Taizhou, Jiangsu: Stone Locks Fly as an Ancient Skill Is Passed On

In recent years, every weekend, stone locks weighing around 100 jin (50 kilograms) have flown through the air beside the Taizhou Stone Lock Culture Exhibition Hall in the Wanghai Tower Scenic Area in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, to cheers from onlookers. These are regular demonstrations of Hailing Stone Lock Throwing, a national intangible cultural heritage practice. Wang Bingrong, 78, a provincial-level representative inheritor of Hailing Stone Lock Throwing, tosses a 120-jin (60-kilogram) stone lock into the air. The bluestone lock spins before landing securely back in his palm.

Stone-lock enthusiasts give a fitness demonstration

Photo by Lu Qihui

The ancient skill originated in military camps during the Tang Dynasty. At the time, soldiers trained by throwing stone locks. The practice later spread among the public and evolved into a traditional activity combining tests of strength, competition and fitness. Taizhou has long been known as a “land of fish and rice.” Its prosperous trade and well-developed transport industry employed large numbers of dockworkers, for whom stone-lock throwing became one way to build physical strength. The practice was consequently passed down from generation to generation. In 2021, Hailing Stone Lock Throwing was included in the fifth national list of representative items of intangible cultural heritage.

A school offers stone-lock training courses

Photo by Zhou Shegen

As president of the Stone Lock Association of Hailing District in Taizhou, Wang Bingrong worked with the Taizhou Culture and Tourism Group to establish the Stone Lock Park and the Taizhou Stone Lock Culture Exhibition Hall in the Wanghai Tower Scenic Area. He also donated to the exhibition hall nearly one hundred stone locks and training stones from different periods and in different shapes from his personal collection.

Wang has also led a group of fellow stone-lock enthusiasts in staging regular demonstrations and providing free instruction at the Wanghai Tower Scenic Area and the Stone Lock Park. At the same time, he has actively introduced stone-lock throwing to schools, communities and commercial districts, bringing this ancient form of “Chinese-style weightlifting” into modern life.

Today, more than 3,000 people practice stone-lock throwing in Taizhou, and more and more young hands are catching the stone locks as they fly through the air.