There used to be a ballad that describes the way blacksmith works: Forge hoe plate in the morning and big hoe at noon. The clothes are soaked with sweat. Forge sickle in summer and bamboo rake in autumn. The hard work gives them backache and humpback. They do not turn on the light in the afternoon to save more money for food.

As blacksmiths spend most of their time in doing heavy work, their workmanship is coarse and not meticulous enough. But there were still a few blacksmiths had exquisite skills and thus stood out and developed a school of their own in the iron forging industry. For example: The “lingering crescent sickle” as made by Li Minzhen was known for “without deformation after cutting millet of a hundred mu continuously”. The light and durable round-bottomed frying pan as made by Wu Yunmao of Yanchi Village enjoyed such as a high reputation as “After forged by 36,000 thumps, the bottom of the frying pan is bright and white”. The “double calabash” kitchen knife of Bucun Village was well-known throughout the Quncheng City. And the product was so popular that “Buyers need to make advance payment before receiving the product five days later”. The makers of these products were also famous far and near and most of them had a smithy at a fixed place and with a definite name.
 
There were also helpers for forging iron who had been roaming around and working in different places.
“Two carts and three mouths, one case, one pincers and one hammer. In the morning, they walk under the Hushan Mountain in central Shangdong. In the evening, they sleep among the stones.” This gives a truthful expression to the life of the migrant blacksmiths. Most of them went to east Shandong, Hebei, western Shandong, and braved the journey to Northeast, accounting for three-fifth of the number of blacksmith. There were more than 250 kilns in Hailun County, Suihua, Qinggang, Yangquan and other counties in northeast China. There is a ballad that goes: There are countless kilns in northeast China. The workers have a Zhangqiu accent. When asked if they have enough to eat and wear, their gloomy faces with tears are shown.
 
As mentioned in the voice-over in the TV play series Brave the Journey to Northeast, there were nearly 30 million people begging for life in Hebei, Shandong and Henan before liberation. According to rough estimate, there were more than 600,000 migrant blacksmiths in Zhangqiu who had been on the run and struggling on the verge of death all year round.

After 1938, the majority of the blacksmiths in Zhangqiu worked together to produce weapons for regular troops and local armed forces. There was a ballad to prove it: Blacksmiths in Zhangqiu change trade by building workshop in deep mountains and forests. No longer forge iron but make swords and guns to exterminate the Japanese army and the army of Jiang Jieshi.

For example, Liu Jiazhang of Sangyuan enjoyed a high reputation for his superb workmanship. He organized more than 30 kilns to turn out the “57” fast guns and grenade launchers for Zhangqiu armed working team. It only took them a month to produce 160 Czechic fast guns, 45 horse rifles, etc. Yuan Shaode, a man of rich working experience and enjoying a good reputation, called up over 160 blacksmiths. Through traditional recipes and wonderful methods and manual work, they had produced handguns and rotary machine guns. Master worker Xie Tongbin at Donggoutou Village secretly set up an underground gun factory. Despite the lack of drawings and machinery, small mortars and “38” large cap guns were miraculously produced in the simple, crude workshop. Other blacksmiths for war industry with secret identity included the small and medium-sized 57 Group in Zhangqiu, which provided timely aid and steady guarantee for beating the Japanese army and winning the civil war.

At the end of 1947, Zhangqiu became the liberated area. A ballad shows the great pleasure of the blacksmiths when they became the master of the society. It goes like: The land reform fills the blacksmiths with joy. Good fields and houses are distributed. Smithy becomes the home of blacksmiths. Migrant blacksmiths go back to their hometown. As a result, in 1953, the government put forward the idea of cooperative road for agriculture. The iron forging cooperative was set up in Honggou Village, Wenzu Town immediately. There were six kilns in all. Yixing Iron Forging Society was organized in Sande Village under the leadership of Wang Yanjun, which involved more than 70 blacksmiths. In Lijiabu, Iron Processing Society was established under the leadership of Li Zhaojun. In Houzhuang Village, the Iron Forging Society led by Zhang Jingjiang had 80 kilns altogether. Owing to growing members and great competitiveness, this society was rated as the advanced model of the county. There were more than 780 village-based iron forging cooperatives at that time, which became a powerful “logistics department” for resuming and strengthening agricultural production. There was a ballad that goes like: The furnace fire lightens up the east. Drum-like thumps shake the heaven. Rows of farm tools, resembling the troops, have been produced.

With the progress of the society in the mid-1960s, the blacksmiths in Zhangqiu had witnessed historical change: factories replaced the societies; products had been processed through outsources instead of being sold in domestic market. Production had been made by mechanical processing instead of by manpower. Work point plus subsidy replaced the work point system. Blacksmiths were called “industry & agriculture” employee.
 
Gao Piyue of Chajiu Village took the lead in establishing the Tractor Accessory Factory. Meng Chuanxiang of Beitao Village set up the Chemical Machinery Accessory Factory. Gao Hongsheng of Jiaojia Village set up the Agricultural Machinery Parts Processing factory. The “hacking iron and dismantle steel processing team” was established in Hetao Village. The Tractor Accessory Casting Factory was set up in Yuanzhuang Village. Businesses like these kept springing up in the locality. There were around 570 such enterprises in Zhangqiu County, which raised the economic strength of commune and collective and accelerated agricultural mechanization. The commune members were becoming rich and “Ten-thousand-Yuan Alley and Hundreds-of-Million-Yuan Street” had emerged in Hetao Village. There used to be a ballad that goes: cultivate land by driving the tractor; drive the vehicle for transport; The Dragon King is no longer invited for irrigating fields, because the water pump is both convenient and effortless.
 
In the 1980s, the blacksmiths in Zhangqiu had been developing rapidly during the reform. Zhangqiu Farm Tools No. 1 Factory was rebuilt into Zhangqiu Motor Factory. Zhangqiu Farm Tools No. 2 Factory was renamed as Zhangqiu Air Blower Factory upon expansion. Farm Tool No. 3 Factory was built into Zhangqiu Leather Production & Processing Factory. Farm Tool No. 4 Factory became Heavy Automobile Accessories Factory through expansion. There were more than 60 county-level businesses in Zhangqiu. The system of overall responsibility by factory manager, contacting system and the responsible person of workshop greatly enhanced the affinity and working capacity of workers that were composed of blacksmiths and their descendants. Meanwhile, the policy for benefiting the people had seen concrete effect. Several years ago, the economy of Zhangqiu had taken off and was listed among the top 100 counties nationwide. There is a ballad that goes: Descendants of the blacksmiths have superb workmanship. They serve as factory directors in the reform age. The advanced equipment shows remarkable ability. Funds are pouring in with the running of machines. Miracles are made through concerted efforts. The people are fairly well-off ahead of schedule. Flowers in diverse colors are in full bloom in spring. Blacksmiths are the Peony King. The forefathers of blacksmiths and their hammers, vises and air bellows will be recorded in history forever.