江西靖安一村民用8000枚銅錢編織盔甲

A villager in Jing'an county, eastern China's Jiangxi Province, has been awarded an appearance design patent for knitting a suit of armor using more than 8,000 copper coins.

中國東部江西省靖安縣的一位村民，用8000枚古銅錢織出了一套盔甲，於日前被授予外觀設計專利。

The armor, shining in sunshine, appears majestic. It's flanged with leather and copper rivets, and decorated with a Tai Chi- Eight Diagram design on the front as well as a black waistband.

該盔甲在陽光的照射下色澤金亮，威風凜凜。上面釘着銅鉚釘和皮質鑲邊，胸前裝飾着太極八卦圖，還配有一條黑色束腰帶。

The armor is Zhang Canjin's second recent work. The first, which took him about two months, has been sold.

這身銅錢盔甲是張燦金近期的第二件作品。第一件作品花了他兩個月時間，並且已經售出了。

"I didn't think that I could get a national patent when I started knitting the armor," said Zhang, 52, who lives in Huanglong Village.

住在黃龍村、今年52歲的張燦金說道：“當我開始織這件盔甲時，我從沒想過還能獲得國家專利。”

He said knitting is one of his interests. "The old craft was not very popular when I was young, and it was difficult to find enough copper coins," Zhang said.

他表示，編織是他的一大興趣愛好。“小時候這門老手藝也不流行，再加上當時基本上是用老銅錢編，材料有限。”

"In ancient times, copper coins represented fortune and wealth. Linking the copper coins one by one had the positive meaning of accumulating wealth," it was noted.

據說，“在古代，銅錢是財富的代表，把銅錢串在一起有聚財的積極含義。”

However, few people know the craft of coin knitting nowadays. Zhang said he hopes more young people can learn and inherit it.

不過，現在很少有人會銅錢編織技藝了。張燦金表示，他希望更多的年輕人能學習並傳承這門老手藝。