The Maitreya belief speaks favourably of secular pleasure, and encourages its believers to create a Pure Land on the earth. China’s Maitreya belief emerged in the Jin Dynasty, and reached its heyday in the Tang Dynasty, during which the Leshan Giant Buddha was carved. In 713, the first year of the Kaiyuan reign of the Tang Dynasty, a monk by the name of Haitong from Guizhou came to the foot of the Lingyun Mountain in Sichuan where the Minjiang, Qingyi and Dadu Rivers meet. Seeing that the local people suffered from floods, Haitong wanted to carve a Buddhist statue into the Lingyun Mountain to prevent floods. Therefore, when the Maitreya belief was popular, the Leshan Giant Buddha was carved, taking 90 plus years to complete, spanning the reigns of Emperors Xuanzong, Suzong, Daizong and Dezong.