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ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 



form, as it were, a glorious crown for the capital of the Empire. The 

 approaches to the pagoda, which were also built by K'ien-lung, lead 

 through a marble gate. The spires of the pagoda then appear 

 visible in the distance behind a second gate. The marble structure 

 stands upon a high platform and is most elaborately covered with 

 ornamentations and Buddha reliefs, and carries on top five four-sided 

 pagodas. Here there is a cypress tree, with nine sacred branches, 



M 1=50 



Fig. 5. — Temple of Heaven in Peking. 



Sacrificial altar. 



that was planted by the late Empress-Dowager with her own hands. 

 The buildings are in a dense grove of cypresses and pines, among 

 which a species of pine, the Pinus bungeana, that has a snow-white 

 bark. In the soft moonlight this grove is enchanting. 



The ascent is by a wide staircase, the Buddhas greeting from above. 

 Comfortable steps lead up into the interior of the buildings to the 

 uppermost terrace on which the pagodas stand — one in the middle 



