15. Wild Goose Pagoda


Lobby of QuJiang Hotel, Xi'an

Day 13

Today's story must begin with some enthusiastic discussion of the QuJiang Hotel where our group stayed. It was designed as an upscale conference center -- world class, with polished stone, mirrors and dimension. Besides the main buildings which housed the lobby, conference centers and dining rooms, there were least four buildings containing guest rooms, widely separated and connected by walkways through well-maintained gardens. All of these buildings had just two or three stories and no elevators. The complex covered at least the equivalent of two city blocks. While the trek to our room, with luggage, was arduous, there was plenty of help available. I shudder to think what would be the cost of a stay in a similar hotel in the USA. Oh well ... it was buried in the price of the tour!

Our buffet breakfast was between 7:30 and 8:30 AM. Anticipating that we might not be finding much to the liking of our discriminating Western appetites, we felt we needed to eat well ... and we may have been a little obvious.

Today we visited the Wild Goose Pagoda, which seemed to be very near our hotel. Originally built in 589 AD in the Sui dynasty, the temple was named Wu Lou Si Temple. In 648 AD, as a symbol to his kind mother who had died an early death, Emperor Li Zhi, then still a crown prince, sponsored a repair project on the temple. The temple then assumed the present name Temple of Da Ci'en, or Thanksgiving. 

With 13 separate courtyards, the temple contained 1,879 magnificent-looking rooms altogether. However, it went into gradual decay after the downfall of the Tang dynasty. The halls and rooms that have survived that period were built during the Ming dynasty. 

The Tang regime built a chamber for the translation of Buddhist scriptures for the purpose of persuading Master Xuan Zang, who had become widely renowned, to assume the position of head of the temple. It was he that had secretly traveled to India in 629 to study when he had become disturbed by unclarified aspects of Buddhism and was unable to find answers in the few Chinese Buddhist texts available to him.

Though the first leg of his journey was fraught with perils, obstacles, and hardships, Xuan Zang (or Hsuan­tsang) persevered and eventually arrived at the Indian Buddhist Monastery at Nalanda. He studied Indian philosophy, Sanskrit (the language of the Buddhist sutras), and Buddhist philosophy.

Sixteen years after he had slipped out of China, Xuan Zang returned to China. bringing back over 650 volumes of sacred Buddhist texts. Xuan Zang translated some seventy-five texts during his final nineteen years. These translations still comprise over one-fifth of the Chinese Buddhist canon.

Xuan Zang also wrote "The Record of the Western Regions", a travelogue of his pilgrimage. This book has been valuable to archaeologists and historians.

Wu Cheng'en's classic Chinese novel "The Journey into the West", written in 1592, immortalizes Xuan Zang. In the story, the Monkey King is a rebellious sort who is sent to live inside a mountain until he mends his ways. Xuan Zang needs an escort for his trip to India. He asks Buddha to allow the Monkey King to take on the task. The Monkey King has a difficult job since Xuan Zang trusts everyone, including evil spirits disguised as good spirits. The Monkey King would prefer this good man to be a little more cynical and much less innocent. The Monkey King meets terrible forces of evil of every shape and size and defeats them all. The story ends when the group manages eventually to reach the west. The modern story tells of the Monkey King's bravery and ability to resist evil. Originally, the story emphasized the need to be suspicious of everything you hear.

The Wild Goose Pagoda is still used by Buddhist monks who reside and practice their religion here.

There's more of the excitement of Xi'an to come. Stay tuned!

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