Big Wild Goose Pagoda

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a symbol of the old, but also well-preserved ancient buildings, and Buddhist holy places. It is located in the southern suburbs of Xi'an, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the city center. It's an AAAA tourist attraction and was included in the World Heritage List, along with other sites along the ancient Silk Road, on June 22, 2014.

The Da Ci’en Temple is the main body of the complex, with the Big Wild Goose Pagoda as its core structure. Together, they embody the glory of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty and are still cultural landmarks in Xi'an today.

Big Wild Goose Pogoda

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was built in 652, during the Tang Dynasty. And its function is to collect Buddhist material taken from India during the reign of Xuan Zang hierarch.

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was originally built up to 60 meters (197 feet) with five floors. Now up to 64.5 meters (211.6 feet), and another two floors. The external big wild goose pagoda looks like a square cone, simple and magnificent, and is a masterpiece of Buddhist architecture. Built of bricks, its structure is very strong. Inside the pagoda, the stairs twist up so that visitors can climb from the arched door on every side of the floor, overlooking the panoramic view of the city. Yan Liben, a famous painter in the Tang Dynasty, engraved statues. The famous calligrapher's monument also makes this pagoda elegant.

As for the reason known as the Wild Goose Pagoda, there is a legend. In ancient Buddhist history, there are two branches: one forbade the eating of meat, and the other allowed it. One day, they could not find the meat to buy. A monk saw a group of geese flying over and he said, "Today we have no meat, and I hope that the compassionate Bodhisattva will give us some. At that moment, the leading geese fell to the ground. All the monks were scared; they believed the Bodhisattva showed his spirit and made them more pious. So they established a place where the Wild Goose Pagoda fell and stopped eating meat, and named this tower the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

Da Ci'en Temple

Da Ci’en Temple was a royal temple of the Tang Dynasty, first built in the 22nd year of Zhenguan (648) by Crown Prince Li Zhi in memory of his mother, Empress Wende. It served as the ancestral temple of the Faxiang (Yogācāra) school of Buddhism. The temple was vast in scale, covering 342 mu at its peak, with 1,897 rooms, making it one of the grandest Buddhist temples in Chang’an during the Tang Dynasty. Master Xuanzang once presided over the temple and translated Buddhist scriptures here, turning it into a major center of Buddhist culture at the time.

Attractions nearby Big Wild Goose Pagoda