Buddha Carving Faces Decline in East China Village

TaiwanPlus News

For decades, workshops in a village in Suzhou, China perfected the art of carving Buddhist art pieces for temples. But China's economy has boomed, the market for statues is saturated, and there are no young people learning the art today — leaving workshops facing closure.

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00:00For decades, workshops like this one have made Chongshan Village in Suzhou, China,

00:10famous as a home of Buddhist art.

00:12Artisans chisel and shave and paint until they have fine works fit for temples.

00:17But these days, the village's workshops have become popular photography backdrops

00:21as tourists come to enjoy images of workers focused on their tasks.

00:26Originally, these statues were the products of economic necessity,

00:30a craft that local farmers honed to keep earning money when not out in their fields.

00:34People like Ms. Gu started learning early, doing what she calls child labor.

00:39But times have changed. China's economy has boomed.

00:44Artisans here say the markets become saturated over the past ten years.

00:48Some say they don't want their children to have to work so bitterly hard just to eke out a living.

00:53But times have changed. China's economy has boomed.

01:09Artisans here say the markets become saturated over the past ten years.

01:13Some say they don't want their children to have to work so bitterly hard just to eke out a living.

01:18And young people hardly need persuading.

01:21You won't find a single young apprentice here.

01:23With few customers and fewer prospects for making a career, the shops are facing closure.

01:39The smell of sawdust and paint perhaps destined to be only a fading memory in this corner of eastern China.

01:45Klein Wong and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.

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