The Donglin Giant Buddha

The Donglin Giant Buddha is the world’s tallest bronze statue of Amitābha clad in gold leaf — 48 metres tall, or 81 metres counting its pedestal — standing at Donglin Monastery in Jiangxi Province. It was funded entirely by donations from Buddhist devotees worldwide, and to this day there is no ticket booth at the gate. It is free to visit.

東林大佛是全球最高的鎏金銅鑄阿彌陀佛立像——佛身高 48 公尺，連同基座達 81 公尺——矗立於江西省東林寺。整座大佛全由世界各地佛教信眾捐資鑄成，時至今日，山門前依然沒有售票處：免費參觀。

What and where it is

The statue stands at the foot of Lushan, near the town of Wenquan in Lushan City, about a two-hour drive from Nanchang. It depicts Amitābha Buddha (阿彌陀佛), the central figure of Pure Land Buddhism. Cast in bronze and covered in gold leaf, it reaches 48 metres — roughly a 15-storey building — a deliberate reference to the 48 Great Vows Amitābha made to save all sentient beings. With its lotus throne and three-tier pedestal, the full structure rises to 81 metres, a number that signals completeness and spiritual perfection in Chinese numerology.

大佛立於廬山腳下，臨近廬山市溫泉鎮，距南昌車程約兩小時。它所塑的是淨土宗的核心——阿彌陀佛。佛身以青銅鑄造、外覆金箔，高達 48 公尺，約合一棟 15 層樓，正是阿彌陀佛為普度眾生所發「四十八大願」的寫照。連同蓮花寶座與三層基座，整體高 81 公尺，在中國數理中寓意圓滿與究竟。

Construction began in 2007 and finished in 2013 — funded entirely by donations from Buddhist devotees around the world, with no government money and no corporate investment.

工程始於 2007 年，2013 年竣工——全程由全球佛教信眾捐資完成，未用政府撥款，亦無企業投資。

The school behind it: Pure Land Buddhism

To understand why the statue matters, it helps to know what Pure Land (淨土宗, Jìngtǔ Zōng) is. Among the major schools of Mahayana Buddhism, it is arguably the most widely practised in East Asia. Its central belief is that through sincere recitation of Amitābha’s name — the phrase Nāmó Āmítuófó (南無阿彌陀佛) — a person can be reborn in Sukhāvatī, the Western Pure Land, a paradise free of suffering where enlightenment is far easier to attain than in our world.

要讀懂這尊大佛，先要明白淨土宗（Jìngtǔ Zōng）為何。在大乘佛教各大宗派之中，它大概是東亞信眾最廣的一支。其核心信念是：只要至誠稱念阿彌陀佛名號——「南無阿彌陀佛」——便可往生西方極樂世界（Sukhāvatī），那是一處離苦的淨土，在彼處證悟遠比此世容易。

That simplicity made Pure Land extraordinarily popular among ordinary people, not just monks — and that democratic spirit is exactly why a statue this size could be built from millions of small donations rather than a single patron’s purse.

正因這般簡易，淨土宗在尋常百姓、而非僅僧侶之間格外盛行——也正是這份平民精神，使這般體量的大佛得以靠萬千筆小額捐款鑄成，而非出自某位巨賈之手。

Nāmó Āmítuófó — “I take refuge in the Buddha of Infinite Light.”

南無阿彌陀佛——「皈依無量光佛」。

— The six-syllable recitation at the heart of Pure Land practice · 淨土宗六字洪名

Why here: the birthplace of Pure Land

The Giant Buddha stands beside Donglin Monastery (東林寺), which is no ordinary temple — it is the ancestral home of Pure Land Buddhism, founded here in 386 CE. The pivotal figure was Master Huiyuan (慧遠大師, 334–416 CE), who gathered a community of 123 monks and lay scholars on this mountainside. They pledged to seek rebirth in the Pure Land together, calling themselves the White Lotus Society (白蓮社) — the moment now regarded as the founding of Pure Land Buddhism as an organised tradition.

大佛緊鄰東林寺——這並非尋常寺院，而是淨土宗祖庭，始建於公元 386 年。關鍵人物是慧遠大師（334–416 年），他於此山坡聚集 123 位僧人與在家學者，共結「白蓮社」，同發往生淨土之願——這一刻被視為淨土宗作為有組織傳統的肇始。

For over 1,600 years Donglin has remained a place of pilgrimage. The decision to raise the Giant Buddha here — rather than in a more tourist-accessible city — was a deliberate act of returning to roots.

