About Shuangshi
Where there is a Cantonese chef, there is a Shuangshi knife.
Shuangshi is a hand-forged knife brand born in Guangzhou in 1796 — the 41st year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing dynasty. For more than two centuries, our blades have travelled from the forges of Lingnan to the kitchens of the world, carrying a craft that has never been interrupted: the spirit of the Southern Knife.
Our Story
In 1796, two brothers from Shunde — He Cheng and He Zhang — opened a forge in Guangzhou called Qili (歧利). The shop was simple: a storefront in the front, a furnace in the back, and a single promise — every blade had to be good enough that a cook would reach for it again the next day.
The knives were well-made and quickly loved. But success drew imitators: rival shops began operating under the “Qili” name, muddying the trade. To set the genuine article apart, the He brothers renamed their forge six times, finally settling on the full marque He Zheng Qili Chengji · Soengsi — the Double Lion. From that day, the brand became known across South China as “the First Knife of the South” (华南第一刀).
Two Centuries of Craft
A knife brand does not survive two hundred years by accident. Shuangshi has lived through the late Qing, the Republic, the wars of the twentieth century, and the rebuilding that followed — reorganising and reforging itself each time, but never putting down the hammer.
- 1796 — The Qili forge opens in Guangzhou; the He brothers begin forging kitchen cutlery by hand.
- Late Qing – Early Republic — Shuangshi knives spread across the Pearl River Delta and are carried overseas by Cantonese migrants and merchants.
- 20th century — Through wars and reorganisations, the forge keeps its fire. Shuangshi craftsmen and tools take part in the struggles of the era — what we call the red spirit of the Southern Knife.
- Today — Recognised as a China Time-Honored Brand (中华老字号) in trademark Class 8, Shuangshi carries the forge tradition into kitchens worldwide.
The Southern Knife Spirit
Every Shuangshi blade is hand-forged — folded, hammered, tempered, and ground by a craftsman, not a machine. The forge fold visible along the blade is the signature of this method: it is what gives a forged knife its edge, its balance, and its life. Two knives from the same forge are never quite identical, because the hand that made them is never quite the same.
We hold to three words: Heritage, Innovation, Persistence (传承 · 创新 · 坚持).
- Heritage — the folding, the hammering, the tempering — practised the same way for two centuries.
- Innovation — better steels, modern heat-treatment, handles shaped for today’s hands.
- Persistence — we are still here, still forging, because a blade worth keeping is worth making by hand.
Our Promise
Shuangshi was born to serve cooks — first the Cantonese chefs of the Pearl River, now the home cooks and professionals of the world. We forge blades that hold an edge through years of daily use, stand behind their craftsmanship with a one-year warranty, and treat every order as a small part of a two-hundred-year conversation between a forge and a kitchen.
When you hold a Shuangshi knife, you hold the same fire that lit the Qili forge in 1796. We are glad to have you at our table.