| as the symbol of the old-line xian, big wild goose pagoda is a well-preserved
ancient building and a holy place for buddhists. it is located in
the southern suburb of xian city, about 4 kilometers (2.49 miles)
from the downtown of the city. standing in the da ci'en temple complex,
it attracts numerous visitors for its fame in the buddhist religion,
its simple but appealing style of construction, and its new square
in front of the temple. it is rated as a national key cultural relic
preserve as well as an aaaa tourist attraction. this attraction can
be divided into three parts: the big wild goose pagoda, the da ci'en
temple, and the north square of big wild goose pagoda.big wild goose
pagoda originally built in 652 during the reign of emperor gaozong
of the tang dynasty (618-907), it functioned to collect buddhist materials
that were taken from india by the hierarch xuanzang.xuanzang started
off from chang'an (the ancient xian), along the silk road and through
deserts, finally arriving in india, the cradle of buddhism. enduring
17 years and traversing 100 countries, he obtained buddha figures,
657 kinds of sutras, and several buddha relics. having gotten the
permission of emperor gaozong (628-683), xuanzang, as the first abbot
of da ci'en temple, supervised the building of a pagoda inside it.
with the support of royalty, he asked 50 hierarchs into the temple
to translate sanskrit in sutras into chinese, totaling 1,335 volumes,
which heralded a new era in the history of translation. based on the
journey to india, he also wrote a book entitled 'pilgrimage to the
west' in the tang dynasty, to which scholars attached great importance.first
built to a height of 60 meters (197 feet) with five stories, it is
now 64.5 meters (211.6 feet) high with an additional two stories.
it was said that after that addition came the saying-'saving a life
exceeds building a seven-storied pagoda'. externally it looks like
a square cone, simple but grand and it is a masterpiece of buddhist
construction. built of brick, its structure is very firm. inside the
pagoda, stairs twist up so that visitors can climb and overlook the
panorama of xian city from the arch-shaped doors on four sides of
each storey. on the walls are engraved fine statues of buddha by the
renowned artist yan liben of the tang dynasty. steles by noted calligraphers
also grace the pagoda.as for the reason why it is called big wild
goose pagoda, there is a legend. according to ancient stories of buddhists,
there were two branches, for one of which eating meat was not a taboo.
one day, they couldn't find meat to buy. upon seeing a group of big
wild geese flying by, a monk said to himself: 'today we have no meat.
i hope the merciful bodhisattva will give us some.' at that very moment,
the leading wild goose broke its wings and fell to the ground. all
the monks were startled and believed that bodhisattva showed his spirit
to order them to be more pious. they established a pagoda where the
wild goose fell and stopped eating meat. hence it got the name 'big
wild goose pagoda'.da ci'en templeda ci'en temple is the home of big
wild goose pagoda. in 648, to commemorate the dead virtuous queen,
royalty ordered the building of a temple named 'ci'en' (mercy and
kindness), for which the status and scale far exceeded all others.
today, with an area of 32,314 square meters (38,648.5 square yards),
one seventh of the original area, it still retains its grandeur.before
the temple, there stands a statue of hierarch xuanzang, the meritorious
hierarch. walking on and across a small bridge, visitors will see
the gates of the temple. with guarding lions, the temple seems stately
for lions were said to function as talismans.Entering the temple you
will see two buildings-bell tower in the east and drum tower in the
west. inside the bell tower hangs an iron bell 15 tons (14.76 gross
tons) in weight. it was molded in 1548 in the ming dynasty (1368-1644).
along the central axis are arranged the hall of mahavira, sermon hall,
big wild goose pagoda, and the hall of xuanzang sanzang. in the hall
of mahavira are three carved statues of sakyamuni, and 18 arhats as
well as xuanzang. the sermon hall is where buddhist disciples would
listen to a sermon. a bronze statue of amitabha is dedicated and a
buddha statue is collected by xuanzang as oblation. the hall of xuanzang
sanzang is north of big wild goose pagoda. in this hall are xuanzang's
relic and a bronze statue of a seated xuanzang. the inner wall is
chiseled with murals depicting this hierarch's story. renowned as
the contemporary dunhuang buddhist storehouse praised by unesco, it
is the biggest memorial of xuanzang.North square of big wild goose
pagodasurrounding big wild goose pagoda, the scenery is also quite
charming, especially the square north of the da ci'en temple. covering
about 110,000 square meters (131563 square yards) plus 20,000 square
meters (23920.6 square yards) of water area, it holds many records:
in asia, it is the biggest tang-culture square, the biggest fountain
and waterscape square, and the largest-scale sculptures area. in the
world, it has the most benches, the longest light-belt, and the largest-scale
acoustic complex.the entire square is composed of waterscape fountains,
a cultural square, gardens and tourist paths. there you can taste
real chinese culture and traditions and fully enjoy the truly attractive
views. with reliefs on the theme of the prosperous tang dynasty, 200-meter-long
(656-foot-long) sculpture groups, 8 groups of sculpted figures, 40
relievos on the land, and 22 styles of musical fountains, it has become
a must-see when you visit big wild goose pagoda. |
|
