Xiaoli Wu

China

Xiaoli Wu is the founder of LeMan Tu, dedicated to the promotion of clay art and helping disabled people to make a living. She has empowered the differently-abled in her province and been awarded accordingly.

Xiaoli Wu was born in Zhejiang, China in 1975 and graduated from Jinzhu Middle School. At age 14 she left home to find work in order to support her family. With an unbending personality, she paid off her family debts. Eventually, she moved to Taiwan.

There she lived alone and prayed to Avalokitesvara every day to seek inner peace. She asked, “Why is life so painful?” She had a dream. In her dream, she heard Avalokitesvara speak to her. She said, “You have been through hardships in this life. You have to know what pain is in your hardships, and do everything you can to help those who suffer.”

During this time in Taiwan, based on the recommendation of an elder, Xiaoli Wu began to learn about clay molding and had a strong interest. She worked day and night to improve her technique, and knew that only by motivating herself could she create a career. A year later, she returned to Hangzho, Zhejiang and opened a clay molding studio. She found that many differently-abled people had no job opportunities, were a heavy burden at home, and she felt saddened. She remembered Avalokitesvara’s words, “You can help those who suffer.” So, Xiaoli Wu founded LeMan Tu to provide clay-molding skills training for the differently-abled.

As time passed, more and more differently-abled people were trained and this attracted the attention of the government, even the Acting Prime Minister Li Keqiang visited her project. During the 2016 G20 Summit, she led 25 differently-abled people to create a work, World Peace Dream, which received global media attention. It also received the 2016 Sino-Russian Art Exchange Gold Award. On July 9, 2016, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his appreciation for LeMan Tu.

Xiaoli Wu states, “I hope that in the future LeMan Tu offers society the spirit of appealing to more caring enterprises, and people create charity causes to assist the differently-abled in China.” In the future, Xiaoli Wu will create a charity base, art museum, and training school, so that the spirit of empowering the differently-abled can spread around the world!