DESCRIPTION OF PEKING. 
 
 / 
 
 BY 
 
 J. EDKINS, D.D. 1 
 
 I — 
 
 SHANGHAI: 
 
 Printed at the “ Shanghai Mercury ” Office. 
 
 X e 9 a . 
 

 
 
SEP 2 8 1954 
 
 DESCEIPTION OF PEKING. 
 
 By JOSEPH EDKINS, d.d. I 2 'i'l- \‘f o^' 
 
 Native Works on Peking — TLe Eivers round Peking — Iinpenal Devotions — The Purple 
 Forbidden City— The Varied Fortunes of Peking — Chinese Thieves — The Emperor’s 
 Palace — Keligions Ceremonies — Temple of Emperors and Kings — Lama Monasteries 
 — Imperial Monuments — Temples and Public Buildings — Sacrifices and Altars — Catholic 
 and Protestant Missions — Embassies — Schools — Catholic Cemeteries — The Summer Palace 
 — The Altar of the Sun — Ming Tombs — The Great Wall. 
 
 The Dative works on Peking are 
 numercna and very full. They are 
 dtficent in maps and drawing, but con- 
 tain details sufficient to satisfy the most 
 industrious antiquary. For example, 
 that called “ Ji-hia-kieu-wen-kan” con- 
 tains IGO chapters, the contents of 
 I which will here britfly mention. 
 
 The first chapter is upon astrology, 
 which is followed by three upon the 
 ancient history of the city and country. 
 It collects passages from dynastic 
 histories and other old bocks. Four 
 chapters on the beauties of Peking 
 are filled with extracts from poetical 
 compositions. 
 
 Twenty chapters are devoted to a 
 description of the palace buildings, 
 including eleven on the palace proper, 
 one of Yung-ho-kong, a large mon- 
 astery containing eleven hundred lama 
 priests, and eight on the west park, 
 describing all the buildings north 
 and Eonth of the marble bridge, all 
 these being within the Tartar city. 
 One chapter gives an account of the 
 palace of the Liau and Kin imperial 
 families ; three, that of the Mongol 
 dynasty; fcur detail the peculiarities 
 of the Ming dynasty, palace, temples, 
 and parks; two chapters then in- 
 troduce the capital city in a general 
 way ; four more are sufficient to 
 describe the imperial city ; and twelve 
 bring to an end the history of the 
 Tartar city, or, as it is called officially 
 by the natives, the inner city ; seven 
 more are found necessary for the 
 Chinese city ; four chapters detail the 
 
 history of the six boards — the board for 
 superintending the affiirs of the imperial 
 family, the chief secrelsry's cffioe, I ha 
 office for foreign dependencies, the 
 court of censors, the literary college, 
 etc, in all, twenty government cffioea. 
 The Confucian temple occupies two 
 chapters, followed by three more on the 
 ten stone drums, preserved fur three 
 thousand years, as old literary monu- 
 ments. The reader then CLCOuntera 
 the history of twelve more public 
 boards, including those of astronomy, 
 medicine, artillery, etc , in three 
 chapters. 
 
 Taking leave of Peking, fourteen 
 chapters describe the imperial porks 
 on the west, north-west, and sentb, 
 and twenty more the suburbs. The 
 rest of the work is devoted to de- 
 ecriptions of the neighbouring cities, 
 with notes on the population, the pro- 
 ductions, the frontiers, and the treat- 
 ment of various questions interesting 
 to the antiquary. 
 
 There is a much smaller work, a 
 manual of Peking, in eight volumes 
 of portable size, wh'ch oonstitutea a 
 valuable guide to the topography of 
 the city and neighbourhood. It is in 
 great part an abridgment of the fore- 
 going work, ar:d bes some poor maps 
 of the palace and inner and outer cities. 
 (Chen, yuen-ch.loi ) By its help, to 
 those who read the written language, all 
 the principal okjeots of interest may be 
 visited in a month, and their uses 
 and peculiarities understood. With a 
 shorter time than this, the traveller 
 
[ 6 ] 
 
 will probably receive very inadequate 
 impreesiona of tbe city. The popnla* 
 tion of Peking, according to foreign 
 eetimate, is above a million, and by 
 native tab’ea is rickoned at two 
 millions and a half; the city embraces 
 twenty. five equare miles within the 
 walls. An ancient government with 
 nnmberleas ramifications of offices and 
 duties, a resident nobility, with re- 
 tainers, a colony of Manchu bannermen 
 wh'cb, IhoDgh kept on starvation 
 allowance, is said to coat £160,000. 
 per month, the connections of China 
 with Tartar y and the outer world, — 
 these, among other things, tend to 
 increase (he importance of Peking. 
 The capital of China is a city notable 
 in itself on many accounts. Its various 
 imptrial buildings, its broad streets, 
 the regularity with which it is laid 
 out, i s extent and populouanes"*, the 
 variety of costumes and equipages seen 
 in its public thoroughfares, make it 
 interesting to every traveller and 
 unique among Asiatic cities. Built 
 on a gently sloping plain, it is sur- 
 rout.ded on three aides by a semi circle 
 of mcuutaina. Westward, several broad 
 roads lead to tbe Western Hil's, wh'cb 
 contain an abundant supply of coal and 
 lime, and are reached in a few hours, 
 being only teu mihs distant from 
 the west wall of the city. Oj tbe 
 north-west the great road to Mongolia 
 and Russi.s, after traversing the plain 
 for thirty miles, pierces the western 
 mountains by the Nan-kow Pass ; to 
 the north-east the road to Jehol, 
 the Empjror’s summer residence, 
 enters the mountainous region through 
 a long valley, and crosses the Great 
 Wall, seventy miles from Peking. 
 Eastward, the mountains bend from 
 the north, bounding the plain thirty 
 miles from the city, till they touch the 
 great eastern road to Manchuria, which 
 reaches the sea, 200 miles from Peking, 
 at Sban-bai-kwan, and skirts the coast 
 of the Gulf of Pechili as it trends 
 eastward on the way to Moukden. 
 
 The rivers round Peking are dis- 
 tributed according to their situation 
 among the astrological divinities that 
 are supposed to dominate the earth's 
 surface as they do human life. Tbe 
 Peibo on tbe east, commencing on the 
 plateau near Lama-miau, passes Tung- 
 chow and takes there the name of Yiia- 
 
 liang-ho, the Grain River : it is under 
 ♦ he Blue D agon. The water from the 
 Wi stern Hills, which fliws from the- 
 Yii isuien-sbau Park cu the north-west 
 of the city, and passes through the 
 palace gardens, is ruled by the White 
 T'ger. The stream which, under the 
 came Hwun-ho, comes out of the 
 webt( ru hills aud is cro33--d on the 
 I S' u'h-weet, seven miles fio a the city,. 
 
 by the Lu keu-chi’su bridge oa the 
 j great road to Pau-ting-foo, is oon- 
 j trolled by the R d Bird. The streams 
 on the north take their dirreiion and 
 I infl lence from the B ack Wairior. 
 j III commeucing this account of 
 , Peking with geomaucy, we wish ta 
 1 do as the Coinese do, in order to 
 impart to it a Chinese colouring. 
 
 I lu several works on the metropolis, 
 after mentioning under what stars of 
 the zodiac it is simttd, native authors 
 procted to describe its advantages in 
 : a geomantic piiut of view The pro- 
 vinca of Chihli has the sea on its 
 south-east, and, as all nature is per- 
 mrated with the ii.fluonc s of the 
 Kwei-sliiu -the b.»ii gs who-ie energy 
 gives shap', contour, and character to 
 tbe world — here is seen pccoliarly the 
 . povv: r of the dragon. The chain of 
 ' Hi' n -tains bounding the province on 
 the tight, aud separating it from Shan- 
 
 ■ si, denotes the iufli'mCc of the White 
 ; Tiger. The pillow on which Chihli 
 
 reposes its head is the Kii jnog pass* 
 to (he northward. It is bounded by 
 the Yellow River aud Tai River on 
 > tbe south. 
 
 ; Peking consists of an inner and 
 I outer, or Manchu and Chinese city. 
 
 ' The Manchu city is forty li in circuit, 
 
 ; or about twelve miles t It forma a 
 ' square, and has niue gates in all, 
 namely, three ou the south side and 
 two on each of the others. The wall 
 is thirty, five feet five inches high 
 : by native measurement or about 
 
 ■ forty feet by ours. It is nearly 
 
 ♦This is a celebrated historical pass leading 
 ; to Kalgan and Russia. It is also called the 
 ' Nankow Pass. There is an arch here of the 
 Mongol dynasty, with a long inscription in six 
 l.mguages, Sanscrit, Tibetan, Mongol, Si-hia, 
 Ouigour, aul Chinese. 
 
 t Length of the walls in Chinese measure- 
 i ment : south, 12,959 feet ; north, 12,324 feet ; 
 
 cast, 17,869 feet; west, 1-5,645 feet; thickness 
 , below, 62, feet ; thickness at top, abcut 34. 
 
C 7 ] 
 
 as thick aa it is high, and ia de- 
 fended by massive bnttresBea at inter- 
 Tals between the gates. The towers 
 are ninety-nine Chinese feet in height, 
 and are very imposing in appearance" 
 There ia one over each gate. That at 
 the middle south gate is the highest. 
 It formerly contained the imperial 
 colleotion of Buddhist works cat on 
 wood, consisting of about six thousand 
 volumes ; but this has been removed to 
 a temple at the north-east angle of the 
 city. The towers, like the walls, are 
 built of briok, and have a large number 
 of embrasures for cannon. Their aspect 
 to the traveller, on approaching, ia 
 very imp 'siog, and I have heard of 
 Europ an visitors diamouTiting from 
 their horses oo arrival, to shake hands 
 and . xpress their gratiScation at reach- 
 ing S') aricieut a city and of so noble an 
 app^'aranoe. 
 
 In the antumn of 1860 one of the 
 pates of the north wall —the An-ting- 
 ttfe — was in the possession of the 
 English and French troops then 
 b“i-ieging the city, after the tliree 
 vic'oii-H of Taku, Chang-kia- wan, and 
 P»-li-c.hi u When officers of the 
 Br. listi army saw the massive thickness 
 of the walls, they began to donbt 
 whether their artillery «on'd have 
 been able to baiter them down : at 
 least it would have been no easy task. 
 The walls are kept in good repair, and 
 the fi rreplein is well piVi-d and 
 guttered. There is a largo aomi-circular 
 enceitiie outside of each gate, and its 
 wall is of the same dimensions as the 
 ordincy wall. The enceinte wall of 
 the Chien-nec, as the central south 
 gate is called, has in it three gaits ; 
 the people make use of those on the 
 right and left, while that on ihe south 
 is reserved for the Emperor. Here he 
 passes out, borne by an elephant, J or 
 by chair- bearers, on the 21st of 
 December, when on the evening before 
 the winter solstice he proceeds to the 
 Altar of Heaven to offer sacrifice at 
 dead of night to the Supreme Baler of 
 the Universe. Over this gateway ia 
 Another tower of 99 feet high with its 
 three rows of embrasures. From the 
 bridge in front the visitor is struck 
 with the lofty and majestic appearance 
 
 J The elephants die after a few years. They 
 ate supplied from Annam. 
 
 of the wall and its tower. If he 
 aaoenda the wall by one of the many 
 inclined planes which on the inside are 
 used by the guards to mount to the 
 top, be finds himself on a broad and 
 pleasant promenade forty feet above 
 the dust and disagreeable sights and 
 smells of the oity. Here is obtained 
 on the scuth a fi-ie view of the 
 Chinese city, including the Temple of 
 Heaven, at a mile-and-a-balfa distance, 
 and on the north is seen the 
 palace, with Prospect Hill behind, 
 encircled by the imperial city first, 
 and the Tarter city outside of that- 
 The lino of the wall may be traced 
 all round by the gate towers 0:i the 
 west the Si-shan Mountaios, twelve 
 miles off, add much to the beauty of 
 the scene in fine weather. The pro- 
 menade id in pUc 8 entangled by 
 prickly shrub’, the rapid growth of 
 which renders repairs more frequently 
 necessary. li the w itch-houses the 
 soldiers plac-d as guard i keep birds, 
 gamble, and smoke, and, withal, find 
 it hard to kill time in this qui;t and 
 elevated region, A walk for a short 
 distance to the east o." w st enables 
 the observer to notice with advantage 
 the palace buildings. 
 
 Immediately north of the gate is a 
 large paved fqiare, bjunded by a 
 palisade of uprtght stones N jrfch of 
 this is the outer gate, Ta-ching-men, 
 of the imperial city, Hwang-cheng, 
 within which is an avenm leading to 
 the inner- gate, Tien-an-men, a quarter 
 of a mile to the north of it. VVithin 
 this second gate (which corresponds 
 to the Hen-men or Ti-an-men at the 
 back of Prospect Hill) are seen the 
 buildings of the Temple of Auoestors 
 on the eadt and that to the Gjdd of Lind 
 and Grain on the west. The road to the 
 palace continues between these temples 
 half-a-mile farther north to the purple 
 forhidden city, Tei kin-ch'eng, which 
 contitutes the palace properly so- 
 called, and covers half a square mile 
 of ground. The towers at its four 
 corners, the south gate, Wa-men, and 
 within it some of the roofs in the 
 interior, aa the Tai-ho-tien, are visible, 
 and beyond them Kin-shan, Prospect 
 Hill, in the centre of the Tartar city. 
 Yellow porcelain tiles cover all the 
 buildings. Turning the eye to other 
 portions of ,the city, green roofs denote 
 
[ 8 ] 
 
 the resideDoes of princes, and yellow 
 those of imperial temples, store-houses, 
 and some offices. Trees are planted 
 abnndantly in all parts of the city and 
 give it a beautiful appearance in 
 summer after rain, and later in the 
 year when the leaves have pttt on 
 their autumn colouring. 
 
 The “ outer city,” VVai-cheng, or, as 
 is usually called by foreigners, the 
 Chinese city, baa walls nine miles in 
 length and twenty. two feet high. They 
 enclose a parallelogram nearly 6ve miles 
 long and two miles wide, on the south 
 side of the “ inner " or Tartar city, Nai- 
 cheng. On the north side the wall of 
 the “ inner city ” serves for a boundary. 
 Where this terminates the outer city 
 wall begins, Brs*^ east and west for a 
 quarter of a mile, and then south. The 
 Chinese ciiy wall has two gates on its 
 northern fc t.TifcioD, three gates on its 
 south Bid .*, ai d one each on the east 
 and west. Little more than half of 
 this space is inhabited. Ten square 
 miles closely packed might well accom- 
 modate a million of persons. But in 
 fact the southern half of this space is 
 built over only near the gates. The 
 Temple of Heaven on the eastern side 
 occupies more than a square mile, and 
 the Sieu-Lung-t'an temple, to the 
 “ Genius of Agriculture,” on the 
 west, a less space. There [are 
 also a powder- manufactory (where 
 there was a gnat explosion in 1865), 
 a well-kept mn.^que, with a numerous 
 Mohammedan population located near 
 it, some villages, and much unoccupied 
 ground. 
 
 There have been changes in the 
 position of the ,ily. In the year a.d, 
 937, the Liaa*^riyi,asty made Yeu-cheu, 
 as it was then cdled, their southern 
 capital, the northo’^n being in Tartary : 
 the walls were tweive miles in circuit, 
 and were pierced by eight gates. 
 When the native Sung dynasty took 
 the place of the Liau Tartars, the city 
 was reduced in size and in rank, and 
 only became a capital again under the 
 Kin or Nu-olih Tartars. The inner 
 city was then teu miles round, and the 
 outer twenty-five ; they lay more to the 
 
 • It was under the Liau or Kietan that China 
 received tlie name of Cathay, still used by the 
 Mongols and Kussiaus and taken doubtless from 
 the name of the per.ple, who were a Tungus race 
 aud therefore of the same stem as the Manchus. 
 
 south-west than at present. A very 
 fine pagoda, covered with carved entab- 
 latnres representing Buddhist mytho- 
 logy of the SuHg dynasty, now situated 
 outside the walls on the south-west, 
 was then within the oity; it is called 
 Tien-ning-sze, and dates from about 
 A D. 550. There is also a temple iu the 
 south-east corner of the Chinese city, 
 the Hwa-yen ez“, which has in one of 
 its courts a Sanscrit monument of the 
 Kin dynasty ; other insoiiptions of the 
 same period are not wanting in this 
 locality and in the surrounding country. 
 
 When Marco Polo visited China in 
 the reign of the Mongol Empiror 
 Kublai Khan, he found him holding 
 his court at Khan-balik, as Peking was 
 then called by the Turks and Persians. 
 It was newly built and was twenty 
 miles in circuit, occupying a larger 
 space than the present Peking. The 
 ruins cf the old walls remain, in the 
 form of long meunds, two miles to the 
 north and east of the walls as they are 
 in cur day. Some of the n-nmea of 
 gates given by Kublai remain in use 
 collcqaially even now, just six hundred 
 years later. In 1681 an old monument 
 of the year 799 was dug up a short 
 distance outside of the west gate of the 
 palace ■ it had on it carved figures of 
 the twelve hours, with human bodies 
 and beads of beasts, and stated, among 
 other things, that the place was 
 distant five li, a mile and a half, 
 to the north east of Yeu-cheu, 
 Thus we learn that at the end of the 
 eighth century the south-west portion 
 of the modern Chinese city was the 
 north-east portion of the city of Yeu- 
 cheu, and that the ground now occu- 
 pied by the Tartar city was outside the 
 walla on the north-east. One of the 
 best streets in the existing Chinese 
 city is the booksellers' streets, called 
 (from an imperiu'l porcelain mana* 
 factory in the centre of it, now 
 disnsed) Lieu-li-chang; it is half a 
 mile to the south-east of the Chien- 
 men or central gate of Peking. 
 We know by monumental evidence 
 that this fashionable promenade, the 
 scene of a very busy fair, lasting for 
 a fortnight, at every new year, and 
 where an infinite number of preoioua 
 stones, curiosities, antiques, books, and 
 pictures, was a village to the east of 
 I the oity of that time. 
 
C 9 ] 
 
 In 1419, about fifty years after the 
 expulsion of the Mongols, the Ming 
 Emperor (Yunglo) built the present 
 south wall of Peking, half a mile to 
 the south of the wall of Kuhlai. In 
 1544 the outer wall that of the Chinese 
 city, was erected ; the original idea 
 was to carry it round the whole city, 
 making it more than forty miles in 
 circuit, but this scheme was not carried 
 out on account of the great requisite 
 expenditure. The object was to com- 
 bine the ruined walls of the Nii-cbib, 
 old capital, on the south and west, 
 with the newer walla of Kuhlai in the 
 north and east into one vast and sub- 
 stantial structure, such as would suit 
 the pride of the Chinese dynasty which 
 succeeded to power after the expulsion 
 of their northern enemies. 
 
 The Manchus, when, in 1644, they 
 assumed the government, found a 
 magnificent city ready for them. The 
 walls, the palace, the lakes, the 
 pleasure-grounds, they took as they 
 found them ; their plan was to improve 
 the metropolis, not to begin it afresh. 
 The prize of martial prowess was 
 theirs ; not the genius for practical 
 invention, or for patient and persistent 
 thought ; this belongs to those whom 
 they conquered, and who, by internal 
 jealousies and divisions, and on account 
 of yelding to the temptations of luxury, 
 ease, and wealth, lost the honour of 
 self-government. 
 
 When the Manchus came from 
 Moukden and Kirin, they brought 
 with them a mixed army of Chinese 
 and Mongols, as well as of their own 
 people. Emigrants in Manchuria of 
 both these nationalities joined tb* 
 rulers of their new country as mer- 
 cenary soldiers. When garrisons were 
 established in Peking and most of the 
 important cities of the empire, there 
 were included in the number, in equal 
 portions, men of the three nations who 
 had accompanied the conqueror from 
 Manchurian Tartary. Each of the eight 
 banners has three division ; the banners 
 are distingunished by colour, as the 
 yellow, the white, the red and the blue ; 
 the separation of these into plain and 
 bordered makes eight. The yellow 
 banner occupies the north part of the 
 city ; the white the east ; the 
 red the west ; and the blue the south. 
 Nearly the whole space not occupied, 
 
 by the palace and the residences of 
 princes was once owned by bannermen ; 
 but of late years they have, in many 
 oases, become poor, and have -sold their 
 houses to Chinese. Until the last 
 thirty years nearly the whole population 
 of the Tartar city, except the shop- 
 keepers, consisted of chi-jen, or banner- 
 men, but now there is a considerable 
 sprinkling of Chinese among them. 
 
 Beside the prefect, Shun-tien-fu, and 
 the two district magistrates, Ta-hing- 
 hien and Wan-ping-hien, the police of 
 the city is placed under five members 
 of the Board of Censors, Tn-oha-yuen, 
 who have soldiers under their charge, 
 and report immediately to the Emperor. 
 
 But the highest in rank and re- 
 sponsibility of those who have control 
 over the municipal arrangements of 
 the city, are the general of the gar- 
 rison, the Ti-tu and hie assessors. The 
 police, amounting in the Tartar city 
 to about twelve thousand, are subject 
 to this yamen. Each of the eight 
 banuers has ten police officers, and 
 attached to each of these officers there 
 are about a hundred and fifty runners, 
 including sergeants, etc. If you walk 
 a mile in one of the wide streets yon 
 pass five or six police ofifioers ; the 
 sergeants are well clothed and polite 
 in manner, but the underlings are 
 miserably clad and have a thievish, 
 never-do-well appearance, suggesting 
 the proverb “ set a thief to catch a 
 thief.” Yet with this army of ragged 
 policemen ready to pounce on the evil- 
 doer at every corner, thefts are very 
 numerous. For a small sum the shop- 
 keeper or householder can purchase 
 frem the police special protection but 
 this privilege often proves of little 
 I value. The thieves are dexterous 
 I climbers, and often is the sleeper 
 j awakened by the suspicions sound of 
 footsteps on the roof over his head. 
 During the evening, before the in- 
 habitants are in bed, the nimble-finger- 
 ed pilferer makes his ladder of a 
 bamboo pole, four or five yards long, 
 and so light as to be easily carried ; 
 he ties on firmly a few small pieces of 
 bamboo, or hard wood, as steps to his 
 ladder ; takes with him a knife in case 
 of need, and, proceeding to the quarter 
 where he has resolved to make depreda- 
 tions, mounts a roof and carries his 
 ladder with him. If the people below 
 
[ 10 ] 
 
 are awake, then they will probably 
 call out and reason with him on the 
 folly of coming to steal in their habita- 
 tion, assuring him that it is not worth 
 his while ; he then goes to another 
 house, where the inmates sleep more 
 soundly, and where, if there happens 
 to be no watch-dog, he may seek 
 for plunder with a greater sense of 
 security. 
 
