The traditional art of clay sculpture in Puyang 1, Licheng District, originated in the Song Dynasty. Its characteristics are to maintain the essence of ancient traditions, standardize the process, and make the modeling lifelike, which is indeed a superior technique of folk arts and crafts. In particular, its clay sculpture skills are exquisite, and clay sculpture samples are widely used in large-scale stone sculptures, bronze sculptures, and wood carvings, becoming a mother skill, which further demonstrates its important value. The traditional art of clay sculpture is perfectly in line with the spirit of religion. The profound understanding of Zen and the unique craftsmanship with compassion have made it an artistic carrier for spreading religious culture. To date, a large number of Song Dynasty Buddha statues and gods have been preserved in various parts of Putian, such as the statues of Huangshi Gucheng Palace, Meifei Palace, and Chongxing Temple, all of which prove the superb skills. In November 2010, "Puyang 1 Clay Sculpture Traditional Art" was announced by the Putian Municipal People's Government as the third batch of Putian City's intangible cultural heritage list. In December 2011, it was announced by the Fujian Provincial People's Government as the fourth batch of intangible cultural heritage list. Putian was formerly known as Xinghua Prefecture, and it is known as the "Buddhist Kingdom". Putian's clay sculpture art has developed along with the spread of religion and folk culture. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when the ancient Indian Buddhist culture was introduced into China, Buddhist statues were also introduced. In the second year of Yongding in the Han Dynasty (558), Zheng Lu donated his residence in Nanhu to establish Jinxian Temple (later renamed Jinxian Temple and Guanghua Temple), which is one of the three model jungles in China, and the art of clay sculpture of Bodhisattva came into being. In addition to Guanghua Temple, Putian also has many ancient Zen temples, such as Jiuzuo Temple, Longhua Temple, Guishan Temple, Nangshan Temple, Meifeng Temple, Linquan Temple (i.e. Southern Shaolin Temple), etc. There are 921 Buddhist temples and nunneries, which can be said to be full of temples and have a profound religious art and cultural heritage. The statues in the temples include: the Four Great Vajra, Wei Tuo, Maitreya, the Eighteen Arhats, or the Five Hundred Arhats, 0 God, Guanyin Bodhisattva, etc. During the Yuanshou period of the Western Han Dynasty (122-117 BC), nine brothers surnamed He from Linchuan entered Fujian. After meeting Taoist Hu at the Longjin Palace in Putian, they went through Fengting to Jiuli Lake to make elixirs. This was the beginning of the transfer of elixir from the Danding Sect to the Putian area before Zhang Daoling founded the Tianshi Dao in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Taoism originated in China and is a polytheistic religion. There are 91 Taoist temples in Putian. The gods enshrined in the Taoist temples, temples, palaces, and community statues are also diverse. There are heavenly god systems, local god systems, and human god systems (various historical figures). Such as Chang'e, Cowherd and Weaver Girl, Earth God, Kitchen God, God of Wealth (Zhao Guangming), Emperor Wenchang, Confucius, Lu Ban, Jiang Meifei, Lei Haiqing (the troupe enshrined him as Tian Gongshi), Mazu, the goddess of the sea, Qian Si Niang, Li Fu, Chen Yinggong (Chen Shenghou, a salt worker), Chen Nan (a cooper), and so on. Due to the polytheistic body, the sculpture art has expanded the space. Many of the beautiful statues for people to worship are all from the hands of Putian folk sculpture masters. In the 30th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1551), a local religion with wide influence, "Trinity", appeared in Putian. It was founded by Lin Zhaoen. He advocated the unity of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. There are 976 "Trinity" ancestral halls in Putian. The "Trinity" hall is called "hall" or "ancestral hall". The statue of Lin Zhaoen is enshrined in the main hall. The statues of "four companions" are enshrined on both sides of the hall, that is, the four disciples of the leader, Lu Wenhui, Lin Zhenming, Zhang Hongdu, and Zhu Fengshi. Some also worship other gods. From the fifth year of Tianqi in the Ming Dynasty to Chongzhen (1621-1635), Catholicism was introduced into Fujian and developed to eight prefectures. Each prefecture had a church and statues. Catholic culture began to spread in Putian. There are 25 existing Catholic churches. In the first year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1862), the Methodist Church began to spread to Nanri Island in Putian, and later preached in the Putian area. There are now 127 Christian churches. Looking at the history of religious development, we can get a glimpse of clay sculptures. Putian's traditional clay sculpture skills originated in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. With the construction of Guanghua Temple, the clay sculpture of Bodhisattvas has emerged. In the fourth year of Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty (966), the eminent monk Master Juexia founded Chongxing Temple in Huangshi Town and sculpted a large golden body of Bodhisattva, thus cultivating a group of Huangshi clay sculpture masters. In the second year of Emperor Wenzong of the Yuan Dynasty (1331), Huangshi also established Xinfeng Temple, where local famous craftsmen sculpted Buddha statues. From the 18th to the 22nd year of Emperor Shenzong Wanli's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1590-1594), the descendants of the Trinity Church, including Chen Qin, Zhang Yusheng, Huang Dayin, Li Yingshan, Lin Mengxiong, and Zhu Fengshi, established five Trinity Churches in Huangshi Tangxia, Yuxi, Yaotai, Houzhu, and Qingjiang. The statues of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were all made by famous craftsmen from Huangshi. The statues were lifelike and lifelike, so they became famous. Temples, Taoist temples, and ancestral halls in and outside Putian all chose Huangshi workers as their first choice. The statues of Jiang Meifei, her parents, brother, and other accompanying gods enshrined in the Huangshi Pukou Palace built in the Song Dynasty are still well preserved and have extremely high artistic and cultural value. In particular, the statue of Jiang Meifei retains the aesthetic style of the Tang Dynasty, creating the plump and rich beauty of Meifei, and her natural expression reveals a noble spirit. It is a very rare artistic masterpiece. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the clay sculptures of "Huangshi workers" were numerous, including the statues of Mazu in various Mazu temples in Putian, the statues of the Venerable in various "Three Ones" halls, and the statues in various Buddhist temples and Taoist temples. They are all precious cultural and artistic masterpieces. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the traditional skills of clay sculptures were well inherited. But it was interrupted in "1949". In 1992, Mr. Wu Wenzhong, the fifth-generation inheritor, founded Puyang Buddha Statue Crafts Co., Ltd., and continued to carry forward this traditional skill in the form of dynamic protection. The traditional skills of clay sculptures are a cultural form and cultural space created by our ancestors and passed down from generation to generation, with distinct historical, artistic and religious characteristics. The lines of its clay sculptures are comfortable and soft, vigorous and stable, the shape structure is symmetrical and vivid, and each move contains artistic creation. Guanyin smiles while holding a flower, King Kong glares, Bodhidharma meditates while facing the wall, Maitreya smiles at the world, and every detail shows the artistic perception. The traditional clay sculpture has a set of complex and delicate production processes. The first is to prepare the clay. The clay sculpture technique is complex and delicate. The basic material for clay sculpture is clay. Generally, sticky and fine clay is selected, impurities are removed, and it is repeatedly hit and hammered with a mallet or a wooden stick. If conditions permit, a mud pounding machine can be used for manual pounding and kneading. When the clay is too wet, first put it in a ventilated place indoors to let the clay cool and dry to a moderate level; if the clay is too dry, it can be placed in a container, soaked in an appropriate amount of water, and then pounded. Sometimes, some cotton wool, paper tendons or honey should be added to the clay to make the clay moderately soft and hard and not sticky. Put the processed clay ball in a jar or other container, cover it with a wet cloth or plastic cloth to maintain a certain humidity for use. The second is to build a skeleton. Clay sculptures are divided into large and small, and large statues need to build a skeleton. In the old days, wooden sticks and wooden boards were often used to build the skeleton. With the production and application of iron wire, steel bars and nails, they have also become essential materials for building the skeleton. The skeleton of clay sculpture plays a supporting and connecting role like the human skeleton. It is the basic condition of clay sculpture and is indispensable. In the specific operation process, the skeleton must be firm to ensure the stability of the clay sculpture. It is best not to tilt or collapse after applying the clay; after piling the clay, it should not fall off the clay and the frame should not be exposed; the large clay should reflect the general shape of the sculpture; the skeleton should be easy to dismantle when changing the mold. The third is the large clay pile shape. After the clay and the skeleton are prepared, you can start to apply the clay. First, spray water on the skeleton so that the clay ball can be firmly combined with the skeleton and not easy to fall off. When applying the clay, pile the clay balls on the skeleton piece by piece, press them tightly with your hands, and then add clay layer by layer, and use a wooden hammer or a clay slapping board to pack the clay and tamp it firmly. When applying the large clay, you should focus on the big picture and start from the overall situation. Don't be timid and fall into the shaping of local details. Since sculpture is a three-dimensional entity, each time a piece of clay is added, the relationship between various perspectives must be considered. The sculpture table should be rotated frequently to observe and compare continuously. The clay cannot be piled up at once, as long as the general shape is piled up. The fourth is artistic shaping. This is the most critical link. On the basis of accurately grasping the large shape and proportion of the clay sculpture, the stage of artistic shaping can be entered. With the deepening of the local and detailed work, the body of the clay sculpture is gradually in place. The local part should be compared with the whole frequently to make the local part subordinate to the whole. In the process of in-depth shaping, the relationship between the whole and the local part should be constantly adjusted and grasped, and the relationship between the local part and the details should be handled repeatedly, and the principle of "whole, part, and whole" should be always mastered. If the energy is very concentrated when the local part is deeply portrayed, and the sculpture time is often spent on shaping on one surface, and the sculpture table is forgotten to be rotated for too long, the more meticulous it is, the easier it is to flatten the volume. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to always maintaining the coordination of overall observation and shaping. The most essential and delicate part of the clay sculpture craft lies in the artistic treatment of the facial features of the statue work, the pursuit of vividness and lifelikeness, especially the appropriate expression of the expressions of different statues. For example, the statue of Mazu should reflect the expression of charity and love, Guanyin should reflect the smile of the Buddha country that loves the world, Guanyu should reflect his loyal and honest style, and Maitreya Buddha wins with his proud and arrogant smile. All of these are ingenious creations. The fifth is adjustment and unification. When the clay sculpture enters the critical stage, the difficulty will appear that some local details are too prominent, the big turning point of the shape is weakened, the shapes lack coherence or are handled rigidly, etc. In the adjustment and unification stage, it is necessary to adjust it to the overall relationship to ensure the success of the artwork. During the production process of clay sculpture, it is necessary to pay attention to spraying water on the clay sculpture frequently, especially in summer when water is easy to evaporate, and it is necessary to spray water regularly to keep the clay material at a suitable dry and wet degree to shape the shape. In winter, the temperature is low, and clay sculptures should pay attention to keeping warm, otherwise they will freeze and crack, so they should be worked in a warm room so that the clay sculptures will not crack. After each work, the clay sculptures should be wrapped with plastic cloth to prevent water from evaporating and the clay sculptures from cracking, so that they can continue to be shaped. The sixth is image protection. After the clay statue is made, it has to go through two protection periods. Only after it is completely dry can it be painted and gilded. This is the last process, which is known as "three parts of the sculpture, seven parts of the color". Generally, a layer of base color is applied before coloring to keep the surface smooth and easy to absorb the painted color. The painted pigments are mostly color-matching and are adjusted with water glue to enhance the color adhesion. Clay sculpture is the oldest traditional folk sculpture craft in Putian. With the change of statue materials, there are wood carvings, stone carvings, bronze carvings and other types. However, no matter what kind of material is used to make large statues, clay sculptures must be used as the base sample, also called "small drafts", so clay sculptures are the mother of other sculpture varieties. The clay sculpture technique of Puyang statues involves fields such as technology, history, religion, and folklore. The statues are very vivid and lifelike, with strong artistic charm and important artistic value. The different artistic representations given to different clay statues are physical materials for studying history, folklore, and religion, and have important research value. Puyang Buddha Statue Crafts Co., Ltd. has initially established a traditional craft protection system, and co-organized a painting and clay sculpture training base with Straits Vocational College. It has the ability to inherit and protect traditional crafts and has important inheritance value.