Giant Buddha of Leshan

Hi, my name is Brittany Marsden and currently I am a 4th year student in the History and Theory of Architecture program.

For this introductory blog, I have decided to explore a rather large piece of sculpture known as the Giant Buddha which can be found near the city of Leshan, China. The construction of this massive sculpture began during the Tang Dynasty in 713 A.D by a Chinese monk named Haithong. Haithong wanted the Buddha constructed in a location where the Mingiang, Dadu and Qingy rivers met in order to attempt what he thought would calm the troubled waters for travelling ships.

Eventually the funding for the project had come to a halt, and in an effort to gain support for the sculpture, Haithong gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity towards his giant project. For the next 70 years the Buddha sat unfinished until a jiudushi, a regional military governor in China, decided to sponsor the unfinished project. The giant Buddha was eventually completed by Haithong's disciples in 803 A.D.

The massive sculpture sit a staggering 71 metres high and 28 metres wide.The subject matter of the large stone carving depicts a Maitreya Buddha with his hands resting on top of his knees. The Maitreya Buddha, in Buddhist tradition, is the future Buddha of our world here on Earth. It is believed that the prophecy of the arrival of Maitreya will happen when the dharma is forgotten on Jambudvipa, the island of the terrestrial world which humans currently live on.

Maitreya is a boddisattva, an enlightened being, who will reach a state of complete enlightenment and is able to teach the pure dharma. Dharma is known as the universal law of nature, the teachings of Buddha which are applied to the understanding of law of human life and its properties. Buddhists believe that the Maitreya will be the fifth Buddha to arrive here on Earth. This will only happen when a number of physical events, such as the oceans decreasing in size, take place and when dharma seems to be forgotten here on Earth.

Haithong was trying to call on Maitreya in order to help calm the waters which had been travelled by many ships throughout his time. Ironically enough with the size of the sculpture being so large, the amount of stone which had been removed from the cliff and placed into the rivers below caused the currents to become altered in a way which would allow safe passage for

travelling ships.