Small Wild Goose Pagoda, Tang dynasty pagoda in Xi'an, China

The Small Wild Goose Pagoda is a square brick pagoda of thirteen tiers, about 43.3 m high, its 11.38 m base rising in closely spaced brick eaves that step out below each tier. Three arched openings run up the centre of the facade, and a larger arched entry with a small tiled roof sits at the base. The interior is a single hollow brick shell with wooden floors and stairs.

The pagoda was built between 707 and 709 under Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, serving the Jianfu Temple's work of translating Buddhist texts brought from India. The temple itself was founded in 684, one hundred days after the death of Emperor Gaozong, and was renamed Jianfusi by Empress Wu Zetian in 690. The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake destroyed the top two of the original fifteen storeys, leaving thirteen and a height of about 43.3 m.

The name distinguishes it from the larger Giant Wild Goose Pagoda; the temple it belongs to was renamed Jianfu Temple by Empress Wu Zetian in 690. The Ming-era bell, cast in 1192 and moved here in the Kangxi period, gave rise to the "Morning Bell at the Wild Goose Pagoda", listed among the Eight Views of Guanzhong.

The pagoda stands inside the Xi'an Museum grounds on the south side of Youyi West Road, outside the South Gate. The museum and pagoda share one compound, so the tower, temple remains and galleries are seen on a single visit. The base has a 3.2 m brick platform with green-stone steps on its north and south sides; the north and south doorways of the first storey lead into the hollow interior.

The north door lintel carries an inscription by Ming official Wang He, dated the 29th day of the eighth month of 1530, recording the tower's earthquake cracks and their later closing. The folk saying that the body "split three times and rejoined three times" is a legendary summary of repeated quake damage and repairs, not self-healing masonry.