Lushan County (simplified Chinese: 鲁山县; traditional Chinese: 魯山縣; pinyin: Lǔshān Xiàn) is a county in Pingdingshan, in southwest-central Henan Province, China, with a population of 830,000. This county is known for housing the Spring Temple Buddha, a giant statue of Buddha.
As of 2012, this county is divided to 4 subdistricts, 5 towns and 15 townships.
Religion in China is diverse and most Chinese people are either non-religious or practice a combination of Buddhism and Taoism with a Confucian worldview, which is collectively termed as Chinese folk religion.
The People's Republic of China is officially an atheist state, but the Chinese government formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism are recognized separately), and Islam. All religious institutions in the country are required to uphold the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), implement Xi Jinping Thought, and promote the Religious Sinicization under the general secretaryship of Xi Jinping. According to 2021 estimates from the CIA World Factbook, 52.1% of the population is unaffiliated, 21.9% follows Chinese Folk Religion, 18.2% follows Buddhism, 5.1% follow Christianity, 1.8% follow Islam, and 0.7% follow other religions including Taoism.
The Zhongyuan Buddha (Chinese: 中原大佛; pinyin: zhōngyuán dàfó; lit. 'Big Buddha of the Great Plains' and simplified Chinese: 鲁山大佛; traditional Chinese: 魯山大佛; pinyin: Lǔshān dàfó) or better known in English as the Spring Temple Buddha is a colossal statue depicting Vairocana Buddha located in Foquan Temple (Chinese: 佛泉寺; pinyin: fó quán sì; lit. 'Buddha Natural-Spring Temple') in the Zhaocun township of Lushan County, Henan, China, built between 1997 and 2008. It is located within the Fodushan Scenic Area, close to National Freeway 311. At 128 metres (420 ft), excluding a 25 metres (82 ft) lotus throne, it is the second-tallest statue in the world after the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, India, which surpassed it in 2018 with a height of 182 metres (597 ft).