Clay sculpting dates back to the Neolithic period, and China's own version of the Adam and Eve story is that it was the goddess Nu Wa who created humans out of clay.

"Clay has a special meaning to Chinese civilization, which is believed to have originated in the middle reaches of the Yellow River," Jia said.

Born in Qingxu county, Taiyuan, in 1983, Jia is the fifth generation of his family to work with clay. When he was young, his father would give him clay toys he'd made, and one of Jia's favorite childhood pursuits was making miniature clay sculptures of cats, dogs, pigs, sheep, and even household objects and furniture.

In 1999, he enrolled at the Yangquan Culture and Art School and began to learn painting. After graduating, he attended a training course for advertisement design at a private school. Jia worked as an advertising designer in Taiyuan until 2008 when by chance, he met a folk artisan earning his living by making clay sculptures for temples. The artisan encouraged him to pursue the trade after learning about his family background.

"The clay objects my father made were mostly things like tumblers and whistles-things you could use," Jia said. "But learning to make sculptures for temples pushed me closer to my childhood dream of becoming a sculptor."

When he was 26, he quit his job and started to learn how to sculpt Buddhas. Training under the artisan reignited his interest in the craft.

The artisan had 20 apprentices. Jia was the oldest, and although he was the last to join, his father and other family members who were clay sculptors had given him a solid foundation.