New gold dream

Four unknown gold-paste masters are recreating some of the Buddhist murals lost from the Daci Temple in Chengdu.

In 1056, when the Song Dynasty (960-1279) poets Su Shi and his younger brother Su Zhe traveled to the Daci Temple in Chengdu, Sichuan province, admired the mural works of Tang Dynasty (618-907) artist Lu Lengqie, calling them "sublime". There were once more than 15,500 Buddhist mural artworks held there, but unfortunately none survives today as the temple was destroyed by successive wars.

But now, 961 years later, four unknown gold-paste masters from Datong, Shanxi province, are recreating the murals. The first 4-meter-high Tianlong gold-plaster mural has already been completed. It is hard to believe that the four good-natured artisans were originally farmers.

One of the four, Kang Shouguang, has loved painting since childhood. One of his representative works, a 16-meter-high sculpture of Buddha, is currently China's highest indoor statue.