Xi’an – Big Goose Pagoda
Xi’an (or Chang’an, as it was known then: the latter means long peace, the
former means western peace) was capital of the empire at the time when
Buddhism made its way into China, along the Silk Road (of which Chang’an was the eastern terminus for its earliest history). This pagoda was originally built in 652 to house the first Buddhist scriptures brought from India to China. These were brought by the monk Xuan Zang, whom you see in the (contemporary, of course, since one doubts it would have survived the cultural revolution had it existed then) statue. He was the first monk to leave China seeking India to bring back the great words and works of Buddhism, and it’s his journey that inspired the Journey to the West.
Great Mosque of Xi’an
Some of you may remember the one little photo I had of the mosque in Xiahe from my August trip to Ningxia and Gansu, and my report of the beautiful mosques that blend Chinese and Islamic architectural traditions. Sadly, I got very few photos of those mosques since my camera batteries were low and the few I took came out poorly. So I made up for it with a few extra shots of this mosque, which is apparently one of the largest in China. Naturally I could not enter the main prayer hall (it’s one of he shots you’ll see after this, with a woman in a pink coat standing in the shot), but the grounds are nice even in the winter: I suspect in the summer the gardens must be lovely.
Little Goose Pagoda
Less fully restored, and less touristed than the complex that holds Big Goose Pagoda, is Little Goose Pagoda, which feels almost dainty when conpared to the massiveness of Big Goose Pagoda. Like Big Goose, it was also built in 709 to house Buddhist manuscripts brought from India by another monk. It’s quite lovely, and can also be climbed all the way up to the roof, though apparently the original top was knocked off in an earthquake in the 16th century. In the next set you’ll see a few shots taken either from inside or the top of Little Goose, as well as some other atmosphere shots of the grounds of the complex.
(so much world, so little time....) 