Created by Zhang Mingshan in the late Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), this type of art form has a history of more than 200 years and is enlisted as a national intangible cultural heritage. Zhang’s clay figures were so lifelike that people named his art works after him.

The raw material of Clay Figure Zhang comes from the nature and the main material is clay. Firstly, artisans need to appropriately process the primitive clay, adding some other materials into it, such as cotton. Then, using tools to beat the mixture into slice, letting clay and cotton mixed naturally. In Beijing, creating Clay Figure Zhang at first used clay of Changping District, because that kind of clay with red color has good plasticity and stickness. However, since excessive usage, this type of clay became scarce; therefore, nowadays, this craft usually use the clay of Mentougou District, which is yellow and in powder form.

For Clay Figure Zhang, the first step is materials, and next is manufacture. As for its manufacture, it usually follows specific process: from top to bottom and from the interior to the exterior. One important thing is that it needs to take care of its body proportion. So generally, it is the head that comes first, and then the body follows. Besides, clay figures’ postures and facial expressions are also significant. Since Clay Figure Zhang pays attention on its lifelike appeal, artisans costs a lot efforts and time in designing its postures and facial expressions. Clay characters representing different social status and social occupations usually wear according cloth and decorations.

Clay Figure Zhang focuses on realism. It is an art form that depicts the public’s daily and real life and contains artisans’ personal art experience and abundant imagination.