 The walls of the palace are seen to 
 advantage on the north side, across the 
 broad moat. Between moat and wall 
 are placed guard-houses along the whole 
 length, facing inwards. The north and 
 south walls are 2,362 Chinese feet in 
 length j and the east and west 3,295 
 feet in length : so that the whole space 
 is about half an English mile in breadth 
 and two-thirds in length. No foreigner 
 could till now, at the public audiences, 
 examine the interior. The Jesuit mis- 
 sionaries formerly had access, when 
 they performed the ceremony of pros- 
 tration and entered, the Emperor's 
 service as painters, astronomers, and 
 manufacturers of cannon. The ordinary 
 foreign resident in Peking can only 
 know the interior by description. The 
 bannermen go on duty into the palaco. 
 The eunuchs of whom there are up- 
 wards of two thousand (all Chinese), 
 come constantly into the streets and 
 visit the foreign hospital like other 
 people Hence the European resident, 
 although in bis rambles he is assailed 
 by a dozen eagers gate-keepers, should 
 he approach the palace entrance to 
 look at it or through it, is not without 
 means of learning both the appearance 
 of the interior and something of what 
 takes place there. 
 
 At the centre south gate (Wu-men) 
 are placed a sun-dial on the right hand, 
 and a standard of measures (kia Hang) 
 on the left; both are of stone, and the 
 measure is that of a pint. When the 
 Emperor passes this gate the bell in the 
 tower above is struck. When the 
 Emperor’s ancestors have a sacrifice 
 performed to them in the Tai-mi in, 
 the Emperor’s family temple, a little 
 to the south-east of the palace gate, the 
 drum is beaten. This also takes place 
 when a victory is reported to the 
 ancestors, and on this occassion a song 
 of triumph is sung, and prisoners are 
 brought to the temple to be shown to 
 the spirits supposed to be looking on. 
 
 Every year, on the first of the tenth 
 month, the almanac for the next year 
 is taken to the palace gate and there 
 distributed, to be sent through the 
 empire. The almanac is printed at the 
 , oflBco of the Astronomical Board in 
 I three languages — Manchu, Mongol, and 
 ' Chinese. 
 
 Within the central south entrance 
 4 (Wu-men) commences a series of gate- 
 I ways and high buildings, consisting of 
 I halls of various dimensions, which 
 ! occupy the middle of the palace 
 ! enclosure from south to north. The 
 ' first is that called Tai-ho-men, a lofty 
 1 triple gateway with three flights of 
 , stops to the south, and one on the east 
 and west. When the person entering 
 , has passed this he finds himself in front 
 of the Tai-ho-tien, the largest reception- 
 ! hall in the palace. On his right and left 
 
 ■ he sees rooms which are stored with 
 ; silver, skins, satin, clothing, china ware, 
 
 and tea, under the care of the “ house- 
 hold ofiBop,” Nei ton fa. 
 
 The Tai-ho-tien is a hall erected on a 
 terrace twenty feet in height, and is 
 ' itself a hundred and ten feet high. Its 
 roof rests on twelve rows of pillaris 
 j taken in breadth, and six in depth. 
 
 Though it has two more rows of pillarf* 
 
 I than the great hall at the tomb of 
 Yung-lob, and was first built at about 
 ' the same period for the use of the 
 ' same Emperor, it is not so large ; 
 but it will not be less than 20(> 
 English feet in length, and 90 
 in depth. It is surrounded by triple 
 marble balustrades, carved with figures 
 of flowers and animals, and ascended 
 by fi ve flights of steps. Among the 
 balustrades are placed eighteen three- 
 legged urns {ting) of bronz-: thoj© 
 urns are a symbol of sovereignty. The 
 nine ting of the Chow dynasty denoted 
 the rule of the Emperor over the nine 
 provinces that then existed ; now the 
 number eighteen stands for the Site- 
 pa shmg (Eighteen Provinces) of the 
 
 ■ empire, as it was for many years. 
 
 : There are also two bronze tortoises and 
 
 storks, —symbols of strength and loug- 
 i evity, with a sun-dial, the measure of 
 ' time, and a kia-liang, the measure of 
 quantity. 
 
 The Emperor comes here to receive 
 the congratulations of his Court oo 
 New Tear’s Day, at the winter solstice, 
 nod on his birthday; also when be 
 
[ 11 ] 
 
 examinfs the doctors of literature, 
 when he orders a military expedition, 
 and on occasion of great acts of grace. 
 He sits on a high throne in the centre 
 of the vast and gloomy hall, facing 
 the south, while about fifty attendants 
 of high rank (chiefly Manchns) stand 
 on each side. These constitute the Em- 
 peror’s suite, and they enter the temple 
 by side paths and side doors, — the 
 Emperor himself entering by a central 
 raised path, st veral feet higher than 
 that by which his attendants enter. 
 In front of the hall, south of the front 
 balustrades, is the space appropriated 
 to the nobility and officers who come 
 to perform the act of prostration. They 
 are arranged in eighteen double rows ; 
 the civil officers are on the east side, 
 and the military on the west. Nearest 
 to the hall steps, and upon them, are 
 the princes of first and second degree, 
 Ohin-wang, Ghiun-wang ; with the 
 Manchn ranks, Pei ts'i, Pei-le ; followed 
 by the five orders of Chinese nobility, 
 — Rung, Heu, Pe, Tui, Nan. These 
 make in all nine. Then ejome the 
 mandarins of nine grades. Stones are 
 fixed in the pavement to mark their 
 positions, and over these stones are 
 placed copper covers shaped like moun- 
 tains. Here they perform the im- 
 memorial ceremony of the nine pros- 
 trations before the unseen Emperor, 
 who, deep in the recesses of the hall, 
 is concealed still more completely by a 
 cloud of incense. 
 
 When will this ancient ceremony of 
 prostration be given up ? It did not in 
 ancient times mean so much as it now 
 does. Abraham, when he fell on his 
 face before the three strangers who 
 approached his tent-door, expressed in 
 this way his respect for his visitors. 
 There was a time, then, when this habit 
 was not rare among equals. It is now, 
 for the most part, only seen among the 
 Chinese when in the presence of the 
 Emperor, or any document emanating 
 from him ; though they also practise it 
 on occasions of deep emotion and 
 distress, when a man feels humbled 
 and earnestly desires some favour. To 
 our view it cannot but be degrading, 
 and it would be a sign of real progress 
 if it could be exchanged for a ceremony 
 indicative of more self-respect and in- 
 dependence of feeling. 
 
 The official rules for the reception 
 and promulgation of a decree are an 
 example of the fastidious decorum 
 required by ancient usage in China. 
 , The officers of the Board of Ceremonies 
 (Li-pu) and the Ushers’ Office (Hung- 
 lust) place the table in the Tai-ho-tien. 
 
 I By the Imperial Marshallers (Luan-i- 
 wei) a yellow canopy and lacquered 
 ! tray are placed on the pavement in 
 , front, and the vehicle for carrying the 
 decree waits at the palace south gate ; 
 
 ‘ this is the Lung-ting, — a kind of sedan- 
 chair with canopy of wood carved witq 
 dragons. With it is a portable incense- 
 burner with wooden canopy, carried by 
 bearers. The Board of Works superin- 
 tends the arrangements for depositing 
 the decree on a table at the Tien-an-men, 
 which is, in fact, the south gate of the 
 Imperial city, where it is publicly read. 
 The reader, in court robes, accompanied 
 by old men, proceeds to the Tien-an- 
 men, and waits at the bridge to the 
 south of it. When these preparations 
 are completed, the Cabinet Secretaries, 
 Nui-ko-hio-sbi, bring the decree to the 
 inner palace gate (Ohien-tsing-men), and 
 it is then taken to the hall of Great 
 Harmony (Tai-ho-tien, where it is placed 
 on the cast table. When the edict is 
 there it is supposed to be the same thing 
 as if the Emperor were there ; and the 
 mandarins perform the nine knockings 
 of the head acordingly. After this 
 ceremony the Chief Cabinet Secretary, 
 Ta hioshi, enters the ball and takes 
 the edict from the table ; he carries 
 it to the front of the temple under 
 the eaves, and gives it to the President 
 of the Board of Ceremonies, who 
 receives it kneeling ; and, after a mo- 
 ment, rising, takes it down the steps 
 to the pavement below, where he places 
 it on a table and knocks head to it 
 three times. He then takes it again, 
 rises, and carries it to the lower pave- 
 ment on the south, where he places it 
 on the lacquered tray. Officers of the 
 Board of Ceremonies here take the 
 tray, extend over it the yellow canopy, 
 and carry it out of the Tai-ho gate ; 
 all the mandarins follow by the side 
 gates, till the edict and the accompany- 
 ing crowd of officers arrive on the out- 
 side of the Purple forbidden city. 
 Here the edict, in its tray, is placed 
 in the Dragon Sedan. Bearers from 
 the Marshallers' Office (Luan-i viei) 
 
C 12 ] 
 
 carry it, with a long row of stick, flag, j 
 and umbrella- bearers in front, led by the , 
 President of the Board of Ceremonies, ' 
 to the Gate of Celestial Rest, the south 
 gate of the Hwang-cheng, — Imperial 
 city. Here it is carried up the wall : 
 and placed on a table upon the dais 
 there provided for the public reading 
 of edicts. The ofiGoers stand south of 
 the bridge in front of the gate, and i 
 kneel while the edict is read ; after 
 which they perform in full the cere- ' 
 mony of knocking the head on the ' 
 ground. Then the edict is replaced in ' 
 the Dragon Sedan, and is borne by 
 the bearers of the Marshals’ OESoe, i 
 preceded by the usual array of staves, ; 
 flags, and canopies, with music playing 
 outside the Ta-tsing-men, to the Office ^ 
 of the Board of Ceremonies, where it is 
 received hy the President and Vice- 
 President kneeling; and after being 
 placed on a table it is again honoured 
 with the nine-times repeated prostra- 
 tion, It is then reverentially cut on ! 
 wood, and promulgated through the ' 
 empire. 
 
 It is pitiful to see such extraordinary 
 reverence paid by men to one of them- 
 selves, and to find a roll of paper | 
 wrapped in yellow cloth honoured with 
 what may be called religious worship. 
 The isolation of China has caused her | 
 people to remain unconscious that these 1 
 degrading ceremonies are inconsistent 
 with a just appreciation of man’s 
 freedom, honour, and duty. They are 
 not yet aware that there is a code of ' 
 relative duties far superior to their own | 
 existing in the Western world ; and 
 that, though they enjoy no smaill 
 amount of popular freedom and social 
 happiness, they have much to learn in j 
 politics and morality and would do well i 
 to give up a mass of foolish ceremonies 
 — the legacy of ancient despotism. i 
 
 Behind the Hall of Great Harmony | 
 is a lower building, the Hall of Central | 
 Harmony ; it has a circular roof. H^re j 
 the Emperor comes on the day before j 
 sacrificing to the earth, the sun, and : 
 moon, to his ancestors, the ancient I 
 Emperors, and to Confucius, to inspect j 
 the written prayers provided for those j 
 occasions. 
 
 Next to the Chung-ho-tien, just des- , 
 cribed, is the Pau-ho-tien, the Hall of 
 Precious Harmony, — a building not so 
 orlarge so high as the Tai-ho-tien, but 
 
 capacious enough to seat a very con- 
 siderable number of guests at an Im- 
 perial feast. On the last day in the 
 year the Mongol Princes are invited 
 to a feast here, and formerly the Korean 
 and Loo-chooan Ambassadors, if present 
 in Peking at the time. The Emperor 
 is elevated above his guests, who are 
 seated at tables on the terrace in front 
 of the hall. When he begins to eat 
 they do so too, and when he ceases 
 they cease also — taking just enough 
 for ceremony, but not for appetite. 
 When he takes a piece of bread in his 
 hand he bites a mouthful and gives 
 the remainder to his attendant high 
 officers, one on each side, who receive 
 it kneeling and with protestations of 
 gratitude. They are men of the high- 
 est rank, and usually Manchus ; Seng- 
 ko-lin-sin, England’s enemy at Takoo, 
 though a Mongol, was in his day one 
 of them. Each guest has a small table 
 to himself ; he just takes a bite or two, 
 and no more : the honour of being 
 present is enough. 
 
 The Emperor also comes to this hall 
 on occasion of the Triennial Examina- 
 tion for the degree of Doctor of Liter- 
 ature. The candidates, who are Master 
 of Arts from all the provinces, are ex- 
 amined here on the second occasion, — 
 the first having been gone through in 
 the Tartar city. About a hundred and 
 fifty receive the degree at one time. 
 This is what is called the Fu-sM : 
 the first examination outside in the 
 Masters’ Hall (Kung-yuen) is the 
 Hwei sh'i ; then comes the Tien shi, or 
 final examination in the Tai-ho-tien. 
 The senior wrangler is called Ohwang~ 
 y*itn, the second Pang-yen, the third 
 Tan-lma, and the fourth Oktven-lu. 
 These four receive the unexampled 
 honour of riding on horseback from the 
 Tai-ho-men out of the Tion-an-men, to 
 the Board of Ceremonies. 
 
 All this id very illustrative of the 
 high honour yielded by China to literary 
 merit. The Emperor is chief examiner, 
 and himself assigns the title Ohwang- 
 rjuen to the most worthy. He and the 
 three other most distinguished 
 essayists have their fortunes made and 
 their career in life determined by 
 this achievement. A brilliant essay, 
 composed with careful attention to 
 rules, and accompanied by competent 
 
[ 13 ] 
 
 learnirg, gives a maD at once a good 
 position in iho civil service. Men of 
 tkbility are Sf cared for important posts ; 
 the sindy of books is encouraged ; and 
 throngbout the empire, myriads of poor 
 scholars are stimalated to continue 
 ■cultivating literature from the know- 
 ledge of the dignity and fame attach- 
 ing to these who retch the highest 
 steps in their profession. 
 
 The entrance to the inner palace 
 behind the great reception halls is 
 called Chien- ching-men, “ Gate of 
 Heavenly Purity.” In front of it are 
 gilt 1 ioi 8, amusing themselves with a 
 round ball of silk — an emblem of 
 strength in repose if referred to the 
 Imperial lord who resides within, or of 
 ferocity subdued if it be understood of 
 the uniuly spirits who are coerced and 
 tamed by the renovating effects of wise 
 government. 
 
 Here, at the last of the gates which 
 separate th pah'ice from the outer 
 werld, the rfSoers of state come every 
 morning before day with petitions and 
 memorials, to be present at the five 
 o'clock audienc.’. Oa the west side are 
 offices for the guards, the cabinet 
 ministers, the board of household 
 affairs, and for piinces. Secretaries 
 and others, having entiea to the 
 Emperor’s rooms for despatch of 
 business, enter by the west door. The 
 daily audience sometimes is held in the 
 hall called Ohien-ching Icung, but more 
 frequently in that called Chin cheng- 
 tien. 
 
 Feasts are sometimes given here, for 
 example, to the pricci s once a year. 
 The Emperor Kang-hi, on occasion of 
 the fiftieth anniversary of his accession, 
 entertained 1,000 old men here under 
 tents in the courtyard ; they were all 
 60 or more years old, and were chosen 
 rom all ranks, from that of princes 
 with hereditary rank down to the 
 common people. Hia children and 
 grandchildren waited on them. His 
 grandson Kien-loong followed this 
 example, but the guests were required 
 to be above ninety years of age. 
 
 Near this hall is the cabinet, Kiuni 
 Jci~c'hu, where the Emperor usually sits 
 at morning audience from 5 am. to 
 8 am. The forty or fifty courtiers 
 kneel on both knees to salute the 
 Emperor when he comes, which is 
 intimated by the eunuchs saying 
 
 “ Whisht.” Anyone that is called for 
 enters the hall, and speaks on bis knees 
 before the Emperor and Empress- 
 Dowager ; the latter being concealed by 
 i curtain. The chief members of the 
 amperial suite are the four Ktvo ski 
 amhan, ” great followers,” who s^and 
 beside the Emperor on all state 
 occasions. Tea is served at 5 a.m. every 
 morning before this audience. Break- 
 fast is served at eight, tiffin at 
 half-past two, and dinner at six. At 
 one of these meals the same dishes are 
 brought ev.ry day, at the others variety 
 is allowed. 
 
 There is no one more a slave to 
 etiquette than the Imperial master 
 of 400 millions of men. Everything 
 connected with his daily life is 
 arranged for him by certain under- 
 stood rules, most of which, indeed, are 
 carefully compiled and printed in the 
 “statute laws of the dynasty,” I'a- 
 tsi'ig-hwei-tien. 
 
 Rigid adherence to regulations cha- 
 racterizes Peking society, not only in 
 the court but in the private and public 
 life of all the rich and noble families. 
 Hence the seclusion of women, who 
 cannot leave their homes but for 
 funerals, weddings, and occasional 
 formal visits. These women are, many 
 of them, intelligent, irquisitive, and 
 highly susceptible of enjoyment, bub 
 they are ruthlessly immured in their 
 homes, and society places her baa on 
 any extension of their liberty. 
 
 On the east side of the audience hall 
 is a building where are preserved the 
 engraved blocks and old copies of many 
 ancient woiks belonging to the first 
 period of the art of printing. Tney 
 are 400 in number, aud range from 
 A D. 1000 to 1640. 0.1 the west side 
 
 are a room for entertaining guests to 
 tea on certain occasious, and a ball 
 where the tablets of the sages of 
 antiquity, and of literature, are honour- 
 op. Here, too, is the Emperor’s study- 
 ing apartment, where the princes, when 
 young, receive their education. B hind 
 the hall of audience is that called Kiau- 
 tai hung, where the state seals are 
 kept. The oldest is that said to have 
 belonged to Tsin-shi-hwang, b c 240. 
 
 We have now come nearly to the 
 end of the central range of yellow roofa 
 stretching from the Ohien-men to Pro- 
 
L 14 J 
 
 Fprct Hill. There odIj remain a ball 
 called Ktcun-ning-kung, or that of 
 “ earthly repose,’' behind which is a 
 gate leadioGT to a garden, and in the 
 north is C’hiti-aniien, “hall of re- 
 verential repose," where the spirit ( f the 
 Black Warrior, or god of the i orth, 
 is installed for worship. Near this is 
 a select library for Imperial use. 
 
 Here we reach the back of the palsca 
 and the gate leading to Prospect Hill. 
 If we followed the written descriptions 
 farther, the residenc s called Tupg- 
 kung and bi-kung, the latter occupied 
 by the Empress-Dowager might be men- 
 tioned : they are on the left and right 
 of the central range. The Emperor 
 lives on the west side, in the inner 
 palace, — that is, in the north-west 
 quarter of the Purple forbidden city. 
 From the marble bridge which crosses 
 the lake may be seen, on the north-wrst 
 side of the palace, some yellow roofs 
 between the palace wall and great 
 central buildings, Tai-ho-tien and Pau- 
 ho-tien. These indicate the region of 
 the palace now referred to. 
 
 On the south-west of these buildings 
 are the portrait ball and printing-e ffice. 
 In the former the portraits of all past 
 Emperors and Empresses, from Fuh-hi 
 downwards, are preserved, with those 
 of statesmen and learned men : this 
 gallery is called Nan-hiiin-tien. B-hind 
 it are the ruins of the printing-office 
 Wu-ying-tien, burnt down in July, 
 1869, where the Emperor's poetry and 
 all Imperial books were cue on wood 
 and printed. He may well be highly 
 educated, and have a poetic geniu.-r, for 
 bis rhythmical effusions will all be 
 reppecffuUy jrinied and banded down to 
 posterrty. Some of Kien-looug'a verses 
 were good ; he had a taste for grandeur 
 in architecture and variety in ornameiit. 
 But ordinary Imperial verse only loads 
 the shelves, and is suitable for those 
 who are proud of having imperially 
 bestowed tablets suspended in tbeir 
 entrance balls, with a note informing 
 the reader that an Emperor wrote the 
 inscription with bis own hand. Great 
 is the gratiheation felt by the mandarin 
 of high rank when, on his birthday, 
 or some auapioiooe occasion, be receives 
 on bis knees from his Imperial master 
 or mistress a tablet, inscribed with 
 Bome commendatory sentence, or with 
 
 the character Fu, “ happinee.s,’’ and deep 
 will be bis gratitule and reverence 
 when, he conveys it to his bome, and 
 elevates it to the most honourable 
 position among bis family treasures. 
 
 Literature is more nobly represented 
 on the east side of the palace in the 
 Bouth-enst corner, where is found the 
 great library, in the gallery called > 
 Wen-yuen-ko. It was designed by 
 the Emperor Chien-lung ; the books 
 are in manuscript, and constitute a 
 selection of Chinese literature of the 
 most valuable kind. The plan of 
 arrangement is a cony of that used 
 in the celebrated Ningpo Library. 
 Tien yih-ho ; the Wen-yuen-ko Library 
 is usually known as 6'i k’u, “ the four 
 libraries,' because it exists in quad- 
 ruplicate in this and the other three 
 Imperial residences at Yuen-miog-- 
 yuen,* Je-hol, and Mouk-den, 
 
 Near it is a hall called TFen hwa- 
 lien, where the King-yen, or “ Feast 
 of the Classics," takes place in the 
 second month of eech year. Ou this 
 occasion noted scholars explain the 
 classical books before the Emperor. 
 A little further to the east is a hall 
 called Clncen-$in-tie», where learned 
 men and the Emperor's personal tutors 
 are sacrificed to. 
 
