Master woodcarvers in a Chinese village face a dying trade as low pay and market saturation threaten the centuries-old craft of Buddha statue making
SUZHOU: In a dimly lit workshop in eastern China, craftsman Zhang measured and shaped a block of wood into a foot as dozens of half-completed life-sized Buddha statues looked on silently.
Zhang is one of a dwindling number of master woodcarvers in the village of Chongshan near Suzhou, where generations have made a living creating Buddhist and Taoist sculptures for temples across China.
Carving the intricate statues, often adorned with bright paint and gold leaf, was an art he learned from his father as a teenager. “My grandpa and my grandpa’s grandpa were also craftspeople,” Zhang told AFP in his dusty studio.
He fears the tradition will end with his generation. “Once our generation retires, there will be no one left to carry on the tradition,” he said.
He blamed a combination of unattractive pay and youngsters’ unwillingness to dedicate years to mastering the craft. “You need to do this for at least five or six years before you can set up shop on your own,” Zhang explained.
The village saw a boom in orders starting in the late 20th century after a loosening of government restrictions on worship led to a religious resurgence. Now, fewer people are commissioning new pieces with the market already “saturated” and most temples already furnished, Zhang said.
At another workshop, 71-year-old artisan Gu remembered producing secular handicrafts during the Cultural Revolution when religion was suppressed. “At the time, the temples were all closed,” Gu told AFP.
Gu, who specialises in carving the heads of Buddha sculptures, proudly showed off the subtle expressions on a row of gilded figures. “Every face has an expression, smiling or crying,” she said.
She grinned as she explained that some sculptures of famed monk Ji Gong even showed him smiling on one side of his face and frowning on the other. In comparison, wood carver Zhang took a more practical view of his craft.
“People look at us like we’re artists,” he said. “But to us, we’re just creating a product.”
