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History of Zhangqiu Wok

ZhenSanHuan is China’s most renowned handmade iron wok brand and a representative of authentic Zhangqiu woks. Zhangqiu is a district located in Shandong Province, the hometown of Confucius and Mencius in eastern China. It boasts over 2,000 years of profound iron smelting and forging civilization. The handmade wrought-iron stir-frying wok as we know it took shape in the late Qing Dynasty. Its history can be divided into five key periods.

1. Foundation: Spring & Autumn Period to Han Dynasty (Origin of Ironworking)

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhangqiu boasted mature iron ore mining and forging techniques, serving as a core ironware production hub in Qilu region.
During the Western Han Dynasty, the imperial court set up 48 official iron authorities nationwide. Dongpingling in Zhangqiu was one of the 12 iron authorities in Shandong, conducting large-scale official smelting and forging of farm tools and weapons. A complete set of forging techniques was formed, evidenced by unearthed stone carvings depicting ancient iron workshops.
The local forging craft was famed across the country in the Han Dynasty. The royal "Jinan Chui Cheng Sword" was made by Zhangqiu blacksmiths. Their core skill of forging metal to be both tough and flexible has been passed down to wok-making ever since.

2. Prosperity of Craft: Tang to Song & Yuan Dynasties

Historical records of Shandong noted that ironware production reached its peak in Zhangqiu during the Tang Dynasty.
Nearly every village operated iron forging furnaces, forming a family workshop model where one person stoked the fire while the whole family hammered iron. Blacksmithing became a mainstream occupation, and Zhangqiu ironware was transported to central and northern China.
In the Song Dynasty, thin-layer wrought iron forging matured. Lightweight wrought-iron cookware spread from military barracks to ordinary households, ideal for Chinese stir-frying and laying the technical groundwork for modern woks.
A folk saying goes: "Zhangqiu blacksmiths can be found all over the land." Generations of craftsmen traveled far and wide to make a living, spreading the hammer-forging skill nationwide.

3. Birth of the Zhangqiu Wok: Ming & Qing Dynasties

Ming Dynasty

Specialized iron markets emerged in Xiguan, Xiuhui, with woks and frying spoons as major daily goods. Techniques of layered hot forging and repeated cold hammering were fully perfected.

Late Qing Dynasty: The Authentic Handmade Zhangqiu Wok Comes into Being

During the Tongzhi and Guangxu reigns of the Qing Dynasty, blacksmith Cao Shengyong integrated local millennium-old forging methods with the single-handle wrought-iron stir-frying spoon craft introduced from the imperial capital. He established the classic standard: 12 core procedures, 18 rounds of heating, and no less than 36,000 hammer strikes. The modern handmade Zhangqiu wok was officially born and passed down through master-apprentice and family lineages.
Repeated high-temperature hot forging and tens of thousands of cold hammer blows create fine fish-scale textures on the wok surface, compacting the iron to achieve natural non-stick performance without chemical coatings.
By the late Qing and early Republic of China, Zhangqiu woks circulated nationwide via supply and marketing cooperatives. Chefs across northern China praised them for balanced heat conduction and effortless wok tossing.

4. Decline: Reform and Opening-up to 2017

Mass-produced stainless steel pans and coated non-stick cookware flooded the market at low prices. Hand-hammered woks required enormous time and labor yet yielded slim profits. Most blacksmiths switched to other jobs, and countless traditional forging furnaces shut down.
From the 1990s to 2017, only the veteran craftsman Wang Lifang stuck to pure hand forging, guarding the endangered ancient craft alone. Authentic handmade Zhangqiu woks became extremely rare in the market.

5. Revival and Global Fame: 2018 to Present

Wang Lifang is the founder of ZhenSanHuan, the most prestigious Zhangqiu wok brand. He is exactly the elderly blacksmith featured in the documentary A Bite of China Season 3. In the Spring Festival of 2018, the first episodeUtensils of A Bite of China Season 3 fully recorded Wang Lifang’s rigorous 36,000-hammer hand-forging process. His decades of adherence to traditional craftsmanship made Zhangqiu wok an overnight national sensation, triggering a nationwide shortage of authentic handmade woks.
In the same year, the Zhangqiu Blacksmith Handicraft Industry Association was founded to unify production standards for hand-hammered woks. In 2022, "Zhangqiu Wok" was registered as a national collective trademark to distinguish genuine hand-forged products from machine-made imitations.

Intangible Cultural Heritage Recognition

  • 2009: Zhangqiu Blacksmith Customs was listed as Shandong Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage
  • 2020: The Forging Craft of Zhangqiu Wok was officially inscribed on Shandong Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage List
ZhenSanHuan, founded and inherited by Wang Lifang, has built standardized heritage craft workshops to carry forward the millennia-old forging technique. Adhering to pure manual forging, the brand delivers authentic high-quality Chinese woks. Today, Zhangqiu woks have been exported worldwide, serving as a classic cultural icon of traditional Chinese kitchenware and being showcased at World Expos and international food fairs.