What are the historical legends and stories of Leshan Giant Buddha?
Legend has it that there was a monk in Guizhou in the Tang Dynasty, whose legal name was Haitong, who was a well-read monk. He traveled around the world and vowed to do good for the people. This summer, he came to Sichuan History. I soon heard that the river under Lingyun Mountain in the east of Fucheng is surging, and the waves are as high as the sky, often overturning ships, endangering life. One day, he wanted to see for himself, so he climbed the rock wall and came to the foot of Lingyun Mountain. Suddenly, I saw a surging wave hitting the rocks. After the waves receded, a mature man lay at the water's edge, holding a drill in his left hand and a hammer in his right, motionless. Haitong monk hurried forward and carried the man to the shore. It took him a long time to wake up.
It turns out that this man's name is Shi Qing, and he is a stonemason. He saw that the water in Lingyun Mountain was fierce and ships often sank. Many boatmen's brothers lost their lives in vain, so he decided to chisel all the way in the stone wall, so that the boatman's bamboo pole was inserted in the eye of the pole, and the wooden boat could not touch the stone wall. Unexpectedly, just a few times, a bad wave came and he knew nothing. Shi Qing's action touched Haitong. The next day, Haitong and Shi Qing met and boarded Lingyun Mountain for inspection. Standing on the Baizhang Cliff, they saw the dangerous water below. Jiang Tao surged like Ma Benteng, rushing straight at the cliff and making an earth-shattering noise. At this time, a wooden boat went down the river. Suddenly, the ship flew like an arrow that left the string. Seeing approaching the rock, at this moment, a monster suddenly appeared in the water, setting off a black wave and engulfing the wooden boat. Haitong recited it repeatedly? Amitabha? Azurite was furious, suffering from the lack of magical power to subdue demons. Sea passage:? It is better to carve a statue of Maitreya Buddha on this rock, use the divine power of Buddha to collect demons and kill monsters, and also weaken the water potential and protect ships. ? Azurite listened to nodding. So, Shi Qing built a cave on Lingyun Mountain and let the Haitong monk live in it.
Haitong and Shi Qing observed the water potential and measured the terrain, preparing to carve the giant Buddha separately. Haitong monk climbed mountains and mountains, sailed across the water and went to Jianghuai area to raise money; Shi Qing looked for skilled craftsmen and tools in the urban and rural areas of Jiazhou. After three years of preparation, construction started in the sixth year of Kaiyuan.
The story of Shi Qing's cultivation of Buddha soon spread widely. Fiona Fang dozens of people, the output of the output, the money to pay, to help. At that time, on Lingyun Mountain, ten thousand people waved their arms, ten thousand people shouted and ten thousand people made noise. The stones in the rocks thundered into the river like rain, stirring up countless waves.
Who knows, the huge stones rolling down alarmed the demon dragon at the bottom of the river. It is a dragon that Li Bing chained to the bottom of the river when he was repairing Dujiangyan. Because the chain rusted for years, the dragon broke free from the shackles and fled to the foot of Lingyun Mountain, making waves and doing whatever he wanted. Seeing many stones rolling down the mountain to block the hole, the dragon quickly cast a spell, set off a gust of wind and waves, and dragged monk Haitong into the hole. Seeing that the demon dragon swept away the monk Haitong, Shi Qing quickly led the masons and went down to look for him with tools such as iron brazing, drills and hammers. In a short time, he found the cave, and azurite led the way and killed it. He saw the dragon send a group of little demons to escort Haitong to the frying pan. Shi Qing shouted:? Where did the demon dragon come from? How dare you hurt my mage! ? Immediately lead the masons to rush over and surround the dragon. The dragon was outnumbered and had to flee from the bottom of the river.
The craftsmen continued to drill holes and carve Buddha statues. However, before long, the flat land suddenly became stormy, the sky was dark and the rain poured down. For 7749 days in a row, there was a flood on Lingyun Mountain, and thick flash floods went straight to the top of Buddha's head. Monk Haitong is worried that even the bronze and cast iron Buddha statues will be washed away in such a big flood. Shi Qing frowned. He thought of a plan. He quickly comforted Haitong and said, Master, don't worry. I have my own way. ? After consulting with the stonemason, he decided to dig ditches and drain water on the head and body of the Buddha. I saw azurite wearing a rope around her waist, risking her life and hanging in the air to cut stones. Strong winds and floods washed him away again and again and hung him on a rock and a half. He climbed the rope again and again. Shi Qinghe and all the craftsmen risked their lives and persevered, and finally dug a drainage ditch to eliminate the erosion of the flood.
