The butter sculpture

Butter sculptures originated in the Tar Monastery in Qinghai Province. They form a kind of carving art, but the material used is butter mixed with mineral colors. The Tibetans think those who pay sacrifices to Buddha and Buddhist guardians will enjoy peace and happiness.

Butter is a favorite kind of food of the Tibetans. It takes the yellowish white color, and can be used to make different kinds of sculptures. Legend has it that, in 641 when Tubo King Songtsan Gambo won the hand in marriage of the Tang Dynasty Princess Wencheng, she entered Tibet with a statue of Sakyamuni as tall as he was at the age of 12. It was enshrined in Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa. Objects used as sacrifices to the statue of Buddha included fresh flowers, aromatic materials, holy water, incense, fruit and Buddhist lamps. As no fresh flowers were available in winter, artificial ones molded from butter became a substitute.

According to the tour guide who showed us around the Tar Monastery, Tsongkapa, founder of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism who was born in the Tar Monastery, once had a dream of grass turning into lamps shining brightly among the flowers that evolved from thorny plants. When he woke up, he asked monks to reproduce what he saw in the dream with butter and used the results to worship statues of Buddha on the evening of the mid-month day. This is why butter sculptures had to be burned up before it dawned right up to the 1950s.

Butter sculptures assume endless shapes. They include images of Buddha, ancient ministers, and even flowers, birds, fish and insects, and pavilions. They are created generally to illustrate a story. When a large butter sculptures show is organized, the exhibits often tell a number of connected stories. Cases in point include Stories of the Life of Sakyamuni, and Princess Wencheng. The latter is composed of close to 300 figures and with Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), Sun-Moon Mountain, sources of rivers and Lhasa as the backdrop.

Given the complicated workmanship, efforts have to be made from October to January to create the sculptures. First of all, the artisans need to dip butter into ice water and rub it to remove any dregs. Before making butter sculptures, the monk artisans need to perform a ritual that includes the recitation of an oath. When this is over, the lama in charge of measuring will join with other artisans to decide upon the theme of the butter sculptures. The work itself is carried out in rooms where the temperature is sub-zero.

First of all, they make frameworks using leather, ropes and bamboo chips as molds.

Secondly, they mix butter left behind from the previous year's project with straw ash, and then mould the different figurines. The lamas in charge of measuring will then check the size of the sculptures.

Next, white butter is mixed with mineral colors and the mixture is used to paint the molded figurines.

Finally, the sculptures are linked up with iron wire to the place where they should stand to highlight the set theme.
In a group of butter sculptures, a pavilion, a Buddha or an arhat may be as high as several meters; and a flower, a bird, an insect and a fish may be as small as three to five centimeters. All of them are lifelike.

All butter sculptures stand with a forward angle of 20 degrees Centigrade to facilitate viewing, and make it possible for the butter sculptures to melt from top to bottom. Generally, they need to be remade in one or two years.

As butter sculptures are all made in sub-zero temperature environment, deformities begin appearing above 15 degrees Centigrade and they begin to melt at 25 degrees Centigrade. With a view to guaranteeing the quality, monk artisans need to dip their hands in freezing water from time to time. This is why they tend to suffer from arthritis and some become crippled. Their contribution to Buddhism is really incredible.

The Tar Monastery has two groups charged with making butter sculptures. The first group is called the Upper Sculptures Group and the second the Lower Sculptures Group. The members compete with each other and each group works under a confidential environment for three months. None of the group members, totaling about 30, will venture to leak their secret to their opponents. The best work will be selected for public appreciation.

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