Happy Buddha

Leshan Giant Buddha was regarded as a Happy Buddha, or a Laughing Buddha, which in Sanskrit is Maitreya Buddha. The name Maitreya is derived from the Sanskrit maitri, which means friendliness. As he represents the bright future and is considered to be the successor of Sakyamuni 0.68 billion years later, his worship was especially popular during the 4th to 7th century.Even nowadays his images are found throughout the Buddhist world, among which the Leshan Giant Buddha is the most spectacular one.
 
In Buddhist tradition, he is the future Buddha, who will descend to earth to spread a new dharma or law when the teaching doctrins of Sakyamuni Buddha have completely decayed. As you know, the Buddha was built on the confluence of Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi Rivers from 713 to 803 to subdue the turbulent waves,where used to have fatal floods. Local people and Monk Haitong worshipped the budda and believed that the budda could take a hand in, so they carved out the statue of a Happy Buddha and wished he could bless the boatmen there.