PICKING 



IK. (*ee BEI.I.V. It i* covered. ini.lf, nt) with 

 myriad* of CbineM rharactrn., (nun , ,A' // ir , 

 arid Am? KM, two Huddhit sutras. 



<M)ing toward* tlte south wall, we n to great 

 irurlumi on onr way. Una U the Ti ' Suit,,, 

 or 'Temple f Kmperora and Ki:t_- . re t|, e 



reigBing emperor goe to wonbi|> tl>vit 

 nearly two hundred sovereigns, wh 



of 



ruled 



Fuhsllal least 3000 veii- i< '' ' -> the 

 nt dynasty, ami with them are o,ssi> .| t | M , 

 pints of the ablest and l-st of thi-ir , t)>1>i 

 The other stnictnre is the great Tutelar \ >j gjjj 

 moat) Temple of the capital, grimy, an ij O f 

 fortune tellers and other quacks, like ti >rre . 

 ponding temple* throughout the country ,). 

 foreign legations arid all the Christian mi-, are 

 situated within the Inner City : conspiciiom^ n g 

 the hitter is the new Koman Catholic cathy J 

 magnificent struct lire, completed in 1888. 



Toe Chinese or Outer City is very *m y 

 populate*!. Much of the ground is under {_ 

 vation, large tract* are wooded, green fields 

 themselves, and other open spaces are oci 

 with artificial lakes and tanks. Where it i- 

 over, the streets are for the most part nan, 

 an<l the people are h'usy and bustling. T 

 are dab-houses not a few, various temples, 

 charitable institutions for the |MN>r, the aged. 



Jupiter, and of the old Shan Nung. But all tl-se 

 spirit* are honoured and sacrificed to, not a* inde- 



M-ti 



powers, but as 'servants of i'/im, 

 his will for the good of men. The planet 

 has an altar because of the connection which the 

 period of ito revolution has with the sexagenary 

 cxcle The chief attraction of the s|K.t is the 

 ceremony of ploughing which takes place there in 

 the spring. The emperor conn's to it attended by 

 certain of his great ollii-ials, and turns up a few- 

 furrows in a portion set apart for him. as an 

 example of agricultural industry to all Ins people. 

 Some of the provincial niiigMiatcs have jxirtions 

 assigned to them for the same pur]x>se. 1 he cere 

 mony is copied ami grotesquely performed bjrttM 

 authorities throughout the country. '1 lie principal 

 Streets of the Chinese city are mole than HKI feet 

 wide but the side streets me mere lanes. 

 street* are not usually paved, and according to the 

 state of the weal her 'are deep in mud or in dust. 

 In the smaller streets the bOMM arc miserable 

 shanties; in the main streets IK>||I private houses 

 mid shops in OBfrMMr} brick edifices tin- shops 

 being -ay with paint and gilding. '1 he sho|w are 

 open in front, the goods being of ten piled up outside : 

 and many trades are carried on in the streets or in 

 tents ami movable shops. 

 Among 



j;si places of interest to visitors are also the 

 government otlices, the old ollices f,,r enter- 



lies (Portuguese, French, am! native) anil 

 overeipi, Shan Xung. to whom the first teachinj. -f nMt j a n one; and there are mission buildings, 

 of husbandry- (about 3000 ac.) is acritH-<l, t . -ussia,, and other, and hospitals. Free schools 

 both near the southern wall, and are reached by re 

 a 'great treet,' or avenue. The first two altai- 

 are enclowd by more than three miles of wall, the 

 pace within planted with forest trees. Within a 

 eeond wall u a grove of fine cypraves encompass- , llllcl ., ______ ----- 



in the buildinp>. The 'Altar to Heaven ' stands ^ g to the poimlation of Peking, I>u Halite esU- 



on a splen.li.l triple circular terrace of white 



marble, with te|M leading from tine terrace to the 



nc\t. each U-iny surrounded by a luilustrade of the 



same marble, richlv cr>ed. On the up|H-r terrace, 



which is si f,,'t m diameter and about 20 feet 



above the (.-round, the em|M-ror appears to K ri- et 



the duwniiif sun on the day of the winter solstice, 



attend'-"! l.v din grandeeH and mini-ter. He 



ha pMMil the night in the 'Fasting Palace, 1 

 which is not far off, in religious vigil. His own 

 place at the altar, where he -tan. I- and kneel-. 

