Overview
Chinese Name: 乐山大佛
English Name: Leshan Giant Buddha; Leshan Big Buddha; Le Shan Da Fo; Lingyun Giant Buddha
Location: Sichuan
Type: Ancient culture and art
Rating Level: AAAAA (5A)
Brief Introduction
Leshan Giant Buddha乐山大佛, also known as Lingyun Giant Buddha凌云大佛, is located in Leshan City, Sichuan Province, near the confluence of Dadu River大渡河, Qingyi River青衣江, and Minjiang River岷江. The Giant Buddha is a sitting statue of Maitreya Buddha弥勒佛, with a height of 71 meters. It is the largest cliff stone statue in China.
The Leshan Giant Buddha was excavated in the first year of Kaiyuan开元 in the Tang Dynasty (713), and completed in the 19th year of Zhenyuan贞元 (803). It took about 90 years.
Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Spot, which is composed of Leshan Giant Buddha, Lingyun mountain, Wuyou mountain, giant Reclining Buddha, and other scenic spots, is a national 5A level tourist scenic spot and is a part of the world cultural and natural heritage Emei Mountain Leshan Giant Buddha.
What are worth visiting and seeing？
History
The Buddha statue began to be built in the first year of the Kaiyuan period of Emperor Xuanzong玄宗 of the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 713). When the Giant Buddha reached the shoulder, monk Haitong海通和尚 died. After Haitong’s death, the project was once interrupted. Many years later, the governor of Xichuan西川 in Jiannan剑南, donated pensions, and Haitong’s disciples led the craftsmen to continue to build the Buddha. Due to the large scale of the project, the court ordered to pay taxes on Ma salt, which made the project progress rapidly.
When the Leshan Giant Buddha was repaired to the knee, the successor Zhang Qiu and Qiong moved to his home as the Minister of the Ministry of housing, and the project was stopped again. Forty years later, Wei Gao, the governor of Xichuan in Jiannan, donated his pension to continue the construction of the Leshan Giant Buddha. With the efforts of three generations of artisans, it took 90 years to complete the project in the 19th year of Zhengyuan (803 AD) of emperor Dezong德宗 of the Tang Dynasty.
On October 8, 2018, the Jiuqu trestle road in Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area has been closed before construction. On April 1, 2019, the preliminary research and survey of Sichuan Leshan Big Buddha’s damaged area, which lasted nearly half a year, was completed. The Leshan Giant Buddha officially “left the pass”, and the Jiuqu plank road九曲古栈道 and Buddha foot sightseeing platform佛脚观光平台 in the scenic area were reopened.
In 1989, the scientific research project of “preliminary research on the governance of Leshan Big Buddha” which lasted more than two years was officially launched. In the meantime, when conducting a “perspective” physical examination of Buddha with various modern scientific and technological means, it was found that there was a huge cliff monument on the cliff on side of the river on the right side of the Big Buddha niche, that is, the monument of the statue of Maitreya in Lingyun temple, Jiazhou嘉州凌云寺大弥勒石像记.
According to the actual measurement, the monument is 6.6 meters high, equivalent to the height of a two-story building; The monument is 3.84 meters wide; The area is 25.08 square meters. The discovery of this Tong cliff monument is of great historical significance: it not only directly determines the true official name of this stone statue, but also is the only reliable first-hand direct document for studying the Leshan Giant Buddha, the “world cultural heritage”.
Buddha structure
The head of Leshan Big Buddha is flush with the mountain, the foot is on the river, and the hands are touching the knees. The Buddha is symmetrical and solemn, and it is carved into a dangerous seat near the river. The big Buddha is 71 meters high, 14.7 meters high, 10 meters wide, 1051 hair bun, 7 meters long ears, 5.6 meters long nose, 5.6 meters long eyebrows, 3.3 meters long mouth and eyes, 3 meters high neck, 24 meters wide shoulder, 8.3 meters long fingers, 28 meters from knee to instep, 8.5 meters wide instep, and more than 100 people can sit around on the foot.
On the cliffs along the river on the left and right sides of the Big Buddha, there are two stone carvings of Dharma protecting heavenly kings with a height of more than 16 meters, forming a pattern of one Buddha and two heavenly kings with the Big Buddha. There are hundreds of niches and thousands of stone carvings coexisting with the king of heaven, just like a huge Buddhist stone carvings art group.
Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan, China [Amazing Places 4K]
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