Shanxi Dough Sculptures

The Shanxi people, famous for their rich variety of dishes made from wheat, aside from making various food with dough, also mold it into various "dough figures" to admire as well as for good luck. They send them to friends as gifts to extend lotions or pay tribute to gods. The dough figures are therefore also called edible artistic works.

The typical dough sculpture of northern Shanxi Province is the pudgy baby. The dough is fermented and steamed to depict the crawling, running and lovely gestures of the baby. The pudgy baby is usually used for ancestral sacrifice on the 15th day of the seventh Chinese lunar month (usually in August) to pray for a happy family life.

Sometimes the baby is made with several heads on all sides, so that it may look like a baby from any angle. The heads are linked together, since linking together indicates continuity in Chinese philosophy. The multi-faced pudgy baby symbolizes the wish to have many children.