| Big
Goose Pagoda - Dayanta (648, expanded 704)
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Dayanta, informally known as the "Big Goose Pagoda", is one of two Tang-dynasty pagodas that still stand in Xian. It was built during the reign of Emperor Xuan Zun to store sutras and statues brought from India by Xuan Zang (604-662), a Chinese pilgrim monk immortalized in "The Monkey," a Chinese literary classic. Standing seven stories tall (64 meters), the pagoda towers over the surrounding landscape and the Dacien temple complex that has grown up around it. Originally it was a brick structure five stories tall, but in the year 704 the two additional stories were added. The outer walls of the temple were added in the Ming dynasty.
The famous Chinese poet Tu Fu recorded his impressions of the pagoda in the year 752 in his work "On Going to the Top of the Pagoda of the Tz'u-en Monastery with a Party of Friends". He wrote:
Its high pinnacle pierces
the boundless blue,
A violent wind is blowing
without a pause.
The design of the pagoda was, of course, influenced by earlier styles, and in turn influenced pagoda development after its construction. Although the pagoda is built completely of stone, it is decorated with stylized wooden column motifs. Pagodas like Dayanta were common in the Xian area 1,300 years ago. They inspired generations of Korean builders, who built such temples as Bunhwangsa and Hwangnyongsa based on Tang designs.
Bibliography:
All images copyright 2001 Professor Kerk L. Phillips of Brigham Young University, Utah, USA. Visit his webpage at www.pomosa.com
Boyd, Andrew. Chinese
Architecture and Town Planning: 1500 B.C. - A.D. 1911
Holmesdale Press Ltd., London.
1962