Upholding cultural heritage with craftsmanship, and traveling across mountains and seas with sincerity.
On October 29, 2025, the ninth day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar of the yisi year, which also marked the 1,038th anniversary of Mazu's ascension into heaven, Liu Yilin, founder of the Shenzhen jewelry brand Daxuan, presented a Chinese cloud collar that blends traditional techniques with contemporary aesthetics, "Daxuan Tianzuo," to the Meizhou Mazu Ancestral Temple.
This cloud-collar treasure, carefully crafted with traditional methods, embodies Liu Yilin's deep understanding of the millennia-old aesthetics of Chinese clothing and traditional jewelry craftsmanship. Its spirit of kindness and benevolence is closely aligned with Mazu's spirit of "cultivating virtue, doing good, and great love." Its origin story is, moreover, an especially remarkable one.
Staying True to the Original Intention
The Daxuan brand was founded in 2012, adhering to the idea of "collecting the beauty of heaven and earth, and expressing one’s heartfelt feelings," and has focused on the integration of traditional culture and high-end jewelry. In 2020, with the original intention of paying tribute to the classics and upholding craftsmanship, Liu Yilin decided to take the ancient-style cloud collar as the creative theme and devote herself to creating a Chinese jewelry piece that could be passed down through generations.
Once the creative direction was set, details proved difficult to refine and the design repeatedly failed to take shape. In a difficult moment, a turning point came in a dream. There, Liu Yilin saw before her a cloud collar of graceful form and lively spirit, with its contours and decorative textures distinctly clear. After waking, she immediately sorted through her thoughts, finalized the design plan, and led her team in turning the inspiration from the dream into a design draft.
"Daxuan Tianzuo" features intricate and exquisite craftsmanship. The entire piece is precisely assembled from 20 separate components, making it far more difficult to produce than conventional jewelry. From shaping the silver base, hand carving, and fine polishing to the seamless assembly and gemstone setting, there was no mature craft reference to follow throughout the process. Every detail is the result of repeated trial and error and the dedication of the artisan team.
The creation period coincided with the outbreak of the pandemic, and the process was forced to halt several times. Staffing arrangements and production progress were also continually adjusted. Faced with these many difficulties, Liu Yilin led the team to steadily advance the work by making use of fragmented time, overcoming one craft challenge after another, and remaining true to the original intention behind the creation.
“This inspiration comes from a heavenly gift; I am merely the one who has devoted herself to refining it.”
From the finalization of the concept to the unveiling of the finished work, it took five years. For Liu Yilin, Da Xuan Tian Zuo is not only a work of art, but also a precious testament to her passion and steadfast commitment.
A Fated Bond
After the work was completed, Liu Yilin firmly believed it had its own spirituality and its own destined home. Faced with high-priced purchase offers from collectors at home and abroad, as well as invitations to exhibit at various shows, she politely turned them all down. In her heart, a five-year labor of craftsmanship should be matched with the finest cultural lineage, so as not to fall short of her original intention.
In her early years, Liu Yilin did not have a deep understanding of Mazu culture. Through the introduction and influence of a close friend, she gradually learned about Mazu’s deeds and came to feel admiration. In the third lunar month of 2025, she once dreamed at night of Guanyin revealing a sacred sign, and by chance she also witnessed the solemn scene of Mazu devotees from home and abroad presenting birthday peaches to Mazu, which deeply moved her.
Later, she went to Shenzhen Chiwan Tianhou Temple to pay respects. The moment she stepped through the temple gate, the solemn scene before her closely matched the sacred vision in her dreams. After this visit, she suddenly came to a realization: this work had long been destined to be linked with Mazu.
To confirm what she felt in her heart, Liu Yilin brought photos of the work to the Meizhou Mazu Ancestral Temple, where she devoutly recounted the details of her five-year creative journey and asked Mazu to reveal its origins. Her sincerity was finally answered. She visited each hall of the Ancestral Temple in devout inquiry, and each time received confirmation. The hardships of five years of creation and the unease of the long wait all faded away at that moment.
This meeting of destinies was pure and extraordinary, with coincidences everywhere and every word seeming to be guided by heaven. In the year marking the 1,038th anniversary of Mazu's ascension, Liu Yilin was also thirty-eight years old; the overall dimensions of the work fit the Mazu gilded statue in the Ancestral Temple perfectly; the plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum patterns on the cloud collar matched the traditional cultural meaning of Mazu sacrificial rites...
All coincidences are the best fulfillment.
A Legacy of Great Love
On the morning of October 29, 2025, the donation ceremony for "Daxuan Tianzuo" was held at the Tianhou Hall of Meizhou Mazu Temple. This masterpiece, refined over five years, has finally found its rightful home.
"Daxuan Tianzuo" enriches the ancestral temple's collection system and cultural exhibition dimensions, allowing visitors from all directions to appreciate the beauty of craftsmanship while experiencing the unique appeal of the integration of Chinese cultural heritage and Mazu culture. At the same time, the work broadens the channels for spreading Mazu culture through high-end artistic jewelry.
Liu Yilin has always upheld the creed, "Nothing in the world belongs to me; everything in the world is for me to use," and has steadily honed herself and stayed true to her original aspiration through craftsmanship and goodwill.
Five years of effort, fulfilled in a single moment. Looking back, Liu Yilin feels calm and at ease. She said that in the future she will continue to focus on Chinese-style jewelry, dig deeper into the essence of traditional culture, create fine works with craftsmanship and spread great love with sincerity, producing more enduring pieces that carry cultural depth and warmth, so that the aesthetic of Chinese craftsmanship and the spirit of Mazu's great love may live on endlessly from generation to generation.
