Kim Hye Mi Ja

Winning the 24th National Craft Competition in 1994

Grand Prize in the 1st National Hanji Craft Competition 1995

2015 Korea Color Craft Master (Korea Paper Culture Foundation)

Jangdojang refers to the skill of making decorative daggers, or to an artisan with such a skill. Since the Goryeo Period (877 – 1394), people, men and women alike, carried jangdo (ornamental knife) to protect themselves or as an accessory. Following the Japanese invasion of Korea (1592 – 1598) women of noble families regarded jangdo as an essential item to be carried by them to protect themselves. Toward the late Joseon Period (1392 –1910), jangdo became a luxury accessory.

Jangdo was made of gold, silver or white jade. Scholars liked to carry jangdo displaying their favorite phrase inscribed with a heated iron. Jangdo were mainly made in Seoul, Ulsan, Yeongju, and Namwon. Those made in Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do are known for their uniquely Korean gracefulness. Jangdo made of diverse materials display also the diverse handicraft techniques of the Joseon Period.☆

Yajang is a master craftsman who makes tools by tapping on metal fittings and runs a blacksmith's shop. Regardless of age, the field rose according to his skills and served as the leader of catchers, grasshoppers and errands. Due to the fact that it takes a long time to acquire the art of blacksmithing, and that people were reluctant to transfer technology other than their family members, the field could not be anyone else.

The field owner Shin In-young studied skills from Kang Seok-bong, the four major field leaders of "Anseong Daejanggan." "Anseong Daejanggan" was famous for its deep history, high technology, and large scale among about a dozen blacksmiths in Anseong. Kang Seok-bong, who inherited the tradition of "Anseong Daejanggan," has passed on the technology to Shin In-young, a nephew of his wife's nephew, since 1966. Shin In-young has been a regular field since 1969, and has been running Anseong Daejanggan as one of the top five.

He is known as the only field where he can make items by making traditional earth-based fasteners. Folding is a traditional method of making strong and resilient iron by attaching several layers of iron that have a difference in carbon volume, such as steel and soft iron, which requires long training. The number of folds varies depending on the products produced, and they were mainly used for military equipment and construction steel.

He restored Sungnyemun's iron leaves using this traditional folding technique, and recycled the Gyeongbok Palace's folding iron to produce Sungnyemun's Umjidong, Dongja, Duntte, Panmunjeom Tie Iron and Steel. His work also includes a stone tool used to repair the stone pagoda at Mireuksa Temple Site.