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Chinese shaping toolsThroughout China, we saw woodworkersusing two tools new to us: the maya cuoand the pang bao. The maya cuo (pronounced:mai-YA tswo) is used primarilyto contour surfaces. It has a wooden bodyup to 15 in. long, with a handgrip fore andaft. A row of 10 to 32 scraper blades aremounted in grooves cut into the undersideof the body. Because of the simultaneousaction of the multiple blades, the maya cuopossesses the advantages of both a planeand a scraper: It cuts aggressively, yet leavesa clean surface on the contrary grain ofcommonly used "ho mu," a red-color wood.Workers often own several of thesetools, usually of varying lengths and differingin the number and spacing of blades.Store-bought maya cuos are not as popularas homemade ones, which the workmenfashion from old sawblades.The blades are held in place on the toolby compression alone. The stock is kerfedusing a handsaw with all the set removed,which makes the kerf an exact match forthe thickness of the steel. The extendedprojections of short grain between thekerfs are flexible enough to allow all theblades to slip into place, except for the lastone. This one must be forced in, and thisprocess tightens up the entire row. Aftermounting, the blades are filed into perfectTwo Chinese tools that are unfamiliar to Western woodworkers, the maya cuo (top) andthe pang baos (bottom), are used for surface shaping and smoothing; the pang baos areused most often on end grain. The cutting teeth of the pang bao on the left are formed ona flat surface, while that of the one on the right are fo rmed on a convex surface.alignment, and the back side of each cuttingedge is beveled to about 60°.A workman showed us how the maya cuois used to form the bead on the edge of agently rounded leg. Using his extended forefingeras a guide, he rapidly forms a V-groovedefining the bead. With the tool tilted at progressivelysmaller angles, he rolls the beadover in just a few more strokes.The pang bao (pronounced: pahng bau )resembles a coarsely cut planemaker's floatfile with straight teeth. The pang bao isabout 6 in. long and mounted to an offsethandle. It is exclusively a store-boughttool. On the mainland, we encounteredcoarse-cut, flat-bottom models that theworkmen sharpened by scraping the face ofthe teeth. The pang baos shown above arefrom Hong Kong; they are cut finer, andone has a curved bottom.Even though we saw these tools used as afo llow-up to maya cuos, their principalapplication is for contouring and smoothingendgrain. -JK and NL.to a rich luster. The finer woods were traditionally waxed, nor lacquered,to highlight the beaury of the wood. We met anodler workerrestoring diao tian (pronounced: [iao t'ien) or carved lacquer. Often200 coats of colored lacquer are required before it is thick enoughto calve. The results are amazingly intricate and beautiful, but repairingit takes an incredible amount of patience: If a piece ischipped, the patch is dabbed on a coat at a time. The lidded bowldlis worker was repairing would take three months to complete.A visit with Wang Shixiang-Recognized as China's preeminentfu rniture historian, Wang Shixiang (pronounced: Wahng Sheeshahng)wasn't always held in such high regard. During the culturalrevolution, his obsession with the past earned him a "pOSition"tending pigs on a commune. Wang was later reinstated as seniorresearch fellow at the Palace Museum.We met with him in a room furnished widl antiques and stuffedsofas, where the vigorous 73-year-old Wang showed us the platesfo r his next book on Chinese joinery, which his wife, Yuan ChuanYu, illustrated. When asked how to disassemble complex lockingjOints, Wang replied, "Well, you soak them in a pan of water andhit them with a hammer, but if you don't know what they look likeinside, they might be ruined."Wang views the work of dle last century and a half as degenerate.In his book Classical Chinese Fumitw'e, he explains that artisans"in their efforts to please their patrons, tried their utmost to outdotheir competitors in producing furniture of original, curious andornate designs. In doing so, dley abandoned the strict principlesdlat governed furniture design in Ming and early Qing, thus bringingthe golden age of classical furniture to a close." Gauging ourinterest in his work, he invited us to see his personal collection offurniture and artworks.His home is a dlree-room house in picturesque decline, withtufts of grass growing from the tiles in the sagging roof. The interioris as humble as the exterior except for the spectacular pieces ofclassical furniture. He and his wife sleep on a Qing Dynasry rosewoodplatform bed; his desk is a 17th-century antique. The remainderof his house, save for a few narrow corridors, is stacked withbooks, tables, chairs and armoires he has collected over the past40 years, not to mention bronzes, porcelains, scrolls and musicalinstruments. Even though the furniture would be worth a fortune inthe West, selling dlese pieces is out of dle question: Not only wouldWang refuse to part widl them, but they are considered culturaltreasures and may nor be taken out of the counuy. The national governmentplans to include his collection in a museum after he dies.Our visit with Wang was the peak of our holiday. If you take asimilar trip, make time to explore more than China's woodworking:Stroll down Shanghai's sycamore-lined streets; gasp as drivers ofciry buses plow through the bicycling throngs and the riders dartfrom disaster at the last moment. China's teeming streets turn quiet atdusk, and nighdy sidewalk excursions reveal nodling frightening,only couples sparking under trees as boys on bicycles ride pastsinging Italian operas. You may be itching to see China, but avoidthe qishu or you'll be itching even after you return home. DJohn Kriegsbauser and Nancy Lindquist operate Kansas City Woodworkingin Kansas City, Mo. Pbotos by autbors except wbere noted.January/February 1989 83