CHINESE APtCHITEOTURE, ()81 



3 miles round. The oxen used in sacrifice are kept in the park, and 

 there are separate inctosnres provided for the other sacrificial ani- 

 mals, which include sheep, deer, pigs, and hares. The consecrated 

 meats are prepared in accordance with an ancient ritual in kitchens 

 built for the purpose, to which are attached special slaughterhouses, 

 well houses, and stores for vegetables, fruit, corn, and wine. The 

 Chinese have no idea of vicarious sacrifice, the offerings to their 

 supreme deity are like the precious objects, raiment, and foods which 

 are set forth in ancestral worship. Heaven is not worshiped alone; 

 the ancestral tablets of four of tlie imjx'rial forefathers are always 

 associated with the tablet of Shang Ti, the "■ supreme deity," followed 

 by those of the sun, moon, planets, and starry constellations, Avhile 

 the spirits of the atmosphere, winds, clouds, rain, and thundei- are 

 ranged in subordinate I'ank below. Heaven is distinguished by the 

 offering of l>lue jade pi, a foot in diametei", round and with a s<{uare 

 hole in the middle, like the ancient mace-head syml)ols of sovereignty, 

 and by the Ixdlock being sacrificed as a whole burnt offering. The 

 jade and silk are also l)urned; twelve rolls of plain white silk and 

 hempen cloth being sacrificed for licaven, one for each of the other 

 spirits; while the banquet piled on the altar in dishes of blue por- 

 celain is proportionately lavish. 



The great altar of heaven, T'ien T'an. the most sacred of all Chi- 

 nese religious structures, is seen in plate rv. It consists of three circu- 

 lar terraces with marble balustrades and triple staircases at the four 

 cardinal points to ascend to the ujiper ten-ace, which is 90 feet wide, 

 the base l)eing 210 feet across. The platform is laid with marble 

 stones in nine concentric circles and everything is arranged in mul- 

 tiples of (lie numl)er *.). The Emperor, prostrate before heaven on 

 the altar, surrounded first by the circles of the terraces and their 

 railings, and then by the horizon, seems to be in the center of the 

 universe, as he acknowledges himself inferior to heaven and to 

 heaven alone. Kound him on the pavement are figured the nine cir- 

 cles of as many heavens, widening in successive multiples till the 

 square of 9, the favorite number of numerical philosophy, is reached 

 in the outer circle of 81 stones. The great annual sacrifice on 

 the altar is at dawn on the winter solstice, the Emperor having 

 proceeded in state in a carriage drawn by an elephant the day before, 

 and spent the night in the hall of fjisting called Chai Kung, after 

 first inspecting the offei-ings. The sacred tal)lets are kept in the 

 building with a round roof of blue enameled tiles behind the altar 

 which is seen on the right of the i)icture. The furnace for the whole 

 bui-nt offering stands on the southeast of the altar, at the distance of 

 an arrow flight; it is faced Avith green tiles, and is 9 feet high, 

 ascended by three flights of green ste})s, the l)ulioc]v being ])laced 

 inside upon an' iron grating, under which the tire is kindled. The 



