Chinese sculptor memorialized MLK Jr

On Aug 28, 1963, the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

After more than half a century, when people flock to the setting of the famous oration, they will find the likeness of King in a stone statue. With arms crossed and a look of determination, it appears as an inspiration to people fighting for freedom and equality.

Few may notice that the 9-meter-high statue was created by a Chinese sculptor from Changsha, capital city of Hunan province in Central China.

Changsha is an early city in China that has carried out artistic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries. Since 1982, Changsha began establishing friendly relationships with foreign cities.

In 1988, Changsha City and St. Paul, capital city of the US state of Minnesota, signed an agreement to establish a sister city relationship.

The two sides agreed to conduct exchanges and cooperation in culture, art and construction. St. Paul is Changsha's first sister city in the US.

In 2006, St. Paul hosted the first Minnesota Rocks! International Stone Carving Symposium, which drew carvers from around the world for exchanges.

The sculptors worked in public for six weeks, inspired by specific locations in St Paul and its suburbs, where their finished works later were installed.

As the invitation was sent to the City of Changsha from St Paul, sculptor Lei Yixin, who is based in Changsha, was considered the top candidate.

Born in 1954 in Changsha, Lei won top prizes in national competitions for three consecutive years and was recognized as a master sculptor.

He has sculpted some 150 public monuments, including statues of Mao Zedong. Some of his works are in China's National Art Gallery collection.

In his five weeks in St. Paul, Lei created a grand stone sculpture of a smiling Eastern girl named Meditation, which is now installed at the Phalen Lake Park in St. Paul.

After Meditation captivated the local people, the Martin Luther King Foundation looked to Lei as a potential sculptor for a statue of the civil rights leader.

The foundation had searched the States and even made a trip to Italy.

Through field observations and day-to-day communication, the foundation was delighted to find that Lei not only had extensive experience carving large stone sculptures, he also was knowledgeable of MLK's story.

From among more than 2,000 concepts from over 52 countries, Lei was selected to create the MLK sculpture. In August 2006, the MLK Memorial Foundation officially signed Lei for the production of the statue.

Lei said that he was aware of the significance of the statue not only to Americans but for the world's impression of Chinese artists.

"At such a core location, carving such a special character is the highest honor for an artist," he said.

Lei said in an interview that his design inspiration was derived from a quote from King's famous 1963 speech: "Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was officially unveiled on Oct 16, 2011.

The memorial site is described as invoking the memory and spiritual presence of MLK and providing a sense of place for the civil rights movement.

In November 2008, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the sister city relationship with Changsha, the then-mayor of St Paul, Chris Coleman, led a 10-member delegation to visit Changsha.

Zhang Jianfei, who was Changsha mayor then, met with Coleman. To further strengthen both governmental and non-governmental exchange and cooperation between the two cities, the two signed a memorandum on the development of friendly relations between the two cities. Since then, the friendship between the two cities has grown.