Great Wild Goose Pagoda Introduction

(1) Contribution to the Silk Roads' OUV

Great Wild Goose Pagoda was built in the 8th century AD to preserve the sutras and Buddhist figurines brought from India by Xuanzang via the Silk Roads. It is the earliest and largest one among extant square pavilion-style brick pagodas of Tang Dynasty. It also typifies the transmission and localization of Buddhist architecture along with the Buddhism dissemination in Central China. Da Ci’en Temple, where the pagoda locates, whose construction was instructed by the royalty and presided over by Xuanzang, was the most famous and splendid temple as well as one of the three major sutra translation centers in Chang’an city of Tang Dynasty. 115Great Wild Goose Pagoda is a landmark for the Chang'an city which is among the initial cities of the Silk Roads.

(2) General Information

Great Wild Goose Pagoda is located in Yanta District, Xi’an, Shaanxi province today, i.e. the south

of Chang’an city in Tang Dynasty. It is also known as Da Ci’en Pagoda. The Pagoda was built in 652 AD and then was rebuilt in 701 AD. The pagoda we see now is a renovated one in Ming Dynasty (1604). Great Wild Goose Pagoda was a seven-floor square-shaped brick building built on a square brick base. The square base is 45.5-48.5 meters long and 4.2 meters high. The pagoda is 64.1 meters high (pagoda base counted in). The ground floor of the pagoda is 25 meters long with four arches. Two stone tablets were embedded on both sides of the south door, inscribed “Da Tang Sanzang Shengjiao Xu” written by Emperor Taizong and “Da Tang Sanzang Shengjiao Xu Ji” by Emperor Gaozong.

(3) Attributes

Great Wild Goose Pagoda was built in the 7th to 8^th century to preserve the sutras and Buddhist figurines brought from India by Xuanzang back to Chang’an, via the Silk Roads. Xuanzang (602 - 664), an eminent monk in early Tang Dynasty, traveled along the Silk Roads for 18 years (from 627 to 645) to the Indian Peninsula to seek for Buddhism essence. He left his footprints all over Tianzhu (Chinese name for ancient India meaning heaven)116 and was able to bring back a large number of Buddhist scriptures, which were later translated by him. Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty, dictated by Xuanzang and recorded by his disciple Bian Ji, was Xuanzang’s travel journal, which is a precious record of contacts among China, Central Asia and India. According to inscriptions on tablets in Great Wild Goose Pagoda, the pagoda was built to preserve the Sutras and Buddhist figurines brought back by Xuanzang. Two preserved stone tablets “Da Tang Sanzang Shengjiao Xu” and “Da Tang Sanzang Shengjiao Xu Ji” further confirmed the close association between Great Wild Goose Pagoda and Buddhism dissemination along the Silk Roads.

The construction of the Great Wild Goose Pagoda was an evidence of the eastbound spread of Buddhism and Buddhist architecture from India to China. Its original version imitated stupas in the Western Regions. It was made of rammed earth inside and brick exterior facades, and cannot be climbed. In each floor there kept a Sarira. Xuanzang presided over its construction. Through later dynasties’ alterations and repairs, the original stupa style evolved into brick pagoda with imitation wood structure of Central China architectural features. People could climb up the pavilion-style pagoda through stairs. This process vividly illustrated the dissemination of Buddhist architecture into China and its gradual localization.