 ! a large circular flab, untlawed and unstained. 

 In front of him in a pavilion containing the tablet 

 for the spirit of Sh,,,,., I',. ,., i.,|. nn d ,,,, ,nl,.- r 

 m smaller pavilions, are the tnl.let-i of his 

 own ancestral line. The n-ligioiiH M-rvice that is 

 then celebratml ha* been |ierformed fn.m time im 

 memorial. Tin- 'Altar of Prayi-r for (Jmin.' a 

 similar t met u re, but of lewdimennion*. was burned 

 down on isth September (HMD ; <in its iipiM-r terrace 

 there was a triple roofed circular building, the 

 impixing aunearance of which with the splen 

 dour of it- MM tile, nmde it be regnnlml as more 

 imjiortant than the other altar and lie commonly. 

 though eiToneoii.lv. -tyled bv foreign MMI.,T 

 The Temple of Heaven.' To this alia, the 

 in the early spring to pray for a 



on the labours of the year. Hen- also he 

 repairs in season* of drought to pray for rain, but 

 without any pomp of >i,.ie. ||,- mum |,|, H | hi. 

 way on fiit 141 the 'fasting place.' and there 

 brood over his own sins anil error" of government 

 before be dam to asrend the sltar. A hort 

 disunre to the east stands 'the Altar of Agricul- 

 ture.' in an enclosure nUnit two miles in 



This contains four different altar- to 



not infrequent in the city. The climate of 

 -king U severe, the temperature in winter la-ing 

 mi 26" to 10 F., and in summer the heat is great, 

 , then ieter rising to 105,^ though the usual 



,nicr temperature is 75 to 90. 

 U to the population of Peking, Du Haldeeet: 

 'iil it at alxmt three millions two hundred years 

 m Tin- writer's impression U that in the last 

 'l>ter of the 19th century it was under million. 

 ^ loiibt it has fluctuated considerably with the 

 'Nie of the dyna-t\ I>r \\illiams. after living 

 in . ,-jty for yea is and being charge d allaires 

 'I'-'uierican legation, says that the resident* moM 



- 



to form a correct judgment put down the 

 '"*'' population HI a million or somewhat lew. 

 ' N" isus returns, 1 he adds. ' an- available to prove 

 ''''- ure, nor can it lie stated what is the pro- 

 portK of Manchns. Mongols, and Chinese, except 

 that ti last ,,utMiimU-r Inith the others.' 



Dun, theciisisin the history of the empire to 

 which ",. .IHIKUM-I- war of IS'M Wi ll, Peking ha- 

 wit ne- -i various m/.\ ,/',!, it, and WOK a eeuln- of 

 iiitrigui n the part of tin- F.umpean poweiw, vast 

 railway .>hemes being eagerly promoted in tin- 

 various ,,,,|H>ting interests. " Tlie railway ftom 

 Peking i-Tien-tsin (73 mili-s) was oiM-nitl in 

 and the li,,. f or whirh, in the scratnlile of Is 

 roncessioi, .,.,,. granted will conm--t Peking w itli 

 Hankow i,,j Canton, and with the Manchuiiiiii 

 ami Siberi.| nvstems. The telegrnph conm-cticm 

 ot Peking vitli the empin- is pretty complete. 

 Chines,. !., r ,, m ,,.,-iel with Silwrian lines, and 

 so with Kur. M .. in i 



Though th-e U a great central Asinn trade route 

 from Pekinj to Kulja and Semirelchinsk. ami 



ekinj to Kulja 

 the ,, M imeice of 



Core* is restnct.Ml to 



though 



Peking, the tt u |eof Peking itwlf is inconsiderable, 

 111 MI fa as regards supplying the wants of 

 the inlinliitaiin ; large quantities of provisions 

 an- of .-.im^e >.,|iiin-<l. These, like other neces- 

 saries, are vet.- dear, snd (though in the city 

 there is no UK on land, house*, or personal 



Spirit- of the Skv. of the F-arth. of the planet pro|*-rty) many of the |>e<iple an- very |>or and 



