铜佛造像的起因有些特殊，它始于唐初兴佛时期，当时无论寺院还是佛窟，都在主佛塑像的背光或者穹顶上另造一些小佛像，组成"佛海"，来暗喻佛陀众多的西方极乐世界，这一现象至今仍能在敦煌莫高窟的唐代洞窟一窥全貌。于是，从佛海中迎下其中一尊长伴长随，便成为僧人和信徒追求的无上功德。小型铜佛造像诞生后，最初只是供四处游方的僧人随身携带，昭示出家人心中有佛，后来才普及到信男善女迎请到家中供养。
There are some special reasons for the bronze Buddha statues. It began in the early Tang Dynasty when the Buddhas were revived. At that time, no matter in the temples or in the Buddha Caves, some small Buddha statues were built on the backlight or dome of the main Buddha statues to form a "Buddha sea" to allude to the numerous Western Paradise of Buddha. This phenomenon can still be seen in the Tang Dynasty caves of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. As a result, to welcome one of the elders from the sea of Buddhism and accompany him for a long time has become the supreme merit pursued by monks and believers. After the birth of the small bronze Buddha statues, they were initially only for the monks who traveled around to take with them, which indicated that there was a Buddha in the hearts of monks. Later, they were popularized to believe in men and women to welcome them to the home for support.
中国历史上历经多次灾难性"灭佛"事件，铜佛造像大量被毁，导致目前高古、中古佛像极为罕见，传世最多的是明清佛像。这类铜佛不仅以如来佛祖造像，观音、菩萨、罗汉、护法等皆可成型，具有宗教和艺术双重价值。因为存世数量极少，铜佛价钱才一路飙升，也正因为罕见，更不能轻易相信坊间传言。
In the history of China, there have been many disastrous "Buddha extermination" events, and a large number of bronze Buddha statues have been destroyed, resulting in the rare high ancient and middle ancient Buddha statues at present, and the most handed down is the Ming and Qing Buddha statues. This kind of bronze Buddha is not only made of Buddha, but also can be shaped by Avalokitesvara, Bodhisattva, arhat and Dharma protector. It has both religious and artistic values. The price of bronze Buddhas has soared because of the small number of living Buddhas. It is also because of the rarity that we can't easily believe the rumors.