 A great variety of beautifu'ly print- 
 ed works have issued, at times, from 
 the ill-fated IFu ying-tien, the blocks 
 of which are now destroyed. The 
 Emperors of the present dynasty have 
 b^eu magnificent promoters of liter- 
 ature. Many copies of their works 
 have been destroyed with the printing- 
 blocks. Near it are schools for Turkish 
 and Thibetan, where a limited number 
 of pupils are taught those languages for 
 the public service. The two Turkish 
 traohers belong to the mosque and 
 colony of that race, to the north-west 
 of the Board of Paoishments. Thess 
 schools were founded 120 year ago, 
 when Kien-loong marritd the widow of 
 a Turkish prince from Kat-bgar. By 
 her be bad a daughter who lived to be 
 mirried, but dud without bearing 
 children, and the tie effected by this 
 marriage between Tut key and China 
 was thus disadved. 
 
 • The Library at Yuen-ming-yuen was 
 destroved, with the hills and temples of that 
 maguiticeDt imperial residence, in 1860. 
 
[ 15 ] 
 
 The Thibetan teacher ia a Lama sent 
 for the purpose by the Dalai Lama 
 from Lasea. The schools— in existence 
 last century — for the Burmese and 
 Newaea lanfajuages, do not appear to 
 be in operation at present. 
 
 Oa (he west side of the palace ia the 
 park called St yuen, “ west garden.” 
 Its boundary wall is three miles round, 
 and it includes a large lake. Here was 
 formerly the palace of the Mongols. 
 There ia a narrow strip of houses, with 
 a street lying between it and the 
 palace. In this street are temples to 
 the inlers of rain and thunder, corre- 
 sponding to two temples to wind and 
 clouds on the east. The inmates of the 
 palace have access to the lake by the 
 north gate or the west gate of the 
 " Purple forbidden wall.” The Em- 
 peror, when he prays for rain in the 
 "S Ta-kan-tien. leaves the palace by the 
 
 » north gate In the year 1869, the 
 #|.CH^Cochin. Chinese ambassadors, who ar_ 
 
 ■ — (hen for the first time since the 
 
 Swargsi rebellion, were instructed to 
 come to the space outside of this gate, 
 
 • in order to have a glimpse of the 
 
 61 err d person of their lord paramount 
 in p8B^ing ; as he went by in his 
 sedair, th.y prostrated themselves at' 
 a SDfiBcient distance. The Emperor 
 turnrd to them, and called out in 
 Manchu, ‘Hi" (“ris^”), and so 
 passrd on. Such was the reception 
 they received, and which they would 
 be expected to regard as a high honour 
 ai:d privilege. The Ta-kau-tien, to 
 which the Emperor was going te wor- 
 ship on that occasion, is passed on the 
 fight by the visitor to the park. It 
 ](K)ks out on the moat : its outer 
 quadrangle has gateways on the east, 
 west, and ecuth; that on the south 
 is flunked by two yellow tiled orna- 
 mental towers; the east and west 
 entrance a are under ornamental arch- 
 ways Outside of each is a stone on 
 which is inscribed in six langoagee:|: 
 the usual order for all passers-by, 
 cffioeis or people, to dismount from 
 their horses. The chief idol is the 
 Taoist god, Yu hwang ta ii, who, as a 
 
 Z At first, Chinese, Mongol, and Manchu were 
 1 enough ; hut when the conquests of Kang 
 
 I biand Kien-Ioong added Turkestan, Western 
 
 I Mongolia, and Thibet to the empire, Calmuck, 
 
 T TTurkish and Thibetan were engraved at the 
 
 ' had^ ef the stone. 
 
 nature god, is supposed to send or 
 withhold rain. Sometimes the Bm« 
 peror orders Taniat priests to come 
 here from the Temple of Light, Kwang. 
 tning.iien, to perform, for several days 
 in enceession, a service for rain ; at the 
 back is a circular pavilion, roofed with 
 blue tiles, an imilatioa of the colour of 
 Heaven. 
 
 Leaving this temple and proceeding 
 through a gateway, the visitor in the 
 west park sees in front of him a 
 round high wall over which hang the 
 branches of a large white pine and 
 other lofty trees ; this is the Tw’an - 
 i^eng. Within it is a temple called ral f 
 Cheng-kwang-tien, dating from the 
 times of Mongol rnle. In front of it ia 
 a large nrn of earthenware for fish. It 
 is a relic of the Mongol periol, and is- 
 two feet five inches high. It was lost, 
 but recovered from a Tanist temple in 
 the west city, where it had been 
 regarded as of no account, and was 
 used to contain vegetables at the 
 kitchen door. H was benght for the 
 Emperor for 1,000 taels (.£330 of Eng- 
 lish money). 
 
 The public path skirts this wall, and . . 
 
 crosses the lake by a handsome mg£j|jig (Vla.VP/€. 
 bridge, from which the view is charm- . 
 
 mg. Fresh from clouds of dust, the 
 traveller emerges on an elevation, 
 where he is entranced by a lake with 
 winding shores, everywhere wooded or 
 dtcoratfd wilh marble structures and 
 gay temples. On the north side is a 
 hill on an island called Kiung-h wa-tau, 
 capiled by a w^i](^^gagcdg or dagoba,. 
 
 Here there is an altar on the hill- ^ 
 side to the originator of silk manu- 
 factures and to the presiding genius 
 of the silkworm ; the altar wall is 
 1,600 feet round, and the altar itself 
 forty feet in circuit, and four feet 
 high. Riouud it are mulberry trees, 
 and near it a tank for washing' 
 the worms. The Empress comes here 
 annnally to feed the silkworms, which 
 are kept in a house suitable for the 
 
 purpose ; she thus sets an example of 
 industry to the working-women of tho 
 empire. 
 
 Part of the stones of this hill were 
 brought from a mountain in Honan 
 province by the Kin Tartars. Hence 
 a tradition has floated from month to 
 mouth, among those little cartful of 
 
I 
 
 [ 16 ] 
 
 factf, to the tfifect that the whole hill 
 had been brought from Honan. 
 
 At the north end of the lake are 
 some buildings under the charge of the 
 priests of Chan-t’an-si, an adjoining 
 Lama monastery. Here are seen in one 
 Q jjL high hnilding a colossal Buddha , abcut 
 10^ feet in height. The Ogure is 
 
 Maitreya, the coming occupant of the 
 throne of the world’s teacher. In 
 another building is a representation in 
 Btucco and wocd-work of the Paradise 
 of the Western Heaven. To see these 
 huildicgb Mongol visitors are admitted 
 in the winter. For a few months, some 
 years ago, Englishmen were admitted, 
 but it became known to the princes, 
 and an order was sent not to open the 
 gates to the men from the west. 
 
 In the Chan-t'an-si are placed, in 
 certain galleries, some indecent 6 gores, 
 which the more respectable Lamas do 
 not much like to be asked about. They 
 are also found in other Lama temples 
 in Peking. Thibetan Buddhism is 
 responsible for the Best introduction of 
 these figures into China in the period 
 of the Mongol dynasty. The Con- 
 fucianists at the time raised an outcry 
 against the immorality of this practice ; 
 but they did not succeed in checking 
 it, except in regard to Chinese 
 Buddhism, which never adopted the 
 custom. 
 
 In the time of Macartney’s embassy 
 there were boats on the lake, and the 
 imperial cortege was rowed on some 
 occasions from one side to the other. 
 Afterwards by deposit from the western 
 bill the lake grew too shallow for boats. 
 But it has now been deepened once 
 more. The part to the south of the 
 bridge is larger than that to the north. 
 On its banks, among other buildings 
 on the east side, is the Ying-tai, and 
 the hall called Wan-sheng-tien, where, 
 when the Emperor so appoints, foreign 
 Princes and Ambassadors are enter- 
 tained. Here, in 1874, when the last 
 Emperor came of age, and took the 
 government, the Ambassadors from 
 Europe and America were received. A 
 •compromise, amounting to an omission 
 of the three kneelings and nine 
 koockings, could bo more conveniently 
 carried into effect here than in the 
 palace, where the new year and birth- 
 day ceremonies are performed. 
 
 At another building in this part of 
 the park are to b* seen e leven bells of 
 the Chow dynasty, found buried in the 
 earth in Kiangsi province in the middle 
 of last century, and, cons quently, 
 above 2,000 years old. 
 
 On the west side of the lake there 
 are performances, on certain occasion^, 
 by candidates for militarv distinefioa 
 in archery and riding. The building 
 where the first audience granted to the 
 foreign ministers took place was the 
 T6i-kwang-ko,“gallery of purple light.” 
 
 It is a building appropriated to feast- 
 ing the Mongol Princes and Cireau 
 Ambassadors at the new year. When, 
 in 1865, the new French church was 
 completed, its two handsome and lofty 
 towers overlooked the grounds of the 
 west park in this place. By ascending 
 the staircase of one of the towers, 
 it would have been possible to see , 
 
 the ceremony at the new year. The 
 Chinese Government elevated the wall 
 next the cathedral to twice its former 
 height, from fear of a bid iLflaenoe. 
 
 The Chinese, firm believers in geo- 
 mancy, particularly dislike high build- 
 ings of foreign construction. These 
 are supposed to be conductors of the 
 evil energies of the mischievous demons 
 who inhabit thb air. They interfere 
 with what is called the fung-shui, and 
 will bring misfortune on neighbouring 
 houses and their occupants. Even in the 
 street, on the north side of the church, 
 where princes and courtiers pasj to the 
 morning audience with their suites, 
 it was thought necessary, also, to build 
 a high wall to ward off" the dangerous 
 influence. These high walla are a con- 
 spicuous monument of the foolish 
 superstition of the Chinese Government 
 at the present day. The French 
 Chuich has since been purchased for 
 Taels 300.000 inclusive of the organ 
 and fittings. - , 
 
 North of the palace is Prospect Hill, t 
 
 Ching-shan. It is supposed to be a , 
 protection to the fung shut of the V 
 palace, to which it acts as a mound 
 on the north side does to a grave, 
 keeping from it evil influences. The 
 hill has five prominences, each of 
 which is crowned with a Buddhist 
 
 j temple, having idols in it. The park 
 round it is about a mile in oircutn- 
 ! ference. The last of the Ming Ena- 
 perors, unable to escape from his 
 
 
enemiee, hanged himself on a tree in 
 the eastern part of this park. 
 
 Previcus to n moval to the imperial 
 cemetery, the ct ffio of each deceased 
 Emperor is placed for the time in one i 
 of the hnildings of this enclosure. 1 
 
 Native traditions eay that, some | 
 centuries ago, n* large quantity of coal | 
 was placed under this hill for use in j 
 case of the city ever needing to be shut ' 
 up. It is, therefore, called Mei-sban . 
 
 “ C^aLiiili” 'The hill is half a mile in 
 circuit, and the enclosure fully a mile. 
 
 It was measured in the Ming dynasty, j 
 and fcund to be 147 feet high, with a i 
 slope of 210 feet. It is not, then, quite [ 
 half BO high as Arthur's Scat in Edin- j 
 burgh. I 
 
 On the south of the palace, in a part 
 inaccessible to foreign visitors, are i 
 found one of the most important altars 
 and one of the most important temples j 
 of the imperial dynasty, the Tai-mian I 
 of the east, and the altar to the spirits I 
 onthe laud and grain on the west, ! 
 
 The enclosure of the Tai mian is j 
 south-east of the Emperor’s residence. i 
 It is 2,916 feet in circuit, or more than j 
 half an Eeglish mile. The temple is ap- j 
 preprinted to the accestors of the Em- | 
 peror. It is his family temple, and oo | 
 copies the most honoured position of all i 
 religions strnc'nres, except the Temple j 
 of Heaven. To be on the south, and ; 
 also on the east of the palace, is the | 
 summit of honenr. Thus the Temple | 
 of Ancestors is more thought of than i 
 any temple, except that of heaven, | 
 which is placed immediately in front of | 
 it, at the distance of a mile and a half 
 in the Chinese city. The Tai-miau has 
 a front, a middle, and a back hall. In 
 the front hall the members of the 
 imperial clan worship at the end of the 
 year. In the middle hall are kept the 
 tablets of the Emperors and Empresses 
 of the imperial lino. In the east and - 
 west halls are placed tablets to Princes i 
 and meritorious officer?, and in other 
 side-rooms are preserved the sacrificial 
 vessels. At the conclusion of wars an i 
 annonneement is made in this temple 
 to ancfstors, as also at the Kwo-tsi- 
 kien, to the spirits of Confucius and the 
 literati there worshipped, of victories 
 won and new territories acquired. 
 
 In a bnildirig nsar the Tai miau is 
 the Record Office, where genealogical 
 tables, important document?, and ad- 
 
 dresses of exhortation by the Emperors 
 are preserved. When the portrait of 
 the present Emperor’s uncle was sent 
 to Monkden lately, it was accompanied 
 by a copy of the genealogical tree, 
 the “important instructions,’’ and the 
 chronicle of his reign. They were 
 taken from this tffiie. The important, 
 or holy instructions, consist of the 
 addresses which the deceased Emperor 
 formerly delivered to his great rfficers, 
 clansmen, and children, in regard to 
 their special duties. 
 
 The attachment of the Chinese to 
 antiquity has led them to retain old 
 customs with extreme nicety of imita- 
 tion. The prinoip'jl imperial temples 
 now found in Peking had their counter- 
 pait in the period of the Classics. Fur 
 example, the altar to the spirits of 
 land and grain, She-tsih on the west 
 of the Tai-miau, and in front of the 
 palace, is imitated from the practice 
 of the Chow dynasty, 1,000 years 
 before our ora. At that time it is 
 said that the great sage Chow-kong, 
 when setting apart a site for a new 
 city on the Lo river, cff.?ied two 
 bullocks to Heaven outside of th? ciiy, 
 and to the spirit of the land within 
 the new city. The custom has been 
 ever since retained. Ken-lung, Minister 
 of Works to the ancient Emperor 
 Chwen-hii, was long sicca made i '.to a 
 divinity to be worshipped as (he god 
 of land, and Heu-lsih, ancestor of the 
 Chow imperial family, was app'.int<d 
 to be worshipped oa god of g- rin in 
 the same way. 
 
 The altar is fi''ty-two feet hqaare, 
 and four feet hig'a, faces the north, 
 and is bu 1; of the favourite white 
 marble which has been so plentifully 
 brought to Peking from the western 
 hills. The terrace is laid with earth 
 of flye colours, arranged accordi g tr» 
 the ordinary Chinese di-triburioa of 
 he five colours among (he cardinal- 
 points ; blue is east, red is south, black 
 is north, white is west, and y- i ow is 
 central. The inner wall is Tfil feet 
 long, and is built with differen colour- 
 ed bricks on each of its fou. .sides, 
 according to position. 
 
 In the She-tsih-tan o: the Yueo 
 dynasty there were two altars, one to 
 the spirit of land, and the other o the 
 spirit of grain. They were wit';, a the 
 
[ 18 ] 
 
 preEent Ping-tsemen, on a aito now 
 occnpied by houses. 
 
 It may be remarked here that the 
 altars represent the most ancient 
 Chinese religious worship. They are, 
 first, the Tien-tan, or altar of heaven, 
 on the south of the Tartar oily, but 
 enclosed within the wall of the outer 
 city ; second, the altar of earth, outside 
 the north gate ; thiid, the altar c f the 
 Eun, beyond the Chi-hwa-men gate on 
 the east ; fourth, the altar of the 
 moon, outside the west wall ; 6ftb, the 
 altar to Sien-nung, the ancient Emperor 
 who first taught the people agriculture ; 
 sixth, the altar just described, to the 
 gods of the land and grain. 
 
 The sacred buildings called Miau 
 are next in importance. There is the 
 Tai-miau, that to ancestors; the Wen- 
 miau, to Confucius ; the Ti-wang-miau, 
 dedicated to the Kings and Emperors 
 of all dynasties, and containing tablets 
 inscribed with their names. The Tai- 
 miau represents the second stage of 
 the ancient religion when the house 
 succeeded to the altar, and the worship 
 of deceased men, inc nding ancestors, 
 kings, and wise men, was added, wiih 
 the use of tablets, to the earlier woiship 
 of the powers of nature. The third 
 period was that of the simultaneous 
 growth of the Buddhist and Tau'st 
 mythology and worship, when the 
 monastery was introduced by the 
 Buddhists, with its idols, consisting of 
 real and imaginary Hindoo philosophers 
 and ascetics, and its resident fraternity 
 of professed priests forming a worship- 
 ping choir. The si, the tang, the an, 
 and the yuen are varieties of the 
 Buddhist monasteiy. The kivan, the 
 tien, the Ieoh, and the main are Tauist ; 
 of which the hvan is monastic, and the 
 other terms denote buildings of various 
 sizes for the worship of Tauist gods. 
 
 In the Hwang-cheng we find, inside 
 the Tung-ngan-men, a Lima mon- 
 astery, inhabited by Mongol Lrmas 
 reading the Buddhist liturgical books 
 in the Mongol language. It is called 
 Mahakala-miau. The word BJahalcala 
 means “great black spirit." This tem- 
 ple was once the residence of a here- 
 ditary prince, Jui-tsin-wang, who now 
 lives in the neighbourhood of the obser- 
 vatory. Its anomalous name seems 
 to owe its origin in some way to this 
 peculiarity in its history, for, as a 
 
 , Buddhist institution, it should not he 
 called Miau. It is the only monastery 
 in Peking where the Lamas are oblig. 
 ed* by the rules of the place, to read 
 prayers in Mongol. 
 
 A mile to the north of this temple 
 is Sung-chu-bi, where about a hundred 
 Mongol Lamas have excellent quarters 
 provided. Here there is a.shop for the 
 sale of Mongol and Thibetan liturgical 
 books. They are cut on wood aud 
 ! printed on thick paper, in long strips, 
 piled one over the other in Hindoo 
 ! and Siamese fashion. They are sold 
 ' in yellow covers to Mongols visiting 
 Peking in the winter, and for use in 
 the Lama monasteries. Among them 
 are the “ Ad ventutes of Gesser Khan,” a 
 celebrated Tartar bero : a book which 
 has in it some amusing comic scenes, 
 a fact unique in Buddhist literature. 
 There are also dictionaries for learn- 
 ing the Thibetan language, and some 
 poetry constructed on the principle of 
 i alliteration, as it is employed in 
 Tartary, 
 
 The gate north of Prospect Hill is 
 called, in common parlance. How-men, 
 
 1 the back gate. Outside of it is the 
 office of the Ti-tu, or governor of the 
 city, and also the dium and bell 
 towe r. 
 
 One of the five large bells of Peking 
 is here suspended. A view of it may 
 be seen in K'rcher’s “ China IKustrata." 
 In a letter there cited, Verbifst says 
 this bell is 120,000 lbs. in weight, 
 while the bell of E fort, “the queen 
 of bells," is but 25,400 lbs. in weight. 
 It is twelve cubits high and ten cubits 
 eight inches wide at the mouth. The 
 metal is nine inches thick. 
 
 The Emperor Yung-lo, so celebrated 
 for his magnificent undertakings, caused 
 five bells to be cast, all of about the 
 same weight — namely, 120,000 Iba. 
 avoirdupois. One is in the palace 
 beside the Tai-ho-tien ; another was 
 oast with the entire text of a long 
 Buddhist liturgicil work, and is hung 
 at a temple outside of the north-west 
 angle of the Ptking walls ; a third is 
 here ; and the other two are in certain 
 temples. This bill was formerly swung 
 on an open scaffolding. By Kien-loong, 
 a century and a half ago (1740), a 
 building was erected to shelter it. In 
 the stillness of the midnight hour its 
 deep mellow tone is beard at four 
 
[ 19 ] 
 
 milea’ distance, throughont P king, as 
 it strikes (he watch. The Chinese I 
 bells are more cylindrical and less ' 
 conical (han the European. This, 
 Verhiest remarks, renders them superior, j 
 In the drum-tower, incense-sticks, to 
 mark the honrs for the drnmmers, were ; 
 formerly supplied from the Board of j 
 Astronomy, and may be so still. One 
 would think a good clock would servo ; 
 much better ; but in China customs | 
 that ought to be obsolete are blended 
 with Bcieici in a singular way. To the j 
 west there is an open space, a shallow i 
 lake, and to the north-east, an avenue , 
 of willows leading to Prince Kang’s j 
 residence ; and about a mile farther, is 
 the temple where S'r Harry Parkes 
 was confined in 1860, It is called the 
 Kan-miau It was built in the 
 sixteenth century by a eunuch. The 
 date of imprisonment of Sir Harry and 
 Mr. Loch is still to be seen on the walls 
 in the handwriting of the captives, 
 September 29th to October Tib. Hang- | 
 chi, who showed such kiudtiess as he | 
 could to the prisoners, lived in the i 
 neighbourhood, and they were placed i 
 here that they might be near his 1 
 residence. He continued to maintain i 
 friendly relations with foreigners, till | 
 his death. ! 
 
