“Clank, clank, clank” ... The sounds of striking from the forging workshop of Xu Guoxiang seem to announce that a brand new gong is to be finished.

The 62-year-old Xu Guoxiang is the Chongqing municipal intangible cultural heritage (ICH) inheritor of Liangping Gong Forging Craft. The forging tools inherited from his ancestors, furnace, tongs, stools, lathe, mold, etc., have accompanied him since childhood. 

The 62-year-old Xu Guoxiang is the Chongqing municipal intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Liangping Gong Forging Craft. (Photo by Zhang Changwei)

Perennial coal-burning blackens the walls of the workshop, but Xu enjoys himself.

The beef-colored gong in the furnace fire. (Photo by Zhang Changwei)

Xu is the fourth generation inheritor of his family gong-forging heritage, which witnesses a history of nearly 150 years. Under the family influence, he always helped his father forge the gongs together with his older brother when he was young. Then he mastered the gong forging processes at the age of 20. In 1987, he chose to work in the transportation industry to make a living, so this heritage was handed over to his brother.

The beef-colored gong is ready for shaping. (Photo by Zhang Changwei)

“Indeed, the transportation industry is more profitable than gong forging. But money can be earned back, the lost ancestral heritage will be lost forever. I will never let this craft become extinct because of me.” Then he made up his mind and reopened the Xu’s Gong Forging Workshop.

Xu Guoxiang is polishing the forged gong. (Photo by Zhang Changwei)

“The gong is a kind of instrument that seems simple but requires an extremely complicated producing process, which is never too exaggerated to be described as over and over again,” Xu said. According to information, the material of gongs should be bell metal, which can be acquired by recycling broken gongs. Only gongs made of this can be resistant to striking and produce amazing musical sounds. Scrap copper pieces and other materials should be smelted in the smelting furnace according to strict proportion, and the copper plate should be repeatedly struck to gradually form the shape of gong before being put into the furnace, then the calcination, trimming, and shaping can be carried out. Finally, multiple processes such as tone-setting, tone tuning, and hand polishing should be followed.

Xu Guoxiang is tuning the tone of the gong. (Photo by Zhang Changwei)

In 2014, Liangping Gong Forging Craft was listed as one of Chongqing municipal intangible cultural heritage and Xu became the inheritor. However, there is still a long way to go for the inheritance of this craft.

Xu Guoxiang makes various kinds of gongs. (Photo by Zhang Changwei)

Each process of the gong forging should be carried out carefully enough and the heat control is most crucial during the copper smelting. If the smelting temperature is not high enough or the dust enters into the furnace, the gong will be broken, unable to resist the impact of striking. Once the temperature is out of control, the purity, tenacity, quality, etc., of gongs will be greatly affected. “The best gong should be beef-colored, neither black nor red,” Xu said.

Xu Guoxiang (left) is teaching his son to tune the tone of the gong. (Photo by Zhang Changwei)

Another important process for gong forging is tone-setting, which should be adept with appropriate force. The final stroke is most crucial and delicate, determining the tone quality of the gongs.

Gong forging is completely handmade and can only be mastered after three to five years, so its inheritance faces enormous obstacles. Despite of their small size, the gongs are produced in a time-consuming and low-output way. Only two gongs can be produced by one person every day and about 500 gongs can be produced each year.

Xu Guoxiang is explaining the method of identifying the tone of gongs to the students. (Photo by Zhang Changwei)

“I am going to register a trademark and increase the sales by e-commerce with my son,” Xu said. Based on the manufacturing of gongs with a traditional style, Xu is actively promoting the development and innovation of gongs with new styles. He tries to develop Liangping Gongs into tourism products, artworks and souvenirs, create more exquisite products, and make this traditional craft popular among more people, so as to produce the most impressive sound of gongs.