Kumbum Monastery Butter Sculpture

Butter sculpture is the special craft of shaping figures from butter, one of the "three wonders" of Kumbum Monastery alongside its murals and appliqué thangka, with a history of over six hundred years. The monastery's Tibetan name, Gümbüm Jambaling, means "Maitreya Continent of a Hundred Thousand Buddha Bodies," and is one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school; butter sculpture has been passed down within its rites. It entered the first national ICH list in 2006 under traditional arts.

Each winter the monk-artists knead pure white butter with mineral pigments and, working in the cold, shape buddhas, figures, flowers, birds, beasts and pavilions into grand scenes from the scriptures. They must keep dipping their hands in ice water lest the butter melt, making the work extraordinarily demanding. On the Lantern Festival of the first lunar month the monastery unveils the year's butter sculptures in a magnificent display, one of its grandest religious-art events.

Butter sculpture carries the faith and art of Tibetan Buddhism and stands as a precious fruit of the many cultures fused on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau; shown in Shenzhen, Paris and Germany, it has become an emblem of Chinese intangible heritage abroad, with outstanding historical, artistic and cultural value.

Butter sculptures are displayed year-round in the Butter Sculpture Hall of Kumbum Monastery.