Sichuan Travelogue Leshan Giant Buddha

Number of days: 21 days
Time: May
Average cost: 4000 yuan
With whom: husband and wife
Tour kinds: photography, humanities, free travel
The author went to these places: Leshan Giant Buddha Leshan Giant Buddha Museum Leshan Lingyun Mountain Mount Emei Lingyun Temple Lingyun Plank Road Jiuqu Plank Road Wuyou Temple Oriental Buddha Capital
Updated: 2022.08.03

I had breakfast at the hotel at 7 a.m. on May 19, 2021, and after the meal, I took bus No. 3 across the road from the hotel to the Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area. At half past 8, I arrived at the North Gate Square of Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area, on the east side of the square, is the Leshan Giant Buddha Museum, I originally planned to see the museum first, and then go to the Giant Buddha Scenic Area, but the museum opened at half past 9 in the morning, so we had to go to see the Giant Buddha first.

Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area is located in the suburbs of Leshan City, at the confluence of the Minjiang River, Dadu River and Qingyi River, with a scenic area of 17.88 square kilometers, across the river from Leshan City, located in the middle of Lingyun Mountain, Lingyun Mountain is 448 meters above sea level, about 3.5 kilometers in circumference, and covers an area of about 0.6 square kilometers. The lush forests and bamboo on the mountain are lush all year round, and the three rivers under the mountain converge, enjoying the reputation of the crown of the southwest landscape, which has been praised by literati and writers of all dynasties.

In 1984, it was announced by the State Council as a national scenic spot, and in 1991, it was selected as one of the top 40 tourist attractions in China. On July 6, 2011, Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area was promoted to a national 5A-level tourist attraction.

In the 80s of the last century, the Leshan Sleeping Buddha was discovered, and the breathtaking Leshan Giant Buddha was located just in the heart of the Leshan Sleeping Buddha, constituting the eternal wonder of "the heart is the Buddha".

The Leshan Giant Buddha is carved on the rock wall at the confluence of the Min River, the Qingyi River and the Dadu River, and is a seated statue of Maitreya. The Buddha statue was excavated in the early years of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (713 AD), and was initiated by the monk Haitong to recruit manpower and material resources to reduce the water potential and save all living beings, and was completed in the 19th year of Emperor Dezong's Zhenyuan (803 AD), which lasted 90 years.

On December 6, 1996, the Leshan Giant Buddha was approved by UNESCO as a "World Cultural and Natural Heritage" and officially included in the World Heritage List.

When we came to Mount Emei 20 years ago, we had been to the Leshan Giant Buddha, when the scenic area was not so large-scale, and now only the avenue from the North Gate Square to the gate of the scenic spot is 500 meters, and many ancillary landscapes on both sides are presented, and the riverside wharf is also presented, and the urban scenery on the other side of the river can be seen by the railing.

Tickets for Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area are now 80 yuan, and tickets are free for those over 60 years old.

Entering the gate of the scenic spot, first go to Lingyun Temple, Lingyun Temple hangs a huge gold plaque in the middle of the temple gate, and the four characters "Lingyun Zen Monastery" written by Su Dongpo are collected. The joint text on both sides is "The great river goes east, and Buddhism comes from the west".

Lingyun Zen Monastery is a triple courtyard building composed of the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Hall of Daxiong and the Sutra Building, with red walls and green tiles and green trees. In front of the Hall of Heavenly Kings is a towering ancient tree and a nannan tree, and on both sides of the hall are four inscriptions of the Ming and Qing dynasties rebuilt the temple characters. The statue in the center of the hall is a seated statue of Maitreya, with a white belly and a happy face, commonly known as the "pot-bellied Arhat". On both sides are statues of the four heavenly kings, furrowed and angry, majestic and majestic. Behind the Hall of the Heavenly King is the Wei Tuo Hall, which enshrines the protector god Wei Tuo carved with wood carved gold. Passing through the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Daxiong Treasure Hall was built in the Ming Dynasty, and was the main place for monks to hold religious activities. In the center of the hall sits the three statues of Shakyamuni (the present body, the body of the body, and the body of the reward), with a beautiful shape and a solemn demeanor. On the back of the Daxiong Treasure Hall is a newly sculpted clean bottle of Guanyin, with statues of Manjushri, Puxian, Ksitigarbha and the Four Bodhisattvas of Dashi on both sides, which are works before the Ming Dynasty.

The last hall in the temple is the Sutra Building, which was originally a place to collect Buddhist scriptures in the temple and was newly built in 1930. From its structure and appearance, you can see the modern architectural style.

The incense in the temple is in full swing, and the worshippers are endless, we are crowded in the crowd, so we have to escape, and further on, we can see the head of the Buddha, and the onlookers can look at the Buddha's head and watch it up close.

The Buddha is well-proportioned, divine, solemn, carved by the mountain, and sits upright by the river. The Buddha is 71 meters high, 10 meters wide on the head, 1,021 buns, 7 meters long on the ears, 5.6 meters on the nose, 5.6 meters on the eyebrows, 3.3 meters on the eyes, 28 meters on the shoulders, 8.3 meters on the fingers, 8.5 meters wide on the top of the feet, and can sit around more than 100 people. On the left side of the Big Buddha, going down the "grotto" is the beginning of the Lingyun Plank Road, with a total length of nearly 500 meters. On the right is the Jiuqu Plank Road.

We passed through the cliff wall on the left side of the Giant Buddha to reach the foot of the Giant Buddha, looked up at the Giant Buddha, marveled at such a tall and majestic giant Buddha, and admired the exquisite craftsmanship of our country's ancient craftsmen. At the foot of the Buddha, many people worshipped him, offered incense, silently chanted and made wishes, and took what they needed.

After watching the Big Buddha up close, the crowd began to flock to the exit, the exit is a nine-curved plank road on the right hand side of the Big Buddha that almost goes straight up and down, due to the steep and narrow plank road, the climbing speed is slow, so there is a backlog of many tourists, if you wait here, I don't know when I can get out, we decisively return from the way we came, there is still a passage in the direction of the entrance, isolated by the rope, and it can be kept unobstructed, and from here, you can go directly to Wuyou Temple, which is our next goal, but there are few tourists here, and you need to go out of the south gate. We had to go down and climb another mountain, which seemed very different from our first visit to Wuyou Temple, which immediately made us give up the idea of going. I happened to see the Oriental Buddha Capital at the exit of the south gate, I once saw the introduction on the Internet, I always thought it was a man-made landscape, I was not interested, but when I came to the door, I might as well take a look, who knows, don't know if you don't see it, look at the next jump, its grand project and ornamental effect almost shocked my jaw, the next travelogue will give you a detailed introduction.