This sculpture is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by the Nonprofit Organization Juming Culture and Education Foundation.

Ju Ming was born in 1938 in Tunghsiao, Miaoli County, which is a center of wood carving in Taiwan. He received very little formal education in the arts, and at the age of 15, he was apprenticed to Lee Chin-chuan, a famous traditional master wood-carver. When he was 30, he decided to give up a well-paid position as a chief craftsman in a large woodcarving factory. He left Miaoli to study sculpture with the master sculptor Yuyu Yang with whom he studied for eight years. Yang suggested to Ju Ming that he should take up Taichi boxing, the traditional Chinese boxing, as he had a frail constitution, and it would help him to improve his health.

Ju Ming soon discovered that practicing the ancient "martial art" did more than just made him stronger: it gave him much more energy for thought and opened up profound new vistas for his creative work. Ju gained firsthand experience of the awe-inspiring vital force that circulates through all living creatures, and as he gradually adopted this new philosophy and internalized its principles, he also started to express it in his art. This was the point of departure for his "Taichi series", a collection of works brimming with impressive momentum and a joyful spirit. In these pieces, Ju managed to sublimate the abstract essence of traditional Chinese culture and to pour it into his creations that transcend language and geographical barriers.

In the "Taichi Series", Ju creates a tension between geometric abstract forms which bring forth the active and forceful postures of the figures. This, along with the contrast between the dynamic poses and the static material, and the rough and terse finishes creates a rich rhythm in the works. The sculptures also play with a colorful effect of change between light and shadow.