Upon mentioning craftsman, many people probably think they only do repeated mechanical work, but this is not so. The pursuit of excellence “craftsman spirit” has already appeared in government work reports and has become popular all over China. Meticulous, constantly improving, and seeking perfection, one principle pervades it all, to make people gasp in amazement at the work.

True craftsmen do not forget their original aspirations, to treat the work as a Buddhist practice, the pursuit of excellence in the ordinary, to bear loneliness with patience, withstand temptations, to not succumb to difficulties, to not crave riches, to perfect their skills each day to reach the ultimate attainment, and using both hands to create something for others to marvel at.

These two hands belong to an old woman from a Miao village in Guizhou Province who has spent her whole life doing batik (hand-dying fabrics using wax); the dye on her fingers cannot be washed away.

When butter lamp sculptures are created for monasteries in Tibet and Tibetan areas, artisan monks must constantly dip their fingers in ice water to lower the temperature of their hands even in winter in order to prevent the butter lamps from melting.

The ivory ball on this ivory statue is no less than 57 stories high, to show the people of the world the high level of artistry involved in “Guangzhou ivory”, but who knows that it took architect and master carver, Li Dingning 30 years to complete?

Creating a thangka requires making the dye, the canvas, painting an outline, measuring, high quality, mounting the painting, light decoration, and more. They are rather time-consuming, and painters spare no expense or time to create them. It is said that “the cuckoo calls out three times”, meaning it takes three years to complete a thangka.

In Tibet, painters are called “lak ri pa”, meaning someone who “paints the Buddha or gods”. Thangka painting itself is a process of practicing Buddhism. In accordance with the “Scripture of Tolerance”, they abide by moral standards and paint meticulously every day.

With more than 320,000 woodblock prints, the 260-year-old printing house in Derge, Sichuan has the reputation of being the “woodblock print living fossil”. Printing block carving is extremely meticulous; each person can only carve an inch of a block per day.

In Huangzhong County, Qinghai, there is a national intangible cultural heritage item—Jiaya Tibetan carpet artistry. Weaving a beautiful, handmade carpet requires the weaver to cut out the carpet, burnish it, twist the textile, tie knots, smooth it out, and many other rigorous procedures. It takes at least twenty days to make a carpet.

The craftsman spirit places the heart in the hands. Respecting craftsmanship is to respect their calm independence, their steady pragmatism, their rejection of the impetuous, their quiet life of profound study, their fine meticulousness, and concentrated dedication.