Giant Wild Goose Pagoda
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Chinese: 大雁塔; pinyin: Dàyàn tǎ, lit. 'big swan goose pagoda'), is a monumental Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It was built in c. 648 – c. 649 during the Tang dynasty and originally had five stories. It was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and its exterior brick façade was renovated during the Ming dynasty.
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda | |
| Official name | R06–CN Great Wild Goose Pagoda |
| Location | Xi'an, Yanta District, Shaanxi, China |
| Part of | Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor |
| Criteria | Cultural: (ii), (iii), (v), (vi) |
| Reference | 1442 |
| Inscription | 2014 (38th Session) |
| Coordinates | 34°13′11″N 108°57′34″E |
Location of Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in China | |
| Giant Wild Goose Pagoda | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
"Large Wild Goose Pagoda" in Chinese characters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 大雁塔 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
One of the pagoda's many functions was to hold sutras and figurines of Gautama Buddha that were brought to China from India by the seventh-century Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator Xuanzang. Today, the interior walls of the pagoda feature engraved statues of Buddha by the renowned 7th-century artist Yan Liben.
This pagoda was added to the World Heritage List, along with many other sites along the Silk Road, as part of the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" site in 2014.