H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III – Ancient-Looking Withered Vines
Ancient-Looking Withered Vines
H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu Holiest Tathagata created high-quality withered vines through a form of carving called “Yun Sculpture.” All of those Yun Sculpture vines must have certain distinguishing attributes in four categories: visual quality, style, shape, and texture. Of these four categories, texture is the most important and indispensable.
The four distinguishing attributes in the area of visual quality are old, withered, dry, and beautiful. As for old, the vines must appear to be old vines from the ancient past. As for withered, the vines must look dehydrated, withered, and wrinkly. As for dry, the winding vines must seem desiccated. As for beautiful, they must have a graceful look to them.
The four distinguishing attributes in the area of style are scholarly, otherworldly, highly elegant, and comforting. As for scholarly, the style of sculpting must be imbued with a feeling of literary or poetic genius. As for otherworldly, the vines must appear to transcend the handwork of human artisans such that they look not of this world. As for highly elegant, the vines must look highly refined, aesthetically pleasing, and far above the ordinary. As for comforting, the vines must convey a feeling of auspiciousness, grace the place in which they are present, and give those who view them a feeling of harmony and well-being.
The four distinguishing attributes in the area of shape are as follows: natural-looking, genuine-looking, weathered over time, and intertwining. Regarding the first attribute, the vines must match the winding look of real vines. Regarding the second attribute, the vines must look exactly like real ancient vines. The viewer should have the impression that the carved vines are no different from real vines that grew in nature. Indeed, the viewer should conclude that the sculpted vines look even more ancient than their natural counterparts. Regarding the third attribute, the vines must convey a natural sense that they have been exposed to wind, frost, rain, dew, and sunshine over a very long time and have aged over that long time period. Regarding the fourth attribute, thick and thin vines must intertwine to look like one natural, connected body that has grown together month after month.
The four distinguishing and extremely subtle attributes in the area of texture are as follows: the vines must have the texture and appearance of having withered in different time periods; the skin of the vines must have the texture of real vines with tiny pores; the lines and wrinkles on the vines must follow the natural course of the vines; and the shades of colors of the vines must be just like those of real ancient vines. The meticulousness shown in the area of texture is the best way to tell whether or not a work of art is a genuine carving of withered vines created by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III through His Holiness’s Yun Sculpture form of art. These four attributes, which cannot be matched by any other artist, are essential in determining whether or not the withered vines are masterpieces sculpted by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III himself. These four attributes are most important and indispensable in distinguishing the works of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III from other works.
The first attribute is that the vines must have the texture and appearance of having withered in different time periods. Since interwoven withered vines come into being and grow in different time periods, they dry, age, and shrivel to different degrees. Their texture and color also vary. Thus, His Holiness’s Yun Sculpture vines give the impression of being historical relics of different time periods.
The second attribute is that the skin of the vines must have the texture of real vines with tiny pores. This means that when one touches the texture of the carved vines, their stems and skin will feel exactly like those of real vines. One can see that the carved vines have minute pores, such as old pores of various colors, pores that follow the course of the stem, inverted pores, miscellaneous pores, and concave and convex pores. Furthermore, one can see that there are spots of color, shades of color, flows of color, differences in color, and harmony of color relating to the pores. Even under the scrutiny of a magnifying glass, the sculpted pores appear tiny and no different from those of real vines. Indeed, the vines are much more beautiful than real vines.
The third attribute is that the lines and wrinkles on the vines must follow the natural growth of the vines. Having existed through a very long period of time, ancient vines will manifest wrinkles. The key factors in carving the highest quality wrinkles relate to the course or direction in which the wrinkles run, their size, their degree of thickness, their depth, their length, and their degree of visibility. They must not have the slightest appearance of disorder or randomness. Rather, the lines and wrinkles must totally follow the natural growth patterns of the vines. They must follow the track of the winding vines. As the vines change directions, the lines must follow the twists and turns. They must look natural and no different from real lines on ancient vines.
The fourth attribute is that the shades of colors of the vines must be just like those of real ancient vines. The color or hue of the carved vines must convey a feeling of antiquity and a wondrous quality of age. The sculpted vines must seem old, parched, and shriveled, but in a very fascinating and attractive way. They must not show any trace of having been sculpted by man. All of the freshness and brightness of living vines must be gone. They must appear as relics that are thousands of years old.
There are two Chinese sentences that aptly summarize the artistic skills of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III in carving withered vines: “There is nothing more beautiful than faux jade, ganoderma lucidum frames, and cactus frames. There is no higher art than creating ancient withered vines that even go beyond the appearance of real vines.”
Only those works of art that possess all of the above–described distinguishing characteristics can be called genuine Yun Sculpture withered vines created by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. When these frames of withered vines accompany other Yun Sculpture works of art, the result is “double supreme beauty.” This combination is also solid evidence to determine the authenticity of Yun sculptures created by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. When His Holiness’s withered vines are part of Yun Sculpture art frames, such as “Ancient Jade”and “Emerald,” these art frames become even more phenomenal and take on the ancient air of precious and splendid cultural relics. Truly, such works are national treasures that have no equal in the entire world. They are wonderful masterpieces to hang on your wall.
More importantly, we should understand that these sculptures of ancient-looking withered vines are actually a manifestation of His Holiness’s mastery of the inner-realization vidya. Persons of holy virtue who are able to leave their footprints on stones are unable to create such ancient-looking withered vines. The source of these works of art is the enlightenment of a Buddha that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III possesses. That is why they are precious withered vines that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
