"The Lotus Blooming in Jinling: The Story of the Birth of Guanyin - A Chronicle of the Compassionate Image"

The Story of the Birth of Guanyin

1. Origin: The sorrowful echoes along the Qinhuai River.

In the late autumn of 2017, Chen Guangzu happened to encounter a partially damaged Tang Dynasty statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva at the Changgan Temple Ruins Museum. Although only half of the face remained, there was still a compassionate smile in the eyes, as if comforting all living beings. At that moment, he had an idea: to give life to the thousand-year-old compassion in a contemporary form. The team unanimously agreed to use "Guanyin Bodhisattva" as the theme and create a porcelain sculpture that could resonate with the hearts of modern people.

2. Seeking Inspiration: A Journey from Grotto Temples to Urban Life

The design team carried sketching boards and conducted a detailed investigation of Buddhist sites across Nanjing.

• At Qixia Temple's Thousand Buddha Cliff, they meticulously replicated the "plump beauty" of the Tang Dynasty sculptures, but felt that it lacked the "human warmth".   
• While observing the Yuan Dynasty bronze Guanyin statue at Linggu Temple, they were deeply impressed by its solemnity, but at the same time felt that it failed to resonate with the younger generation.
• It wasn't until they happened to meet an old woman in a tea house in Laomendong that they saw the child's tears turn into laughter. In the wrinkles of the old woman's eyes, they saw the gentle and tender expression like moonlight - "This is the kind of Venerable Bodhisattva's gaze that we have been seeking!" In Su Qing's sketchbook, for the first time, a rough sketch of a face with "slightly lowered eyelids and a warm smile" appeared.

Traditional elements have been carefully incorporated: the lotus seat symbolizes purity and represents "not being tainted by the mud", while the vase and willow branches continue the compassionate imagery of "dispersing nectar". However, the pleats of the dhoti are even more elegant, like the willow leaves in autumn in Nanjing, light and graceful, seamlessly integrated.

3. Sculpture: The art and dedication contained within a small lump of porcelain clay

During the selection process, the team conducted extensive on-site investigations in Dehua and Jingdezhen. Eventually, they chose the high-quality Dehua porcelain. The Dehua porcelain has a pure white color, like polished jade, yet it possesses the unique ability to emit warm colors from the glaze. Chen Guangzu insisted on using the "lotus flower pink glaze" technique. He said, "The lotus flowers in Nanjing wither in the autumn water. The soft color not only reflects the tenderness of the lotus flowers but also conveys the warmth of the human heart."

Master Chen is a master of Dehua porcelain craftsmanship. His skills are superb. When he saw the design draft, he first shook his head and sighed, "The folds of the statue of the Bodhisattva should reflect the 'flowing like flowing clouds', but your folds are too abrupt." It was not until Chen Guangzu led him through the willow tree path of Zhongshan Mausoleum and saw the willow leaves dancing in the wind, forming beautiful arcs, that Master Chen suddenly understood and clapped his thighs, exclaiming, "Exactly! This is the essence of the Nanjing wind, it should be so elegant!"

The most challenging part was the final shaping of the Buddha's features, which is known as "opening the face". Su Qing stayed by the kiln for three months, repeatedly trying with Master Chen: the thinner the glaze, the more stern the expression; the thicker, the more murky. When the eyes slightly lifted upward, it gave an air of detachment; when they drooped downward, it appeared ordinary. Until one morning, when the first ray of sunlight slanted into the workshop, it illuminated the face of the newly-baked Guanyin statue - her eyes were gently closed, yet they seemed to penetrate into the innermost pathways of every soul. Suddenly, Master Chen's eyes filled with tears: "My grandmother has always believed in Guanyin. The way she looked at me was exactly like this."

4. Lotus Throne: Memories of Nanjing on Porcelain

Each petal of the lotus throne embodies the essence of Nanjing: 

• The pale pink color at the tip of the petals symbolizes the last glimmer of brilliance of the withered lotus at the edge of Mo Qiu Lake.  
• The pure white at the bottom of the petals symbolizes the purity of the cherry blossoms in the stone alley of Jikeng Temple.  
• At the bottom edge of the petals, Su Qing quietly wrote down a prayer for family peace - this was the moment of enlightenment she experienced while watching the sunset by the Xuanwu Lake. She suddenly understood the profound meaning of "compassion": Even the setting sun should accompany humans until the very last moment.

5. Contemporary: When Compassion Enters the Convenience Store

On the day the first statue of Guanyin was unveiled, Suo Po Culture made a rather unconventional decision: instead of placing it in a temple, it was placed in a 24-hour convenience store in Xinchengguo. Under the cold fluorescent lights, the glazed statue of Guanyin in the glass cabinet emitted a warm glow, attracting the attention of late-night office workers, students studying hard for exams, and even stray cats.

A girl in a school uniform came to this convenience store for three consecutive days, crying in front of the statue. On the fourth day, she left a note: "Since my mother passed away, this is the first time I have truly felt that I am being noticed."

Later, this statue of Guanyin was moved to the meditation corner of community centers, office buildings, and even placed beside the bar counter of a coffee shop. The owner of the coffee shop said, "Customers who come for coffee - some who have failed in business, some who have experienced a breakup - when they see this statue of Guanyin, their expressions will become softer."

Conclusion: Jinling porcelain paintings, filled with compassion

Chen Guangzu often stood by the window of his studio, watching the lanterns twinkling on the Qinhuai River, with boats gliding slowly by. He always recalled a sentence from Master Chen: "In Nanjing, even the cracks between the bricks are filled with compassion. What we do is merely to transform this compassion into a visible form."

Today, the statues of Guanyin in the Suo po culture keep evolving. And the porcelain clay from Dehua has already been shaped by the wind of Jinling, the moonlight of the Qinhuai River, and the smoke from the old Men Dong area. It has transformed into what people now call "the warmth of Nanjing". It is no longer an unreachable deity, but a gentle presence that ordinary people can feel just by looking up to it.