Anshan Jade Buddha

Front view of Anshan Jade Buddha

Rear view of Anshan Jade Buddha

Anshan Jade Buddha (Chinese: 鞍山玉佛苑; pinyin: Ānshān Yùfóyuàn) is the largest jade Buddha statue in the world. It is located in a large temple complex of 22,104 square metres situated beside Dongshan Scenic Reserve within 219 park of Anshan City in Liaoning province, China.

The statue was sculpted from a piece of jade 7.95 meters high, 6.88 meters wide, 4.10 meters thick, weighing 260.76 tons.^[1] The front of the stone has been carved with an image of Sakyamuni(aka. Gautama) Buddha. On the back of the stone Guanyin (aka. Avalokitesvara) Buddha has been carved. The jade stone was found on 22 July 1960 in Xiuyan County of Anshan which is known as the "hometown of jade" (Xiuyan jade is not really jade, but serpentine). It was declared a treasure of the State and listed as a protected property by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. Anshan city government commissioned the carving which took a team of 120 sculptors 18 months to complete. The temple complex was opened on the 3rd of September 1996. The building that houses the Jade Buddha statue is 33 metres tall, representing the 33 layers of heaven in Buddhism. It claims to be one the tallest buildings of ancient Chinese architectural style in China.^[2]

References

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Coordinates: 41°05′58″N 123°00′43″E / 41.09944°N 123.01194°E / 41.09944; 123.01194