Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Situated in the Da Ci'en Temple, about four kilometers from Xian, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is honored as one of the most famous Buddhist pagodas in China.

The Pagoda was originally built in 589 A.D. in the Sui Dynasty. In 652 A.D., Xuan Zang returned from India, where he had spent 18 years studying Buddhism. The entire city celebrated his return. The crown prince Li Zhi sponsored a repair project on the temple In 648 A.D., as a symbol of thanksgiving to his mother for her kindness, renamed Temple of Great Mercy and Goodness.

As for the reason why it is called Big Wild Goose Pagoda, there is a legend. According to ancient stories of Buddhists, there were two branches, for one of which eating meat was not a taboo. One day, they couldn't find meat to buy. Upon seeing a group of big wild geese flying by, a monk said to himself: 'Today we have no meat. I hope the merciful Bodhisattva will give us some.' At that very moment, the leading wild goose broke its wings and fell to the ground. All the monks were startled and believed that Bodhisattva showed his spirit to order them to be more pious. They established a pagoda where the wild goose fell and stopped eating meat. Hence it got the name 'Big Wild Goose Pagoda'.

The temple, with 13 separate courtyards, contained 1,879 magnificent-looking rooms altogether . When the Wild Goose Pagoda was finished in 652 A.D., it possesses five stories 60 meters in height. The decay of the earth-cored pagoda caused the new construction of a 10-storey pagoda from 701 to? 704. The halls and rooms that have survived the ages are structures that were built in the Ming Dynasty. Today the pagoda remains 7-stored, 64-meter-high.


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