Tsai Tien-Min

TAIWAN, Tainan

Tsai Tien-Min, also Cai Tianmin, is a sculptor whose ancestors originated from Quanzhou, Fujian. After arriving in Taiwan, his great grandfather Tsai I-Pei established a shop in Tainan called Fohsikuo (Buddha Western Land), and his grandfather Tsai Hsin established another shop called Hsifokuo (Western Buddha Land). The family of sculptors produced sculptures of Buddhist temple statues and passed on their skills from generation to generation.
At the age of 15, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and his father, Tsai Nan-Shan, Tsai Tien-Min began learning the skill of decorating Buddhist statues. They traveled to various locations in Taiwan to create large-scale statues, such as the Amitabha Buddha Triad at Jin Guang Temple in Taitung.
Their renowned works include the statues of Amitabha Buddha and Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva at Long Yan Temple, a statue of Bodhidharma in the Amitabha Buddha Triad Hall of Chaofeng Temple in Kaohsiung, and an Eighteen-Armed Avalokitesvara at Kai Hua Chan Temple in Tainan, among many others.