The Giant Buddha in Leshan

As one of world cultural and natural heritage, the Giant Stone Buddha in Leshan is located at the western slope of Lingyun Mountain in Jiazhou suburb, and at the confluence of Qingyi, Minjiang and Dadu rivers. As the Giant Buddha backs on the cliff of the Xiluan Peak of Linyun Mountain, sits right and looks down at the rivers, it is called Linyun Buddha as well, which is the largest stone-carved Buddha in China. The statue was begun in 713 and completed in 803 built over a total of 90 years. The Giant Buddha stands at 71 m in total with shoulders 24 m in width, head 14.7 m in length, eye 3.3 m in width, and fingers 8.3 m in length. Moreover, there is an ancient temple named Linyun Temple on Linyun Mountain behind the stone Buddha.

The giant Buddha is a sitting Maitreya statue carved out of a solid rock on the cliff of Linyun Mountain, and is described as "The Buddha is a mountain, and the mountain is a Buddha". It stands 71 m tall in total, and its head is 14.7 m high with 1,021 hair worn in buns. The ear of the statue is 6.72 m long, its nose is 5.33 m long, and its eyes are 3.3 m wide. The width of it's should is 24 m, and the length of its middle finger is 8.3 m. The insteps of this Giant Buddha are 9 m wide and 11 m long, which can contain over one hundred people sitting on. It is the largest sculptured stone Buddha in the world hitherto. The Giant Buddha in Leshan is properly a crystallization of wisdom of Chinese ancient laborers, and it is a wonder in world culture history. The statue has been designated a historical and cultural site enjoying protection of Sichuan Province in 1956, and was proclaimed as a major historical and cultural site under state protection by China State Council in 1982.