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Gift of the artist, Chen ZongweiLabel
Carved and consecrated by artist Chen Zongwei during his 2023 residency on Hawk Hill, this deity statue, or spirit image (shenxiang) serves as a material manifestation of Nezha—one of Taiwan’s most popular deities. Chen and two of his apprentices completed the statue from a single block of camphor wood to a gilded and painted figure. As part of the traditional creation process for a new spirit image, Chen performed several rituals to purify, empower, and protect it, ultimately rendering the wooden statue into an enlivened image—an embodiment of the deity’s presence and power. A Chinese god with roots in ancient Indian religions, Nezha is a child deity with formidable martial prowess. In Taiwan and the larger Minnan region of China, he is also known as the Prime Marshal of the Central Altar, commanding the spirit armies of the Five Directions and ensuring peace and prosperity for the common people. Accordingly, an image of Nezha appears in nearly every temple in Taiwan, typically placed at the center of the temple—on a central altar before the main deity.