Leshan Giant Buddha 01

Leshan Giant Buddha is located to the east of Leshan City, at the confluence of three rivers, namely, Min River, Qingyi River, and Dadu River.A local saying describes the Buddha like this; "The mountain unveils a Buddha, while the Buddha fades into the mountain." The huge figure takes the shape of a Maitreya Buddha, a disciple of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. Looking solemn and stately, the Buddha is 71 meters high, his shoulders are 28 meters wide, head 14.7 metes long and 10 meters broad, with a total of 1021 chignons of hair clustered on it. Its drooping ear is 6.2 meters long, its eye 3.3 meters wide.

It was a monk called Hai Tong who initiated the project. His concern was for the safety of the long-suffering people who earned their living around the confluence of the three rivers. Tempestuous waters ensured that boat accidents were numerous and the simple people put the disaster down to the presence of a water spirit. So Hai Tong decided to carve a statue beside the river thinking that the Buddha would bring the water spirit under control. After 20 years' begging alms, he finally accumulated enough money for the plan. When some local government officials had designs on tempting this amount of money, Hai Tong said that they could get his eyeball but not the money raised for the Buddha. After Hai Tong dug out his eyeball, these officials ran away scared. The project was half done when Hai Tong passed away, and two of his disciples continued the work. After a total of 90 years' hard work, the project was finally completed.