大雁塔英文导游词

　　Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I’m your local guide . Here we arrive at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. This is the Cultural coordinate of the Qujiang New District and a Landmark Building in the ancient city of Xian. The sceneries are including the big wild goose pagoda, the da ci’en temple and the south and north squares.

　　In the center of the south square is the bronze statue of Monk Xuan Zang.Wearing a cassock, holding the staff, presenting a imposing appearance, we can simplely imagine , the master xuan zang are on a hard journey , firmly in pursuit of truth. Behind it are the da ci’en temple and the big wild goose pagoda.

　　Originally built in the Sui Dynasty, the temple was named Wulou Temple. Then, Crown Prince Li Zhi of the Tang Dynasty, in order to commemorate his mother, sponsored a repair project on the temple and named it Da Ci’en Temple. It was a typical Mahayana temple for the royal family. The Da Ci’en temple was destroyed in a war at the end of the Tang Dynasty. Only the pagoda was left intact. The present buildings in the temple were built in the Ming Dynasty. But now it covers only one seventh of the original area it did in the Tang Dynasty.

　　Now look at the 3 main entrance gates. In Chinese, we call it “Shan men” means mountain gate. In the ancient times the Buddhist temples were usually built among the mountains.

　　Walking north forwards, there are two small buildings. The one on the east side houses a bell, and the one on the west side houses a drum. The bell and drum towers are the (characteristic) landmarks of a temple. They were used to mark time for the monks in the temple. The bell is rung in the morning and the drum is struck at dusk.

　　The Great Hall is the center of the temple. Inside it, there are three buddhas of Sakyamuni. The one in the middle is called Fashen Buddha, which means the truth and law. The one on the west side is called Baoshen Buddha, and the one on the east side is called Yingshen Buddha.

　　After we visiting the great hall, we come to another core building--- the doctrine chamber(法堂)where the amitabha buddha is worshiped. It is said that at the word of the amitabha buddha, one will be led to paradise upon his death. This rubbing is called “xuan zang on his way back to chang’ an”.  With rolls of scriptures on his back, a pair of straw sandals on his feet and an oil lamp on top of the rolls, xuan zang is making his way back to the capital.

　　Well, let’s know something about the famous monk in Chinese history, Xuan Zang. He was both a great translator and traveler. He had spent 17 years in India studying Buddhism. And when he came back to Chang’an, he had taken back more than 600 volumes of Buddhist scriptures. His “travel in the western regions” was based on what he had witnessed in about 128 countries and regions. And Xuan zang stayed in the da ci’en temple for 12years and translated more than 1000 volumes of buddhist scriptures. In prise of the master’s dedication to buddhism, emperor tai zong and the crown prince li zhi respectively built two famous tablets for him.

　　Now we come to the foot of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Originally the pagoda was a five-story construction. And then it increased to be ten stories. But the war made the pagoda almost to ruins, so it was rebuilt with a seven-story structure. This pagoda is an architectural marvel. It was built with layers of bricks but without any cement in between. It’s indeed a good reflection of people’s wisdom and talent in ancient China.

　　Well, Engraving autographs on the walls of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda became the custom in the Mid-tang Dynasty. All the successful candidates who passed the imperial examinations would climb up the pagoda and write poems and inscriptions to indicate that he would have a soaring career in the future. The poem from the famous poet bai juyi is especially widely known by us. Now we can still climb the pagoda and enjoy the sight of the old capital.

　　On the top you can have a bird’s view of Xi’an and also a view of the gardens around. To the north of the pagoda, there is the largest public square in Xi’an and also in China. Everyday we can see the largest music fountain playing there at a certain time. The square is also surrounded by architectural imitations of Tang Dynasty. What’s more, it is not only provides citizens with leisure space, but also improves the environment and enhances the overall image of the city.

　　Not far from the pagoda, we can see another beautiful garden that is the Tang Paradise. It is a cultural theme park in the Tang style of an original royal garden. It has many new records: the largest movie on water screen in the world, the first theme park of five senses which includes sight, sound, taste, touch and smell , the biggest outdoor fragrance project  in the world ad the biggest reproduction of the Tang royal garden in China. If you are interest in that, we can also have a visit this afternoon.

　　Ok, everyone, so much for this today. We still have some free time. We’ll leave at 2 o’clock, so please do not be late! And I’ll stay here, if you have any questions, you can ask me. By the way, watch your step please! Ok, it’s your turn. You can look around and enjoy yourselves. Thank you for lestening.