Big Wild Goose Pagoda

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was raised in 652 in the courtyard of the Daci'en Monastery at the request of Xuanzang, who had come back from India with hundreds of Buddhist manuscripts. Here, together with his pupils, he translated the sutras he had brought into Chinese, and the pagoda served as the store for the texts. The original structure was lower, while the present seven tiers, about sixty-four metres high, were laid in brick during rebuildings of the Tang and Ming eras. The tower has leaned noticeably out of true, but it goes on standing and is open for the climb. A monument to Xuanzang is set before the southern entrance to the monastery, and on the northern side spreads a square with a musical fountain.

On the map