The pagoda is located south of Youyi Road in Xian, in what used to be Jianfu Temple in Anrenfang of Tang Dynasty Chang'an, outside the southern gate of Ming Dynasty Chang'an. Along with the Big Wild Goose Pagoda it was an important landmark in Chang'an, capital of the Tang Dynasty. Since it was smaller and built later than the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, it was named the Small Wild Goose Pagoda.
Jianfu Temple is a famous Buddhism temple in the Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty. It was originally named Xianfu Temple, and renamed as Jianfu Temple by Wu Zetian in 690 (the first year of Wu Zetian Tianshou Era). The temple was the place where the great translator Monk Yijing translated Buddhist scriptures. Yijing set out by sea for India in search of Buddhist principle in 671. On his way back to China with some 400 volumes of holy Sanskirt scriptures after traveling over 30 countries for more than 20 years, he once stayed on Island of Sumatra in Indonesia for investigation. Yijing translated altogether 56 volumes of scriptures in Jianfu Temple and wrote the book Biography of Eminent Monks in the Tang dynasty in Search of Buddhist Truth in India, which was regarded as a companion to Pilgrimage to India by Xuanzang, and of great help to the study of Chinese and Indonesian history and the cultural exchange.
Standing in one of the courtyards of the temple is a large bell 3.55 meters in height, 2.5 meters in diameter along the rim, and 8000 kilogram in weight, dating back to the Jin dynasty (1192). Since the Qing Kangxi Era, it has been regarded as one of 'Guan zhong ba jing' (the 8 sights inside the pass) for the melody of the bell sound because the monks in the temple beat the bell according not only to the correct time, but also to the tune.
The Small Wild Goose Pagoda is the model of the close eave brick towers in the early period. It was built between 707 and 709 (the Tang Zhongzong Jinglong Era), originally with 15 floors. But it's now only 43.3 meters high because the top of the tower had been destroyed in the great earthquake in Shaanxi in 1556.
The Pagoda has a square pedestal and a huge first storey, whose sides measure 11.38 meters long each. Doors on the north and south sides of the first storey have frames built of black stone. Carved on the lintel are images of arhats and designs of grasses, their excellent workmanship reflecting the artistic style of the early Tang Dynasty.
The pagoda has fifteen pent roofs. Each storey is very low with small windows only on the south and north sides to let in light and air. They do not correspond to the floors inside. The eaves are formed by designs in the shape of chevrons and fifteen tiers of overlapping bricks, each tier wider than the one below, thus making the eaves curve inward, a characteristic of multi-eave pagodas in the Tang Dynasty. The exterior of the pagoda tapers gradually from the bottom. From the first to the fifth storey it tapers very little, but from the sixth storey up, it reduces drastically, giving the pagoda a smooth curved contour. The tubular interior of the pagoda has wooden flooring and a winding flight of wooden steps leading to other storeys, but there is little space and it is rather dark inside the pagoda.
The shape and structure of the pagoda are typical of early multi-eave pagodas and influenced many brick and stone rnulti-eave pagodas built later in other parts of the country.
In the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, there are still more than 10 ancient kiosks, platforms, buildings, pavilions halls and houses. Arranged symmetrically and regularly, they are magnificent and solemn. In the garden, there are shading greenery, and old trees on both sides of the path. The compound is very sequestered with exhibition rooms, among which 'Folklore Room' shows the ancient rich colorful folklore culture and popular industrial arts of Shaanxi Province.
