Prologue
                           Spirit of Handicraft     

        

                               By Yuyue

 

 

In Dege Buddhist Scripture Printing House, artisans are still making their block printing boards with their centuries-old traditional techniques passed down from generation to generation.

In China's traditional craftsmanship, each piece of work is a celebration of time-honored tradtions. If you gaze at those pieces, you feel the vigor, wisdom and emotions flowing from hands. You feel the joy, excitement, sorrows, devotion and love of their creators.

But that spirit of handicraft is being lost in this age when mass production with machines appears to be on the crest of a wave. The wisdom and vigor of hands are being gone.

But when we see the block printing boards at Dege Buddhist Scripture Printing House, the silver ornaments worn by the minority ethnic group Yi or the Hui-style dwellings in Huizhou, we know one thing is certain: time-honored traditions still beckon.