The pagoda, located south of Youyi Road in Xi'an, was originally Jianfu Temple in Chang'an city. It was built in 707 during the Tang dynasty. Just like the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, it was an important landmark in Chang'an, capital of the Tang Dynasty. Since it was smaller and built after the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, it was named the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. It was built in 707 during the Tang Dynasty with its architecture representing Tang style architecture.
This square, brick structure is fifteen stories and 46 meters tall at the time it was built but it is now a bit shorter after its steeple was destroyed. Its first story is larger at 11.38 meters length and wide with the north and south doors framed in black stone carved expertly with images of enlightened Buddhists and nature. These carvings were made in the classic artistic style of the early Tang Dynasty. The pagoda's other stories are a lot shorter with small windows on the north and south sides.
From the outside, the pagoda tapers slowly from the bottom and then tapers more visibily after the fifth floor. Inside the pagoda is a winding flight of wooden steps that are very narrow. The Pagoda does not have a viewing platform at the top so there is not much reason to go to the top.
The pagoda was made quite early and is not very structurally stable. Because of the small windows all being on the same side, the pagoda is weak on these sides and cracked down the middle during an earthquake in 1487 during the Chenghua period of the Ming dynasty. After this, pagodas were built with windows on alteating sides to avoid this structural problem. This pagoda's crack miraculously repaired itself during another earthquake in 1521 during the Zhengde period of the Ming dynasty.
However, the pagoda was still very weak structurally and became more damaged as time went on. In 1965, the people's govement repaired the pagoda and enhanced the strength of the structure. They also set up an office in the pagoda to hold artifacts in the pagoda.