At that time, a new historical secretariat loved money like life. He heard that the monk Haitong raised a lot of money, so he came to Lingyun Mountain with a group of officials and said angrily to Haitong. What should a bold monk do if he starts to build a giant Buddha without the permission of the government? Somebody, lock it up ? Several officials rushed over to start work, only to see Shi Qing reach out and block it, saying, what's wrong with practicing Buddhism to subdue demons, eliminate water potential and eliminate disasters? You have to lock me up! ? Haitong quickly said to Shi Qing: I can't do it without you on the construction site. I will undertake big things. ? Have it both ways, a corrupt official, casually said: Listen, monk, I think you are a monk, so you don't have to go to jail. However, if you destroy my history and geomantic omen, you have to pay 32 thousand silver. ? When Haitong heard that the corrupt official had come to rip him off, he suddenly felt a surge of anger. He said, The money came from thousands of loyal men and women in Qian Qian. How dare I Haitong use half a cent? I can see from my eyes that the Buddha is rich and rare! ?
The dog officer thought Haitong was bluffing, so he said, Then gouge out your eyes and show them to the officer. ?
Haitong smiled coldly and put his finger into his eyes unhurriedly. Two heels fell into the plates in their hands. Haitong took the plate and went straight to the corrupt official in front of him. Walking and saying:? Take it! ? Corrupt officials and fox hunters, when they saw that monk Haitong had gouged out his eyes, were unmoved, and one by one they were dumbfounded and fled back in confusion.
Although Haitong lost two eyes, his will to carve Buddha statues is firm. He is more concerned about the construction of the giant Buddha, and often comes down to the construction site with the help of little novice monk on crutches to accompany the masons. When everyone saw it, they were deeply moved and tearfully advised him to go back to rest. Haitong insisted, saying: Although I can't see the giant Buddha, I still want to hear about it! ?
However, Haitong did not realize his ambition before his death. A few years later, he died. Later, Shi Qing and other old masons passed away. Later, surprisingly, Wei Gao inherited the career of Haitong and Shi Qing and organized manpower and material resources to continue digging. It took Tang Dezong Zhenyuan 90 years to finish the excavation.
Later, in memory of Haitong, people called the cave where he lived? Haishidong? . Until now, there is still a statue of Haitong sitting cross-legged, resolute and resolute, holding a jade plate with eyes in his hand.
The Construction History of Leshan Giant Buddha In ancient times, where Leshan three rivers meet, Minjiang River, Qingyi River and Dadu River meet at the foot of Lingyun Mountain. The water is quite fierce, and the boat series is often subverted. Every summer flood, the river will hit the mountain wall, which often leads to the tragedy of shipwrecks and deaths. Haitong Zen master initiated it to reduce the water potential and benefit all beings, and recruited manpower and material resources to repair it.
The construction of the Buddha statue began in the early kaiyuan year of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (AD 7 13). When the Buddha reaches the shoulder, the monk Haitong dies. After Haitong's death, the project was once interrupted. Many years later, Zhang Qiu and Joan, the messengers of Jian Xichuan, donated money, and Haitong's apprentice led craftsmen to continue to build the Giant Buddha. Due to the huge project, the court ordered the payment of hemp salt tax, which made the project progress rapidly. When the Leshan Giant Buddha was repaired to the knee, the builders Zhang Qiu and Joan moved home to be the ministers of the Ministry of Housing, and the project stopped again. Forty years later, Wei Gao, the messenger of Jianchuan, donated money to continue the construction of Leshan Giant Buddha. After the efforts of three generations of craftsmen, it was completed in 90 years in the 19th year of Zhenyuan in Tang Dezong (AD 803).
Basic characteristics of the Buddha structure of Leshan Giant Buddha
The head of Leshan Giant Buddha is flush with the mountain, stepping on the river, touching his knees with his hands, and the Buddha's posture is symmetrical and solemn, sitting on the river near the mountain. The giant Buddha is 7 1m high, 14.7m high, 10m wide,102/bun, 7m long ears, 5.6m long nose, 5.6m long eyebrows, 3.3m long mouth and eyes, 3m high neck and 23m wide shoulders.
