Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Situated inside Ci’an（Thanks-giving）Temple，four kilometres south of Xi’an City，is one of the famous Buddhist pagodas in China.Sponsored by Tang Emperor Gaozong（628-683，reigned 650-683），the temple was first built in 652 during the Tang Dynasty as a symbol of thanksgiving to his mother for her kindness who had suffered in early death.To protect the scriptures and statues he brought back from India，Xuan Zang（602-664），a famous Tang monk，made a proposal to the court for a pagoda to be buit inside the temple.The proposal was accepted and a pagoda，named the Big Wild Goose Pagoda was first erected in 652 during the Tang Dynas-ty.

The pagoda experienced many vicissitudes in the past centuries.The present structure boasts five storeys with 59.9 metres in height and the base of the pagoda is 4.2 metres totaling 64.1 metres in height.Legend relates that one day a group of big wild geese flew over，suddenly one of them dropped from the sky and died on the ground.Monks were-at a loss and did not know what to do.They said that the dead wild goose was a Buddha.They buried the goose and a pagoda was erected，hence the name，the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.The Big Wild Goose Pagoda of Xi’an is a structure of imposing grandeur.

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