 Our survey has now brought us to j 
 the noftb-west quarter of the city, j 
 H re is the old palace o'" To-to, a | 
 learnt d and influential Mongol states- | 
 ma*' of (he Yuen dynasty, author of the ' 
 “ History of the Kin Dynasty," and j 
 other works. The building is now a j 
 large temple, where a busy fair is held | 
 on fixed days, six in each month. It I 
 is occupied by Buddhist priests, and is : 
 called Hn-kwo-si I 
 
 Passing westward by the Si-ti pai- j 
 l<u, or “ fonr ornamental arches of the 
 west,” spanning as many broad streets j 
 whi-’h here meet, the visitor comes in \ 
 aigl of the Ti-wang-mian, or “Temple ; 
 of Emperors and Kings.” It was i 
 founded daring the latter half of the | 
 Ming period, in the sixteenth century. I 
 Id It are placed tablets to all good j 
 emperors from the most ancient times I 
 to the present. Tyrants, enemies to j 
 literature, and usarpera are not allowed j 
 a place there. The Mongol Kublai, | 
 Marco Polo's patron, was at fiist i 
 admitted by the Mings, and retained { 
 against the opinion of censors, bat was 
 
 afterwards sacrificed to the prejudices 
 of a more successful memorialist^. This 
 brings to mind the question once eager- 
 ly debated, “Shall Cromwell have a 
 statue ? ’’ But, as in the British 
 House of Parliament the claims of 
 great genius and the resolute aohieve- 
 ment of a noble destiny fonnd 
 tioD, so Kublai’s right to 
 among China’s sovereigns was 
 by a new dynasty. The 
 
 recogni- 
 a place 
 allowed 
 Manchus 
 
 added the fonndtrs of the three Tartar 
 dynasties, Liau, Kin, and Yuen ; and 
 of the Chinese dynasty, Ming They 
 also hononreil in the same way Kin-sbi- 
 tsung, the best of the Nii-ol iih Em- 
 perors, their own ancestors, and as- 
 signed positions to two good ofiBcers of 
 the Liau, Kin, and Ming dynasties. 
 
 The great conqueror, Ghengis Khan 
 (Cheog-kie), founder of the most ex- 
 tensive empire the world ever knew, 
 was also added to the list, though he 
 was not mnoh in China, and kept bis 
 Court at Karacjrum, not far from 
 Urga, to the south of the Baikal Sea, 
 
 The rule as to the admission of tablete 
 in this temple, is that all past Emperors 
 shonld have them, except tbe vicious 
 and oppressive, with those who have 
 been assassinated, and such as have 
 lost their kingdom, although it should 
 be by no fault of their own. It is 
 thongbt that in this way tbe judg- 
 ments of history should be acknow- 
 ledged and her leesons perpt tuated, _ 
 Near the Ti-wang-mian is the Pdi. ^a.A. 
 t^a^^ a large L^gjamonas^g^y, founded 
 700 yiara ago in the Lian dynasty. 
 There is a conspicuous white dagoba 
 here, under which are buried twenty 
 beads, 2,000 clay pagodas, and five 
 books cf Buddhist charms. Kublai, 
 who was devoted to Buddhism, spent 
 much gold and quicksilver iu gilding 
 tbe images and walls of (he temple. 
 Under the Mongols the buildings were 
 much Uaed for tiansacting public 
 business. On the west side of the city, 
 beside this dagoba and that on the 
 island hill in the west park, there are 
 three small pagodas, two of which are 
 erected as gateway towers in front of 
 a temple to the south-west of the palace. 
 
 A few years since a censor advised the 
 Emperor to build a new sslronomical 
 observatory to the senth-east of the 
 palaoe, in a position corresponding to 
 these two psgodas, in order that a 
 
[ 20 ] 
 
 
 favourable geomantio influence might 
 be establiahod for the eastern side, 
 similar and snpplemeutal to that of the 
 pagodas on the western. 
 
 The Yung;^£ 5 kan^ is at the north 
 end of the eastern half of the city. It 
 is a Buddhist temple, for lamas, mosMy 
 Mongols. They are divided into four 
 classes according to subjects of study. 
 About three hundred receive instruction 
 in metaphysics or the doctrine of “ the 
 empty nature” — in Mongol, Tiogosen 
 chinar ,” — that is, the non-existence of 
 matter, beings, and things, — with such 
 explanations as are requisite to reconcile 
 the observed difierences in nature and 
 qualities of things with this otherwise 
 incomprehensible doctrine. Three hund- 
 red more study the Tantras in Thibetan 
 translations. They form the secsnd 
 part of the Ganjur collection, and treat 
 of the Buddhist priest's personal action 
 as an ascetic, with devotional rituals, 
 and charms for invoking the aid of the 
 Buddhas and the divinities of Sivaism. 
 To these are added the mystic Yoga, in 
 which the hermit’s reveries are reduced 
 to a system, with complicated rami- 
 fications. This coarse of instruction 
 is called *• Undusun soragal," or 
 “ DandUra.” The third course is at- 
 tended in this temple by more than 
 200 pupils. It treats of Astronomy and 
 Astrology, according to the Hindoo 
 system as taught in Thibet. The fourth 
 course is Medicine. There are about 
 150 pupils. During the last few years 
 the gatekeepers of this lamasery have 
 refused to admit foreign visitors. 
 
 Including Mongols not arranged in 
 these four faculties, there are usually 
 in this monastery from 1,300 to 1,500 
 lamas. It is ruled by a Gegen, or 
 living Buddha, who is utually a 
 Thibetan. He resides in the south- 
 west portion of the monastery, where 
 some lamas of the same nation also 
 have their domicile. 
 
 The Yung-ho-kung was once a 
 Prince’s residence, and was inhabited 
 by the son and successor of Kanghi, 
 When he became Emperor he gave his 
 palace to the lamas, and was a favourer 
 of Buddhist doctrine so far as a Gon- 
 fucianist may be. 
 
 The Emperor is visitor of the 
 institution, and nominates a Cabinet 
 Minister to take charge of communica- 
 tions with the Gegen. The Gegen 
 
 when he dies is buried at Wu t’ai- 
 shan, in the province of Shan-si. Thie 
 celebrated spot, one of the oldest 
 Buddhist establishments in Cliina, i« 
 distant seven or eight days’ j 'uruey 
 from Peking. At the head of it is a 
 Thibetan Gegen, or “living Buddha.” 
 
 The buildings of the Yung-ho-kung 
 are very imposing. A broad paved 
 space leads to the front from the south 
 gate. On each side of this space are the 
 dwellings of the lamas, the greater 
 part of which are arranged in regular 
 rows of streets and lanes At the hour 
 of prayer they are seen issuing in crowds 
 from their cells, habited in yellow stoles. 
 Passing a gateway, they cross the 
 court of lions where are seen two bror z? 
 lions, the colossal animals which, with 
 fine old trees, ornament the front of 
 the hall of the Deva Rijas. Farther 
 on in the principal court is a largo 
 square monument of marble ir scribed 
 with the history of Lamaism. Its rise 
 in Thibet, in the Ming dynasty, and 
 subsequent fortunes are sketched. 
 This narrative is in four languages, 
 Chinese, Manohu, Thibetan, and 
 Mongol, each occupying one face of 
 the stone. Before it is a bronze 
 incense-urn eight feet high. At the 
 south-west corner of the court bangs 
 on the wall a picture of the Universe, 
 according to the opinions of the 
 Thibetan lamas. The world is held 
 by the four-olawed feet of a huge sea- 
 monster, a crocodile or sea-calf with 
 three eyes. The six paths to the 
 Nirvana are here painted : Buddha at 
 the north-west sile points to the sun, 
 and thus the sorrow and joy of life are 
 set before the lama as be adjusts bis 
 robes when about to enter the 
 cbanting-hall for service. It is called 
 the “ Wheel of Sansara,” the deceptive 
 ever-changing world of the Buddhists. 
 
 They sit, when performing service, 
 on low cushioned stools or benches, 
 facing east and west, in rows. Some- 
 among them sing a deep bass note in I> 
 in accompaniment to the Gregorian-like 
 chant of the greater number. This is 
 an accomplishment learned in youth 
 when the voice is breaking. The idols 
 in the lama temple are the same as in 
 the Chinese, with a few exceptions. 
 But the lamas are fond of using 
 Thibetan pictures of Buddha, which in 
 some of the halls take entirely the 
 
[ 21 ] 
 
 place of images. The personages 
 painted all btlong to Northern Bud- 
 dhism, in which Kwan-yin, the “god- 
 dess of mercy,” and Amitahha Buddha 
 of the western piradise, are favourite 
 ohjects of adooration. 
 
 At the north end is a lofty building 
 in which is a colossal image of 
 Maitreya, the coming Buddha, It is 
 severi^^e^ih^b, and is made of wood. 
 fET" Trav^Te^ascends to the head of 
 the image by several flights of stairs. 
 The coronet he wears is that of 
 Bodhisallwa, with several angular pro- 
 jections lamed up at its circumfl reuoe. 
 This indicates that he has not yet 
 attained the dignity of Buddha, who 
 wears a skull-cap embossed with in- 
 verted shells. A lamp over Maitreya’s 
 head is lit when the Emperor visits the 
 temple, and a large praying- wheel on 
 the left hand, reaching upward through 
 the successive stories of the building, 
 to an equal height with the image, is 
 also set in motion on that occasion. 
 The whole series of buildings, inclusive 
 of the Emperor’s private apartments, 
 is called commonly Yung-ho-kung, but 
 this name is properly applied to the 
 central building, in front of which 
 is the telraglott inscription of the 
 history of Lamaism. Beautiful silk 
 carpels made at Po-ii cheng, beyond the 
 Ordos country, are laid on the floor of 
 this ball. The pictures from Thibet, 
 here worshipped, represent the past, 
 present, and future Buddha, San-sl i- 
 ju-lai, as in Chinese temples. In front 
 are a double row of the “eight precious 
 oflerings,” consisting of a wheel, a 
 
 canopy, a fish, a shell, and so on, 
 which, with the Wu-kung, candles, 
 incense and flowers, constitute the 
 nsual gifts at the shrine of Buddha. 
 
 On the west side of the Yung-ho- 
 kung is the Qggfjjciantem^l^ usually 
 called Kwe-lti kien. (JTScy^esses of 
 the Yuen and Ming dynasties give it a 
 venerablis appearance. The idea of a 
 Confucian temple requires p suitable 
 building to present oSerings'at spring 
 and autumn, with wooden tablets set 
 upright in niches, and inscribed with 
 the names of the sage and his chitf 
 disciples. In front of this hall are al- 
 ways planted rows of oypreases. This 
 idea is here carried out in an impos- 
 ing manner. The ball is very loftyf, 
 from forty to fifty feet high, the roof 
 
 being supported by large teak pillars 
 from South-western China. In front is 
 a broad and handsome marble terrace, 
 twenty. eight yards long by four-teen 
 wide, with balustrades, ascended on 
 three sides by seventeen steps. The 
 inscription on the tablet, in Chinese 
 and Manchu, says, “The tablet of the 
 soul of the most holy ancestral teacher, 
 Confucius” The tablets of the four 
 distinguished sages, Tseng tti, Mencius 
 Yen-hwuy, and Tae-sz’, are placed two 
 on each side. The first of these wrote 
 the Great lus'ruction, the first of the 
 Pour Books ; the second, Mencius, 
 wrote the P turth Book; Tz'-sz? wrote 
 the Choong- Yoon f, or the “Invariable 
 Mean ; ” and Yen-hwuy, the remaining, 
 is the most conspicuous of the dis- 
 ciples, who in the Lun yii discoursed 
 with the Master. Six more edebrated 
 men of the school occupy a lower 
 position on each side ; among them is 
 Chuhi, the famous philosopher of the 
 Sung dynasty in the twelfth century 
 This arrangement is not older ttian 
 the division of the sacred books into 
 the Pour Books and Pive 01a33'C->, 
 which took place in the age of Ciiu- 
 hi. Under the ii fluonce of Buddhism, 
 images were introduced in the Tang 
 period, and used for some centuries, 
 but abandoned again in the Miug 
 dynasty, on the ground that “ to mou'd 
 clay into an image is to lose the idea of 
 the Shin ming."* The tablets are two 
 feet five inches high and six inches 
 wide, on a pedestal two feet high : the 
 title is in gilt letters on a red ground. 
 Pormerly ten wise men, in addition to 
 Mencius and Yen-hwuy, were honoured 
 with sitting images ; now they are In- 
 creased to twelve, in order to introduce 
 Ohu-hi, and the two have become four. 
 The floor is covered with Tsung matting, 
 an article imported from the south, and 
 much used in China for carpeting and 
 for printers’ brashes : it is made from 
 the iuvolacre of the leaves of the 
 areci-palm, well known in India, On 
 the roof are seen handsome tablets in 
 praise of Confucius ; each Emperor 
 presents one in token of veneration for 
 the sage. Every inscription is diiferent, 
 and preseflts some aspect of his in- 
 
 * Shin-ming, the spiritual and illustrious 
 one*, — a comiaon title fcr the invisible powers 
 ot a good kind. 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 flaence ; he is called “ Of all born men 
 the unrivalled,” “ Equal with Heaven 
 and Earth,” “ Example and Teacher of 
 all Ages,” (fee. 
 
 On each side of the conrt is a range 
 of buildings where there are 1 ablets 
 to more than a hundred celebrated 
 echolors. On the east side are seventy- 
 eight virtuous men, and on the west 
 fifty-fiur 1( arned men. Among them 
 eighty.six were pupils of the sage; ihe 
 rest are men who have accepted bis 
 principles. No Tauists, however pro- 
 found or brilliant, no original thinkers, 
 however much they may have been 
 followed, are allowed a place here: it is 
 the Tfii'.ple of Fame for the Ju-kiau, 
 the sect of the Confucianist literati, 
 exclusively. 
 
 Durirg the Tang and Sung dynaslies, 
 Confucius was worshipped under a title 
 cf nobilily. He was then a Wang, or 
 Prince. Now it is thought bftler to 
 honour tim with the denomination of a 
 “ teacher,” sien-th'i. H'S ancestors are 
 adored in a back hall. 
 
 In the temple court in front of ihe 
 Moon terrcc’, with its marble bilu- 
 stradfs, there are six monrimc-nts with 
 yellow-tiled roofs, recording foreign 
 cor quests by the Emperors Kanghi, 
 Yung chene', and Kien-lonng : — 
 
 1704. — Kanglii. Conquest of Sliomo, Western 
 Mongolia. 
 
 1726. — Yung-cheng. Conquest of Tsing-hai, or 
 ‘ Eastern TliibeC 
 
 1750, — Kien-loong. Conquest of Kin-chweu, 
 the Mian country. 
 
 1760. — Kien-loong. Conquest of Chungaria, 
 land of the Calmucks. 
 
 1760. — Kien-loong. Conquest of Mohammedan 
 Ta’tary. 
 
 1777.— Kien-loong. Conquest of Miau coun- 
 try in Szecliweu. 
 
 On occasion of the announcement of 
 victories to the scul of Confucius, to 
 ancfstcrp, to deceased Emperors in the 
 Ti- wang-mian, and to the spirits of 
 the land and grain, it is usual to erect 
 these monuments. 
 
 In the gateway to the same court are 
 the celebrated stone diums, coi siating 
 of ten black drum-shaped blocks 
 of granite. When Bret mentioned, 
 ehout the seventh century cf our era, 
 they were in a Confucian Temple in a 
 city of the modern province of Shen 
 si. Eu-yang-sieu, one of the chief 
 literati of the Sung-dy nasty, objects 
 to their antiquity on several grounds : 
 ho says the characlers are not cut 
 
 deep enough to warrant our believing, 
 with the Tang period authors, that 
 they are 2,500 years old. Hs also 
 says there are no authentic stone 
 manaments inscribed with characlers 
 previous to the third century before 
 our era ; and adds, as a further obj -o- 
 iion, that Hin writers would certainly 
 have mentioned them, and that they 
 would hove found a place in the 
 imperial book catalogue of the Sui 
 dynasty. On the other hand, later 
 authors are inclined to think more of 
 their antiquity, and believe them to 
 date from the Chow dynasty, and to 
 belong to the period of Sia^u-waDgr, 
 two ceutnries b fora Confunius, and 
 to be, therefore, about 2,500 years old. 
 They consist, aco rrding to this view, 
 of poetry in the old seal character, 
 oomraemorating one of S usn-wang’s 
 hunting expeditions. A part is still 
 legible, but. though the drum.s are of 
 solid granite, m >re than half the 
 inscription has peeled off f The stones 
 are asciibed to the oga of Wsn-wang, 
 when fi st mentioned by writers of the 
 Tang period, aboii'' a.d 600 to a d 900, 
 the inscriptions only being referred to 
 Siueu-wang. To secure the preservation 
 of the remaining characters, which 
 seemed likely to peel off like the rest, the 
 Emperor Kii n-loong had new stones out 
 and pieced on the south side of the 
 same gateway. In front of them is the 
 court of the Triennial Examinations. A 
 stone is here erected in commemoration 
 of each, and on it are inscribed the 
 names and residences of all who then 
 receive the title of Teiii-fhi, “ doctor of 
 literature.” The oldast are three still 
 remaining of the Yuen dynasty. For 
 the 6ve centuries that have elapsed 
 since, the monumouta are nearly 
 cjmplete. Has any European noiversity 
 a complete list for 6ve hundred years 
 of all who have taken in it the title of 
 doctor ? 
 
 Adjoining the Ooufuciau temple on 
 the wtst side is the or 
 
 of the Classics. This 
 
 Hall 
 
 was 
 
 HM. 
 ,1 
 
 -CiU 
 
 t Tliese ancient relics of the Chow i^eriod 
 have followctl the court from one cipital to 
 another, till they were placed "in Peking. One 
 of the drums has lost its upper half, and the 
 remaining half has liad a hole scooijed in it. It 
 is, said tliat it was found in the country near ^ 
 
 Kai-fung-fu, in Honan, at a farmstead, where it 
 had been used as a watering-trough for cattle. 
 
[ 23 ] 
 
 thought of the Emperor Kien-loong. 
 Before hie time the ClasBics had been 
 expounded in the adjoining Kvro-tri- 
 kien or Tai-hio, — the college attached 
 to the temple of China’s great sage. 
 But, as in ancient times the emperors 
 "had had a ball called Pi-yurg in a cir- 
 cular ornamental tank, while the feudal 
 princes had in front of their colleges a 
 cemicircular tank, Kien-loong deter- 
 mined to give completeness to the Tai- 
 kio by adding to it the present 
 etruclure. It is a lofty building, 
 tquare, wilh a four-sidid roof having 
 double eavep, yellow-tiled, and at top 
 furmounted by a large gilt b»ll ; a ver- 
 andah cart if d to the roof, and support- 
 ed by maseive wooden pillars, ei circles 
 it. The sides consist of seven pairs of 
 folding-doors each ; the tank surrounds 
 it, and is circular and edged by marble 
 balustrtdes A bridgo crosses it to the 
 centre doorway of each side. There is 
 A large throne in the interior, protected 
 at the beck by “the screen of the 
 five mountains ; " and the antithetical 
 sentences suspended on the pillars an- 
 nounce that the Emperor had perfected 
 the work of former dynasties by the 
 erection of this ball. 
 
 In front is a yellow porcelain arch 
 with three entries. On each side, in 
 cloisters, stand about 200 upright stone 
 monuments, engraved on both sides. 
 They contain the complete text of the 
 Nine Classics. The idea has been 
 repeated from the Han and T’ang 
 dynasties, each of whic^ had a series of 
 monuments engraved with the Classics 
 in t he same way. The whole is executed 
 in a style of great beauty. 
 
 The intentions of the Han and T'ang 
 Emperors, as well ss cf the Mancha 
 eovereign, Kien-loong, in erecting these 
 moLuments, was to preseiveau accurate 
 text of the CiassicB. Literature took 
 Alarm from the book burning of Tsin- 
 slii hwang ; and it was afterwaids 
 found that the lapse of ceuluries was 
 Ecarcely less fatal to the purity of 
 ancient texts. The danger of corruption 
 would be much lessentd by the pre- 
 eeivation cf these highly-prized remains 
 of antiquity on stone tablets in the 
 Temple of Confucius. So as to be more 
 easily read, the text is divided on the 
 face of the stone into pages of a 
 convenient siz?, so that the difficulty I 
 
 felt in reading long lines of Chinese 
 characters from top to bottom of the 
 stone is obviated. 
 
 The is in the 
 
 Chinese city, three miles to the south 
 of the Palace. It is placed there 
 because the sacrifioes there performed 
 ! were anciently effsred in the outskirt of 
 the city where the Emperor resided, 
 and the part called by us the Chinese 
 city is properly the southern portion of 
 the outskirts of the capital. 
 
 The most important of all the State 
 observances of China is the sacrifice at 
 the Winter Solstic e, performed in the 
 open Tor^atTrSe south altar of the 
 Temple of Heaven, 2l8t December. 
 The altar is called Nan-tan, “ south 
 monnd,’’or Yuen kieii, “round hillock,” 
 — both names of the greatest antiquity. 
 Here alao are offered prayers for rain 
 in the earWsomjjatr. The altar is a 
 beantiful*marOe structure, ascended by 
 twenty-seven steps, and ornamented by 
 circular balustrades on each of its three 
 terroc s. There is another on the north 
 side, of somewhat smaller dimensions, 
 called the Ch'i-ku fan, or “altar for 
 pra ^r on behalf of grain .” On it ia 
 raised a magnllicent triple-roofed cir- 
 cular structure ninety-nine feet in 
 height, which constitutes the most 
 conepicncus object in the tout enseiithle, 
 and is that which is called by foreigners 
 the Temple of Heaven. It is the hall 
 of prajjerfora^,,,g£jijj>iticnajg4r ; and 
 hprp narly in. . B|pingnTepraver and 
 sacrifice for that object are offered. 
 
 These structures are deeply enshrined 
 in a thick cypress grove — reminding 
 the visitor of the custom which formerly 
 prevailed among the heathen nations of 
 tha Old Testament, and of the solemn 
 shade which surronnded some celebrated 
 temples of ancient Greece. 
 
