Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Big Wild Goose Pagoda Overview

Big Wild Goose Pagoda or Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (Chinese pinyin: Dayan Ta), is a Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China. As the symbol of the old-line Xian, Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a well-preserved ancient building and a holy place for Buddhists. It is located in the southern suburb of Xian City, about 4 kilometers (2.49 miles) from the downtown of the city. Standing in the Da Ci'en Temple complex, it attracts numerous visitors for its fame in the Buddhist religion, its simple but appealing style of construction, and its new square in front of the temple.

This attraction can be divided into three parts: the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Da Ci'en Temple, and the North Square of Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

Among them all, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is the major point of interest. There are two well kept Buddhist pagodas from Tang Dynasty, both in Xian and both in the same name. They are therefore called the Big and Small in terms of their size. Between them, the Big one is more famous and attracts more visitors.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda Surroundings and History

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was built in 652 inside the Buddhist Temple of Grace in Xian during the Tang Dynasty. The Buddhist Temple of Grace was built by King Gaozong in memory of his late mother Empress Wende. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda originally had five stories, although the structure was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and its exterior brick facade renovated during the Ming Dynasty. One of the pagoda's many functions was to hold sutras and figurines of the Buddha that were brought to China from India by the Buddhist translator and traveller Xuanzang, whose statue is still standing in front of the temple area.

The original Big Wild Goose Pagoda was built during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, then standing at a height of 54 m (177 ft). However, this construction of rammed earth with a stone exterior facade eventually collapsed five decades later. The ruling Empress Wu Zetian had the pagoda rebuilt and added five new stories by the year 704 AD. However, a massive earthquake in 1556 heavily damaged the pagoda and reduced it by three stories, to its current height of seven stories. The entire structure leans very perceptibly (several degrees) to the west. Its related structure, the 8th century Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, only suffered minor damage in the 1556 earthquake (still unrepaired to this day). The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was extensively repaired during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and renovated again in 1964. The pagoda currently stands at a height of 64 m (210 ft) tall and from the top it offers views over the current city of Xi'an.

During the Tang Dynasty the pagoda was located within the grounds of a monastery, within a walled ward of the larger southeastern sector of the city, then known as Chang'an. The monastic grounds around the pagoda during the Tang Dynasty had ten courtyards and a total of 1,897 bays. In those days graduate students of the Advanced Scholars examination in Chang'an inscribed their names at this monastery.Close by the pagoda is the Temple of Great Maternal Grace; Da Ci'en. This temple was originally built in AD 589 and then rebuilt AD 647 in memory of his mother Empress Wende by Li Zhi who later became the Tang Emperor Gaozong.

The Pagoda was built on an almost square base of 25 meters on each side and was about 64 meters tall. Its design was based on ancient Indian wild goose pagoda (stupa) and was therefore called the Wild Goose Pagoda.

The Pagoda was a combination of Indian design and Chinese architectural techniques. It was built of brick however imitated the traditional Chinese wood construction method.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda Interest

The entire Big Wild Goose Pagoda is valuable to the studies of Tang Dynasty religion, architecture, carving, painting, calligraphy and so on. Together with the succinct design of the building, it was actually an artistic architectural masterpiece of Tang Dynasty.

Level One - Entrance level

At top of the stone doors, there are beautiful line carvings of the Buddha. At the south entrance, there are two steles bearing essays authored by King Taizong and Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, both scripts by one of the greatest Tang Dynasty calligrapher Chu Suiliang.

Level Two

On the south entrance of level two, there are autographs from Ming Dynasty. I’ll talk about the custom of Wild Goose Pagoda autographs later in this chapter. There are four long posters bearing essays authored by King Taizong and Gaozong of Tang Dynasty.

Level Three

There is a Bronze statue of the Buddha coated in gold. This is one of the most valuable items in the Pagoda. Every visitor must bow at the Buddha. On the walls, apart from the picture of the Buddha, there are calligraphies and poems mainly by famous scholars from Tang Dynasty.

Level Four

There is a model of the Pagoda in the ratio of 1:60 on a wooden stand at the centre. Partial body remains of the Buddha (佛舍利) donated by senior Indian monk is kept inside. This is another extremely valuable item of the Wild Goose Pagoda.

Level Five

There is a stele in shape of Buddha’s foot print with religious patterns of Buddhism. A lot of people consider seeing the footprint to be seeing the Buddha.

Level Six

There are exhibits of poems from five most outstanding Tang Dynasty poets. They once joined hand in hand to visit the Pagoda and created poems while tasting wine. It was one of the most admirable activities in Tang Dynasty.

Level Seven

From the arc-shape windows, you can have a panoramic view of Xian. On the lotus-shape ceiling, there are 14 characters which make up a poem by reading in different ways.On the wall, there hangs Xuanzhuang’s writing which tells stories about how ancient Indians built religious pagodas.