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Buddhism is on the rise once again, partly perhaps because its positive attitude feels well-suited to an emerging superpower.
佛教在此復興部分原因，可能源于它的積極態度很適合崛起中的超級大國的需求。
Particularly popular is the Zen form of Buddhism.
佛教中的禪宗在這里尤為盛行。
Little surprise given that Zen, although now typically associated with Japan, started off life in China.
雖然現在一提到“禪”常常會聯想到日本，但它最早起源于中國。這點并不讓人意外。
And I'm going to explore Zen in one of the places in the world where it is most vigorous...Hong Kong.
接下來，我將去探尋世界上“禪”最為興盛的地方之一——香港。
Our sixth wonder is the giant Buddha that overlooks this great Asian city.
我們來到的第六個圣地，就是俯瞰這座亞洲大都市的天壇大佛。
This mammoth bronze statue was completed in 1993.
這尊巨大的青銅佛像于1993年建成。
It symbolises the relationship between man and nature, people and religion.
他象征了人與自然的關系，以及人與宗教的關系。
The building of the giant Buddha in Hong Kong was a reassertion of an old Buddhist tradition of constructing massive Buddhist images.
這尊坐落在香港的巨大佛像，表明修筑巨型佛像這一佛教傳統的回歸。
And the monks who initiated the project in Hong Kong had visited Japan,
當年啟動這一計劃的香港僧侶們拜訪了日本和中國大陸的許多地方，
and they'd visited various sites in mainland China and seen medieval massive images of Buddhas.
也參考了許多古代的巨型佛像造型。
And this was something they were trying to re-create in Lantan.
這就是他們想要在大嶼山修建的佛像。
It's the only statue of Buddha to face north towards Beijing,
這是唯一座面向北方、遙望北京的佛像。
and is named Tian Tan after the Temple of Heaven in that city.
“天壇大佛”之名也是取自北京天壇。
When Buddhism first starts out, it seems that people actively choose not to represent the Buddha figuratively.
在佛教傳播之初，人們刻意不去把佛陀的形象具體化。
But then as the philosophy passes through regions like Afghanistan,
但是當它傳播到阿富汗等地時，
which had a really strong Greek influence, thanks to the invasion of Alexander the Great,
這些地方由于亞歷山大大帝的入侵而深受希臘文化影響。
it becomes the done thing to represent the Buddha in human form.
在此影響下，人們開始用人類的形象來描繪佛陀的樣貌就變得順理成章了。
Now, once the belief system enters China, a new tradition gains popularity.
而當這種信仰體系進入中國時，一種新的做法流行開來。
Not just to represent the Buddha in human form, but to do so on a monumental scale.
即不僅用人的形象來表現佛陀的樣貌，還把佛像的尺寸變得巨大。
And that's an art form that's now being revived here in Hong Kong.
如今這藝術形式在香港得到重生。
