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Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

Photo: Alex Kwok · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
Client / Owner
Xuanzang
Year
Completed 652
Access
Tickets required
Typology
Spiritual

The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an was overseen by Xuanzang in 652 at Da Ci'en Temple, to house Sanskrit scriptures he brought from India. Empress Wu Zetian and nobles funded a rebuild around 704. The article names no architect, and credits Yan Liben only with the engraved Buddha figures inside.

It is a square, pavilion-style brick pagoda over a soil core, imitating timber with square pillars, balustrades, arches and dougong brackets. The current height is 210 feet (64.1 m) including its base, up from an original 197 feet (60 m). It was rebuilt as seven stories, and a claimed ten-story phase is debated. A 1604 restoration added a Ming brick cladding.

The tower began tilting in the Kangxi period, and groundwater pumping accelerated it from 1945, reaching about 3.3 feet (1.01 m) by 1996. Well-sealing allowed a partial recovery. UNESCO listed it in 2014, though the text also says 2013. It is a paid attraction.

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