According to the ancient records of Low-tsz, in the fourth year of Wang-ming,—Fow-to, whose name was Cheng-oo, reverently vowed by the three lives of Buddha that he would make the image of Me-leh—the name of one of these gods; and in the second month of the twelfth year of Tien-cam, of the Leong Dynasty, he made a commencement with his chisel—laying out the divine abode,—110 chak (Chinese feet) high,—70 broad and 50 deep. The body of his Buddhistic majesty was to be 100 chak high, seated upon a throne 56 chak broad. His face from the commencement of the hair on the forehead to the chin was 18 chak,—about 22 chak long, and broad in proportion.
His eyes were 6 feet 3 inches long, his eye brows 7 feet 5 inches his ears 12 feet, and his nose 5 feet 3 inches, his mouth 6 feet 2 inches.—From where his hair commenced to the top of his his head, was 13 feet; his fingers and palm were 12 feet 5 inches long,—broad 6 feet 5 inches;—his feet were of like measurement;—his knees spread apart 45 feet, and the whole figure was beautiful and dignified, resembling a living being of the age of thirty two years. It was altogether most complete.
In the fifth year of Ham Peng,—Tuen-tung made a journey to Teen-toey, and as his way lay by the Mountain he ventured on an inspection of this wonderful image of such extraordinary dimensions. The sight of it induced profound reflection. Beside this image, which is in the district of Ka-seng-peng, under the whole heavens there can be no other to equal it.* Therefore he determined to engrave the idol's dimensions on a stone, in order to preserve a
* Were the dimensions given in this memoir correct, which they are not—the image, large as it is, would be under the proportions of the old Colossus of Rhodes.
