CHINESE ARCHITECTURE — BOERSCHMANN. 555 



for all the different kinds of gods who have been in any manner asso- 

 ciated with the other world. One of these temples enthrones the ser- 

 pent king. Eight serpents coil around the columns before him, and 

 one hangs down from the middle. This is in contrast with the eight 

 blessed dragons with the pearl, as in the temple of Kuanyin, the god- 

 dess of mercy, on the sacred island, Pu-t6-shan, in the extreme east. 



In this manner the embodiment of the numbers 3, 8, and 9 may be 

 developed to ideally represent the infinity of phenomena. This idea 

 is embodied by the impressive aureole of the Buddha with his thou- 

 sand arms and hands in the temple of Great Lamentations at 

 T'aiyiianfu, the capital of Shansi. Everything in our physical world 

 as separated from the pure idea of the divine and from the true nature 

 is imperfect, piecework, and fleeting. The Buddhist says that the best 

 feature of matter is its transitoriness. All creatures may groan and 

 bewail their existence and endeavor to become a Buddha from whom 

 they came forth as the arms of the statue. This is the signification of 

 the Buddha of Great Lamentations, of whom there are three gigantic 

 images in the spacious halls of this temple. 



The rhythm in the infinity of the world of phenomena is illustrated 

 by the Buddha in the temple of the 500 Lohan in Suchon. He is 

 here represented with four bodies growing out of the middle and 

 having his thousand arms stretched out diagonally. These are the 

 basic numbers 4 and 8 of the rhythmic world. They correspond 

 to the four sacred Buddhist mountains, the four great Bodhisatvas 

 and the swarm of gods throughout the world. 



The old Chinese temples formed a quadrangle with corner turrets 

 and four gates. The Buddhist thus conceives the spiritual world 

 and represents it as Buddha's sacred castle. 



Buddha's sacred castle is a representation of the conception of the 

 world as a whole, like a city, as the Chinese think of their country 

 with its five sacred mountains. The whole is inclosed in a quadrangle 

 by a crenalated wall with the round sanctuary in the center. There 

 is a gate on each side, four in all, and a tower on each corner. Four 

 guardians, or disciples, stand on each side wall or sixteen in all (pi. 5, 

 fig. 1). 



The idea of having a stronghold of faith capable of military de- 

 fense is actually carried out in Jehol in the Lama temple Potala, a 

 copy of the castle of the late Dalailama in Lhassa. Massive walls 

 surround the interior five structures, the approaches to which are 

 terraced-like fortifications to secure the battlement and it is a symbol 

 of challenge by the shield-bearer of religion. 



The idea is developed on a grand scale in the plans of Peking and 

 other large cities. The Emperor's throne is in the hall in the center 

 of the palace of Peking. Numerous courts surround this palace, 

 which all lie within the forbidden red city, this in turn is located 



