Located on the opposite bank of Leshan City, Sichuan Province, the Leshan Giant Buddha is sculpted on the rock wall under which the Minjiang, Qingyijiang and Daduhe Rivers meet. It is a statue of Maitreya in sitting posture carved out of the cliff face of the Qixia Peak on Lingyun Mountain on the south bank of the Minjiang River. It is also referred to as the Lingyun Giant Buddha. As one of the outstanding art works of cliffside sculpture of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Leshan Giant Buddha is the largest carved stone Maitreya Buddha in the world. It was added to the list of the World Heritage Site in 1996.
The construction of the Buddha started in the first year of the Kaiyuan Period of the Tang Dynasty (i.e. 713), and completed in the 19th year of the Zhenyuan Period of the Tang Dynasty (i.e. 803), thus spanning 90 years. The sculpture is 71 meters high, with the head measuring 14.7 meters in height and 10 meters wide. There is a distance of 28 meters from knees to feet and the instep is big enough for over 100 people to sit on. On both sides of the Buddha, there are two ten-meter-high stone Dharma warriors standing alongside, and thousands of other carved stone sculptures around the area. All of these form a huge collection of stone sculptures.
It is said that the construction project was initiated by a monk named Haitong. At that time, the water at the confluence of the three rivers ran so deep and fast that many ships capsized here frequently. Haitong, who was a monk of the Lingyun Temple on the mountain, saw so many accidents and he blamed it on a kind of monster which he believed resided down in the water. He thought if a Buddha statue could be erected here, the monster would surrender himself to the power of the Buddha and let the ships pass safely. Therefore, he went all over to beg alms and finally after 20 years of effort, he raised enough money for the construction of the Buddha. On the day that the stone-cutting commenced, people went around telling everyone about the project, and all heads were turned to look at the work. However, the news also brought a greedy official who came to ask for a bribe for construction and protection. Haitong was outraged and responded, “You can have my eyes gouged out, but never try to touch the money for the construction of the Buddha statue!” The angry official said he would give up his request if Haitong did indeed give him his eyeballs. The monk plucked out his eyes right away, and presented them to the astonished brigand. The scared official turned and ran away, and never showed his face again.
Haitong passed away before the massive construction project was completed. His wish was fulfilled by other monks and craftsmen. To commemorate him, the place where he had lived was venerated as the Cave of Master Haitong and a statue of him was carved near the Giant Buddha.
