Leshan Giant Buddha1 樂山大佛

侯冬意

Look at the size of that statue！ Im in Leshan City of Sichuan Province， China， and behind me is the largest stone Buddha in the world！The Giant Buddha of Leshan is a 71m high statue of Bodhisattva Maitreya， carved out of a hillside in the 8th century！It looks down on the confluence2 of three rivers and is big enough for one hundred people to sit on the foot. The shoulder alone is big enough to be a basketball court！

The locals tell me that the statue has a very interesting backstory. Long ago， the confluence was a site for many accidents. A monk named Hai Tong built the statue to calm the water， and reduce accidents. While Hai Tong didnt see the project completed in his lifetime， his disciples3 finished the project and the statue was finally built after 90 years of hard work.

The statue also has amazing architectural4 artistry5！Ive been told that the coiled hair has more than 1000 buns6！ And， the statue also serves as a drainage7 system with gutters8 hidden in folds of clothes and behind arms.

With such beauty and utility， it is no wonder that UNESCO has undertaken the responsibility of its maintenance9.

I feel a sense of calm just being near this masterpiece10！

看看這尊雕像的大小！我在中國四川省的樂山市，我的身后是世界上最大的石佛！樂山大佛是一尊71米高的彌勒佛像，是8世紀的時候在山上雕刻出來的！它俯瞰三江交匯處，大到腳上可以坐一百人。光是肩膀就大得可以當籃球場了！

當地人告訴我，這座佛像背后有一個非常有趣的故事。很久以前，匯流處曾發生過許多事故。一位名叫海通的和尚建造這座佛像是為了讓水平靜下來，并減少事故的發生。雖然海通和尚有生之年沒有看到這項工程完工，但他的弟子們完成了這項工程。經過90年的努力，雕像終于建成。

這座雕像也有驚人的建筑藝術性！我聽說它有1000多個螺髻！而且，這座雕像還有排水系統，排水溝隱藏在衣服的褶皺和胳膊后面。

如此美而實用，難怪聯合國教科文組織（UNESCO）承擔了維護它的責任。

靠近這件杰作，我有一種平靜的感覺！

（英語原文選自：mocomi.com）

【Notes】

1. Buddha [■] n. 佛陀;佛像 2. confluence [■] n. （河流的）匯流點

3. disciple [■] n. 門徒;弟子 4. architectural [■] adj. 建筑學的

5. artistry [■] n. 藝術性 6. bun [■] n. 圓髻

7. drainage [■] n. 排水;排水系統 8. gutter [■] n. 排水溝;槽

9. maintenance [■] n. 維護，維修10. masterpiece [■] n. 杰作