18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Leshan Giant Buddha and its History

Leshan Giant Buddha or Chinese name:乐山大佛 (Leshan Dafo) is the best indication that there is no such thing as impossible when a man believes. Faith is sometimes the strongest emotion that gives the courage to cross the mountains that are difficult to overcome, to do the seemingly impossible.

The Leshan Giant Buddha was carved into the cliff at the confluence of the Min, Qingyi, and

Dadu rivers.

A monk named Hai Tong initiated the construction of this statue.

Carved in the 8th century during the Tang Dynasty, the Leshan Giant Buddha was built during a peak period of Buddhist culture in ancient China. The sculpture depicts Maitreya, a very popular Buddha in the Tang Dynasty. The sutras say that when Maitreya comes into the world, the world will be at peace. People liked to carve Maitreya sculptures and believed that Maitreya would bring light and happiness into their lives in the future. That’s why Hai Tong built Maitreya when he wanted to keep the local people safe from the threat of floods.

Many people traveling by boat in the area were killed by the turbulent waters each year before the Leshan Giant Buddha was created.

Leshan buddha
Leshan Buddha

He had begged for over 20 years to accumulate enough money needed to build this statue. During this hard period in his life, he refused official help because the parties who offered it didn’t just want to help him but wanted to gain personal profits from the project. He even gouged out his eyeball in protest against the local authorities. These officials backed off after this behavior. Fortunately, Hai Tong’s disciples continued his work after he passed away and finally completed the sculpture in 803 AD after 90 years of hard work.

Interestingly, there haven’t been any shipwrecks since the Buddha was built. Many stones were actually removed from the cliff and transferred to the rivers during construction, which made the waters calmer and safer than before. The project didn’t end after the Leshan Giant Buddha was finished.

Buddhism had been one of the most important religions in ancient China and many other people built statues around the giant Buddha to thank the gods. Numerous small Buddhas were carved around this huge statue. People even excavated the cliff tombs of the Han Dynasty around the Leshan Giant Buddha. Multiple historic sites make the Leshan Giant Buddha particularly important for archaeologists and researching people’s lifestyles in ancient times.

With a height of 71 meters (233 feet), the Leshan Giant Buddha is the tallest Buddha sculpture in the world. The Buddha’s ear is 7 meters in size and made of wood; his head is 14.7 meters in height and 10 meters in width; there are 1,021 buns in the Buddha’s coiled hair, and his nose and eyebrows are 5.6 meters in size. His mouth and eyes are 3.3 meters wide; his neck is 3 meters long; his shoulders are 24 meters wide; his fingers are 8.3 meters long.

Local architectural structures are lower than the Leshan Giant Buddha: The tallest building in Leshan stands at 68 meters, which is lower than the 71-meter Buddha, showing the local people’s respect for Buddha.

Location of Leshan Giant Buddha: Lingyun Street, Shizhong District, Leshan, Sichuan Province; 126 kilometers away from Chengdu.

This remarkable historic site was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Cover Photo: Wikipedia

Related Articles

Georgian churches of Artvin, Turkey’s natural wonder city

6 April 2022

6 April 2022

Artvin is a city in northeastern Turkey about 30 km inland from the Black Sea. It is located on a...

Unsolvable Megalithic Mystery of ancient Greek “Dragon Houses”

8 January 2025

8 January 2025

The Dragon Houses of Euboea, which probably dates to the Preclassical period of ancient Greece, are one of the historical...

Vampires Were Born Here: The Forgotten Serbian Village Behind the World’s Oldest Vampire Legend

18 July 2025

18 July 2025

Picture a quiet Balkan village at dusk: the sun dips behind dense forests, mist curls around forgotten gravestones, and the...

South Korea, Mireuksa Temple ve The World Heritage Festival for “Baekje Historic Areas,”

17 August 2021

17 August 2021

Baekje (18 B.C. to A.D. 660) is one of Korea’s Three Kingdoms Period’s lesser-known eras (57 B.C. to A.D. 668)....

A Byzantine Princess, a Mongol Khan, and a Church: The Bloody Church and Its Unknown History

13 May 2025

13 May 2025

Nestled at the base of the imposing Phanar Greek Orthodox College, a landmark intrinsically linked to the panoramic vistas of...

“Mosaic of the Wine Harvest” mosaic to be exhibited in November in Turkey’s Hatay

26 October 2021

26 October 2021

The mosaic depicting the grape harvest, which is considered to date from the Late Roman period, equivalent to the 5th...

The Most Unusual Places İn The World

10 February 2021

10 February 2021

There are countless beautiful places in the world. All of them are interesting and great than each other. We have...

Monastery Behind the Clouds “Sümela”

26 April 2021

26 April 2021

Trabzon has hosted tens of civilizations throughout history, and as a result, it is home to a plethora of historical...

Ancient Greeks Built a Road to Haul Cargo Overland: The Father of the Railway: Diolkos

6 May 2024

6 May 2024

The Diolkos, an ambitious road that crossed the entire Isthmus of Corinth and was partially paved with stone, was built...

The Oldest-Known Center of Prophecy “Claros”

16 June 2021

16 June 2021

Claros is an ancient Ionian settlement located in the hamlet of Ahmetbeyli near Ozdere, approximately 50 kilometers south of Izmir....

The very unknown ancient city of the Mediterranean; Syedra

3 July 2022

3 July 2022

Known as Turkey’s holiday paradise, the Antalya region is a treasure when it comes to ancient cities. Close to the...

Tajik Buddha in Nirvana – the Largest in the World: 42 feet long and 9 feet high

31 December 2023

31 December 2023

In the past, while Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan destroyed two immense statues of Buddha, art historians in neighboring Tajikistan meticulously...

The best-preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy can be seen in Jerash the ancient city of Jordan’s

2 December 2021

2 December 2021

Jerash is a magnificent old Roman city located around 50 kilometers from Amman, Jordan. Jerash is considered the most well-preserved...

Discovering the rare works of Sanliurfa Archaeology Museum

13 October 2021

13 October 2021

The Sanlıurfa Archaeology Museum building involves many main attributes, such as the largest enclosed space and exhibition hall museum in...

3600 years old Unique ancient drinking bowls on display at Boğazkale Museum

15 August 2021

15 August 2021

The 3,600-year-old fist-shaped drinking bowls found in excavations in Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Civilization, which shaped the Anatolian...