Bread
France
Matt. 1:13
"And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;"


The largest stone-carved buddha in the world, the Leshan Giant Buddha was built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. Construction was started in AD 713, led by a Chinese monk named Haitong. He hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued vessels travelling down the river. When funding for the project was threatened, Haitong is said to have gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity. Construction was completed by his disciples 90 years later. Apparently the massive construction resulted in so much stone being removed from the cliff face and deposited into the river below that the currents were indeed altered by the statue, making the waters safe for passing vessels. At 71 metres (233 feet) tall, the statue depicts a seated Maitreya Buddha with his hands resting on his knees. His shoulders are 28 metres wide and his smallest toenail is large enough to easily accommodate a seated person. In 1996, the Mount Emei Scenic Area, including the Leshan Giant Buddha, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshan_Gian t_Buddha). The charm of the Buddha lies not only in its size but also in its architectural artistry. There are 1,021 buns in the Buddha's coiled hair. These buns have been skillfully embedded in the head. The skill is so wonderful that the 1,021 buns seem integral to the whole. Another architectural highlight is the drainage system, which is made up of some hidden gutters and channels, scattered on the head and arms, behind the ears and in the clothes. This system, which helps displace rainwater and keep the inner part dry, plays an important part in the protection of the statue. The large pair of ears, each seven meters (about 23 feet) long, is made of wood and is decorated with mud on the surface. For craftsmen of thousands of years ago, it was not easy to fix these to the stone head. (source: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attracti on/sichuan/leshan/buddha_statue.htm and search 'Leshan Giant Buddha'). Leshan (literally meaning "happy mountain" in Chinese) is a prefecture-level city located in Sichuan province, China. It is on the southwestern fringe of the Red Basin in southern Sichuan, about 120 km from Chengdu. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshan). The pavilion at the base to the right of image is a recent addition (within the last 20 years). Image taken from cruise sailing past the statue. 'Photo of the Day' for Webshots homepage on February 28, 2009 - sincere appreciation and thanks to all who have kindly and generously commented on this image from Kam-ming WONG, Hong Kong, China [ By the way, it's a bit tricky for non-Chinese to address us Chinese. My full name is WONG Kam-ming, pronounced in Cantonese (a spoken Chinese language practised in the south, mainly Guangdong Province, incl. Hong Kong, the major proportion of the population of which has roots in Guangdong; the national spoken language is Standard Mandarin or Putonghua, the official modern Chinese spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan, under which my name is spelt WANG Jinming - note that the two characters of the first name are written as one single word in Putonghua). The name is arranged in the typical Chinese way in placing the surname first. For non-Chinese's benefit in reading our names, the first name may be written before the surname, i.e. 'Kam-ming WONG' or 'Kam Ming WONG' (the surname is in high block, though not mandatory, to let one know 'Wong' is the surname, not 'Kam' as those who are unfamiliar with Chinese will find it hard to deciper my surname from the full name written as 'Kam Ming Wong' or 'Wong Kam Ming'). The placement of the surname at the end of the name, however, is not practised in the Putonghua version. 'Wong' is the family name and it is the same character meaning 'king' and 'emperor'. 'Kam-ming' (or 'Kam Ming') is a common first name, which usually comprises two characters. 'Kam' means prosperous and 'Ming' well-lit, hence bright and shiny (in respect of one's future). The two characters of the first name should be taken as one entity and there is sort of no 'second name' in Chinese names as is the custom of the West, i.e. 'Ming' is not a 'second' name, but the second character of the first name. Therefore, on first-name basis, one may address me as 'Kam-ming' or 'Kam Ming' (but not 'Kam'; in a similar vein, one will affectionately call Deng Xiaoping 'Xiaoping', not 'Xiao'); close friends call me 'Ming', the second and last character of the first name, without 'Kam', as is done in general (say, family members or close contemporaries call each other 'Ah X', 'Ah Y', and in my case, 'Ah Ming'); in the way of Putonghua, I may be called 'Lao Wang' (old, age-wise, Wang), as I'm a man near 60, or 'Xiao Wang' (little, age-wise again, Wang or junior, rank-wise, Wang) in my younger days - note the use of surname instead; some foreigners, say in Hong Kong, may prefer to do according to their custom by referring to the initials of the two English characters of the first name, i.e. KM. ]
Chess: "France"