On the cliffs along the river on the left and right sides of the giant Buddha, there are two stone carvings of the protector king, which are as high as 16 meters, and together with the giant Buddha, they form the pattern of one Buddha and two kings. There are also hundreds of Buddhist niches and thousands of stone statues of heavenly kings, which are now gathered into a huge Buddhist stone carving art group. Left side of Buddha, along? Dong Tian? Going down is the beginning of Lingyun plank road excavated in modern times, with a total length of nearly 500 meters. On the right are the buildings and sacrificial passages left by the excavation of the giant Buddha in the Tang Dynasty? After carving the Buddha statue on the Jiuqu plank road, he built seven pavilions (nine or thirteen floors) and said? Giant Buddha Pavilion? 、? Daxiangge? ; The Buddha Pavilion was built and destroyed repeatedly and rebuilt in the Song Dynasty? Lingyun song? 、? Tianning Pavilion? ; Built in the yuan dynasty? Bao Hongge? ; Built in the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty? Buddha shed? Built in the Qing Dynasty? Fortin? It was finally destroyed.
Stone curly hair
There are 105 1 buns on the top of the giant Buddha, which are counted with chalk when 1962 is in maintenance. From a distance, the bun is integrated with the head, but in fact it is embedded with stones one by one. The exposed part of the root of a single bun has obvious splicing cracks and no mortar bonding. The surface of the bun is plastered with two layers, the inner layer is lime, and the thickness of each layer is 5-15 mm. During the maintenance of 199 1 year, three snail stones were found in the sunken part of the right leg of the Buddha statue, of which two were relatively complete, with a length of 78 cm and a top of 3 1.5? 3 1.5 cm, root 24? 24 centimeters.
Wooden ear
There is a hole about 25 cm deep inside the root of the earlobe of the right ear of the giant Buddha. Maintenance workers take out many broken objects from the hole and carefully examine the decaying wood mud. This confirms Fan Chengda's record in Wu in the Southern Song Dynasty? The Buddha statues in the world are so big that their ears are made of wood. . So there are three pieces of wood exposed inside, and the finished glyph is formed. It shows that the protruding bridge of the nose is also lined with wood and decorated with hammer ash. However, it is impossible to verify whether this was the case when Zhenyuan was completed in 19 years, and whether this technology was adopted by future generations to repair it.
drainage system
Leshan Giant Buddha has a very ingenious drainage system. There is a cleverly designed and concealed drainage system behind the ear and head of Leshan Giant Buddha, which plays an important role in protecting the Buddha. So that the Buddha statue will not be eroded by rain. Wang Shizhen, a poet in Qing dynasty, wrote poems about Leshan Giant Buddha? Spring water flows from ancient Buddha bun? . In the bun on the * * *18th floor above the head of the Giant Buddha, there is a horizontal drainage ditch on the 4th, 9th and18th floors respectively, which is decorated with hammer ash, so it can't be seen from afar. Collar and garment line also have pleated drainage ditch, and there is a left-handed disassembled face ditch in the front chest, which is connected with the back ditch of the right arm. Behind the ear, near the cliff, there is a cave with a length of 9. 15m, a width of1.25m and a height of 3.38m; There are two holes at both ends of the chest and back, which are not connected with each other. Right hole depth 16.5m, width 0.95m, height 1.35m, left hole depth 8. 1m, width 0.95m, height1.1m. These wonderful ditches and caves constitute a scientific drainage, moisture-proof and ventilation system, which has played an important role in protecting the giant Buddha and preventing erosive weathering for thousands of years. Due to the confluence of mountain springs, calcareous compounds with a thickness of about 5- 10 cm are condensed on the inner cliff walls of the two caves, while the cliff walls on the Buddha's body side are still red sand and relatively dry. Two caves, the walls of which are separated from each other are wet, and there is water at the bottom, and water keeps dripping out of the caves, so the chest of the giant Buddha is about 2 meters wide. Obviously, this is because the hole has not been penetrated. I wonder why the builder didn't get through.
Chest monument
According to Huang and Luo Hengheng, the person in charge of 1962 maintenance, a closed hidden hole was found in the chest of the giant Buddha. When I opened the hole, I saw it was full of scrap iron, worn lead skin, bricks and so on. In fact, Fengmen Stone is a chronicle of the reconstruction of Tianning Pavilion in Song Dynasty. After the completion of the Great Buddha in the Tang Dynasty, a wooden pavilion was built to protect it from the sun and rain. Judging from the numerous column bases and pile holes left by the knees, legs, arms, chest and instep of the giant Buddha, it is obvious that there used to be a giant Buddha pavilion here. Rebuilding it in the song dynasty is called. Tianning Pavilion? After the destruction. But I don't know when and for what reason, the Tianning Pavilion Chronicle Monument Tang was embedded in the Buddha's chest. Maintenance personnel moved the monument to Haitong Cave for preservation, but it was destroyed in 1966.