30 years ago, Nanjing was contracted to manufacture the world's largest bronze Buddha
Author Wanxiangniu
The Hong Kong Temple of Heaven Buddha was born 30 years ago and was manufactured in Nanjing Chenguang Machinery Factory. The giant Buddha faces Beijing, symbolizing its eternal youth after returning to the motherland. The Giant Buddha sits on the top of Mu Yu Peak, 482 meters above sea level in Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It is the largest open-air seated bronze statue in the world today on a three-story altar with 268 stone steps. The solemn installation ceremony of the Giant Buddha was held on October 13, 1989. This production took 3 years. The bronze statue was completely constructed in 1992 and was entirely manufactured by Nanjing Chenguang Machinery Factory. I once worked at Chenguang Factory and witnessed and learned some little-known things about the Giant Buddha. At that time, employees in all departments of the factory were concerned about and participated in the " world's best " bronze statue manufacturing project. As long as there was a work order for the Giant Buddha project, the employees would "give the green light" and go all out to complete it.
The creation of the Big Buddha is a collective effort of people from all walks of life.
Initially, the original idea of the Big Buddha was to use reinforced concrete as the main material. Later, considering that the beautiful effect could not be achieved, the final choice was to use bronze as the main construction material at a high cost. The bronze statue of the Tian Tan Buddha in Hong Kong is welded from 202 bronze components and weighs 250 tons. The Buddha statue is 23 meters tall. Together with the lotus seat and the base under the bronze statue, the total height is about 34 meters. It is very difficult to create. The Tian Tan Buddha in Hong Kong is designed based on the Thirty-Two Phases of the Tathagata in the Buddhist scriptures. Its face is based on the Lushena Buddha in the Longmen Grottoes , and its clothing pattern and headdress are based on the Sakyamuni Buddha statue in Cave 360 of the Dunhuang Grottoes. Therefore, the Tian Tan Buddha in Hong Kong retains the characteristics of the peak Buddhist statues in the Sui and Tang Dynasties in China.
China's plan to build and manufacture the bronze statue of the Giant Buddha in Hong Kong was first conceived as early as 1973, and planning began that year. On December 26, 1981, the Preparatory Committee for the Construction of the Hong Kong Tian Tan Buddha Bronze Statue was formally established to conduct full-time research on the preparatory work, including the review and approval of the artistic shape, construction materials and construction details of the Buddha statue. Among them, the design of the image of the Big Buddha was revised several times. Only the general engineering design was included, with more than 5,000 drawings drawn.
In May 1986, it was decided that China Aerospace Science and Technology Consulting Company would be the general contractor of the project, which would be manufactured by Nanjing Chenguang Machinery Factory. On October 13, 1989, the bronze wall of the Buddha was installed, and a solemn ceremony was held that day. This production took three years and involved countless efforts from believers, Buddhists, artists, and technical engineers. December 29, 1993 (the 17th day of the 11th month of the lunar calendar) is the birthday of Buddhist Amitabha. Baolian Temple specially chose this day to hold a solemn and grand consecration ceremony for the Tian Tan Buddha. From the beginning, the construction of the Tian Tan Giant Buddha lasted 12 years and was divided into three levels. Because the design referred to the foundation shape of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, it was named "Tian Tan Giant Buddha".
More than two thousand grams of gold were sprinkled into the face of the Big Buddha
I remember that the face of the Big Buddha alone was 42 square meters and weighed more than 5 tons. In order to highlight the high quality of the Buddha's face manufacturing, the brightness of the Buddha's face components is required, and "wrinkles" are never allowed to appear on the Buddha's face. The manufacturing requirements for the Buddha's face are strict. In order not to affect the "Buddha light" of the Big Buddha's face, and to make the Big Buddha's bronze face shine forever, the Big Buddha's face must be made into a complete "component". In order for the project to go smoothly, engineering and technical personnel first create small-area "component" test products, and then manufacture finished components in proportion. This production process is very demanding and has no precedent in the world. It is also the first time in China.
Therefore, in the sand casting workshop, the 42-square-meter Buddha face must also be made into a disposable "sandbox". After the bronze is burned into "liquid copper", it must be cast into the " sandbox" absolutely once Sexual success. 42 square meters, with a gap of only 1.2 cm thickness. Once the "liquid copper" enters the "casting" port, the casting will be completed in a short time of one or two minutes. Otherwise, if the time is exceeded, the molten copper will "solidify" and the casting will fail.
When the face of the Tian Tan Buddha was being cast, people from the Ministry of Aerospace Science and Technology of China and people from the Buddhist community in Hong Kong came to the workshop. After reciting the scriptures, they poured more than 2,000 grams of gold into the "liquid copper". In order to successfully cast the face of the Buddha in one go, the people at Chenguang Factory took the trouble and made many experiments. They started casting small-scale Buddha faces many times, and then gradually expanded the area of the Buddha's face. They were responsible for each process and accumulated experience time and time again. It is known as the crystallization of cutting-edge technology and oriental art.
On the day the Buddha's face was cast, the entire factory was under martial law
Nanjing Chenguang Machinery Factory is a military factory of the Ministry of Aeronautics and Astronautics. At that time, various departments in the factory often promoted confidentiality work. Later, even if civilian products were produced, the military industry workshop and civilian product business department still had certain limitations. Collaborative relationship, so the confidentiality work still needs to be done well. At that time, the whole world was paying attention to whether we could successfully build the world's largest Buddha with our own technology, and the confidentiality work in the factory must be done well. Therefore, on the day when the face of the Buddha was cast, except for the specific operators, technical staff, factory security personnel, troops stationed in the factory who stood guard and patrolled, and factory leaders, all the people in the factory who had nothing to do with the casting of the face of the Buddha were at home for the holidays. The factory area is under martial law.
According to the technical procedures for making bronze statues at that time, artists had to first create a whole plaster statue. Due to the huge scale of the bronze statue, it was first made into a scaled-down plaster statue and then enlarged. After zooming in on the finished plaster statue, we then copied the component drawings of the "Buddha figure" that were made at the production site. Then according to the drawings, a "sandbox mold" was made in the sand turning workshop, and then the molten copper was cast into bronze components. After the 202 bronze components of the Big Buddha are completed, they are shipped to Hong Kong piece by piece, and the last piece is welded and "synthesized" to create the entire Big Buddha.
202 bronze components, each of which has a different shape, size and weight. The smallest component weighs seven to eight hundred kilograms. The large component not only weighs four or five tons, but also has a length and width exceeding the width of a large flatbed truck. Transportation needs to be carried out in the middle of the night and the traffic police will "clear the way".
Employees lined up to take photos in front of the "Gypsum Buddha Statue"
Since Nanjing Chenguang Machinery Factory contracted the Hong Kong Tiantan Giant Buddha project, it has become a topic of conversation among Nanjing people for a while. When I was a child, when I mentioned Chenguang Factory, I thought of a military factory that made guns and fired bullets, called the "Foreign Artillery Bureau", and I felt it was "mysterious". At that time, the military factory did a good job of "secrecy", and the media basically did not report on the manufacturing situation of the Hong Kong Giant Buddha. During those days, the employees working in Chenguang Factory also had a sense of pride. Their relatives, friends, and neighbors often wanted to know about the production of the giant Buddha. It must be the largest bronze Buddha in the world. Such a big event happened in Nanjing, and it was also the pride of Nanjing people. .
At that time, there were no international travel agencies in China that were open to the public, and ordinary people did not have the opportunity to "travel abroad" or "travel to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan." Therefore, it will be an honor for very few Chenguang Factory employees and technicians to take a business trip to Hong Kong. After the business trip personnel return, they will share with everyone the photos they took in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Giant Buddha construction site, although the Giant Buddha is still being manufactured. During the process, photos showed that he had participated in the construction of the project. This not only attracted praise from relatives, friends, and neighbors, but also made colleagues who did not have the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong envy.
So in the craft workshop, before the 1:1 scale half-length "Giant Buddha Plaster Statue" was about to be dismantled, some employees brought their own cameras to take a photo with the "Giant Buddha Plaster Statue" and record this history. The factory stipulated that confidential workshops could not be entered and exited at will. At that time, Chenguang Factory had more than 10,000 employees, and workers from outside the workshop frequently entered his workshop and affected normal work. The factory leaders also understood the mood of the employees and made the decision to take photos for each employee. Therefore, the factory organized a "staggered" time queue to take photos, and a photographer from the "Morning Light News" of the factory's publicity department took free photos of each employee one by one.
The Giant Buddha is supported by a "steel beam skeleton"
The Giant Buddha project starts from the bottom lotus seat and the base. The thickness of the bronze components of the Giant Buddha is only 1.2 centimeters, and the accuracy cannot be sloppy. The components are transported to the construction site, one piece at a time When welding a piece of land, it must be smoothed after welding so that no traces of the welds can be seen. Therefore, it becomes more difficult to weld as you go up. How do people build such a tallest building in the world? The inside of the Buddha is made of high-quality angle steel or profiled steel welded into a "construction frame". There are steps or elevators on the construction frame for the convenience of construction workers. This "construction frame" was retained after the Big Buddha was completed and became a support frame to fix the Big Buddha. It not only plays a safety role in resisting typhoons and never topples over, but also provides convenience for future inspections and maintenance.
