Xiaoyan Ta (Little Wild Goose Pagoda) stands in the grounds of Jianfu Si (Jianfu Temple). Dating from 684 CE; this temple was dedicated to the deceased Tang Emperor Gaozong (r. 649-83).

Between 707 and 709 Gaozong's successor; Emperor Zhongzong (r. 684 and 705-710); ordered the construction of the Xiaoyan Ta to house Buddhist scriptures brought back from India and Srivijaya by the itinerant Chinese monk Yi Jing (635-713). In all; Yi Jing is reported to have collected more than 400 Buddhist manuscripts over 25 years of travel; and these were lodged in the Little Wild Goose Pagoda for safekeeping and translation.

In its original form; the ochre-yellow pagoda rose through a total of 15 storeys; though an earthquake in 1487 is said to have split the pagoda in half. A subsequent earthquake brought the two halves of the pagoda back together again - it must have been a fortuitously precise tremor; as no signs of the former split remain visible - but at the cost of the top two storeys; reducing the pagoda to its current 13 levels.

There is a small stele garden to the east of the pagoda. Pictures From Asia David Henley