1600 餘年來，東林寺一直是朝聖之地。將大佛立於此處——而非交通更便的城市——正是一次刻意的歸根之舉。

The monk who made it happen

The driving force behind the statue is Venerable Da’an (大安法師), the current abbot of Donglin Monastery and a well-known figure in Chinese Buddhist circles. A former university professor who became a monk, he has been outspoken about keeping the site free and non-commercial — a stance that lands hard in an era when many Chinese temples and mountain sites charge steep entry fees.

大佛背後的推動者是大安法師，東林寺現任方丈，在中國佛教界聲名頗著。他原為大學教授，後出家為僧，一貫堅持景區免費、不商業化——在許多寺院與名山門票高企的當下，這一立場尤顯分量。

A Buddhist sacred place should never become a profit-making tool.

佛教聖地，決不該成為賺錢的工具。

— Venerable Da’an, abbot of Donglin Monastery · 東林寺方丈 大安法師

What to look for: symbolism

The statue rewards close attention. Amitābha’s right hand is raised in the Abhaya Mudrā — the gesture of fearlessness; the left hangs down, palm open, in the Varada Mudrā — the gesture of granting wishes. Together they convey protection and generosity. He rests on an enormous lotus, the flower that in Buddhism represents purity rising from muddy water — a metaphor for the human capacity to transcend suffering.

大佛值得細看。阿彌陀佛右手上舉，結施無畏印——表無所畏懼；左手下垂、掌心向外，結與願印——表滿眾生願。二印並陳，傳遞護佑與施予。佛身安立於巨大蓮花之上，蓮花在佛教中象徵出淤泥而不染——正是人能超越苦難的隱喻。

• Abhaya Mudrā (right hand, raised) — “fear not”; the Buddha’s protection施無畏印（右手上舉）——「勿怖」，佛之護佑
• Varada Mudrā (left hand, lowered) — the granting of wishes and compassion與願印（左手下垂）——滿願與慈悲
• The lotus throne — purity rising untainted from muddy water蓮花寶座——出淤泥而不染的清淨
• The copper flame-halo — the radiant aureole of the Buddha of Infinite Light銅鑄火焰背光——無量光佛的熾盛光環

The approach: a thousand steps

Visitors ascend roughly a thousand steps along a central axis that threads through a sequence of halls — the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Great Buddha Hall, the Hall of Ultimate Bliss — each a waypoint that builds anticipation before the final reveal of the gold figure against the forested ridges of Lushan. The grounds span about 220 hectares (540 acres), so this is a temple complex, not merely a statue.

遊人沿中軸線拾級而上，約千級石階串起一座座殿宇——天王殿、大佛殿、極樂殿——每一處都是層層鋪墊，直至金身在廬山林嶺前豁然顯現。寺區佔地約 220 公頃（540 英畝），故此處是一整片寺院建築群，而非孤零一像。

Practical information

Cultural takeaway

For international visitors, the Donglin Giant Buddha offers a rare window into living Chinese Buddhism, set apart from the theme-park atmosphere of many tourist-heavy temples. The absence of ticket booths, souvenir hawkers and fortune-telling stalls is genuinely unusual in China’s religious-tourism landscape, and it reflects a philosophical commitment the monks here take seriously. Whether you come spiritually inclined or simply curious about what a community-funded, billion-yuan act of devotion looks like in the 21st century, it is well worth the journey.

對國際旅客而言，東林大佛是一扇難得的窗口，讓人窺見仍在生活之中的中國佛教，迥異於眾多遊客雲集寺院的主題樂園氣息。無售票口、無紀念品叫賣、無算命攤位——這在中國宗教旅遊中實屬罕見，背後是僧團認真持守的一份理念。無論你懷著信仰，還是只是好奇：一項由眾人捐資、耗資數十億元的虔誠之舉，在 21 世紀究竟是何模樣——此行都值得。

Donglin pairs naturally with Lushan itself — the mountain of mist and poets rises just behind it — and with Jingdezhen to the east.

東林大佛與廬山天然成線——雲霧名山就在其後——亦可與東側的景德鎮相連。