Third-generation inheritor gets steady job before finding way back to old craft

Over the past decade, Zhang Rong has made clay figures free of charge for 2,000 people, including around 100 left-behind seniors, in Pingyao county in Jinzhong city, Shanxi province.

Born into a family of sculptors in 1983, Zhang demonstrated an interest in the traditional Chinese art as a child and was taught how to make the figurines by his grandfather.

"My father made Buddhist sculptures for different temples in the city," he said. "From the age of 6, I would sometimes follow him when he went to work."

Pingyao's temples are famous for their painted Buddhist sculptures and art.

Among them, Shuanglin Temple, some 6 kilometers to the southwest of the county seat, is known as "China's museum of painted sculptures" as it contains over 2,000 colorful examples, the largest collection in the province.

"As I grew up, I was able to help my father make small accessories for the sculptures," he said. "At the time, I dreamed of learning my family's skills."

His father, however, did not want him as his successor and hoped that Zhang would focus on school instead.

"My parents insisted that it was best for me to get into college and then find a stable job after," he said. "I chose to do as they advised."

In 2002, Zhang was admitted to Jinzhong University to study computing and became a programmer after graduating in 2005.

"But I still dreamed of becoming a sculptor and of creating vivid clay sculptures like my father," he said. "To overcome the boredom of work, I began to make clay figures in my spare time."