Depending on the natural texture of jade, from the bottom to top, the auspicious theme is cleverly planed as a four-arm Guanyin, pairing up a flying dragon, containing a pearl in its mouth, and the Three Friends of Winter, the pine, bamboo and plum. The bottom part is formed by an old pine with the look of breaking the waves, and green bamboo, the plum decoration, and then the dragon tail circling upward the pine. The middle part is the Guanyin, which rides on a dragon mount, bends his knees and his facial expression shows calm and feels at ease. The top part is the flying dragon contained a pearl in its mouth, which symbolizes avoiding the water and fire and bringing luck, health and security to people. Starting from the ocean waves to the drops of water covering the entire body of work, "water" is the essential factor to integrate the three parts from bottom to top and create a vivid and natural look.
The Bodhisattva Guanyin, God of Mercy, takes its original vow to rescue all living creatures, as well as hearing those in needs and rescuing them from suffering and disaster. So for the art making, it's the most frequently used model of Bodhisattva in the Buddha Land. The "four-arm Guanyin" is an important Dharma gate of spiritual cultivation for the Vajrayana in the Buddhism. The four arms of Guanyin mean four Buddha natures, including ending the karma (calming the pain and hindrance), increasing the karma (increasing the merit, wisdom, wealth and more), thinking of karma (giving all living creatures salvation and leading people for spiritual cultivation), and eliminating the karma (wiping out the evil intentions and overcoming the external Māra). Though the main part of work does not specifically host any objects, but the creator follows the shape of natural jade to create a four-arm Guanyin, which has a comfortable expression, looks down peacefully, and takes care of all living creatures.
Design concept 設計理念