Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference	1442
UNESCO region	Asia-Pacific
Coordinates
Inscription history
Inscription	2014 (38th Session)

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Chinese: 大雁塔; pinyin: Dàyàn Tǎ), is a Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China. It was built in 652 during the Tang dynasty and originally had five stories, although the structure was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and its exterior brick facade was 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 traveler Xuanzang.

Surroundings and history

The original pagoda was built during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (r. 649-683), 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; 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 Giant 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.

Gallery

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  Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an, China

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  Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an, China

• Great wild goose pagoda by night.JPG

  Great wild goose pagoda by night

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  Statue of Xuanzang. Great Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an.

• Monk at Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an.jpg

  Monk at Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an. 2011

• Giant Wild Goose 2.jpg

  Close up view of the eaves and exterior bricks

• Grande pagode avalokiteshvara hall.png

  avalokiteshvara hall

• Great wild goose pagoda by night from park.jpg

  view from the park

• Great wild goose pagoda guardian hall.png

  Great wild goose pagoda guardian hall

See also

• Monk Xuanzang
• Small Wild Goose Pagoda
• Chinese pagoda
• Chinese architecture
• Three Pagodas

References

• Benn, Charles (2002). China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Ingles, O.G. "Impressions of a Civil Engineer in China," The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs (Number 7, 1982): 141–150.
• Heng Chye Kiang. (1999). Cities of Aristocrats and Bureaucrats: The Development of Medieval Chinese Cityscapes. Singapore: Singapore University Press. ISBN 9971-69-223-6.
• Watson, William. (2000). The Arts of China to A.D. 900. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08284-3.