"Despite being in Kachin State, the surrounding lowlands make up the heartland of the Shan-ni people – an ethnic group native to northern Myanmar comprising of at least over 100,000 speakers. According to their 1901 book named Burma, Max and Martha Ferrars observe that the Shan-ni are commonly known to be “the best metallurgists north of the [Malay] Peninsula” (p. 145). Among other skills, this includes master swordsmithing. They forge designs from simple machetes all the way to decorative sabers imprinted with dragons running along the spine. For Soe Khaing, he follows in this tradition in an inherently sustainable way. Soe Khaing’s shop quietly sits in Nyaung Gone, a village on the outskirts of the historic Shan-ni town of Mohnyin. Of all the sword shops in downtown Mohnyin, only one store owner knows him personally and can lead us by motorbike to the family workshop twenty minutes away. There, Soe Khaing welcomes us and invites everyone into a bamboo and thatch structure for some tea. His operation also connects to his home, where he and his wife live together with their three children and extended family. It’s from here that he begins to tell his story. Now 40 years old, Soe Khaing follows in a family business that began with his grandfather. In the early days, advanced sword-making was mostly reserved for high ranking authorities of the Mohnyin kingdom, which was part of a more extensive network of independent Shan states ruled by “saopha” or princes. His grandfather’s shop only produced for palace guards and used expensive raw materials such as iron, leather, and gold to make his swords. Once the saopha’s power dissolved in the early 1900s with British influence, the next generation began to make this Shan-ni practice more accessible to the general public..."