 Oo the day before the sacrifioes the 
 Emperor proceeds to the Cloai-kung, 
 “ hall of fasting,” on the west side of the 
 south altar. Here he spends the night 
 in watching and meditation, after first 
 inspecting the offerings. 
 
 The tablets to the Supreme Ruler of 
 Heaven, and the Emperor's ancestors, 
 are preserved in the chapel at the back 
 of each altar. There are no images. 
 Both these chapels are circular, and 
 tiled with blue glazed porcelain ; and, 
 
L 24 J 
 
 in this respect, resemble the lofty 
 edifice on the north altar. Bat they 
 have no upper story. The name of 
 the southern chapel, Hwang-kiang-yu, 
 means “ the circular hall of the imperial 
 expanse." 
 
 The south altar, the moat important 
 of all Chinese religious struotures, has 
 the following dimensions. It consists 
 of a triple circular terrace, 210 feet 
 wide at the base, 150 in the 
 middle, and 90 at the top. In these, 
 notice the multiples of three : 3 X 3 
 = 9, 3 X 5 = 15, 3 X 7 = 21. The 
 heights of the three terraces, upper, 
 middle, and lower, are 5-72 feet, 6 23 
 feet, and 5 feet respectively. At the 
 times of sacrificing, the tablets to 
 Heaven and to the Emperor's ancestors 
 are placed on the top ; they are 2 feet 
 5 inches long, and 5 inches wide. The 
 title is in gilt letters ; that of Heaven 
 faces the south, and those of the 
 assessors east and west. The Emperor, 
 with his immediate suite, kneels in 
 front of the tablet of Shang-ti, and 
 faces the north. The platform is laid 
 with marble stones, forming nine con* 
 centric circles ; the inner circle consists 
 of nine stones, cut so as to fit with 
 close edges round the central stone, 
 which is a perfect circle. Here the 
 Empeior kneels, and is surrounded 
 first by the circles of the terraces and 
 their enclosing walls, and then by the 
 circle of the horizon. He thus seems 
 to himself and his Court to be in the 
 centre of the universe, and turning to 
 the north, assuming the attitude of a 
 subject, he acknowledges in prayer 
 and by bis position that he is inferior 
 to Heaven, and to Heaven alone. 
 Bound him on the pavement are the 
 nine circles of as many heavens, con* 
 eisting of nine stones, then eighteen, 
 then twenty, seven, and so on in sue* 
 cessive multiples of nine till the square 
 of nine, the favourite number of 
 Chinese philosophy, is reached in the 
 outermost circle of eigbty-one stones. 
 
 The same symbolism is carried 
 throughout the balustrades, the steps, 
 and two lower terraces of the altar. 
 Four flights of steps of nine each lead 
 down to the middle terrace, where are 
 placed the tablets to the spirits of the 
 sun, moon, and stare, and the year 
 god, Tai sui. This eui is the Baby* 
 
 Ionian $08 which means six*. The 
 sun and stars take the east, and the 
 moon and Tai eui the west : the stara 
 are the (wenty-eight constellations of 
 the Chinese Zodiac, borrowed by the 
 Hindoos soon after the Christian era, 
 and called by them the Nakehatras; 
 the Tai-eui is a deification of the sixty* 
 year cycle. The year, 1897 is the 
 34th year of the cycle, and is denoted 
 by the characters ting yeu, taken from 
 the denary and duodenary cycles 
 respectively. For this year the tablet 
 is inscribed with these characters, la 
 1898 the characters tvu-su, next ia 
 order, will be taken, and so on. 
 
 The balustrades have 9x8, or 72 
 pillars, and rails on the upper terrace. 
 On the middle terrace there are 10^ 
 and on the lower 180. These amount 
 in all to 360 — the number of degree in 
 a circle. 
 
 The pavement of the middle teirace 
 has in its innermost circle 90 stones, 
 and in its outermost 162 stones, thus 
 reaching the doable of 81, the outer- 
 most ciicle of the upper terrace. 
 
 So again, in the lower terrace tbo 
 circles increase from 171 stones, tbs 
 innermost to 243, or three times the 
 square of nine for the outmost. 
 
 The pavements, flights of steps, and 
 balustrades, are all of the white marble 
 known by the Chinese as hana-pai-yie 
 —an excellent stone for architectural 
 purposes, and for the rough sculpture 
 of the Chinese masons, but not fine and 
 hard enough for European sculpture. 
 
 It has been an aim to use odd 
 numbers only ; Heaven is odd. Earth ia 
 even. Heaven is round. Earth is square j 
 or, to nee the ultimate expression of 
 Chinese metaphysical thought. Heaven 
 is Yang^ Earth is Yin. The numbera 
 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, belong to Yang, Heaven ; 
 the numbeis 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, belong to 
 Yin, Earth. In the ofiScial published 
 accounts of the oorgtruclion of the 
 Temple of Heaven, this is set down aa 
 the fundamental principle, 
 
 • The number 6 among fhe Babylonians was 
 appropriated to the G<xl Bimmon (IT Kings 
 5.18). The Babylonian word see is in Hebrew 
 shesh. The number six symbolizes the year 
 because 6 X 6 x 10=350. The common ques- 
 tion how old are you is asked in the words 
 Ki sui, how many sixes 7 or K’tcet kia tsf, liow 
 many sixties? But now the question simply 
 mean how many years old are you ? 
 
[ 25 ] 
 
 It may be remarked here, how well 
 this acoords with the opinion that the 
 Persian religion and system of thonght 
 agreed in ancient times with the 
 Chinese. The city of Ecbatana was 
 so bai’t that the Emperor lived 
 in the centre, surrounded by con- 
 centric rings, representing the celestial 
 spheres. Each ring was a wall painted 
 with its appropriate colour, according to 
 the astrotomical notions of the time. 
 The old Persian religion with its 
 worship of the elements, and its dual 
 philosophy, before the introduction of 
 Oimozi and Ahriman, and the wor- 
 ship of fire, bears a most striking 
 resemblance to the old Chinese religion 
 as exemplified in the modern Temple 
 of Heaven. 
 
 As might be expected, careful dis- 
 tinctions are made in the sacrifices. 
 The animals ordinarily used for food 
 by the ancient Chinese, and the fruits 
 of the earth known to them are almost 
 all included. But productions recently 
 introduced into the country are not 
 cfiered. To heaven alone is cfiered a 
 piece of blue jade, cylindrical in shape 
 and a foot lorg. formerly used as a 
 -symbol of sovereignty. But the great 
 distinguishing sign of superiority is 
 the offering of a whole-burnt offering 
 to Heaven. Heaven receives also 
 twelve bundles of cloth, whil'e the 
 'Emperors, and the sun and moon, 
 have offered to them but one. Various- 
 ahaped vessels, filled with different 
 kinds of corn, are offered to heaven, 
 to the Emperors, and to the sun and 
 moon ; but in greater number to the 
 former. The spirits of the atmosphere 
 winds, clouds, rain, and thunder, have 
 their eatables placed below the altar 
 on the east and west sides, between 
 the inner and outar enclosure. They 
 also receive a share of the offerings, 
 consisting of four bundles of cloth, a 
 bullock, a sheep, and a pig, with the 
 productions of the soil. 
 
 On the south-east of the altar stands, 
 at the distance of an arrow- fiight, the 
 lajgofurnagg, for the whole-burnt 
 offering, it is faced with green pro- 
 celain, and is nine feet high. It is 
 acoended on three sides — east, south, 
 and west— by a green porcelain stair- 
 case. The bullock is placed inside, 
 upon a substantial iron grating, under- 
 neath which fire is kindled. Outside 
 
 there is a pit for the blood and hair. 
 The visitor, ascending by one of the 
 staircases to the top of the furnace, 
 sees within the remaining charred 
 bones of the last sacrifice. 
 
 Some native scholars attempt to 
 j explain the burnt sacrifice as intended 
 to call the attention of the Supreme 
 ; Spirit of Heaven, by the smoke, odour, 
 and flame, to the circumstance that the 
 time for the sacrifice has come. This 
 agrees with the commton Buddhist notion 
 1 that the wooden fish, and the bell, the 
 i musical stone, and various icstruments 
 ' of music, need to ba struck in order to 
 announce to the god worshipped that 
 ' his presence is desired. Another native 
 ! explanation is that the odour is agree- 
 i able. This is very ancient, and agrees 
 with many passages in the Old and 
 New Testaments, which speak of the 
 sweet-smelling savour of a hurnt- 
 : offering; as well as with the ideas of 
 the ancient Greeks in their burnt 
 I sacrifices. It has never occurred to the 
 Chinese that the original idea connected 
 with burnt sacrifices was propitiatory 
 j in the sense of substitutionary. The 
 1 book of Genesis, while recording the 
 1 fact of burnt sacrifices in the primitive 
 I patriarchal religion, does not give this 
 explanation, except in the offering up 
 , by Abraham of his son Isaac. It first 
 ! occurs in complete form in the 
 I revelations made to Moses. The Chinese 
 sacrifices must be comp'ired with those 
 j of the Patriarchal, rather than the 
 j Mosaic age, and we cannot wonder 
 ] that, even if the doctrine of substitution 
 i was at first taught with the original 
 institution of these sacrifices, that, after 
 the lapse of so many centuries, the 
 knowledge of it should be lost. 
 
 Whether, in the primeval institution 
 of sacrifices, the substitutionary idea of 
 I life for life, and punishment for sin, 
 
 I transferred from offerer to victim, was 
 j at first plainly taught, or darkly hinted, 
 
 I is a question not easy to decide. The 
 j symbol may first have been given and 
 ; afterwards its significance revealed ; or 
 ; the significance of sacrifices may have 
 ! been made known to the earliest men, 
 i but not recorded till a later age in the 
 ' early portions of the Bible. 
 
 The bullocks are selected with great 
 I care : they must be males of two years 
 I old, the beat of their kind, and without 
 blemish : they are fed in the park 
 
[ 26 ] 
 
 which surrounds the altar. These cir- 
 cumstances together constitute another 
 point of resemblance to the Jewish 
 sacrifices which should not be lost 
 sight of. 
 
 The name of the furnace, llati lu 
 means the furnace of the fiie sacrifice. 
 Here the word liau, for “ fire sacrifice,” 
 alludes in its etymology to “ light- 
 giving,” thus favouring the first of 
 the two nalive cxplasations. 
 
 On the south-west of the altar stand 
 t hree high pole^ for hanging lanterns. 
 The sacrifice is performed before dawn. 
 The illum'nation wilt fall from these 
 lofty lanterns upon the Emperor and 
 bis suite, while they all kneel in wor- 
 ship on the upper terrace, the attar- 
 steps, and on the south pavement 
 beyond the altar. 
 
 On December 21 the Emperor goes 
 in a sedan-chair to the gate called 
 Taiho-men in the palace: here he 
 mounts the elephant carriage, and 
 proceeds to the Temple of Heaven. 
 There he goes first to the tablet chapel, 
 where he cfFers incense to Sbang-li 
 and to his ancestors, with three kneel- 
 ings and nine prostrations. Then, 
 going to the great altar, he inspects 
 the cfierings, proceeds to the south 
 gate, and, taking his seat in the 
 elephant carriage, is conveyed to the 
 hall of penitential fasting. Next 
 morning, seven quarters before sunrise, 
 or about 5 45 a m., he puts on his 
 sacrificial robes, and goes to the south 
 gate of the outer enclosure, dismounts 
 from the nie», as his carriage is calhd, 
 and walks to the Imperial yellow tent 
 on the second terrace. At the moment 
 be arrives at the spot where he kneels, 
 the fire of the burnt sacrifice in kindled 
 to meet the spirit of Shang-ti, and 
 music is heard playing an air called 
 Shi ping-chi chang. The Emperor 
 then goes to the upper terrace of the 
 altar, kneels and burns incense before 
 Shang-ti, and them presents incense to 
 hie ancestors, whose shrines, with their 
 tablets, are arranged in wooden huts 
 on the north-east and north-west 
 portions of the altar. While he makes 
 three kneelings and nine prostrations, 
 and offers bundles of silk, jade onpa, 
 and other gifts, the tune called King- 
 ping chi chan g is heard played by the 
 masicians, 
 
 He then proceeds to the point on the 
 altar where the prayer is read. The 
 prayer is presented by an officer, the 
 music stops, the Emperor kneels, the 
 eflfioer reads the prayer aloud, the 
 Emperor bows to the ground three 
 times, offers a cup to his ancestors on 
 each side, and music and dancing 
 commence. 
 
 At this point, certain officers bring 
 forward what is called “the flash of 
 happines ” to the front of the tablet 
 of Shang-ti and hold it up. The 
 Emperor then goes to the spot for 
 drinking “ the cup of happiness " and 
 receiving “ the flesh of happiness,” and 
 prostrates himself three times, receiving 
 the cup and flesh kneeling. 
 
 The north^l^ is a little smaller 
 than the*sout^er^but has erected upon 
 it a lofty temple, n inety-nine,. feet in 
 height. Before last century it wa^ 
 roofed with blue, yellow, and green 
 tiles, but by Kien-loong these colours 
 were changed to blue. The elaborately 
 carved and richly painted eaves are 
 protected from birds and insects by 
 iron-wire net. In the interior, the 
 large shrines of carved wood ^or the 
 tablets are all seen in their places, 
 corresponding to the movable blue 
 wooden huts which, on the days of 
 sacrifice, enclose the tablets on the 
 southern altar. The windows are 
 shaded by Venetians made of thin blue 
 glass rods strung together ; they are 
 produced at the glass factories in Shan- 
 tung. Here also, as at the south altar, 
 are seen, on the t he green 
 
 f urnace f oy the hgllnck. and the eight 
 open-work iron urns in which the 
 offeiings of silk are burnt, and which 
 ^e arranged, as at the southern altar, 
 on an arc of a circle from the furnacs 
 round to the eastward ; an urn is added 
 when an Emperor dies. From the 
 remmants of silk found in the urns it 
 may be judged, that a plain, uncloured, 
 and coartely woven silk cloth is pre- 
 ferred, such as is produced in the 
 northern provinces, and that the rich 
 satins of Nanking, or the figured silks 
 of Hu-chow, would be unsuitable for 
 these solemn sacrifice. 
 
 Oa_tbeeaati3 a winding passaizg o r 
 clojatgj;,^jj^_^^_^mgartmentao£10__Jg^t 
 
 each = 720 feet _in _l£iiglb. l eading to 
 
 the slaughter-house . Here, in ancieut 
 (Tmes, the monarch himself used to 
 
[ 27 ] 
 
 kill the animal, bat novr an officer is 
 deputed to discharge this duty, under 
 the saperintendfDOe of the Emperor's 
 deputies. One of the buildings passed 
 while proceeding along this cloister 
 of the seventy-two compartments was 
 burnt by lightning in the year 1862 ; 
 it contained part of the sacrificial 
 vessels. Such a catastrophe was re- 
 garded as very ominous at the time, 
 but as the dynasty has since gained 
 strength by the successes of the army 
 in diepersing several powerful bodies 
 of rebels, and as the building was 
 rebuilt without further disaster, the 
 Court has taken heart again. Near 
 the long passage are to be seen, on the 
 BOUlb, s even large stonf s lying in the 
 open park ; tney are called the spven 
 stare. They are supposed to have 
 fallen from Heaven, and to secure 
 ^prosperity to the Empire. 
 
 The sacrifice at the north altar takes 
 place at the be ginning of soring . At 
 this time it is thought right for the 
 Emperor to go out from his home in 
 the city to the altar, for the fruits of 
 the year in the country, to meet there 
 the new-come spring, and offer prayer 
 to Shang-ti for a blessing on the 
 labours of the husbandmen ; the word 
 “new” in Chinese, sin, agrees in 
 sound with the eighth symbol of the 
 denary cycle. The name of the denary 
 and duodenary cycles have, from the 
 most ancient times, be^n assigned to 
 days. A day, therefore, is chosen for 
 the sacrifice, which is marked sin) for 
 this there is no, perhapj, other reason 
 than similarity of sound and ancient 
 custom. It must be after th e 6tb of 
 FebrnarV j in the ar>lar ealnndAr be- 
 cause then, in Chinese phraseology. 
 B oring beg ins. TAchuu. The temple 
 is called Chi nien tie. u. “ tem ple ef 
 prayer for the year.” The name is 
 iascribed in ^ancaa and Chinese on 
 the upper roof. 
 
 P rayer for raj p is rfftred at the 
 Kentjl anTT^pripr Qo OCCa- 
 
 sions of drought the Emperor some- 
 limes goes on foot to the “ Hall of 
 Penilent Pasting.” This is to indicate 
 that hie anxiety of mind farbids him 
 to seek bodily ease, while his subjects 
 are suffering. That Heaven should be 
 angry with the people is a sign that 
 there is a fault in the Prince. He 
 therefore appears as a criminal, and 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 ! 
 
 lays aside his state for the time. The 
 distance to be walked is three English 
 miles, and it may be at a time of year 
 when the heat is great. He may, 
 however, relurn on horseback. 
 
 This is a special ceremony. There is 
 also a regular prayer and sacrifice for 
 r ain offere d about the time of the 
 Su mmer Holsti ce at the south altar. 
 The Emperor preo-eds there with a 
 numerous array of officers, who range 
 themselves behind him on the twenty, 
 niie steps and lower teriaces on 
 the south side of the altar. When 
 the Emperor kneels, they do so too. 
 While all are thus kneeling upon and 
 below the altar, the prayer is presented 
 and read. It is then placed before 
 Shang-ti on the offering of silk The 
 prayer, which is written on silk, is 
 then taken to the iron urns, and there 
 burnt. The order followed in worship 
 is that of Court ceremonial. First 
 come the nine orders of nobility, and 
 then the nine ranks of officers. The 
 distinctions indicated by different 
 coloured balls on their caps, an d by 
 other insignia, are eorupulously ob- 
 served. An isosceles triangle, whose 
 vertex was on the top of the altar, 
 and base on the south pavement, would 
 represent the appearance of the 
 worshipping suite, the Emperor being 
 at the vertex. 
 
 Early in the Ming dvnaalv^ the 
 
 temple was called Altar of Heaven 
 
 B~nd Jjiarth . i^ueb, also, was the name 
 
 of the Peking altar, till a new park on 
 the north of the city was set apart for 
 an altar to earth. After this the sacri- 
 fices at the older altar were presented 
 to the Supreme Spirit of Heaven alone. 
 
 Some have imagined that they 
 detected in the worship of Earth, aa 
 distinguished from that of Heaven, a 
 duality entirely fatal to the monotheism 
 which others represent aa the rtal faith 
 of the Chinese. It should be remem- 
 bered that the ancestors of this people 
 had both a nature- woiship and a belief 
 in the personality of Shang-ti. In the 
 popular songs of the Chow dynasty 
 God is represented as having the 
 attributes of a personal ruler, a deity 
 to be prayed to, and as addressing 
 verbal revelations to royal sages Be- 
 side this belief, there was a graduated 
 nature-worship, which was regarded 
 as also of high importano.'. The 
 
[ 28 ] 
 
 u< 
 
 8aD, me on, and stars, the earth, the i 
 mountains and rivers, were all wor- 
 shipped. The feudal harons oifered 
 sacridees to the nature gods of their 
 own jurisdiction, while the lord par- 
 amount alone worshipped Sbang-ti. 
 At present, in Peking, the ancient j 
 customs are followed as closely as 
 possible. The Emperor addresses him- 
 self as a bumble servant only to Shang- : 
 ti. In prayer to the others— those j 
 that are simply Nature gods, the Spirit ' 
 of the Earth, the Spirit of the Son, of j 
 the Moon, of the Grain and Lmd — he 
 speaks as a superior, praising them j 
 for their beneficial acts and influences ; I 
 but viewing them all as subordinate | 
 beings, each ruling over his own pro- j 
 vinoe in a position of subjection to | 
 Shang-ti. Such, for example, is the I 
 relation of the Spirit of Earth, or j 
 Heu-tu, to the supreme ruler. Hence, | 
 this divinity is not female, nor is be 
 ever personified by the Chinese, except 
 BO far as the title Heu iu, “ ruling ' 
 earth," and Ti chi shen, “ spirit of 
 earth," deserve to be regarded as 
 personification. 
 
 The objects of worship in the im- 
 perial temples in Peking may be 
 spoken of as gods in the sense of 
 of Nature worship without idols. But 
 this does not disagree with the state- 
 ment that the Chinese are monotheists, 
 inasmuch as Shang-ti is, and has al- j 
 ways been regarded as the one supreme 
 ruler. The worship of one God came 
 down by the tradition from the first 
 
 ages and the Ghinese brought it with 
 
 thena to tbeir country . 
 
 ' On ihe west of the Temple of 
 Heaven is that of Agriculture. It is 
 Indicated to the fabulous originator 
 <5r agriculture, Shin-nung. While the 
 park of the Temple of Heaven has 
 trees growing only in parallel rows, 
 on the grass surroanding which are 
 pastured the sacrificial cattle, that of 
 the Shin-nung tin is planted with trees 
 irregularly throughout. Here the Em- 
 peror ploughs in the spring, as does 
 also some one of the City Magistrates, 
 to give thereby an example of industry. 
 Several long plots of ground are shown. 
 This one is the Emperor's, that {one is 
 the Chi-hien's (City Magistrate), that 
 is the Cbi-fn’s (Prefect), and so on. 
 Five grains are sonn, called : 1, shu Ui, 
 a panicled millet ; 2, tau, rice ; 3, mei, 
 
 a kind of millet, grinding into yellow 
 meal like maize and small millet ; 4, ku, 
 small millet ; and 5, pai, also a millet. 
 In the Three Character Classic there 
 are six kinds of grain mentioned ; I, 
 tau, rice ; 2, Hang, Barbadoes millet, 
 sorghum, &o. ; 3, shu, beans ; 4, meh, 
 wheat, barley ; 5, shu, a panicled millet ; 
 6, tsi, a sqaali millet. The grain sown 
 by the Emperor is rice ; when he is 
 not able to come, bis part is left 
 barren ; no inferior person can plough, 
 and sow it. 
 
