Ancient Buddhist statue 3D-printed in China

[Sam1980]

No，I am not。I am an atheist。

A Buddhist could be an Atheist too you know!

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

I know some Chinese fiends who go to Buddhist temples and at the same day to a church and at home have a ancestor shrine where they burn some incenses in the morning and in the evening. They think the more gods they pray to the more chances that one of them would give them a helping hand. You couldn't be more pragmatic or opportunist depending how you look at it. LOL

Absolutely correct.

That is the exact mentality of a lot of people here. Basically they are trying to improve the "chances" of getting some sort of actual tangible help from one deity or another.

Gamblers are especially prone to this, and a lot of them like Wong Tai Sin for this purpose, in HK anyway. This phrase is commonly associated with Wong Tai Sin: "有求必应" (which means he will grant whatever is asked for).

Guanyin is also popular because she is supposed to hear your prayers and help those who need it, though her disposition is a lot more "moral" than the usage of Wong Tai Sin.

This is the reason why some Chinese though Atheist will still pray to such deities, because they think it "might" improve their chances however slim the possibility.

 

[tranquilium]

I want to know what this thing represents.

That's actually statues of Maitreya buddha in Chinese Buddhism. People doesn't typically care about his original religious role, we just think he looks happy.

More specifically, notice how he is more "pudgy" than his original Indian counterpart. In ancient times where agriculture has yet to be able to provide as much food as today, being fat is a sign of well fed and by extension a good life.

 

[TaiShang]

3D printed Buddhist statues displayed in east China
China Daily, December 18, 2017

Thanks to 3D printing technology, three reproductions of Buddhist statues in the Yungang Grottoes, a 1,500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site, are being displayed in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao.

A full-size replica of Buddhist statues from the Yungang Grottoes in North China's Shanxi province. [Photo/chinanews.com]

The Yungang Grottoes art gallery, which opened to the public Saturday, displayed three full-size replicas of Buddhist statues from the caves in northern China's Shanxi Province.

The middle one stands 10 meters high, while those beside it are 6 meters high.

"It's hard to believe that they are reproduced. They look so real," said Zhang Zhuo, head of the Yungang Grottoes Research Institute.

The two-year program was jointly launched by Yungang Grottoes Research Institute, Qingdao Publishing Group and Zhejiang University.

Researchers built 3D models for the three statues, then used 3D printers to reproduce them.

"The color was first painted automatically by machines. Then artists from Yungang added color in detail," said Diao Changyu, assistant to the dean of the cultural heritage institute at Zhejiang University.

"It's amazing to see the Buddha figures of Yungang. I plan to visit the grottoes next year," said visitor Cai Meijiao.

The Yungang Buddhist Grottoes in Datong City boast 51,000 Buddhist images in caves stretching for 1 kilometer along a cliff. It was listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2001.

According to Zhang, the reproduction programs of two other caves, supported by 3D printing technology, are underway.

http://www.china.org.cn/china/2017-12/18/content_50108749.htm