What’s In a Name?

As to the reason why it’s called the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, there’s a legend about it. According to the ancient stories of Buddhists, there were two sects, and for one of the groups eating meat was not a taboo. One day, this group couldn't find meat to buy. Upon seeing a group of big wild geese flying by, a monk said to himself: 'Today we have no meat. I hope the merciful Bodhisattva will give us some.' At that very moment, the leading wild goose broke its wings and fell to the ground. All the monks were startled and believed that Bodhisattva showed them his spirit in order to get them to be more pious. They established a pagoda where the wild goose fell and stopped eating meat completely.Read more