 North of this ground is a square 
 terrace, five feet high, and fifty feet on 
 each side, for watching the ploughing 
 and other operations. 
 
 There are four large altars with 
 appropriate buildings: 1, the Altar of 
 the Spirits of Heaven, Tien shin-tan; 2, 
 of the Spirits of Earth, Ti-ki ; 3, of the 
 Spirit of the Year, Tai sui ; 4, of the 
 Ancestral Husbandman, or Shin-nun^ 
 himself. 
 
 The first two altars are together, and 
 both rectangular. That of the Spirits 
 of Heaven is on the east, and that of the 
 Spirits of Eirth on the west. On the 
 north side of the eastern, which is fifty 
 feet square and four feet five inohe» 
 high, are placed four blue marble 
 shrines for tablets. They are carved 
 with clouds and dragons, and are more 
 than nine feet high. The tablets are 
 inscribed with the titles of the Spirits of 
 Clouds, Bain, Wind and Thunder. The 
 western is one hundred feet long by 
 sixty wide and four feet high. On the 
 south side are placed five shrines of 
 marble, of which three are carved with 
 waving lines to represent mountains, 
 and two with another design to denote 
 water. In the first three are placed 
 tablets to three sets of five mountains— 
 viz , the five yo, the five chen, and the 
 five shan. In the remaining shriaes 
 tablets are placed to the four seas and 
 four lakes. Oa the east si te of the altar 
 there is an additional shrine to the 
 celebrated mountains and rivers of the 
 metropolitan province, and on the west 
 another to those of the entire Empire. 
 The religious ceremonies connected 
 with agriculture would not be con- 
 sidered complete without the worship 
 of the year god and of the traditional 
 father of Chinese agriculture. la 
 ancient times the planet Jupiter was 
 considered the year god, because he 
 
j: 29 ] 
 
 goes llrorgh the besTeos in twelve 
 jearfl. At rrfsert, the officers who 
 advise the Emperor on these matters 
 are content with the canonization of 
 the cyclic characters. They quietly 
 act on the assumption that the govern- 
 ment of the year dt pends on their 
 chancery arrangements. In the Tang 
 and Sung periods — coropiising five 
 centuries — no year god was worshipped 
 at all. The same defect lies under- 
 neath all cfficinl worship days of 
 nations, and saints' calendars fi^r 
 churches ; they are liable to be 
 changed by a new generation, their 
 authority being only temporary and 
 not acknowledged hy posterity. Re- 
 ligious observances rrjubt rest on the 
 grourd ef divine revelation, or be 
 exposed to the risk of being altered 
 or of fallirg into disuse. Gods that 
 are made so by a slate paper one day, 
 may be deposed by another the day 
 after, atd are never anything more 
 than seal and parchment divinities. 
 
 Tbe two parks enclosing the altars 
 
 offle^ep a f ei those -just describ ed are 
 
 ^iCDtwo miles round , and are an 
 ortament to the capital, which the 
 foreign residents, when they emerge 
 from the dust of the Peking streets 
 into these grassy glades, delight to 
 walk in. 
 
 It would be too tedious to speak of 
 all the other places of note, such as the 
 ponds where onlH and jrilver fish arpi 
 the |ublic execution ground ; 
 the various idolatrous temples ; ex- 
 amination-balls ; the charitable institu- 
 tions.— e ^ , for the poor, for the aged, 
 for the supply of ceffins ; the foundling- 
 hospilbls, &c, e&o. I may only eay in 
 reference to the last that infanticide 
 is almost. ui known in Peking 
 Tire diAd-cart . which traverses the 
 eireels at early morning, receives the 
 bodies cf poor children dying by 
 ordinary cautep, ai d whose parents are 
 cot able to bury them. The mother 
 would rather, if not willing to keep 
 their infants, carry them to the found- 
 ling-hcepilalp, which are established in 
 the inner and cutor cities, than take 
 their lives. At present the people are 
 not aware of the existence of in- 
 fanticide ; nor is this atrocious custom 
 known in the surrounding country : 
 indeed, it exists only in some pravinces, 
 ■four or five in number. The dead-cart 
 
 is in connection with the foundliog- 
 bospitals. 
 
 I The example of the Roman Catholic 
 I charitable iustilutions appears to have 
 j had an effict on the e stahlisbment and 
 ; continuance of the Ptking native 
 ' charities. Since the Sisters of Mercy 
 ! opemd their schools for children in the 
 j vicinity of the palace, a foundling- 
 I hospital has been instituted close by. 
 
 ^ The sisters also have long had an active 
 I dispensary ; they heal many of the sick, 
 
 I and teach a large number of poor 
 I children and women. At the large new 
 i church recently erected there is a con- 
 ; siderable attendance, comprising from 
 j one to two hundred or more of native 
 j Catholics. Everything is done to 
 make tbe service attractive, by careful 
 ! attention to music and an imposing 
 ritual, Few, except converts, are 
 i present ; the sister, with a long array 
 i of pupils, form a principal feature in 
 ; the congregation. Thera are four 
 j Catholic churches iu tbe Tartar city, 
 j but none in the Chinese. Thirty-five 
 I years ago there were three thousand 
 i Catholic native converts. 
 
 1 The Protestant missions, having re- 
 cently commeijced their operation.-^, 
 
 ; cannot in the number of their converts 
 j vie with the Catholic. It appears pro- 
 I bable, however, that the more free 
 I -spirit of Proftsfanfism will prove itself 
 I to be, after the lapse of a few years, 
 j better adapted than the Latin form of 
 I Christianity for extension among the 
 i Chinese. It esccurages independence 
 j and free irquiry, ar;d checks servility 
 and reliance on a sacerdotal order. 
 This tbe educated Chinese appreciates 
 I very highly, and when the alternativa 
 ' is before him he will never choose the 
 i abnegation of liberty, 
 j It has been thought that the pomp 
 I of an external ritual- beautiful pictures 
 ' illustrating the evangelical history, 
 j flower-decked altars, devotional p.-o- 
 j cessions, ravishing music, and rich 
 piitsily robes — would dazzle the senses 
 j of the Chinese and outrival the attrac- 
 j tions of Buddhism. The conclusion to 
 I be drawn from this is very doubtful. 
 The Pekinese have their own street 
 processions, their long pilgrimages to 
 noted shrines, their own masses for 
 the dead. Their penitents travel for 
 many miles, measuring their length 
 on the ground as they go, or with 
 
[ 30 ] 
 
 iron clminB faelened on their hands 
 «nd feet. They make vows when sick 
 to devote themselves to a life of celi- 
 bacy and prayer. They expend lauge 
 sums in building temples in order to 
 accurnnl.ate m< rit and ei sure the for- 
 givenfss <f sins. The multiplied re- 
 petition, by the beli vinsr votary, of 
 the name of Amitabha Bu ldha, wilt, 
 he is assured, bring him much hap. 
 pinesR and exemption from many evils. 
 The Protestant form of Christianity 
 will oppose this ritualistic belief in 
 salvation by meritorious acts of self- 
 denial. He who takes this coursa 
 appeals to the reason and not to the 
 senses and on this account he will find 
 the competition a sharp one and the ! 
 victory diflScult to secure. Yet, io an j 
 educated country like China, the pros- 
 pect of success remains in the long I 
 
 the thinking faculty. 
 
 There are in Peking several institu- 
 tions for v accinatiDg. infaiits . Intro- 
 duc'd at Canton early in the present 
 century, the practice of vaccination was 
 brought to the capital seventy or eighty 
 years ago. It is an understood fact 
 that all children who are not vaccinated 
 take the small-pox, that distaee being 
 constantly present everywhere, though 
 with varjing degrees of intensity. 
 The public vaccinators have regular 
 days for vaccinating children brought 
 to them, and a’sr frequently visit the 
 families of princes for the same i 
 purpose. 
 
 New supplies of vaccine lymph, when 
 it fails, are now regularly obtained by ! 
 the Chinese operators from the foreign 
 missionary hospitals. 
 
 These fads show that the Chinese 
 are not insensible to the advantage of 
 changing their old practices in the 
 province of medicine, where the benefit 
 can bo clearly ascertained. Ttu ugh the j 
 progress of vaccination is slow, it has j 
 already gaitud considerable ground on 
 the practice cf incculalion, and will, in ; 
 lime, push it altogether out of the fitld. j 
 
 As an example of the adoption of 
 foreign inventions may be heie 
 menlioied the publication of the exten- 
 sive work called Kin tivg loi Jcin tii sliu 
 tsi chcfig (“Imperial Cycle} so lia of 
 Ancient and Modern Works, with 
 Diagrams’"), in 10,000 chapters, printed 
 in the rtigo cf Kang-hi, with copper 
 
 movable types. It is a cyclop.'wlia in 
 thirty-two sections, each treating of a 
 single department of Chinese know- 
 ledge. These sections are, again, 
 divided into 6,109 sub-setions. The 
 whole would occupy on bookshelves 
 the space of about l,04-4 thick octavos, 
 of which four would constitute the 
 index ; this, the largest of Chinese 
 cyclop;* lias, and printed with movable 
 fy})P8, does not exist in many copies, 
 and is sold for about £500 of our money. 
 The types were, in a moment of weak- 
 ness, ordered to be melted and made 
 into cash. Afterwards wooden types 
 were substituted by Kien-loong to 
 print the catalogue of the books iu the 
 imperial library. 
 
 This crtalogue was prepared by a 
 learned commission, who had orders 
 from the Em peror to collect all possible 
 rare and valuable works for tepublica- 
 tion. Out of 13,725 works received, 
 3,750 were found to be duplicates. In 
 addition to these there were included 
 from the Ming dynasty collection of 
 the Emperor Yung-lo, eighty five 
 complete works, and 284 imperfect 
 works. In making the catalogue, a 
 critical account of each work was 
 appended to the name, constituting a 
 most valuable addition for the native 
 and foreign student, and alTording a 
 bird’s-rye view of the whole national 
 literature. 
 
 In this survey of the Chinese 
 metropolis it is time to speak of the 
 remaining buildings in the Tartar city, 
 <f inferior interest, perhaps, to those 
 already described, but deserving of 
 some i.otice. 
 
 Here it may he well to begin with 
 — the buildings appropriat- 
 ed to the use of the Six Boards, — viz, 
 those of Oflficers, of II venue, of Cere- 
 monies, of the Army, of Works, and of 
 Punishment^ The first five are on the 
 east side of the palace front entrance, 
 and the sixth on the west. As a rule, 
 all important buildings, public and 
 private, face to the south, but these 
 face east and west, in accordance with 
 the ceremonial laws which require the 
 ( fificers of these boards to stand on state 
 days facing east and west. The Em- 
 peror sits iu the hall facing the south. 
 Outside of the door, on the terrace in 
 front, the P. inoes and Dukes prostrate 
 tlemselves. On the steps of this- 
 
[ 31 ] 
 
 terraca Brat and second rank ofBcera 
 take lb( ir positions, and those inferior 
 tu them are arranged in the court 
 belov7 in two divisions, the one east 
 and the other west ; those on the right 
 facing to ttie lefr, and those on the 
 left facing to the right. Among the 
 kneeling crowd cf officers thus parted 
 info four divisions, the foreign Am- 
 bassadors, according to old laws, should 
 take their place with the inferior 
 servants of the Governmeiit on the 
 right ; Chinese etiquette having as- 
 signed them this hnmble potilion. 
 The Emperor Kien-looi g appointed 
 that the Board of OffiOi re, of R 'venue, 
 and of UeiimoPi'e-', with the Hinlin 
 College, e’c . should he on the left 
 Land, and Board of Punishments, of 
 the Army, and of Works, on the right, 
 where the Get sors w re, also placed; 
 at pus nt the Boerd of Woiks and of 
 the Army are both on the east side. 
 
 is fouiid the Tuoig fu, or office for 
 enperiiitendii ig Itie tS’iirs of the Ira- 
 pi rial family, the Uuni-lu si, or cham- 
 berlain’s office, the college of phy- 
 sic ans, Tai i and the tribunal 
 
 of astronomy. Kin lien kien. Most of 
 the buildings are somewhat dilapidated. 
 The street gateway conducts into a 
 large square court : north and south 
 of it are seen ranges of offices. The 
 vie’*or advancing to the east passes 
 through a screen-door, and sees before 
 bim the ptitcipal hall, where the pre- 
 siding < ffijeis, (he pre.-ident, Shang. 
 ih'O, and his two assessors, Ski lang, 
 rang, themselves on state days. Oj 
 the edge of the paved terrace in front 
 of this hall is seen a stone sun-dial on 
 one side, at'd a gong, or musical stone, 
 on ttie otl.er. An imperially b stowed 
 tablet o naments the roof above the 
 presid ..i.'s chair. At the hick a roofed 
 passage I ads toother suites of apart- 
 ments. 
 
 The B.>ard cf Revenue has beeiv 
 recently ffpsired"* and is a scene of 
 ect’vity. Tlie tribute silver from the 
 pre.mcep, nailed up in the inside of 
 logs made of thick tree- branches, is 
 8t<'!:d op there in the tiessury at the 
 back. At the Board of Geremonies, in 
 
 * The flv-pn w:is burnt in 1850, and again in 
 1895. This last time the high authorities of the 
 Board were otdercd to restore the building at 
 llieir own eipease. ThU they did. 
 
 the large court, a feast is given to the 
 doctors of literature on occasion of 
 their attaining their degree, when the 
 Chwavg.yuen, or senior wrangler, is 
 treated with special honour. Here the 
 i English and French Treaties were 
 ; signed, in I860, by Prince Kung,. 
 Baron Gros, and Lord E'gin. At the 
 Chamber Lin’s office there is an upright 
 tablet, like those used in sacrifices, 
 representing the Emperor. It is placed 
 in a round, yellow-roofed pavilion, and 
 here the uiitkilled are taught the 
 , ceremonies to be performed on seeing" 
 the Emperor. The Coreans, Loochcoans, 
 and others, fitrmerly came h=re to 
 , practise, and when they were suffieient- 
 i ly expert thry were admitted to the 
 presence of the “ Son of Heaven,’*' 
 In the Kin t'ien kien is the almanao 
 printing office, which suppliis all China 
 wi(h the Imperial Calendar, and also- 
 Maneburia and Mongolia with trans- 
 lations. The effiee of the College of 
 Physiciat s is at present the most 
 dilapidated of all ihfse buildings. It 
 contains a copper figure of a man, 
 which is used in teaching medicine. 
 Printed views of this image, with 
 descriptions, are sold, representing it 
 before, behind, and on the two sides, 
 and are used giving instruction in 
 the thirteen branches of Chinese 
 medicine. t The Han-Hn yuen is a 
 co'Iege to which adiwittnnce is gained 
 by a series cf tuccessfnl examiuations. 
 The Emperor’s carriage repository, 
 Luan-i wei, is conspicuous among the 
 buildings in this p rt of the city for 
 its yellow roofs sheltering the elephant 
 carriage, various chairs, flige, em- 
 broidered canopies, and the other para- 
 phernalia of imperial processions. The 
 Board of Punishments bting the chief 
 state prison cannot be visited. Sir 
 Hariy i^arkes defcciibrs the shudder 
 with which he passed wilbitr its 
 chained gate, when conveyed there as 
 a st( te ptisontr in 1860. 
 
 Near the B..ard8are the t ffices for 
 en ir.aining foreign Embassies. These 
 are institutions of the old regime, 
 
 t The thirteen br.mches are the pulse, large 
 and small, wind diseases (including palsy, con- 
 vulsions, leprosy, and rheumatism', midwifery, 
 the eye-s, the mouth, teeth, and throat, bone- 
 setting and wound-nursing, ulcers, acupuncture, 
 cauterizing, charms written and spoken, and the 
 forbidden branch. 
 
C 32 3 
 
 when all Embassies were those of 
 subject kingdoms. With the Corean 
 Ambassadors came traders in ginseng, 
 o'otb, paper, and medicines. They 
 were not allowed to exceed 200 in 
 number. By the strictness of monopo- 
 ly laws, the trade with Corea was 
 restricted to Peking, excepting a little 
 in the Manchurian cities. The throw- 
 ing open of that country has greatly 
 tended to enlarge trade, and Tientsin, 
 Shanghai, Chefoo, and other cities 
 now fchare in it. The productions of 
 Corea have become cheaper, and the 
 imports of China into that country 
 have increBS'cd in quantity and dimin- 
 ishcd in price. During last century 
 an intimacy with the C‘tholio mis- 
 sionaries commenced by a Corean 
 Prince, who formed one of an embassy 
 to Peking, led to the introduction of 
 Christianity into Corea, and it has 
 flourished there ever since, in the face 
 of severe persecution. One of the 
 greatest benefits that followed on the 
 opening of Corea to foreign trade has 
 been the establishment of religious 
 toleration. The prospeots of Protestant 
 missions are at present of the moat 
 promising kind. It is greatly to be 
 desired that the increased influence of 
 Russia at present may not check the 
 progress of Christian missions in that 
 country. 
 
 The Loochooan and Cochin Chinese 
 Embassies were formerly located in the 
 same quarter close to the south wall of 
 the Tartar city. They were kept, when 
 in Peking, under strict regulations, 
 and could seldom escape from the 
 Humercus atterdants provided for them 
 when at home or in the streets. This 
 rendered it difficult for strangers to 
 form any acquaintance with them. 
 
 The Russian Legation is in the same 
 neighbourhood. In Chinese maps the 
 deluding fiction of feudal superiority 
 ever Russia was till lately still main- 
 tained. The position of the Russian 
 Legation in this part of the capital, in 
 the immediate vicinity of Corean and 
 Loochooan hotels, is strongly indicative 
 of the feeling which guided the Chinese 
 Ministers of State in the selection of it. 
 Formerly, the Russian Archimaadrite 
 bad, in addition to ecclesiastical duties, 
 the office of political agent for the 
 Russian Government, and be resided on 
 the site of the present legation. This 
 
 system was changed in 1859, when the 
 new treaties were made, and an Ambtis- 
 sador, not an ecclesiastic, with full 
 powers, was appointed. The old- 
 ■ fashioDfd houses of Timskowski's lime 
 j were taken down, and buildings were 
 erected in their place in accordance 
 with Europonn ideas of elegance and 
 comfort. The Archimandrite took hie 
 departure, and was accommodated ia 
 the residence that had hitherto been, 
 appropriated in the north-eastern p^rt 
 I of the city to the Albazin ecclesiastical 
 i mission. In the reign of Kaug-hi, at 
 the termination of the war with the 
 ! Russian colonists on the Araoor, it was 
 arranged that the captives, then brought 
 to Peking and incorporated among the 
 Maacbu bannermen, should be placed, 
 for religious instruction and superio- 
 teudence, under the care of Russist* 
 
 ‘ priests. It was in this way that Rua-tis 
 came to have a double establishment ia 
 Peking, with two Churches and r°8ident 
 . priests in connection with each. Daring 
 the greater part of the present century 
 the Russian missionaries have devoted 
 themselves with assiduity to the study 
 of the Chinese language and institn- 
 tions, and have made many valaabte' 
 contributions to European knowiedge,^ 
 esp'cially in the history and doscrip’ioQ 
 of the religious and political oonditioa 
 i of Mongolia, Thibet, and China. 
 
 ' The Russsia missionaries have now 
 ' commenced evangelistic operations 
 among the Chinese, both in Peking and 
 j in the surrounding country. This 
 ^ step in advance has followed naturally 
 ; on the introduction of the article 
 ' securing the toleration of Christianity 
 j in the Treaty of Tientsin, and it ia ia 
 j agreement with the Synodic action 
 ! recently taken by the Greek Church in 
 Russia, in the direction of missionary 
 activity and colloquial Bible translation. 
 
 I At present the Russian missionary 
 j programme embraces China, Japan, 
 j Mongolia, Turkestan, Manchuria, with 
 Siberia, and the Caucasus ; an immense 
 field, at several points of which opera- 
 tions have already, daring the last 
 few years, been vigorously commenced : 
 as on the Amoor, among the Buriats 
 and Tungooses in Siberia, in the Altai 
 mountains, and among the tribes of 
 the Caucasus. 
 
 Attached to the eoclesiastioal mission 
 in Peking there is also a magnetio 
 
[ 33 ] 
 
 observatory, the observations made at 
 which are regularly sent to St. Peters- 
 burg, and published in the interests 
 of science. The English and French 
 Legations had assigned to them 
 aa residences the palaces of Princes 
 of the blood. These residences are 
 called foo, and there are about 
 fifty of them in Peking. The chief 
 among them are those of the eight 
 Hereditary Princes who received this 
 rank on account of services rendered 
 at the time of the conquest of 
 China. Conspicuous among them was 
 Jui-t’sin- wang, guardian of the boy 
 Emperor Shnn-cH, and Regent of the 
 Empire. There was also Li-t’sin-wang, 
 conqueror of Corea, Sa-t'sin-wa' g, 
 Yii t’sin-wang. Chang-t'sin-wang, and 
 others, all occupying handsome fooa, 
 and enjoying an annual income of 
 ^3,300 in silver, and as much in grain, 
 with the rental of lands granted them 
 in the province of Chihli or Mar- 
 churia. The sons of Emperors enjoy 
 possession of a foo for three lives, 
 their descendants taking at each 
 generation a rank one step lower. 
 W^hen their great grandsons sink below 
 the title of Duke they cannot reside in 
 the foo which has hitherto belonged 
 to the family ; it reverts to the 
 Emperor, who grants it to a son of 
 his own, or to a daughter on her 
 marriage. The Emperors Kia-k’ing 
 and Tau-kwang had several Mongol 
 sons-in-law, and, in consequence, they 
 and their sons after them, have come 
 into the possession each of a foo. 
 Lately, on the death of Yu-t’ein-wang, 
 one of the eight Hereditary Princes, no 
 fewer than 1,100 persons went into 
 mourning on his account, all being 
 attached to his foo. H**, being one of 
 the richest of these Princes, would have 
 an exceptionally large number of 
 dependants. In many of these re- 
 sidences the wives, |concubines, children, 
 eunuchs, slaves, and servants, would 
 not amount to so large a number as 
 this. 
 
