Yu Qing Cheng (b.1945) was born in Tianjin. He studied at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in 1983. In 1996, he earned the UNESCO title of “National Folk Artist.” He receives the Special Government Allowances of the State Council, the state’s pension for recognized artists. 

Children from the Mountains is among Master Yu Qingcheng’s signature works. Made between 2003 and 2004, this series of children’s sculpture was a bestseller in art exhibitions around the world. The figures are made from baked earth. The sculptures look theatrical: the materialism the children’s clothing is exaggerated; the expression of each child is comical. The cracked dry earth is rough, a metaphor for the simplicity, innocence, and idealistic thoughts of childhood.