Gods of wealth
(Amulet)
Global Times Wei Xi
2013-05-06
Since ancient times, wearing an amulet was
supposed to endow the owner with either a protective quality, or
would herald the coming of good luck and fortune. These days, when
high-profile Chinese celebrities have turned to wearing an amulet
as a fashion statement, the market in China, whether the wearers
are believers or not, has taken off. And nothing is more on-trend
right now than Thai Buddha amulets.
A Buddha amulet is called plah keang in its
local language. It's said that once upon a time, there was a
renowned monk in Thailand, who was invited by the king to go to the
disaster area when a deadly drought afflicted the
nation.
Unable to bring the large Buddha statue in
his home, he dreamed of the Buddha statue telling him he could make
a small model of it with the clay from the temple and bring that
instead. He did what he was told, and the drought eased. When the
monk gave this amulet to the king, the king asked him to make more
and spread them among the common people.
Shaping belief
Like Christian crosses and Chinese Buddha
amulets, Thai Buddha amulets can be made of metal or precious
stones. Yet a majority of them today are still a combination of
clay and incense ash. They are then molded into a Buddha statue
(some are not) and put in a box. Sometimes, pollen, herbs, metal
bars (with Scripture carved on), an eyebrow hair from a holy monk
and a drop of his blood may also be contained inside. It's not
finished and ready to give out until it's blessed by a renowned
monk.
Thai Buddha amulets can be made into
different shapes, such as round, square and triangular. Yet, what
decides an amulet's major function is the Buddha or creature shown
on it.
Buddhism is polytheistic religion and there
are multiple gods and goddesses. For example, a Buddha called bida
(one with his hands covering the face) helps to drive bad luck
away. A colorful butterfly is useful for a woman to attract a
man.
In the old days, Buddha amulets in Thailand
were purely hand-made, but today, due to the large demand, some
procedures, like carving a model, are mechanized.
Although almost everyone can make an
amulet, it is believed in Thailand that only those made by renowned
monks contain power, and each Buddhist master has his own
specialty. Luang Phor Koon, a renowned monk at Wat Ban Rai, a
temple in Nakhon Ratchasima Province in Thailand, is famous for
making bida Buddha.
Today, most of the amulets are made up by
these masters' disciples and then blessed by the masters, because
these masters are all elderly, said Wang Lei, a Buddhist believer
and Thai amulet dealer in Beijing.
Fashion fad
According to Wang, the price of a Thai
Buddha amulet has almost doubled in two years or so. And behind the
climbing prices are the uses of them in fashion not only in
Thailand, but also in Malaysia, Singapore, the Chinese mainland,
Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Yet, the trend in the mainland started much
later than in other places.
Wang said that in 2005, there were only
three Thai Buddhist amulet shops in Beijing, and the number climbed
to around 1,000 last year, while this year, it soared to nearly
3,000.
A simple click on popular online shopping
platform taobao.com can also see the prosperity of this market -
altogether there are 3,156 shops and the most popular one sold over
7,000 pieces in the past one month. Prices can range from 500 yuan
($81.25) or so, to millions of yuan for those sold on the luxury
market.
According to another Thai Buddha amulet
seller in Beijing, Wang Yang, the trend in the mainland, to some
degree, is also led by celebrities, when actors and actresses like
Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen and Cecilia Cheung are seen wearing them in
public.
As similar amulets to those worn by
celebrities can often sell for a higher price, despite other facts
like the fame of the maker and the age of an amulet often decide
whether an amulet sells at several hundreds of yuan or
millions.
Many wearers think [the amulets] are very
effective [in bringing luck], although I do believe 50 percent of
them do not believe in Buddhism, but only think it is very
fashionable, Wang Lei said.
He added that some only buy them for the
purpose of showing off their wealth, and therefore prefers to ask
for silver or gold ones, but pay less attention to whether the
amulets have been blessed.
Buyer beware
The popularity of Thai Buddhist amulets in
the mainland market also brings business opportunities to copycats.
But different from Thailand, which has professional certification
agencies, customers in the Chinese mainland can only rely on the
trustworthiness of the vendors.
Wang Lei told the Global Times that every
experienced amulet dealer will bring a magnifier with them, for
many details often reveal the identity of an amulet, but this is a
skill requiring long-term professional experience. He first heard
of the Thai Buddhist amulets in 2005 and began trading them in
2007. During his previous two years, he was often
cheated.
And Wang Yang added that very good
imitations are also difficult to identify even by experienced
dealers. Therefore, to avoid being cheated, they prefer to buy
amulets directly from famous temples in Thailand.
Wang Yang said that unlike a number of
temples in the Chinese mainland that have become
over-commercialized in recent years, most temples in Thailand still
possess a high reputation among local people and will not sell fake
amulets. He believes it is also the over-commercialization of
Chinese Buddhism that has driven more and more believers away to
other religions.
To enter a temple, you have to first buy a
ticket and believers are sorted [to high and low] according to the
money they spend on incense, said Wang Yang. Many of the monks [do
not come from long years of self-cultivation but] graduate from
Buddhist colleges.
Wang Lei believes some rare amulets are
still collectable and have value as an investment. In fact, he told
the Global Times, amulets have already been auctioned in Thailand,
and for some expensive ones the price can reach 50 million Bath, or
nearly 10 million yuan.
As every trend has its peaks and troughs,
the pursuit of amulets will not be an eternal phenomenon either.
For that final fate, Wang Lei said he prepares by keeping an eye on
business opportunities outside Beijing.
The business in second- and
third-tier cities [in China] has not been raised yet, he
noted.