 A__^oo,,^aa_JnJ'ront of it two larg e 
 stone lions, with a house for musicians 
 and for gate-keepers. Through a lofty 
 gateway, on which are hung tablets 
 inscribed with the Prince's titles, the 1 
 visitor enters a large square court, with | 
 a paved terrace in the centre, which I 
 fronts the principal hall. Here, on l 
 
 days of ceremony, the slaves and 
 dependants may be ranged in rever- 
 ential posture before the Prince, who 
 sits, as master of the household, in the 
 hall. Behind ths principal hall are 
 two other halls, both facing, like it, 
 the south. These buildings all have 
 five or seven compartments divided by 
 pillars which support the roof, and the 
 three or five in the centre are left open 
 to form one large hall, while the sides 
 are partitioned eff to make rooms. 
 B.yond the gable there is usually an 
 extension called the ur fang, literally, 
 “ the ear-hou3“,” from its resemblance 
 in position to that organ. On each side 
 of the large courts fronting the halls 
 are si le- houses, siang fang, of one or 
 two stories. The garden of a foo is on 
 the west side, and it is utually arranged 
 as an ornamental park with a lake, 
 wooded mounds, fantastic arbours, 
 small Buddhist temples, covered pas- 
 sages, and a large open hall for 
 drinking tea and entertaining guests, 
 which is called Hwi-t'ing. Garden 
 and house are kept private, and 
 effectually guarded from the intrusion 
 of strangers by a high wall, and at the 
 doors a numerous staff of messengers. 
 The stables are usually on the east side, 
 and contain stout Mongol ponies, large 
 Hi horses, and a goodly supply of sleek, 
 well-kept mules, such as North China 
 furnishes in abundance. A Prince or 
 Princess has a retinue of about twenty, 
 mounted on ponies or mules. 
 
 The Dake (a grandson of the Em- 
 peror Kien-loong), who had to give 
 up to the English his family residence, 
 removed to a smaller one in ths 
 vicinity of the Confucian temple. 
 About £8,000 was paid to the Govern- 
 ment for the house and land then 
 assigned to the British Legation. 
 
 Tbe German and American L=‘gationB 
 with those of Spain, Belgium, Italy, and 
 Japan are lodged in houses in the 
 same part of the city, purchased from 
 private persons. 
 
 It is now much regretted by many 
 that a position close to one of the 
 gates opening into the country was not 
 in the first instance secured, so that 
 the advantage of country air could have 
 been enjoyed within a short distance. 
 
 The London Mission Hospital was 
 established in a bouse connected with 
 the British Lsgation, in 1861, by 
 
1 
 
 L 34 J 
 
 William L 'ckhart, Esq , M R.O.S., 
 aod bad since been removed io a more 
 pnblio position, a mile north of tbe 
 Hata-men City Gate, in a principal 
 street. One other English society, tbe 
 Cborcb Missionary,* and four Ame- 
 rican societies, have been established 
 in Peking : all are located in the 
 Bonlhern half of the Tartar city 
 Three girls’ boarding-school-^, one boys' 
 boarding-school, several day-schools, 
 and a printing-office are in active 
 operation, and the Methodist University 
 is in a high state of prosperity. 
 
 Native free schools in Peking are 
 not nncommon. Each of the banners 
 has its school, and there are also 
 special schools for tbe families of 
 those who wear the yellow sash or 
 waistband, — a sign of their descent 
 from one of the Emperors. Rich 
 mandarins also willingly contriknto to 
 charities such as these, and establish 
 additional tcbools when needed. Tbe 
 boys are tanght Chinese and Manchn’; 
 bnt only a small proportion of the 
 pnpils care to learn the latter lan- 
 guage ; if they do, it is as a stepping- 
 stone to promotion. Acco ding to the 
 usual Chinese system, one teacher 
 has tbe care of about twenty buys. 
 In one large school of about 160 boys 
 there are about eight masters, and 
 among these only one teaches Manchu. 
 Tbe parents of only one-eighth of tbe 
 boys care for them to learn that 
 language, and this accordingly is the 
 amount of provision made fur that 
 branch of instruction by the founders 
 of the school. 
 
 At the Tsung-li-ya-men (“ Foreign 
 Office "), there are five schools in opera- 
 tion for teaching as many languages, — 
 tbe Russian, English, French, Germtn, 
 and Japanese. When tbe T’nng-wen- 
 kwan was established about thirty years 
 ago as a school for instruction in lang- 
 uages and European science, these 
 schools Is became connected with that 
 institution, and the pnpils were taught 
 by foreign professors in new buildings 
 erected as an extended wing of the 
 Foreign Office. Mathematical instruc- 
 tion was quite early commenced here 
 for those of the pnpils who were 
 
 • Tbe Church Missionary Society’s work was 
 subsequently resigned to the Society for the 
 Propagation of the Gospel. 
 
 
 supposed to have made sufficient pro-~ 
 gress in the French and English 
 languages. They were taught by a 
 native math'^raatician, Li-shen-lan, as- 
 sistant-translator of several European 
 works into Chines^*, who bad tha- 
 advantage of knowing both Chinese 
 and European mathematics, and was 
 himself author of some interesting 
 mathematical works 
 
 T b e AatronomicalQ iiflervatorv ( K wan- i 
 
 siang-t’ai) is in t^is^^a^e^ot the city. I 
 
 Its terrace overtops the city- wall, 
 agaist which it is built, being about 
 fifty feet high. It was built in a i>- 
 1296, in tbe reign of the Mongol 
 Knblai Khan. The celebrated Kwo- 
 sbeuking, a native savant made the 
 instruments of bronze, which are now 
 exposed in the central court. In 
 1674 the Emperor Kaug-hi ordered 
 the construction of the present 
 set of iostrumenta, made by Fer- 
 dinando Verbieat, his President of 
 the Board of Works. These re- 
 plbOid the old instrnmeota on tbe 
 terrace, and like those that preceded 
 t‘'em they are of g»ey bronza, or as it 
 is called, white copper. They consist 
 of iustruments fur taking latitude 
 and longitude, altitude and szimutb, 
 with declination and right asoeusion, 
 a large celestial ghb*, sextant, quad- 
 rant, a sundial, <&a. Ammg them is 
 a large az muth instrument, sent as 
 a present to Kang-bi by the K'ng of 
 France. 
 
 In a room oppcsite the entrance in 
 the conrt below is a clepsydra. Five 
 copper cisterns are arranged one over 
 another beside a staircase. At eclipses 
 tbe time is taken by an arrow held in 
 tbe hand of a copper-man looking to 
 tbe south ; the arrow is three feet one 
 inch in length ; it is marked with 
 hours from 12 noon to 11 am. The 
 arrow rests on a boat which floats in 
 tbe fourth cistern, and ascends as the 
 water ris s The quantity of water 
 and size of tbe cisterns are so adjusted 
 that the time marked on the arrow 
 agrees with the time of day as known 
 by astronomical observation. A new 
 supply of water is needed for each 
 day. 
 
 Among tbe many spo^s worthy of a 
 I visit in Peking are the three Catholio 
 cemeteries, all ontside of tbe west wall. 
 
 I These are the Portuguese cemetery, 
 
[ 35 ] 
 
 »a it is often called, ontside of the 
 P'ing-tse.men ; the French cemetery 
 four miles farther to the north-west 
 •nd another for native priests and 
 converts ontsida of the Si-pien-men. 
 Of the three, the moat interesting is 
 the first, for thongh in the French 
 Cemetery are baried Amyot, Ganbil, 
 and many well-known French mia- 
 sionaries of the last century, they are 
 not equal in fame to Ricci, Schaal, 
 and Yerbiest, who, at an earlier date, 
 laid the funodations of Roman Catholic 
 prosperity in China. 
 
 In summer the entrance coart is 
 made attractive by the vines trailed 
 over poles in the native m inner, so as 
 to form a broad spreading shade. 
 Passing through these, the cemetery 
 itself comes into view. At the soath 
 end there is a mansoleam on the right 
 hand to Ignatias Loyola, and on the 
 left to Saint Joseph, the patron of 
 China. There are very imposing etrao- 
 tores, with Litin inscriptions. The 
 path conducts the visitor between them, 
 through long rows of tombs regularly 
 airanged in four rows from north to 
 south, to the end of the cemetery, where 
 there is a marble raised terrace. On 
 the east is the tomb of Ricci, and on 
 the west that of Schaal. It was the 
 Emperor Wan-li, who, in 1610, gave 
 this land for the burial of Matteo Ricci, 
 who died in that year, after thirty-two 
 years’ residence in China. Before that 
 time it bad been the custom to trans- 
 port the bodies of deceased missionaries 
 trom the provinces to Canton. The 
 companion of Ricci, Pantoya, petitioned 
 the Emperor to grant a burial-ground 
 for the decased, and the bestowment of 
 a Buddhist temple for this purpose was 
 the result. 
 
 The tomb of Ricci is at the bead of 
 two rows of tombs on the east side. 
 Among those near him are Rho, 
 Lombard, and Yerbiest. After Ricci’s 
 death, the opinions he had advocated 
 on the worship of ancestors and of 
 Confucius were strongly opposed by 
 Lombaid, who, after much study and 
 inquiry, came to the conclusion that all 
 Chinese worship, whether of heaven, of 
 ancestors, or of CoBfucius, ought to be 
 forbidden to converts. The permission 
 to retain these rites bad been accorded 
 to them by Ricci and bis companions 
 during the first three decades of the 
 
 missions, and there bad been a fiow of 
 prosperity. The number of neophytes 
 of high and low rank had become very 
 considerable, and doubtless this libe> 
 rality of opinion which characterized 
 the early Jesuits had powerfully aided 
 in facilitating conversion. The symbols 
 of Buddhist idolatry are found here 
 before the tombs of Ricci and others 
 and on the terrace. The incense-urns, _ 
 candle-sticks, and fiower-jars, cut in 
 marble, and arranged in the order 
 followed in all Buddhist temples, show 
 bow great a willingness there was at 
 the time of the death of Ricci to avoid 
 opposition to idolatrous customs. This 
 may be accounted for as a consistent 
 development of the practice in regard 
 to the use of images of the Litin 
 church at home. Lombard, the snoces-^ 
 sor of Ricci, as superior of the mis- 
 sion introduced a new set of opinions, 
 which after many years of bitter con- 
 troversy were confirmed by the Pope, 
 and made binding throughout China. 
 But thrae Buddhist symbols have 
 never been removed, and no priest 
 has ever ventured to deny that the 
 old missionaries should be worshipped 
 with incense and prayers. The pro- 
 hibition from the Yatican only ex- 
 tended to the honouring of ancestors 
 and the sages in this way. The laxity 
 of the first Jesuits, though recimmend- 
 ed by worldly prudence, was resolutely 
 checked, and Roman Christianity 
 undertook to extend her reign in China 
 in a way as nearly as possible like 
 that she has pursued in Europe. As a 
 Gonsequence, since that time she has 
 made few distinguished converts from 
 among the literati. Su Kwang-c’hi 
 and others were not followed by men 
 so celebrated — neophytes of brilliant 
 mind from the scholars’ class ceased 
 to join the Catholic community. It 
 was in after years made a criminal 
 charge against Christanity that it 
 interfered with honour to parents. 
 The Emperor Yung-cheng spoke in 
 this way to the missionaries, and it 
 was made a ground for persecution. 
 The system of opposition to Con- 
 fucianism, and the rejection of the 
 old classical term for God, which bad 
 been greatly favoured by the early 
 Jesuits, have bad much to do in 
 modifying the subsequent bistory of 
 the missions. The converts have be- 
 
[ 36 ] 
 
 come more and more foreign in their 
 riewB, and in these times have come 
 to look for protection and for every 
 privilege very much to foreign aid. 
 
 The following acount of the faneral 
 of Verbiest illustrates the manner in 
 which the obsequies of the mission- 
 arisa are conducted. It took place 
 March lltb, 1688. “The mandarins 
 sent by the Emperor to honour the 
 illustrious deceased arrived at 7 a m , 
 and at that hour we proceeded to the 
 apartment where the body lay in its 
 coffin. The Chinese coffins are large, 
 and of wood three or four inches thick, 
 varnished and gilt on the outside, but 
 closed with extraordinary care to pre- 
 vent air from entering. The coffin was 
 taken to the street, and placed on a 
 bier within a sort of richly covered 
 dome, supported by four columns ; the 
 columns were wrapped in white silk, 
 that being the Chinese mourning 
 colour, and festoons of many-coloured 
 silk hung from one column to the other, 
 with a very pretty effect. The bier 
 was attached to two poles, a foot thick 
 and long in proportion, and was borne 
 by six or eight men. The father 
 superior and the other Jesuits present 
 knelt before the coffin in the street. 
 We made three profound inclinations 
 down to the ground, while the 
 Christians present were bathed in 
 tears. 
 
 “ In front was a tableau twenty-five 
 feet high and four wide, ornamented 
 with festoons of silk. At the bottom 
 was a red piece of taffety, inscribed 
 with the name of the missionary, Nan- 
 bwai-jen, and his dignities, in gold 
 characters. Before and behind were 
 bands of musicians and of standard- 
 bearers. Then came the cross, in a 
 large niche, ornamented with columns 
 and various silk ornaments. Several 
 Christians followed, some with flags 
 and others with wax-tapers in their 
 hands. 
 
 “ Then came an image of the Virgin 
 Mary and the child Jesus, bolding a 
 globe in his band. A picture of the 
 guardian angel followed, with more 
 flags and tapers, and then a portrait of 
 the Father Verbiest, habited as an 
 official, with all the honours conferred 
 on him by the Emperor. 
 
 “ We followed immediately after in 
 white mourning, according to the 
 
 custom of the country ; and at intervals 
 we expressed our deep grief by loud 
 weeping, in the manner of the people. 
 
 “ The body came next, accompanied 
 by the officers named by the Emperor 
 to do honour to the memory of this 
 celebrated missionary. They were on 
 horseback. Among them were the 
 Emperor’s son-in-law and chief captain 
 of the guards. The procession was 
 closed by a party of fifty horsemen,’' 
 
 The graves are made seven ftet long 
 and five feet wide, with a depth of 
 six feet. They are paved, and built 
 up with brick all round, and the coffin 
 is placed in the centre upon two low 
 walls of bricks a foot high. The 
 graves are covered with a brick con- 
 struction in vault shape, and surmount- 
 ed by a cross. The tombs have con- 
 sequently a semi-cylindrical appearance, 
 the ends of the cylinder facing south 
 and north. A few feet in front of the 
 tombs are placed upright marble slabs, 
 inscribed with the name, date of arrival 
 in China, date of decease, and age of 
 the missionary. 
 
 The evidence to be gathered from 
 the tombs in regard to the longevity 
 of the missionaries is favourable, and 
 shows the climate of Peking to be well 
 suited to European constitutions. A 
 few have lived forty years in China, 
 a considerable number twenty-five, and 
 a very large proportion sixteen. Prom 
 a cursory view of these monuments, it 
 may be concluded that a missionary 
 may hope to live twenty-five years in 
 this country. 
 
 The chapel has disappeared, but 
 there is an old arbour for meditation 
 at the north end of the cemetery. 
 Schaal’s tomb is on the west side. 
 He was in disgrace when he died ; 
 but the Emperor Kang-hi, in con- 
 sideration of the fact that he had been 
 a faithful servant of his dynasty, 
 caused a handsome monument to Ira 
 erected over his remains on the west 
 side of the cemetery, where he heads a 
 double row of tombs, as does Ricci 
 on the east. 
 
 Proceeding from the Si-ohi-men, the 
 north-west gate of the city, the visitor 
 arrives, after travelling a mile, at the 
 temple called Ki-lo-si, a handaoma 
 structure of the Ming dynasty, former- 
 ly noted for its show of the Mau-tan 
 peony. West of this is the “ temple 
 
[ 37 ] 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 of the five towers,” Wa-t'a-Bi'. In the 
 reign of Yang-lo, nearly five centuries 
 ago, a Hindoo from the banks of the 
 Ganges, named Bandida, came to Pek- 
 ing with five gilt images of Buddha, 
 and a model of a diamond throne, as 
 gifts to the Emperor, who ordered the 
 erection of this monastery to receive 
 him. In one of the courts was erected, 
 according to the ludiau model, a square 
 marble terrace, fifty feet high, inside of 
 which winds a staircase leading to the 
 top. On the terrace are five pagodas, 
 each twenty feet high, engraved with 
 Hindoo characters and figures. 
 
 At a distance of little more than two 
 miles (seven li) from the Si-obi men, is 
 the (^reatBi]lJ[emj]£, built in the year 
 1578, to accommodate the bell made a 
 century and a half previously, ia 
 the time of Yang-lo. This beautiful 
 triumph of the bell-caster's art is 
 twelve feet in height, and is hung in a 
 tower at the back of the temple ; it is 
 struck externally by a large wooden 
 clapper, when, on occasions of public 
 or private distress, it is desired to 
 invoke the attention and aid of Buddha 
 and the Bodhisattwas. It is inscribed 
 inside and outside with Chinese 
 characters, consisting of extracts from 
 the text of the Lotus of the Good Ltw 
 (Pa-h wa-king), the Sutra of Amitabha 
 Buddha, and the Lmg-yen-king. There 
 are also sentences in the Devanagari 
 writing. The bell may be heard at 
 many miles’ distance : at present no 
 such fine work, or on so large a scale, 
 is done at the Peking bell-foundries. 
 But the process may be constantly 
 observed in the production of coarsely 
 made and cheap bells just outside of 
 the Shun-cLi-men and Hadamen in the 
 Chinese city. 
 
 At the north-west angle of the Peking 
 wall commencing from the Si-cLi-men, 
 as the gate there is called, a stone road j 
 formed of rectangular blocks of sand- j 
 stone is laid to the parks lying in that 
 direction, and specially to the Yuen- 
 ming-yuen. Branches of this road 
 conduct to the various gates of these 
 parks, and along the banks of the lake 
 Kwun-ming-hn, as far as to the bills at 
 Hiang-shan. 
 
 WaujsJjjeujgiJj^ is a hill once covered 
 with ornamental buildings, which were 
 all set fire to in 1860 by the allied 
 troops. It overlooks the lake on the 
 
 north, and commands an extensive 
 view of Yu-t’sinen shan, of the city, 
 the western bills, and the strip of 
 country ten miles wide lying between 
 them. The gate of Wan-sheu-ghan 
 park is at Hai tian, and is seven miles 
 from the north-west corner of Peking. 
 Entering the gate and passing through 
 a mass of burnt buildings, where the 
 Emperor on his visits was formerly 
 entertained, the hill, which, like all 
 the hills in this region (on account of 
 the prevalent direction of the water- 
 fl)w), winds from north-west to south- 
 east, is mounted by the eastern shoulder 
 to the top. It is crowned by a Bud- 
 dhist building, the highest of a series, 
 reaching down the steep incline to the 
 stone parapet which bounds the lake 
 underneath. These erections formed 
 the parts of a monastery occupied by 
 yellow-clad lamas, about six in number, 
 whose duty was to recite prayers on 
 bt half of the Emperor. All is now 
 a dismal ruin, but the stone staircase 
 by which the visitor descended still 
 remains, as does the building on the 
 summit, a small temple constructed 
 entirely of beaulifully wrought copper, 
 and many portions of the buildings 
 which were-^ot easily destroyed. The 
 copper temple is double roofed, ia 
 twenty English feet high, and has a 
 marble staircase with balustrades on 
 three sides. It contains an image of 
 Shakyamuni, and the apparatus for 
 worship. The inscriptions over temple 
 doors and on ornamental gateways are 
 all Buddhist. The Hindoos must have 
 the credit of introducing into China, 
 with Buddhism, the habit of connect- 
 ing the ornamentation of pleasure- 
 grounds with the mythology and mcdea 
 of thought of the religion. 
 
 Along the water’s edge are two large 
 stone lions, and three ornamental gate- 
 ways, all much injured by fire; near 
 them is a large marble beat, rudely 
 shaped, and placed there as a monstrous 
 curiosity. 
 
 The name of the lake, Kwun-ming- 
 hu, is very ancient, and is imitated from 
 the Han dynasty, which used this 
 name (or an ornamental water at Si- 
 ngan-foo, the metropolis of the period, 
 in the province now called Shen-si. A 
 good view of it is obtained from tb« 
 island temple on the east side, reached 
 by a bridge tf seventeen arches, which 
 
c 38 ] 
 
 coDDeots it with the imperial cemented 
 road that here borders the lake. The 
 temple is dedicated to the ruler uf rain. 
 Ose of the ornaments on the cemented 
 road id a lar^e hronze cow. A remark- 
 able bridge, in another part of the lake, 
 is thirty-one feet high, with a spaa of 
 twenty- four feet. It is called from 
 its shape Lo-kwo-cbian, Hunchback 
 bridge. 
 
 The ornamental structures on Yu- 
 tsiuen-shan, the next hill to the west, 
 were less iijured in the war than 
 those of Wan-sheu-shan. Two or three 
 pagodas, very conspicuous from many ] 
 points in the surrounding country, serve j 
 to characterize this park The name, j 
 Jade Fountain Hill, is taken from a | 
 springing well of abundant water at ; 
 
 filling a small lake juet by, helps to 
 feed the lake south of Wan-sheu-shar, 
 and the Peking city reservoir outside 
 the Si-cLi-men. This, and other water 
 from the valleys of the western hills, 
 supply the ornamental lakes in the city, 
 and also the moats. The water comis 
 chiefly from Pi-yun-ei and Hiang-shan, 
 winds to the north of the two hills and 
 pleasure-grounds which have just been 
 described, and goes by Hai-tien to 
 the above-mentioned reservoir. It ulti- 
 mately finds its way east of Peking by 
 the Grand Canal to Tung-chow. 
 
