Master carpenter’s ancient Chinese skills are a YouTube sensation
- ‘Grandpa Amu’ makes toys for his grandson using the same techniques which built the Forbidden City
- Fans call him a modern day Lu Ban, after China’s legendary woodworker
A 62-year-old Chinese man’s traditional carpentry skills are delighting tens of millions of viewers on the internet as he creates intricate toys for his toddler grandson out of nothing more than a single piece of wood, without glue, screws or nails.
Wang Dewen, known as Grandpa Amu on YouTube, has been dubbed a modern day Lu Ban – the legendary woodworker credited in China with the invention of the saw and other tools, who today is regarded as the god of builders.
Wang’s most popular works include a sophisticated folding stool, a model of the China pavilion from the 2010 Shanghai Expo, and an apple-shaped interlocking puzzle, in the style known to enthusiasts around the world as a Lu Ban lock. His young grandson’s favourites are a walking Peppa Pig and a bubble blowing machine.
“Some of them I invented on my own, and some I learned online,” Wang said.
His extraordinary woodworking skills – using the same mortise-and-tenon joints found in the Forbidden City – were developed from the age of nine as a means of supporting his family in the eastern province of Shandong. Wang’s first piece was a cooking pot cover he made for his mother soon after his father died.