From religious archetypes to folk icons: the portraiture development and structural derivation of Da A Fu

This article takes the Huishan clay figurine “Da A Fu” in Wuxi as its research object and introduces the concept of the “functional portraiture.” It emphasizes that its portraiture does not derive from individual realism, but is instead constructed through substitution and presence within local belief and ritual practice. The study systematically traces the historical connections between “Da A Fu” and traditional Chinese religious images, revealing its inheritance and transformation in terms of iconographic motifs, production techniques, and conceptual shifts. Further, through quantitative comparison of facial similarity, the analysis verifies the significant structural homology between “ Da A Fu ” and Buddhist images. It also shows that works of “ Da A Fu ” from the Qing dynasty display lower similarity, whereas modern works are closer to religious sculptures. This reflects a stylistic return and intensification under the changing religious atmosphere and the commodification of folk art. Based on this, it argues that “Da A Fu” is not only a symbol of intangible folk heritage but also a “functional portraiture” that integrates religious motifs, ritual functions, and social emotions. In theoretical terms, the concept of “functional portraiture” is elaborated and situated within a comprehensive framework informed by portrait studies, semiotics, and theories of religious image use. Methodologically, it combines iconographic and historical analysis with quantitative facial similarity assessment in an interdisciplinary image comparison. In terms of significance, the findings offer new insights into the contemporary expression and cultural mediation of intangible heritage and suggest directions for both its creative commercialization and broader cultural-creative development.