The Little Wild Goose Pagoda

The Little Wild Goose pagoda stands in the grounds of the Jianfu Temple in the south of the city. The temple was established in 684 under orders from Empress Wu Zetain to pay respects to her deceased husband Emperor Gaozong. As an imperial temple little expense was spared and it attracted many notable Buddhist figures including the monk Yijing who played an integral part in the temple’s early development. Yijing was famous for making a sea voyage to India in 671 in search of a true Buddhist principle. He returned over twenty years later with about 400 Sanskrit scriptures and settled at the temple where he translated fifty-six volumes and wrote a biography of the Tang dynasty monks who set out to find the Buddhist truth. Between 707 and 709 a fifteen storey spindle-shaped brick pagoda was built to house Yijing’s scriptures. Although newer and smaller than the Big Wild Goose pagoda, the Little Wild Goose Pagoda was considered more refined. Its lintels were carved with beautiful imagery and small arched windows faced north and south. Over the next millennia the pagoda endured repeated earthquake damage. The earthquake of 1556 split the pagoda right down the middle forcing it the shed two storeys. This apparently could have been avoided if the windows were positioned on alternating sides. In 1563 another earthquake closed the crack, creating the impression that it had been magically healed. Despite relentless punishment the structure never actually collapsed. The secret to its longevity was exposed in 1965 when extensive renovations unearthed its unique foundations. The base of the pagoda was constructed from packed earth in the shape of a half hemisphere thirty meters below the ground. In the center of the packed earth, stone blocks provided ballast for the large brick base. With every seismic shift the stress loads were divided evenly.