From Mercyheart Town go through the north gate, crossing the rocky creek, and travel ten miles, where the path…
From Mercyheart Town go through the north gate, crossing the rocky creek, and travel ten miles, where the path forks. Heading east toward Jadebrook Mountain, after another thirty miles, one arrives at Thousand-Buddha Vale.
Originally an unnamed gorge at the foot of Jadebrook Mountain, it abounded in hard stone—thus craftsmen from Mercyheart Town often quarried here to carve Buddha statues. What's more, over a hundred Buddha sculptors, to show their piety, sculpted thousands of Buddhas in the valley: standing or reclining, in all manner of postures. The tallest exceed a hundred feet, exuding majestic dignity—a truly remarkable feat of craftsmanship.
Yet the grandeur of Thousand Buddhas was never completed, for during the Xiande era of the previous dynasty, Emperor Shizong suppressed Buddhism. Since the suppression, the stone carvings remain, but faith has faded, and the thousand Buddhas have been neglected for ages.