The jade carver worked hard for three years and finally created the Four Bodhisattvas!

Jade's most essential natural state is actually a piece of stone. Its true appearance can only be seen after peeling off the thick and ugly outer shell. Then, once it reaches the hands of a jade carver, it can begin its transformation. A jade carver is like a patient artist who designs the subject matter, sketches the draft, carves it meticulously, and polishes it to finally achieve its beauty.

Creating jade works is an arduous process. From the initial conception of the subject, it is not only necessary to best fit the characteristics of the original stone, but also to incorporate the jade carver's own cultural pursuits and cultivation. After the subject is finalized, it needs to be drawn on paper stroke by stroke, and then carved out one by one with a carving knife. This is a process that requires a lot of patience and carefulness.

Choosing the jade carving business means you are basically doomed to be away from the hustle and bustle. A simple studio is your own world where you can think or carve. What you need is a heart that is neither arrogant nor impatient. A jade carver friend once said that every creation of jade work is more like a baptism and a sublimation of life.

Different from the process of those who just take a needle and randomly draw a picture and dare to call themselves a master, let's take a look at how a jade carver spent three years and worked hard to finally create these four great Bodhisattva jade works.

This is a piece of ice-type floating flower material from the Mu Na field, with a total of four pieces. The lively floating flowers, plus the characteristic snowflake cotton of the Mu Na field, make the material full of fairy spirit and artistic conception.

How to choose the subject matter is a long process. The choice of such a good subject matter has a crucial impact on whether the final work is icing on the cake or superfluous. Moreover, with such perfect material, even if a little more carving was lost would be a pity. How to match the characteristics of this material and make a beautiful finished product with the smallest carving? The jade carver spent three months thinking about the choice of this subject alone.

The final creative inspiration comes from the four great Bodhisattvas in Buddhism: Manjushri Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, Guanyin Bodhisattva and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. The images of these four Bodhisattvas are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the ice-type jadeite with floating flowers is in line with the characteristics of the four Bodhisattvas themselves pursuing purity of body and karma. The dots of snowflake cotton can add to the ethereal and pure artistic conception.

After the subject matter is selected, the next step is the design stage. How to express the characteristics of the four great Bodhisattvas is the next issue that the jade carver will think about. I spent countless nights sitting at my desk, thinking, sketching, and finally finalizing the draft. The four great Bodhisattvas float in the air, full of immortal spirit, which adds to the mystery of the Bodhisattvas while retaining the characteristics and integrity of the jade raw materials to the greatest extent.

Next comes the carving process, which uses shallow relief technique overall. This is a process that tests one's skills very much. If the carving is too deep, it will waste materials; if the carving is too shallow, it will lack momentum and the image of the Bodhisattva will not be prominent enough. This requires the jade carver to have a perfect grasp of the lines and depth of the carving. In the jade carver's own words, this requires a very good touch, so the jade carver cherishes this work as if it were his own child. He usually hides it deep in a drawer and only takes it out to carve a few strokes when he feels the need. This process took more than two years, on and off.

The final polishing process was also a meticulous job, and it took several months to finally complete this work. The neatly-shaped jade plaque, the ethereal floating flowers and snowflake cotton, the solemn image of the Bodhisattva in the sky, and the embellishment of simple pavilions and temples below, make the whole work of art extremely artistic and unforgettable at first sight.

After three years, countless times of sitting alone to think, and countless times of carving with the carving knife, this work was finally completed. Let's take a look at the detailed pictures of each piece to see if they will touch your heart at first sight.

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