heritage
Leshan Giant Buddha
A seated stone figure is carved into the cliff, with huge hands resting on its knees.
The story behind the place
At Leshan in Sichuan, the cliff itself became the material for a monumental Buddhist sculpture. The Giant Buddha was carved in the eighth century and rises about 71 metres above its base near the meeting of three rivers. Its relationship with the hillside matters as much as its scale: this is a carving within a landscape, rather than a freestanding statue placed on a pedestal. It forms part of the World Heritage property shared with Mount Emei.
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Read more from the sources
- Leshan Giant BuddhaUNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Leshan Giant Buddha — form/contextXinhua, photographs Jiang Hongjing
- Leshan Giant Buddha — named component referenceCommunity geographic reference
