Like a proud mother, Yu Xianglian shows visitors her favorite clay figurines, "Happy Duo," at her newly opened studio in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province.

Her eyes glittering with excitement, the 64-year-old held the two lovely, plump figurines -- a boy and a girl -- in her arms as if holding her own children. The handmade figurines are considered symbols of happiness and auspiciousness.

Yu, a master of clay figurines from Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, was invited to establish a studio at the Nanshan Cultural Resort in Sanya in late October, to help keep the traditional folk art alive.

In addition to the well-known work "Happy Duo," the exhibits in Yu's studio are mostly characters from folk tales and Chinese traditional operas like Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera.

These figurines have exaggerated postures and vivid expressions, making them a delight to look at.

Another of Yu's works is based on the Peking Opera "Picking up the Jade Bracelet." It shows a young woman accepting a jade bracelet from a young man. The woman has a slight smile on her face. Watching their moves, the matchmaker shows her satisfaction with her feet, which seem ready to jump in the air.

"Chinese traditional operas are a great source of creative inspiration," Yu said.

Centuries-old folk art

The moulding of clay figures in Wuxi stems from a long tradition which goes as far back as the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Yu said.

Buddhism flourished in China at that time and an increasing number of pilgrims visited the temples on Huishan Mountain in Wuxi.

Craftsmen who hand-moulded clay into the images of the Goddess of Mercy, the God of Longevity and other deities to be sold to the visitors started to appear in the vicinity of the hill.

The subjects of the craftsmen's work later expanded to include toys, dramatic and everyday characters, plump babies and clownish figures.

In the 1930s, every household in the small town of Huishan knew how to knead the mud into amusing fat children figurines.

"For centuries the adept and skilled hands of folk artists have shaped the local clay into human characters with life and soul," Yu said.

The figurines produced in Wuxi are often called Huishan clay figurines because they are crafted from the unique clay found on Huishan Mountain.

"This clay is characterized by its soft texture and excellent plasticity, which is especially suitable for sculpting," Yu said.

Moulded into figurines, it needs no firing. It is ready for painting after three or four days drying in the shade, Yu explained.

"The finished products are very durable and will not crack over time. One figurine takes about half a day to complete, depending on its size and complexity," Yu said.

Master of mud

Born into a family of figurine craftsmen in Wuxi, Yu showed great interest and talent in traditional folk art from an early age. From the age of 8, she began to study the making of clay figurines from her grandfather. And at 15, she formally became an apprentice to a local master of clay figurines.

"It's not easy to play with mud throughout one's life," said Yu, looking back on her five-decade career. "One should study for many years and then work their way up for more years to become a master."

As the fifth generation of her talented family, Yu is famous for her exquisite skills and has won many national awards and honors.

Yu has created a large number of figurines based on Chinese folk tales and traditional and modern operas over the last few decades. She also paid attention to the everyday lives of ordinary people and captured touching moments from life in her works.

Many of Yu's clay figurines have been exhibited throughout the country and some have been included in the collections of museums and art galleries.

In 2003, she went to Taiwan Province to hold a highly successful show of clay figurines.

But despite her success, Yu is concerned at the state of folk art.

In the 1990s, these traditional skills were on the verge of extinction as the once thriving clay figurine industry shrank dramatically due to low profits and rampant counterfeiting.

In Huishan today, clay figures are now cast from moulds and mass manufactured to cater for tourists. The decline of the industry makes young people reluctant to become the apprentices of old masters, meaning that the lack of qualified young artists makes it hard to rejuvenate the industry, Yu added.

To preserve the threatened craft, Yu and Wan Nanxian, another clay figurine master from Wuxi, have spent the past seven years creating around 300 traditional figurines.

"It's equally important to help the younger generation get a better understanding of traditional Chinese culture and embrace the centuries-old folk art," Yu added.

In her spare time, she made frequent visits to kindergartens and primary schools in Wuxi, teaching children to make clay figurines and giving classes on Chinese folk art.

Yu hopes that the studio in Hainan Province will help rescue the declining clay figurine industry and make the traditional art more widely known.

"It's a 'living museum' where visitors can not only feast their eyes on a variety of traditional figurines, but also see how the artworks are created by the magic hands of craftsman," Yu said.

Chen Zhantao, 23, who fell in love with this folk art at first sight, is one of Yu's apprentices in the studio.

"I was amazed to see such a small piece of clay transformed into such a marvelous work of art," he said, recalling his first experience of making clay figurines.

The young man enjoys his work in the studio. "Every day is filled with surprise and joy especially when I hold a newly-completed figurine in my hands." If possible, he hopes this can become his career.

(China Daily November 2, 2004)