by Larry Jerden
NANJING, China — Zhang Wan Long never considered himself an artist. He said he was “just a woodcarver.” But his dramatic, Chinese-style wood carving that portrays the entire life of Christ has become not only a respected work of art but also a powerful tool for communicating the Good News to the Chinese people.
And
that is fitting, because art played a role in Mr Zhang coming to faith in Christ.
“My father was a Christian,” Mr Zhang noted. “He was working
on a project at Amity Printing Company and I was helping him. Then, not long
after I did some research on Christian art, I became a Christian.”
After becoming a Christian, the budding artist saw a void he thought he might help fill. “In 1985, when I went to Nanjing Theological Seminary, I saw a lot of Christian art from abroad,” he remembered, “but I didn’t see any Chinese Christian art. I was just a woodcarver, not an artist, so I asked Bishop Ting if it would be alright for me to do a woodcarving of the life of Christ. I thought it could be used as part of a Christian cultural exchange.”
With the full support of Bishop Ting, who at that time was President of the China Christian Council (CCC), Dr Han Wenzao, currently President of the CCC and General Secretary of the Amity Foundation, and Peter MacInnis, the former General Manager of Amity Press, Mr Zhang began work on the carving. But it was neither an easy job nor a short one.
The first task was locating the right wood. “The wood for the carving came from an old house – more than 100 years old – that had caught fire. Such wood is good for carving, because it is more stable than new wood.”
Then came the carving. “The Life of Christ took three years just to carve,” Mr Zhang said, “and I had helpers. With the painting and some other tasks, the complete project took more than four years. There was a total of 10 man-years of work before it was complete.”
And there was another participant in the effort – the mother of their two sons – Mrs Zhang. “Sometimes I would work 10 hours a day,” Mr Zhang admitted. “At first, my wife had to work to support us while I concentrated on this project – so I give special thanks to her. Today, she is in Beijing selling the pieces I make.”
But all through the process, the large carving, which stands 1.64 metres high and 3.70 metres wide, has proven an excellent tool for sharing the Gospel.
“I noticed that many non-Christian Chinese did not read the Bible,” Mr Zhang recollected, “but as I worked on the carving, people would come and ask me about what I was doing. I realised that this would be a great way to share the Gospel. They were all interested in the Bible stories. It became a conversation piece – even today, when people ask ‘What is that?’, it lets me explain the story.”
At one point, he had plans to take the carving on an exhibition to Europe, but problems in transporting the large and valuable piece caused the idea to be abandoned. But closer to home, the carving has been especially effective in Mr Zhang’s home village.
“In my village, Pong Yang township, there is a cult called ‘shouters’,” he explained. “They distort Bible stories, so many people there think Christians are crazy. I thought this carving would be a way to show them the truth. So I shared it with them, showing them that Christianity is a faith of love. After that, the people in my town came to know that Christianity is a religion that teaches people to be good citizens.”
In showing his work, Mr Zhang admits he has favourite parts of the carving. “Over the past decade I have done many carvings of the stories of Jesus,” he says, “but my favourite portions in this carving are of Jesus’ birth and his calming of the storm.” But in Mr Zhang’s mind, even this effective ‘Scripture in Wood’ is not complete. “Someday,” he muses, “I would like to carve ALL the Bible stories!” [PHOTOS] (WR 358/25 - 03.01)