Leshan Giant Buddha, 乐山大佛, Sichuan, China

The Leshan Giant Buddha, a 71-metre tall stone statue, was built during the Tang Dynasty, and was completed in 800 AD. It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in Sichuan province, China, near the city of Leshan. It is the largest stone Buddha in the world and it is the tallest pre- modern statue in the world.1-bbbbb A sophisticated drainage system was incorporated into the Leshan Giant Buddha when it was built. It is still in working order. It includes drainage pipes carved into various places on the body, to carry away the water after the rains to reduce weathering.1-bbbbbbb
The Mount Emei Shan Scenic Area, including the Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area, was listed as a Unesco Heritage Site in 1996.

1-big buddha leshan
His shoulders are 28 metres wide and his smallest toenail is large enough to easily accommodate a seated person.

1-b leshan

An extraordinary place only accessed by boat from the city of Leshan.

35 thoughts on “Leshan Giant Buddha, 乐山大佛, Sichuan, China”

  2. Did you see this on your most recent trip? It is incredible. I love learning about things that supposed ‘less sophisticated’ civilisations constructed and have stood the test of time. Thanks Francesca.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Yes, these were taken last year in China. I spent a few years studying Chinese history back at Uni and so have always been in awe of Chinese culture and it’s sophistication. I find myself becoming defensive about China when I meet those friends who have such closed minds and are only too ready to see China as a source of pollution.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. I look at this and feel we have not progressed as much as the technos tell us we have. The dedication, commitment, skill and hardship it must have taken to create these monuments of older times is amazing. I love history and think we can and should learn some valuable lessons from every beautiful piece of it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Now over to you.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.