Cultivate the connoisseur's eye
At Say Tian Hng Buddha Shop, we use traditional techniques and iconography passed down over generations in our family. Why does this matter?
Handmade statues embody Daoist values
While both handmade and machine-made statues can be beautiful, handmade statues are often valued more highly.
Handmade statues are expressions of two foundational Daoist ideas: Wú Wéi (无为) and Zì Rán (自然).
Wú Wéi refers to the concept of effortless flow. It is what comes to life when one watches our craftsmen at work.
Zì Rán refers to naturalness and leads one to find beauty in imperfection and authenticity.
In our statues, these ideas become concrete, reminding devotees of the Daoist way of life, one that embraces flow and the embrace of imperfection.
Statues alive with Qì (气)
When a craftsman creates a statue by hand, they invest their time, effort, artistry, and care into the process. This human touch is believed to transfer Qì (气) - the universe's life force - into the statue, making it spiritually "alive" and differentiating the experience of worship.
This is especially so for statues made from organic material such as wood, which embody the Daoist principle of harmony with nature, and allow the flow of Qi to remain pure.
Holy statues adorned with holy ash
On our statues, you will find relief motifs of soaring dragons, blooming flowers and swirling clouds on the robes, head wear, and thrones. These are not carved. They are too intricate to be so.
Instead, they are made using a technique called thread sculpture (Qī Xiàn / 漆线).
Joss stick ash is collected, washed, turned into a dough, beaten into a fine thread with a spatula, then painstakingly twirled and coiled on the statue with bamboo sticks to create the motifs.
In other words, as the smoke from the joss sticks lifts your prayers to the gods above, the ash that falls is used to make the clothes of those very gods. The statue is now adorned with the holinesss of the ash.
With origins dating back hundreds of years to the early Qing Dynasty, it is today a disappearing art form. Even in China, where it originated, it has been designated a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Blessings that don't fade, but last you for decades
Gold is an important material in religious worship. That is why although gold paint is more commonly used nowadays, we continue to use foil made from real gold.
A material that does not tarnish over time, it represents the eternity of the divine. Its brilliance draws the attention of devotees, evoking a sense of awe and invoking a sacred atmosphere. It is also an offering of man's most prized possession to the deity.
Although cheaper and more commonly used, gold paint does not shine as bright. In a few years, it fades into a dull darkish yellow.
At Say Tian Hng, we gild statues only using gold foil, which are featherlight films of real gold so that its shine - and all its divine symbolism - can stay with you for decades.
Eyes that connect with your heart
Humans connect with other humans through the eyes. It is the same when connecting with gods.
That is why eyes are the most important features of a statue. They need to convey the essence of the deity - be it compassion, resoluteness, or even aggression - one that is intricately tied to his or her origin story and function.
Correspondingly, painting the eyes, known in our trade as Kāi Liǎn (开脸), which translates to "awakening the face", is the most difficult skill within Daoist statue crafting.
The most minor of variations, such as in the curvature of the eyelids, shape of the pupils, or arch of the eyebrows, can change the expression significantly. Needless to say, these micro-expressions need to be of the same size on both sides, and symmetrically positioned, while being painted on a curved surface. This has to be achieved, in most cases, for eyes that are smaller in size than rice grains.
To appraise a craftsman's skills, simply look at the eyes.
Beards with divine realism
In Daoism, long hair and beards are believed to preserve and concentrate the body's essence (Jīng / 精), which is stored in the kidneys and provides the foundation for vitality.
In Daoist statues, the beard is often the only place where this concept can be expressed, since the hair on the top of the head is usually covered under helmets and hats, or simply painted on with black paint.
To create a realistic miniature beard on a statue, however, requires deft skills.
A good beard needs to be a singular, inverted-conical bundle of hair. That is not easy to create. Beards sometimes appear instead as individual clumps. resembling five ponytails growing out separatelt.
A good beard also needs the right "resolution". It must be wispy and just unruly and entangled enough. Often, however, beards are unnaturally straight, resembling too much like rebonded hair, or unnaturally thick like dreadlocks.
Because beards are important in Daoism, it's important to get it just right.
It augments what your deity needs to project - be it a sage’s wisdom, warrior’s vigour, or emperor's gravitas.
Ensuring the stars align for you
In traditional statue-crafting, timing is sacred and ascertained based on the astrological cycle, not on human-determined rhythms of efficiency and convenience.
Important steps happens only after consultation with the Chinese almanac to identify an auspicious day and time based on the lunisolar cycle, an ancient astronomical system that factors both the moon’s phases (lunar) and the sun’s position (solar).
Such steps include the deconsecration of an old statue before restoration work can begin. a ritual known as Tuì Shén (退神), which translates as sending off the deity).
Another would be the opposite step, the consecration of a completed statue, a ritual known as Kāi Guāng (开光) , which translates as opening the light, an invitation for the spirit of the deity to dwell in the statue.
Note: For customers who intend the statues to be appreciated as works of culture and art rather than as objects of worship, we can skip the consecration ritual.
Accurate iconography you can trust
It is not enough that a Daoist statue looks beautiful; it must be accurately depicted as well.
In the vast Daoist pantheon, iconography - the unique combination of visual elements such as weapons, garments, head wear, skin tone, eyebrows, beards, poses and others to represent a specific deity - serves to identify an individual deity correctly, as well as remind us of the deity's unique origin story. It is not always easy to get it right.
At Say Tian Hng Buddha Shop, the designs of our statues are based on a database passed down over generations in our family, providing our customers with a unique confidence.
While there is room for artistic interpretation, fixed rules exist as well. For example, Tua Peh Kong (Granduncle) and Tu Di Kong (Earth God) are two elderly, white-bearded, staff-wielding, seated gentlemen who look almost identical, yet have different origin stories and functions. The way to tell them apart is subtly via the seat: Granduncle sits on a throne while the Earth God - as his name suggests - sits on a rock ledge. Without knowing this, one is confused for the other.
Eyebrows are another example. We use more than 10 designs: Thin elegant ones for goddesses like Guan Yin; wispy, unkempt ones for elderly gentlemen like Tua Peh Kong, ferocious phoenix-esque ones for warriors like Guan Gong, and squiggly ones for mischievous child gods like Ne Zha.
Skin tones matter, too. Maidens need a fairer biege, warriors a sun-kissed biege, child gods a rosy biege, underworld gods a sickly, greyish-biege.
Daoist statue-making is art, but not freestyle art. Ultimately, it must serve it role to provide an accurate and precise representation of a story more important than itself.
At Say Tian Hng, we have a large body of archival knowledge, accumulated and documented over time, to do this.