China: Stone Buddha figures, Xiaoyan Ta (Little Wild Goose Pagoda), Xi'an, Shaanxi Province

Xiaoyan Ta (Little Wild Goose Pagoda) stands in the grounds of Jianfu Si (Jianfu Temple). Dating from 684 CE, this temple was dedicated to the deceased Tang Emperor Gaozong (r. 649-83).

Between 707 and 709 Gaozong’s successor, Emperor Zhongzong (r. 684 and 705-710), ordered the construction of the Xiaoyan Ta to house Buddhist scriptures brought back from India and Srivijaya by the itinerant Chinese monk Yi Jing (635-713). In all, Yi Jing is reported to have collected more than 400 Buddhist manuscripts over 25 years of travel, and these were lodged in the Little Wild Goose Pagoda for safekeeping and translation.

In its original form, the ochre-yellow pagoda rose through a total of 15 storeys, though an earthquake in 1487 is said to have split the pagoda in half. A subsequent earthquake brought the two halves of the pagoda back together again – it must have been a fortuitously precise tremor, as no signs of the former split remain visible – but at the cost of the top two storeys, reducing the pagoda to its current 13 levels.

There is a small stele garden to the east of the pagoda.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia