Leshan Giant Buddha Travel Notes

Gao Jinxuan

On August 15th, I arrived in Chengdu and followed the tour guide to visit the Leshan Giant Buddha. After driving for about two hours, I arrived at the intersection of Leshan Giant Buddha Well. ‌‌The Leshan Giant Buddha is a world-class 5A cultural site. The surrounding soil is reddish brown. This terrain is called Danxia landform‌‌.

When I climbed to the top of the mountain, I saw the head of Leshan Giant Buddha. His hair was twirled one after another. The tour guide said that there were 1021 hair buns on the head of Leshan Giant Buddha. Legend has it that this number is the number of good deeds Maitreya Buddha has done. It is made by 1021 craftsmen respectively. The tour guide said while walking: "The Leshan Giant Buddha was built by the monk Haitong. Its purpose was to shelter from wind and rain. After his death, his disciples took over. In order to build the Giant Buddha, the salt tax in Zhejiang was also used." At that time, Zhejiang's salt tax accounted for 1/2 of the national salt tax. Buddhism was the richest church in the world. Why do you say that? Because some people gave money to Buddhism, and people often climbed up with a bag of money. At the top of the mountain, he threw the money on the ground and then went down the mountain. With the help of countless money, the Leshan Giant Buddha, which took 90 years to build, was finally completed. "But," he paused, "have you ever thought about why it was built?" Is it Maitreya Buddha?" Before I could recover, the tour guide continued: "Because Wu Zetian was in power, and Wu Zetian said that she was the descendant of Maitreya Buddha, so she cultivated Maitreya Buddha. If it were other emperors, she cultivated Buddhism. Kamuni."

After going down the mountain, I saw the side face of the Leshan Giant Buddha. The Buddha closed his eyes and meditated, sitting cross-legged peacefully. The only strange thing was his black nose. ‌‌“Before the construction was completed, the nose was supported by a log . Later, the log rotted and the nose was dyed black. ‌‌” the tour guide explained. After so many years, the Big Buddha facing the river has not suffered any major damage. This is because the Big Buddha does not face the river directly. It has a slope.

I continued walking down and saw the feet of the Leshan Giant Buddha in Leshan. It is said that 100 people can stand on the feet. Due to heavy rain, we had to go down the mountain immediately. After a few minutes, the feet of the Leshan Giant Buddha were flooded. . ‌‌

The Leshan Giant Buddha is 59.98 meters high and is the largest Buddha in the world. It is a precious heritage given to us by our ancestors. We must protect it and cherish it. ‌