Remodeling the Buddha Statues at Lingyin

In 1954, the Bao Dian Hall of the Yunlin Zen Temple at Lingyin had been refurbished, and the Buddhist Association and the Garden Management Bureau had requested Professors Shi Yan and Deng Bai from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts to design and create the main statue of Sakyamuni Buddha and the island backdrop behind it. At that time, all the statues of Guanyin on the island backdrop had been completed, and the 2-meter-tall mold for Sakyamuni Buddha had been placed in the southeast corner of the hall, ready to be sculpted. It was said that the gilding of the Buddha’s body alone would require 140 jin (around 70 kilograms) of pure gold, reflecting the great importance attached to this project by the government and the Buddhist Association.