Sian (Xiʾan, ‘Western Peace’). Major Chinese city (capital of Shaanxi province), frequently the capital of China, near which (30 km. to the east) the vaults of the Terracotta Warriors were discovered in 1974. When the Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi unified China in 221 BCE, he established his capital to the east of Sian and began to build a magnificent palace on the site of present-day Sian: it was then known as Chang'an. The warriors were discovered in his tomb—more than 8,000 in number. Sian also contains the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, in imitation of a pagoda of the same name in India: the name is derived from a time when some starving Buddhist monks prayed for food and a wild goose fell out of the sky. In gratitude, they buried the goose instead of eating it, and built a temple on the spot. It is one of the oldest (originally built in 652) buildings in China (restored during the 1950s). The Little Goose Pagoda (707–9) was early destroyed in war; the rebuilt Pagoda was damaged by earthquake in the 16th cent., but was repaired and reopened in 1977.

Sian See Xian