Uyghur Traditional Knife-Making (Yingjisha Knife)

The Yingjisha knife takes its name from Yingjisha county (under Kashgar prefecture), where knife-making has been practised for more than four hundred years and which is honoured as the "home of the Chinese knife." The craft entered the national ICH list in 2008 as an outstanding representative of Uyghur handcraft, and the name "Yingjisha knife" is now protected as a certified regional trademark.

Every Yingjisha knife is hand-forged through twenty-nine steps, from choosing the steel, hammering and quenching to fitting the handle and polishing, each demanding long experience and sure control of the fire. The blades come in many shapes, and the handles are often set with horn, gemstone, shell and camel-bone into elaborate geometric and floral patterns of striking beauty.

The Yingjisha knife is the summit of Uyghur blade craft, uniting the practical, the decorative and the collectible, and carrying the forging traditions of the Silk Road; it is one of the most recognisable folk crafts of the Kashgar region.