XI'AN, CHINA: THE GREAT WILD GOOSE PAGODA

One of the historical figures we knew nothing about before this trip but whom we came to really admire and appreciate was a Chinese monk named Xuanzang (pronounced Schwen-zong) who lived from 602-664 AD. He traveled along the Silk Road and throughout India for sixteen years as he studied Buddhism, and when he finally returned to China, he brought back hundreds of sutras, or Buddhist texts, which he translated from Sanskrit and which had a huge impact on Chinese Buddhism. Here he is:

A five-story, 175-foot-tall pagoda (a tiered tower with multiple eaves) was built in 652 AD to house the manuscripts brought to China by Xuanzang and to provide a place for him to translate them. The original building started to decay almost immediately, and a new 10-story pagoda was built from 701-704 AD with mud and bricks and no cement. However, wars and the 1556 earthquake damaged THAT building, and during its restoration three stories were removed, leaving the current seven-story, 200-foot-tall pagoda that still stands today. This site is a huge tourist attraction for the Chinese people, who were the majority of those visiting the day we were there:

Here is my favorite American posing with the tower:

So why name a pagoda after a wild goose? The legend is that there were two branches of Buddhists, one that was vegetarian and one that was not. On a day when the meat eaters had no meat, a group of wild geese flew by. One monk complained, "Today we have no meat. I hope the merciful Bodhisattva will give us some." Immediately, the lead goose suffered a broken wing and fell to the earth. The monks saw this as a sign that they needed to be more pious, so they established a pagoda where that poor wild goose landed and stopped eating meat. That must have been the original pagoda that predated Xuanzang's pagoda by 50 or so years.

Two more of my favorite photos of the pagoda, which was just so darn photogenic:

Our friends Susan and John reflected in the sign:

There are a lot of other things to see at the Wild Good Pagoda temple area. Back in Xuanzang's day, it had thirteen separate courtyards and 1,879 different rooms. These days there are four major courtyards.

This building below looks a lot like the one above, but can you spot the differences (aside from the lack of the smiling couple)?

Our local Chinese guide gave us some background and then turned us loose to explore on our own:

If you see non-Chinese people in my pictures, they were probably part of our group. We did not see very many European/American/Russian tourists other than ourselves anywhere on this trip.

Buildings surrounding the pagoda were mini-temples graced with richly adorned Buddhas:

Similar to Buddhist temples in Japan, outside one of the shrines there is a trough used for burning long sticks of incense:

I found this information on a site called Buddha Groove:
      Incense burning is an ancient religious ritual . . . steeped in symbolism. In Buddhism, it is a sacred offering . . . . The burning of an incense stick resulting in fragrant smoke teaches the necessity to burn away negative qualities within oneself in order to reveal the pure self within.
      The aroma of incense, typically derived from herbs, flowers and other natural sources, purifies the atmosphere and inspires us to develop a pure mind. The fragrance it gives off spreads far and wide, just as a good deed brings benefits to many. Incense rises and dissolves in the air, subtly reminding the viewer of the transient nature of existence.

I think I'm ready to burn some incense myself right now! This is a good example of how another culture's traditions seem odd, perhaps even heathen, but can actually have beautiful symbolism from which anyone can benefit.

Beautiful designs are carved into ramps on the stone stairs. No worries about ADA compliance here.  Food offerings to Buddha outside one of the temples remind me of the book Stealing Buddha's Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen, the memoir of a Vietnamese girl growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who is tempted to sneak a few bites from the food offerings her grandmother dedicates to Buddha in their home:

More food offerings were on display in front of some tiny Buddhas:

That looks like durian in the center. Ugh:

One of my favorite things in the entire complex is this stone dragon, rising out of a bed of pond lilies:

The Chinese love of decorative landscaping is everywhere:

. . . along with distinct Chinese architecture that exudes serenity:

. . . but the modern, busy, cacophonous city looms over even this tranquil park:

Bob and I fell in love with two-humped Bactrian camels on this trip, and we were always on the lookout for their image in art:

I wish I had better pictures of these phenomenal wall panels, protected from curious touches by a panel of glass. The detail and perspective is incredible. Compare this to the flat, clunky European painting of the Middle Ages:

Other walls in the same room are covered with intricate wood carvings (also behind glass). Three-dimensional figures pop out from detailed backgrounds:

Even the floor tiles are exceptional, seen here close-up:

. . . and next to my foot for size perspective:

BABAR!! How I wish I could take you home with me:

Too heavy for my suitcase? Okay, I'll settle for one of these elephant stools:

One of the buildings contained a bronze statue of "the Buddhist rabbi" Xuanzang. Some English text on-site describes him "as majestic as a god and as beautiful as a picture." I love this photo of a little Chinese girl admiring the great monk:

He does look like a pretty nice guy, don't you think?

The stone walls that surround him are relief sculptures depicting the beliefs of Buddhism :

One can never have too many Buddhas, and hundreds of them line the ceiling panels:

I love these Chinese versions of the Catholic cathedral gargoyles, but actually the Catholic versions may have been based on these earlier Chinese water spouts:

I started my "Funny Signs" collection at the Wild Goose Pagoda:

The Great Wild Goose Pagoda was the first in a long list of spectacular sites on this trip that I had never heard of, which is one of the things I love about traveling in places outside the usual American checklist.

Of course, if you are all "Chinesed-out" at the end of a day split between the Terracotta Warriors and the Wild Goose Pagoda, there are always options (but not ones we took):