The Leshan Giant Buddha

The giant stone Buddha is properly shaped with accurate proportions, a solemn expression and a strong sense of movement। It is amazing that ancient Chinese artists and workers could make such a big statue with the simple tools they had at that time. They were great talents with considerable creative spirit.

A 70-meter-high giant stone Buddha sits in the beautifulLeshanMountain at the confluence of the Dadu, Qingyi and Minjiang rivers। Ten people together can sit in the Buddha's hair bun and the space between his ear and face can hold two standing people. Two people lying head to head and linking hands are shorter than his toe, and the crown of an ordinary person's head does not reach the top of his foot। The stone Buddha in his entirety can only be viewed from the other side of the river।

In Emperor xuanzong's reign of theTang Dynasty, an eminent monk named Haitong fromGuizhou Provinceonce came to visit the LingyunTemplein Jiazhou (present-day Leshan County)। He saw the torrents roaring in the river under the cliff and heard that there were frequent shipwrecks at the spot. The water course was an important channel connecting the Surrounding areas, so Haitong decided to build a Buddha statue to control the floods and to promoteBuddhismamong the people. He walked around the country to explain the spirit of Buddhism, to collect funds and to look for capable craftsmen.