CHINESE ARCHITECTURE BOERSCHMANN. 543 



bounds/' Since the most ancient periods the extent of this vast Em- 

 pire has been enormous. Long before the birth of Christ the Chinese 

 carried their policies to far distant Turkestan, and even to the shores 

 of the Black Sea, and sent large armies thither. The conquest of 

 these regions required time, engendered patience and consideration of 

 resistance, and developed political tact and wisdom. 



Lao tze, the reputed wisest man of China, recognized that the re- 

 lationships are stronger than mankind. 



These characteristics guaranteed an orderly government in China 

 proper, the land of the present 18 Provinces. It was here always 

 necessary, and still is so, to reckon with great distances and to plan 

 months and years ahead. Imperial orders and the reports of officials 

 are long en route. The constant changes of officials oblige them to 

 travel for months, thereby acquiring a knowledge of their country 

 that few of us have in the same degree of our own land. In thus 

 traveling, the varied topographical features of the country slowly but 

 surely make their deep impression. They may journey for days across 

 plains, then along a river, then for 10 days over mountains and hills, 

 and finally over fields and plains for 6 days — always in intimate con- 

 tact with the varying population, high and low, thus becoming 

 acquainted with the advantages and disadvantages of each region. 



The Chinese are thereby well acquainted with the conceptions of 

 time and space. This manifests itself in their architecture. They 

 have developed an architecture which in its ground plans and land- 

 scape is unknown to us. The most significant structure in all the 

 world is the well-known Great Wall of China. It must be regarded 

 as a whole, a unit, which shuts off the entire north against Mongolia 

 and Manchuria. All the famous Egyptian Pyramids combined can 

 not compare with this work, which is the most skillful, the most 

 monumental, and at the same time in the most picturesque manner 

 adapts itself to ragged precipices along the mountain ranges and 

 presents a view of the grandest outlines. 



The imperial palace in Peking is the most extensive in the world. 

 Scarcely a temple has ever been built as large as the Temple of Heaven 

 in Peking, or as large as some of the other numerous important 

 temples in China. The palaces of the nobility and the wealthy, 

 even the dwellings of the middle classes, are extravagantly spacious 

 and roomy. The buildings of the imperial tombs and the temples at 

 Jehol are of most imposing magnificence. The Chinese playfully 

 bring points into correlation and features of nature, rivers and 

 mountains, separated from one another by miles, to unite them in 

 the expression of some definite idea. 



One of the most definite expressions of this prevailing Chinese idea 

 of unity is given by their groupings of all buildings symmetrically 

 around the axis of the meridian, the north and south line. This is 



