more famous by another name Kimsatkat. Allegedly, Kim ordered it a few days before he died. Given this story, we can assume that during the mid 19th century, this region was famous for knife making.

His Life Devoted to Knife Making

Master Han devoted himself to the vocation of preserving the beauty of the knife for more than 50 years, since the age of 13. His master never taught the details to him when he was a disciple, so all he had to do was to sit next to him and learn by himself. However, after he got married and his master passed away, the burden of responsibilities and needs for the basics had weighed down on his shoulders. He left the world of the knife. For many years, he led his life just as a common farmer who harvested rice in the field. One day, however, words of his close friend, “I see a sword displayed in a Japanese knife museum in Tokyo. It has a nametag which shows it comes from Gokseong, Josun” brought him back to the knife world. He lost himself in making the knife. He started to receive awards in a variety of traditional handicrafts fairs and competitions and gain a nationwide reputation. In 1993, his advanced skills and achievements in preserving and developing the tradition of ornamental knives officially came to get recognized and he was designated as a Human Cultural Property.

The Process of Knife Making

It usually takes 60 days to make a piece of knife, starting from the stage of cutting the quality bamboo to the completion. The work is done by the artisan’s hand in each phase. The making of the knife requires 10 materials. The main material of the knife is bamboo that has grown for three to four years without any flaw on its skin and having 7 joints in the length of palm from the root. It is prepared in the harvesting season to prevent a twist in the bamboo during the winter time. As for the blade, it is made of steel and prepared through countless hammering by the artisan after the heating and cooling process of heated steel. Other additional elements to make the knife safer and more attractive are as follows: Bones and horns of ox, two types of glue made of ox hide and air bladder of a fish named croaker, persimmon tree, leather skin of deer and so forth. The most luxurious element of them is pure gold for inlaying calligraphy on the surface of the blade.

The making process of Nakjukjangdo consists of five parts: Making accessories, making the blade, making the scabbard and hilt, assembling those things together and Nakjuk on the bamboo. The first stage making accessories of the bamboo ornamental knife is mainly for the safety of the craftsman. For example, a jut on the bottom of the scabbard prevents from being cut by the blade when drawing a knife. The jut is made of ox bone. In addition, the persimmon panel and a layer of ox bone are applied to glue and to finish the two ends of the knife. The second stage of making the blade is like this: The artisan was expected to quench and hammer a rod of steel thousands of times in the past. However, nowadays, he can order the blade from the factory. In this stage, the artisan inlays the gold on the engraved Chinese characters of the blade. Then, the third stage of making the scabbard and hilt depends on the shape of the bamboo. As the artisan uses its own shape without any transformation, the original shape of the bamboo is crucial. In the assembling part, all the artisan does is to put together all the parts in order. For the last part, Nakjuk is the essence of the art. The artisan’s hand firmly grips the Indu (Korean traditional smoothing iron). Once the heated iron with a sharp-pointed end dances on the surface of the bamboo, deer begin to run and vines bear gorgeous grapes in subtly rising fog. A beautiful landscape and phrases from the Chinese classic are created on a piece of bamboo, much like an ink painting drawn by a master painter and calligrapher.

 The Types of Knife He Has Made

 He has made six types of knife. The terms of Kyungindo and Saingeom are related to its processing time.  The former is made only on the 27^th day of 60 days according to the traditional day counting system. By doing so, it is believed, Kyungindo complies with its owner’s cherished wishes. Saingeom is made only once in 12 years. On the other hand, Jukjangdo and Jwajangdo are classified with its usage. Those are mainly used as a cane. However, they turn into a sword in an emergency. The difference between them is this: Jwajangdo is used when a person tries to stand up from the sitting position. Therefore, its length is shorter than Jukjangdo as it is used for walking. In addition, Nakjukjangdo and Chungryongdo are concerned with engraving on the scabbard and hilt. For the Nakjukjangdo, Chinese characters from ancient classics are engraved. On the contrary, not Chinese characters but a dragon is engraved on the scabbard and hilt of Chungryongdo. 

 There is unchanging truth that no artifacts can have beauty unless they are soaked with their maker’s sweat and soul. To make beautiful and valuable knives, he pours all his energy and his half-century life into the job. Now, he has gained a nationwide reputation. However, he has a dream: Preserving the culture of the knife. He knows that the way of making the knife is not easy. The successors of him to devote themselves to the vocation of preserving the beauty of the knife must be suffered from the hunger in economics, indifference of the people and pangs of creation. Still, he dreams about continuing the tradition forever. As long as it is believed that Kyungindo complies with its owner’s cherished wishes, his dreams will come true. Two of three sons of his have taken over his work as he expected.