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Butter Sculptures
 To make the butter more smooth and delicate, it is
soaked in cold water for a long time to remove impure substances; then, the
butter is kneaded into the shape of ointment. Before sculpting, monk artists
must wash and take part in a religious ritual. Then, they begin to discuss the
theme of the butter sculpture. After setting the theme, they elaborate on the
concept, planning and layout of the butter sculpture. During this process, the
work is distributed among the monks respectively. When all of the preparatory
work is complete, the artists enter rooms at a temperature of 0¡æ and begin their
sculptures.
The first procedure is to set up a basic frame for the butter sculpture. This
is executed using some simple tools, such as soft leather, hemp rope and hollow
truncheon.
 In the next procedure, modeling, two kinds of raw
materials are employed. The first is a black mixture made from the used butter
sculptures and ashes from burned wheat straw to mold different shapes on the
frame. This process greatly resembles flour sculpting and clay sculpting. Then,
the body must be revised and examined before the model is finally set up. The
second raw material is a mixture made from the creamy butter and many colored
minerals. These are painted onto the surface of the body, and golden and silver
powder is used to draw the outline of the sculpture. This process concludes the
modeling of colored images. In the last step, the butter sculptures are affixed
onto several slates or a special basin as in the original design. The layout can
create a flower image or a story called "frame of butter flowers."
 Contents
of butter sculptures
 Ways of expressing butter sculptures vary greatly, covering a wide
range of contents. Mostly, they center on Buddhism, historic stories, personal
biographies, birds and beasts. As time goes on, they are imbued with the trends
of the times. For example, the butter sculpture "The Story About Sakyamuni" not
only enriched the traditional style of butter sculpting, but also reflects real
life. In this way, the former single method has evolved into a multi-method
system, including a combination of stereoscopic sculptures and reliefs -- a
combination of single sculptures and multi sculptures.
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To make the butter more smooth and delicate, it is
soaked in cold water for a long time to remove impure substances; then, the
butter is kneaded into the shape of ointment. Before sculpting, monk artists
must wash and take part in a religious ritual. Then, they begin to discuss the
theme of the butter sculpture. After setting the theme, they elaborate on the
concept, planning and layout of the butter sculpture. During this process, the
work is distributed among the monks respectively. When all of the preparatory
work is complete, the artists enter rooms at a temperature of 0¡æ and begin their
sculptures.