 The buildings of an ornamental 
 character in the Yu-tsiuen-shau park 
 are chiefly Tauist, as those of Wan- 
 afafu sban are Buddhist. 
 
 yneo, is a little mure than half-a-mile 
 from Wan-sheu-shan on the north-east. 
 It has eighteen gates and forty bsantios, 
 at least so say the ofificial accounts. 
 The range of halls, before the burning, 
 for court ceremonies and private con- 
 venience, very much resembled that of 
 the palace in the city. This was 
 rendered necessary by the length of 
 time which, in former years, the 
 Emperors spent at this suburban re- 
 sidence. All that will be said here of 
 the Yuen-ming-yuen is that the build- 
 ings were most extensive, the ornament 
 highly elaborate, the grounds laid out 
 with 88 much efltct as a level plain 
 would admit of, the treasures of art and 
 curiosity most various, abundant and 
 rare, and all the arrangements complete 
 for the entertainment daring half-a- 
 
 year of the Emperor, bis wives and 
 attendants. The Dowager Empress and 
 the Emperor have been urged to re- 
 build the burnt balls and restore the 
 old appearance of the place, on the 
 ground that it is essential to the proper 
 maintenance of the court dignity, but 
 they have steadily refused to commence 
 the suggested reparations till rebellion 
 was crushed out. The Japanese war 
 indemnity is a further hindrance. 
 The park wall of the Summer Palace 
 is surrounded by a circle of soldier's 
 villages, where detached bodies of 
 banneimen reside for its constant pro- 
 ttction. Each village is regularly built 
 in barrack-fashion, and belongs to a 
 particular banner. 
 
 There are also several smaller parks, 
 granted to the Princes for their use 
 duriag the stay of the Court at the 
 Summer Palace, or belonging to the 
 nobility and Ministers of State. 
 
 On the north side of Peking there 
 is an open plain a mile wide, used as a 
 review ground. Just beyond it is seen 
 a large Lama temple called H wang-s'j . 
 A remarkable monument was erected 
 here during last century by the Em» 
 
 I peror Kien-loong to the memory of a 
 j Lima, from Thibet, whom he invited 
 to Peking, and who died there of 
 I small-pox His rank was that of 
 
 Banjan Bogda, and he was second only 
 to the Dalai Lama. The monument is 
 a handsomely carved mausoleum in 
 marble. Oa its eight s des are en- 
 graved scenes in, the Lama's life, in- 
 cluding the preternatural circumstances 
 altendant on bis birth, his entrance on 
 the priesthood, combats wir.h the un- 
 believing, instruction of disciples, and 
 death. His body went back to Thibet, 
 but bis clothes are buried here. 
 
 The Mongols who come in the winter 
 to Peking made their prostrations be- 
 fore this monument reverentially, and 
 place upon it, as ofiferingH, small silk 
 handerebiefs and other things. This 
 is the explanation of the occasional 
 presence, on difiereut parts of the 
 monument,- of handkerchiefs tied by 
 strings or held by a small atone to 
 prevent the wind from blowing them 
 away. 
 
 The ciroamatanoes connected with 
 the Banjan Lama's visit to Peking, and 
 the cousrquent erection of this mono- 
 
[ 39 ] 
 
 Bent, are mentioned in “ Tamer’s Bm> 
 baepy to Thibet." 
 
 Paesing by the Russian cemetery, 
 where, for more than a oentnry, the 
 bodies of deceased Raseians, belonging 
 to the eoolesiastioal mission, have been 
 laid, we reach the Altar of Barth. The 
 park enclosing it was ocoapied by the 
 allied troops in 1860, wben the adjoin- 
 ing city-gate, An-ting-men, was giren 
 up to them. 
 
 The altar is a square ring terrace, 
 enclosing a square lake or tank. The 
 terrace is in circuit 494 feet four inches, 
 while the lake is eight feet six inches 
 deep and six feet wide. 
 
 On the north side is a double terrace 
 —the upper sixty feet square, and the 
 lower 106 feet square, and both six feet 
 in height. The paving bricks are in 
 multiples of six and eight. Thirty-six 
 and sixty-four are the favourite num- 
 bers, for we have now ooirie into 
 contact with Yin, the principle of 
 darkness, which aSects a square form 
 and even numbers, just as in the 
 Temple of Heaven the Ya>ig principle 
 was represented by roundness in form 
 and odd numbers. 
 
 Stone shrines for the tablets of the 
 spirits of mountains and seas are placed 
 on the second terrace. Arranged op- 
 posite to each other, east and west, are 
 shrines to &ve mountains of China, and 
 several more in Tartary and Manchuria. 
 Ntxt to them are the four seas on one 
 side and four lakes on the other. 
 
 On the first terrace the central tablet 
 ia dedicated to the spirit of imperial 
 «arth. Six tablets to the Emperor's 
 •ncestors are arranged on the right 
 and left as companions to it. 
 
 The principal sacrifice is offered at 
 ibis altar on the day of the Summer 
 Solstice. There is, near the altar, a 
 pit for burying a bullock. At the 
 Altar of Heaven, when the bullock 
 is burnt, the Yang principle, in the 
 sacrifice, is supposed to go upward in 
 smoke and fi^me. At that of Earth, 
 on the ooutray, when the victim is 
 buried, the Yin principle descends in 
 connection with death and corruption. 
 
 On the east side of Peking, half a 
 mile beyond the Chi-hwa-mer, is the 
 Altar of the Sun. The worship of 
 the sun and moon with the stars ia 
 prescribed in the Book of Rites, 
 J^i-Ki, dating from about the com- 
 
 mencenaent of the Christian era, or 
 earlier. Like the other altars, this- 
 one is enshrined in evergreen groves^ 
 The sacrifice is offered at the vernal 
 equinox. No companions are placed 
 on the altar to share in the sacrifioea 
 with the sun. This is in marked 
 contrast with the custom at the Altar 
 of the Moon on occasion of the aatumnal 
 equinox, when the seven chief stars off 
 the Hreat Bear, the five planets, the 
 twenty-eight constellations, and the 
 remainder of the stars, all have their 
 tablets on the altar in conjunction with 
 that of the moon. The sun is too- 
 hright a luminary to share his honoura 
 with the stars. 
 
 The Altar of the Sun with its park 
 are on the soat h side of the stone road 
 leading to Toong-chow. Opposite to 
 it, on the north side, is the temple 
 called Tnng-yo-miau. A copper mule 
 placed here furnishes a siguifiant illustra- 
 tion of the superstition of the Peking 
 people. It is touched for various- 
 diseases, in hope of a cure : eye patients 
 touch the eyes, consumptive patients the 
 chest, those who have ulcers on the^ 
 leg, the leg ; the part affected is, in all 
 I cases, the part touched and rubbed. 
 
 I The mule ia of about the natural size,. 
 
 I and is much worn and kept bright on 
 j various parts by incessant rubbing of 
 sick persons. As usual in this kind of 
 Taoist temple, the torments of hell, as 
 borrowed by the Tauists from Bud- 
 dhism, are depicted with great minute- 
 ness on the walls of some of the rooms. 
 The chief divinity wershipped in this 
 temple is the spirit of the eastern mount* 
 ain, the celebrated Tai-shar, in the pro- 
 vince of Shantung. Special offerings 
 are presented on the Emperor's birth- 
 day, this divinity being the bestower 
 of good luck. 
 
 The old rampart of the city, as 
 known to Marco Polo, is met with a 
 little, to the south-east of the sun 
 temple. But it ia best preserved on- 
 the north side, two miles from the 
 gates, where a long and lofty earth- 
 mound exists, some miles in length, but 
 ' disappearing where the roads from the 
 city northward cross its direction. 
 
 This account of Peking will not be 
 extended farther from the walls, except 
 I to deecribe the Ming Tombs and the- 
 Great Wall. 
 
[ 40 ] 
 
 The Ming Tombs, called oolloqaially 
 Shi-san-ling, “Tomba of the Thirteen 
 Emperors," were, aa the name indicates, 
 the last resting-places of thirteen of the 
 Ming Emperors. The drat and sec >nd 
 were buried at Nanking, — their capital, 
 and the last, on a hill near Pi-jiiQ-fc'i, by 
 command of the Mancha rulers, when 
 they obtained the empire. 
 
 It was for the Enaperor, usually 
 called Yung-lo from the title aflBxed to 
 his reign, that this beautiful Talley 
 was selected as a cemetery. It is six 
 miles in length, and thirty miles distant 
 from Peking on the north. In the 
 official accounts there are, from the 
 entrance of the valley to the tomb of 
 Yung-lo (known as the Ch'ang ling), 
 six stages. The first. Lung sha tai yai, 
 was an ornament which has dis- 
 appeared. The second is the marble 
 gateway dating from a d. 1541. This 
 is probably the finest pailow in China ; 
 it is constructed of fine white marble. 
 The fashion in China in building a 
 wooden pailow ui to roof it with green 
 or other tiles over each compartment. 
 Viewed from a distance this magnifi- 
 cent gateway seems to be so roofed ; 
 but, on nearer inspection, it may be 
 seen to be cut in solid marble. It is 
 ninety feet long by fifty high. The 
 carved work consists of squares of 
 floweis and was formerly painted red 
 and green. 
 
 To the north of the gateway is a stone 
 bridge, and there grew formerly in 
 front of the bridge two high pines. Be- 
 yond it were six rows of pines and cy- 
 presses on each side, extending for three 
 li — an English mile — to the Red Gate. 
 Houses on a large scale were formerly 
 standing here, where the Emperor, on 
 arriving, changed his clothing, and 
 passed the night. Many attendants 
 and gatekeepers resided here. 
 
 From this gate the visitor advanced 
 through an avenue of acacia-trees to 
 the fourth stage, — the Dragon and 
 Pboeaix Gate. He was now within 
 the parlr wall, roofed with yellow and 
 green tiles, which proceeded east and 
 west to the hills, over which it wound 
 its way to the north at the back of 
 the tombs. This spot, the fourth stage, 
 was further marked by two pillars 
 carved with dragons, and seven marble 
 bridges with elegant balustrades. At 
 present this wall has almost entirely 
 
 disappeared. Clumps of foliage appear 
 at intervals, enclosing yellow-roofed 
 buildings on the edges of an irregular 
 semi-circle bounded by the hills. Thesa 
 are the tombs, some at three and olhera 
 at four miles' distance. The road to 
 them is first diversified by the fifth or- 
 nament of the Miog Tomb^, the pailow, 
 — a monument to Yung-lo, erected by 
 his son. The Emperor Kien-loong 
 wrote a poem, which was a century 
 ago, engraved on the back of the atone. 
 Pour stone pillars, each tipped with a 
 grlffio surround this erection. The 
 monument rests on an enormous stone 
 tortoise, twelve feet long. 
 
 Beyond this point begins the avenue 
 of animals, cut each of them in colossal 
 sia>, out of one piece of bluish marble. 
 There are two pairs of lions, two uni- 
 corns, two pairs of elephants, two of the 
 hi lin, and two of horses. Oae pair 
 stands, and the other pair sits or kneels. 
 The elephants are thirteen feet high, 
 by seven wide, and fourteen feet long. 
 Bayond the animals come the military 
 and civil mandarins, cf whom there 
 are on each side six. Etch figure is 
 also one stone. The military figures 
 are carved, to represent coats of mail 
 extending to the knees with tight 
 sleeves A round cap covers head and 
 ears, and hangs on the shoulders. The 
 left hand holds a sword, the right, a 
 baton, or ju i. The civil officers have 
 long hanging sleeves, with a sash 
 round the waist, which falls to the 
 feet before and behind, with a long 
 tassel. They wear a equare cap, under 
 which their long ears are seen exposed. 
 The girdle consists of embroidered 
 squares. This square embroidered 
 breastplate is fastened by a sash round 
 the neck which hangs down the back. 
 
 The Ming dynasty dress resemblea 
 the ancient Chinese style as well aa 
 that of the old west. The Tartar style 
 now introduced has tight sleeves, a 
 loose cape or jacket which hides a 
 plain sash, and a much simpler cap 
 with ball at the summit, while it 
 retains only in the way of elaborate 
 ornament the embroidered breastplate. 
 It also has a long necklace borrowed 
 from the Lima religion. 
 
 In dressing up the idols in Tauist 
 temples everywhere in China, the 
 old style is preserved. In Buddhist 
 temples, the idols have an ludiem 
 
L 41 J 
 
 ooatame. The bnman fignres are all 
 nine feet high, and were first placed 
 here with the aDimals in 1436, 
 
 Beyocd them is the triple gateway 
 called Lung-hwa-men, consiating of 
 three elegant pai-fangs, and forming 
 the sixth and last ornament in the 
 approach to the tomha. 
 
 Then the land descends for a time ; 
 there is a declivity of twenty feet, and 
 a bread valley worn low by rain-floods 
 is crossed. Qtadaally it ascends to a 
 stone-paved road, which leads to the 
 tomb of Tong-lo, through extensive 
 persimmon orchards. 
 
 Arrived at the tomb, the visitor is 
 oondneted through an entrance court 
 and ball and a second court to the 
 sacrificing hall, where, by orders of the 
 Manebu Emperors, ofierings are still 
 presented to the long-deceased sovereign 
 of a fallen dynasty. The roof of this 
 ball is supported by eight rows of four 
 pillars each. It is seventy yards long 
 by thirty deep. The pillars, brought 
 from the Yunnan and Burma teak 
 forests, are twelve feet round and 
 thirty-two feet high to the lower 
 ceiling, which is of wood in square 
 painted panels. Above this ceiling is 
 the true roof, which taken roughly 
 may be sixty-four feet high. On the 
 sacrificial table in front of the 
 tablet are placed flower-jars, candle, 
 supporters, and an incense-urn in the 
 centre. The tablet is contained in a 
 yellow flowery roofed shrine on a dais 
 behind the table. To the ball terrace 
 there is an ascent of eighteen steps, 
 with elaborately carved balustrades 
 extended round the whole building. 
 The roof at the ends is carried out 
 ■bout ten feet from the walls. 
 
 Leaving this magnificent ball, and 
 passing another court, planted, like 
 those preceding, with cypresses and 
 oaks, the stranger is introduced to the 
 •otual tomb. A passage thirty-nine 
 yards long leads through solid mason- 
 work up to the mound, the door of 
 which is carefully closed with ma- 
 sonry. At this point the single pas- 
 sage divides into two, which lead by 
 s long flight of steps, the one east and 
 the other west, to the top of the grave 
 terrace. Here, in front of the mound, 
 sod immediately above the coffin pas- 
 is the tombstone, an immense up- 
 
 right slab, inscribed with the poethu» 
 mous title, “ The tomb of Cheng- 
 tsu wen Hwang-ti." The name may- 
 be translated, “ the complete ancestor 
 and literary emperor.” He is known in 
 history as Chang-tsu, the title con- 
 ferred after his death. According to 
 the custom of all dynasties, the proper 
 name is not allowed to be mentioned, 
 and during life each Emperor is spoken 
 of simply as “ His Majesty," or “ The 
 Emperor.’’ The stone was painted 
 with vermilion, and is three feet thick,, 
 two yards wide, and proportionably 
 high. The mound is more than half 
 a mile in circuit, and though artificial,, 
 looks quite like a natural bill, it being 
 planted with trees to the top, princU 
 pally cypresses and oaks. The famous 
 white pine, the trunk of which seem* 
 to the stranger eye to have recently 
 bad a thick coat of whitewash, does 
 not grow here, on account of the want 
 of lime in the soil. There are fine 
 specimens in the courts here of that 
 species of oak called by the Chinese 
 po-lo, which is fed on by wild silk-^ 
 worms, and is useful in marketing, the 
 leaves, which are very large, serving^ 
 as wrapping-paper. 
 
 Ten miles from the Ming Tombs, on 
 the south-west, lies the busy little 
 town of Nankow, through which passes 
 the traffic between Kal-gan and Peking. 
 It is at the opening of the famous 
 historical pass Kii-yung-kwan, extend- 
 ing through water-worn valleys of the 
 Tai-bang range for forty It, or thirteen 
 miles, from Nankow to the Great Wall. 
 This stupendous structure is seen here 
 to > 2 rest advantage, for it was repaired 
 in the Ming dynasty, and completed in 
 the best manner at this important 
 point. The same is true of Ku-pei- 
 kow, another great pass into Mongolia, 
 on the Jehol road. The wall was 
 measured there by members of Lord 
 Macartney's suite in 1793, and found 
 to be twenty-five feet thick at the base 
 and fifteen at the top. The use of 
 strong granite foundations and bricks 
 above, cemented with lime in the vici- 
 nity of important passes, give it the 
 appearance of great strength. It 
 winds over the hills as it finds 
 them ; whether the incline be steep or 
 gentle, it goes boldly forward, often 
 capping the highest ranges. At a dis- 
 tance, the traveller’s attention is ar- 
 
[ 42 ] 
 
 reeted by s white carved line passing 
 along the hills. The prominences seen 
 at intervals like telegraphic beacons are 
 the towers. Approaching nearer, he 
 notices it monnting a steep in terraces, 
 like the snccessive steps of a gigantic | 
 etaircase. The towers are erected 
 with arched windows and doorways, 
 and the introdaotion of wooden beams is 
 avoided. The impression made on the i 
 mind after inspecting these towers, and | 
 observing the tiers of hewn granite 
 of which the Great Wall in its lower 
 part is oonstrocted, and the wonderful 
 way in which it traverses the moan- 
 tains, is that a strong military govern- 
 ment alone conld have undertaken such 
 a work. The decision and energy of 
 a conquering dynasty are manifested 
 in the boldness of its plan. Regarding 
 4he bill ranges as nature's boundary for 
 the Chineso Empire, the builders often 
 despised the easier labour of carrying 
 the wall in a straight line across a 
 valley, and have preferred to produce 
 an impression of power and grandeur 
 hy climbing heights where assuredly 
 they would meet no enemies but the 
 wolves and tigers which inhabit 
 these mountains. If built partly 
 for strength and for defence, the 
 wall was probably intended just as 
 much for impression. And the aim 
 has been secured. The Mongols of 
 to-day regard the Ohagan herem, or 
 white wall, as the natural limit 
 ■of the grass land. North of it 
 
 they roam at will with their flocks and 
 herds over boundiess steppes of pasture, 
 South of it they descend into a well- 
 tilled country, where wheat and millet 
 take the place of the upland prairie, 
 and an alien people follow those 
 civilized arts and professions for which 
 the roving Tartar feels himself as 
 much unsuited now as ho did tbonscnds 
 of years ago. He, therefore, reveres 
 China for her power and civilization, 
 and makes no new attempt to conquer. 
 
 The passes in the wall are exceed- 
 ingly numerous. The water flowing 
 south-east from the great plateau has 
 cut many valleys in succession parallel 
 with each other, and entering the 
 Peking plain, each with its tributary 
 stream at distances only a few miles 
 apart. Each of them as it crosses the 
 wall has ite gate, which is used by the 
 -tigricuUniists and shepherds of the 
 
 vicinity, and, where coal-mines oeo^r, 
 by the miners and mule-drivers. 
 
 The Great Wall, so far as it owes 
 its origin to the Emperor Tsin-sbi- 
 hwang, was erected b c. 218, five yean 
 before the death of that conqueror. 
 Little of bis work now remains. The 
 inner Great Wall, or that which passes 
 the Ming Tombs valley a little higher 
 up, and is seen at Pa- ta- ling, 
 
 in the Nan-keu Pass, was bsilfc 
 in the sixth century by the 
 Wei dynapty, under the Emperor Wa- 
 ting, A.D, 542 So states the Rassias 
 Archimandrite Hyacinth in his “ Rtfles- 
 tions on Mongolia."* He adds that 
 50,000 workmen were employed ia 
 building it, and that it passed to the 
 [ north of the present Tai-cheu in Shan- 
 ' si. But the length of this wall, and 
 I the points to which it extended, cannot 
 be known with certainty. The tradi— 
 
 ; tion—- not mentioned by Hyacinth—— 
 
 ! should also be kept in view that tbs 
 i pass Kii-ynng-kwan received its name 
 I from the location (Jcu) there of work- 
 : men {yung) employed by Tsin-shi- 
 hwang. Hyacinth farther says that 
 j the same wall was rebuilt fifty-fonr 
 i years after on the same ground, 
 j When the native Ming dynasty drova 
 I out the Mongols in 1368, they decrdod 
 i on re-erecting the wall along the north 
 I border of Chihli. The same author 
 I Bays : — " The erection of the briefc 
 I and granite wall as a fortification was 
 first undertaken in China by the Ming 
 dynasty in the fourteenth century. At 
 this time it was the custom to compact 
 such walls with lime. Hence, the 
 opinion must be entirely given up that 
 the old Great Wall was built of stona 
 and bricks." But on the exact sito^ 
 tion of those parts of the wall which 
 were erected by the Ming dynasty hia- 
 j tory speaks without distinctness, 
 j I shall only add here that the- 
 I diflBculty of recognizing some of the old 
 names of places, and the habit indulged 
 in by the Court historiographers of 
 abridging the original records whes 
 compiling their histories, still require, 
 oven after the valuable investigafcioB*. 
 of the Russian sinologue, that w« 
 should receive with hesitation some 
 of bis conclusions. The stone moov- 
 menta erected during the re-erectio* 
 
 * German translation, page 38. 
 
[ 43 ] 
 
 of the inner wall at certain points 
 haTe still to be examined, and I 
 think, from recollection of one which 
 I saw a few years ago, that an ex- 
 amination of them will lead to the 
 
 oonolnsion that the work of the Ming 
 Emperors was only partial, and that 
 mneh of the granite and brick wall 
 was in existenee before their times. 
 
 

 
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