CHIN A. 



285 



kimself, when divested of the painting and gilding, is pro- 

 nounced by Mr Barrow to be inferior in solidity and fur- 

 nishing to the barns of a substantial English farmer. The 

 principal hall of audience in this pakce was about 110 

 feet iu length, 42 in breadth, and 20 in height. It stood 

 upon a platform of granite, raised about four feet above 

 the level of the court. A row of large wooden pillars 

 surrounded the building, and supported the projecting 

 roof. A second and corresponding inner row, with brick 

 wo k between the columns to the height of four feet, 

 formed the walls of the apartment. The spaces, above 

 the brick work, were filled with a kind of lattice-work, 

 covered with large sheets of oiled paper, and were capable 

 of being thrown open on public occasions. The wooden 

 columns had no capitals, and no other architrave, than 

 the horizontal beam, which supported the rafters of the 

 roof. Close to this beam, and between the upper parts 

 if the columns, was a broad screen of wood painted with 

 the most vivid coloors and interlarded with gilding, the 

 whole being covered with a net-work of wire to keep oft 

 the birds. Thi; floor was paved with grey marble flags 

 hid chequer-ways ; and the ceiling was painted in circles, 

 squares, aud polygons variously coloured, and whimsically 

 arranged. The throne, made entirely of wood and ad- 

 mirably carved, was placed in a recess, and supported by 

 pillars of a red colour. On each side of it, stood a cir- 



ular fan, made of the wings of a pheasant and mounted 



.pon long polished poles of ebony. A pair of brass 

 kettle drums, and of ancient procelain vases, two large 

 paintings, a few volumes of manuscripts, and a table at 

 cneend, supporting an old English chiming clock, com- 

 posed the whole furniture of this state apartment. The 

 ather edifices in the palace surpassed the ordinary build- 

 ups chiefly in their magnitude. Their walls were higher, 

 their roofs of greater expanse, their wooden pillars of 

 larger diameter, their painting and gilding more abun- 

 dant, but none of them exceeded one story in height, and 

 they were all equally unprovided with grates, stoves, 

 curtains, looking glasses, sofas, bureaux, chandeliers, 

 book cases, prints and paintings, and the other numerous 

 elegancies and conveniences of furniture in European ha- 

 bitations. 



The temples are constructed, upon the same plan as 

 the hou.-es, with the addition of a second, and sometimes 

 of a third story, one above the other ; and their wooden 

 pillars are generally f larch fir, without any fixed pro- 

 portions, invariably painted red, and sometimes covered 

 with a coat of varnish. The pagodas, which are fre- 

 quently composed of five, seven, or nine rounds or roofs, 

 but always an uneven number, and which are from 80 to 



160 feet in height, are the most striking objects in Chi- 

 na ; but are commonly so ill constructed, and with such 

 bad materials, that they ^oon fall into ruins. They are 

 hrgir or smaller, according to the importance of the 

 cities, in the neighbourhood of which they are erected. 

 It has been conjectured, from this circumstance, that 

 they were originally built as signal stations. They some- 

 times appeared as appei dages to the temples, though 



never u*ed themselves as places of worship ; and they 

 seemed frequently to have been constructed in different 

 parts cf the country merely as embellishments to the 

 grounds. The gentlemen of the British embassy ob- 

 served none, in the whole of their progress, that could be 

 considered as a late erection ; but the greater part were 

 in a ruinous state ; and the specimen of a pagoda in the 

 gardens at Kew is said to be equal to the very best of 

 those wliich were noticed by them in China. 



The gates of tlie cities are, next to the pagodas, the 



roost conspicuous structures, and are generally square 



buildings, rising several stories akove th< arched gate- Arts :...J 

 way, covered like the temples with one or more large Science*. 

 projecting roofs, and frequently furnished with port """V^"' ' 

 holes in their sides, as described under the head of l ? or- 

 tifications. 



The triumphal arches are the. most numerous build- Triumphal 

 ings, and are sometimes constructed of wood instead of arches. 

 stone. They are almost all of the same form, con^ist- 

 ing of three arches or gateways, of which the middle 11$ ul 

 one is the most elevated, ornamented with sculptured 

 flowers aud other figures, seldom exceeding 25 feet in 

 height ; and generally deficient in this respect, that 

 their size is too massy in proportion to their elevation. 



In the cemeteries, or burying grounds, which are ge- Sepulchres 

 nerally very extensive, there is a greater variety of ar- and tombs, 

 chitecture to be seen, than in the habitations which com- 

 pose their cities. Sometimes the dead are deposited in 

 houses resembling in every respect those of the living, 

 except that they are of a diminutive size ; and sometimes 

 in an ornamented vault of a square, or hexagon, or oc- 

 tagon figure. Over the graves aro erected also round, 

 or square, or angular columns. But the most common 

 structure in the case of persons of rank, consists of three 

 terraces, one above the other, inclosed by circular walls. 

 These terraces are ornamented with the figures of slaves, 

 horses, cattle, and the other favourite objects of the do- 

 ceased ; while the entrance of the vault, which is in the 

 centre of the uppermost terrace, is covered with the in- 

 scription or epitaph. 



There is great variety and beauty in the Chinese Bridge*, 

 bridges, which are gem-rally light and elegant to the 

 view, but seldom constructed with much solidity or 

 strength. Though they have a line appearance when 

 newly built, they soon begin to fail ; and many of them 

 were observed, by late travellers in that country, to be 

 ia such a state of dilapidation, as to be scarcely passable 

 with satety. Many of them are altogether destitute of 

 parapets or side-rails ; and the Chinese government pays 

 much less attention either to their original construction, 

 or future repair, than has been supposed. The form of 

 the Chinese bridges is very various. Sometimes they ars 

 quite level to the line of the road, and sometimes have 

 the central arches considerably elevated, so that, in some 

 of the smaller, bridges, there is an ascent at each end by 

 easy steps. The arches are sometimes pointed like the 

 Gothic, sometimes semicircular, sometimes of the horse- 

 shoe form ; aud their piers are occasionally of such ex- 

 traordinary height, that the largest of their vessels, 

 about 200 tons burden, can sail below the span of the 

 arch without lowering their masts. The arches are, in 

 some instances, formed of small stones pointing to a' 

 centre, as in Europe ; and some of the vaults and arches 

 in the great wall, built in this manner, are said to be 

 well turned But, in general, each stone is from five to 

 ten feet in length, and is cut in such a manner as to form 

 a segment of the arch ; while, instead of a key-ston-, 

 ribs of wood, fitted to the convexity of the arch, are 

 bolted through the stones, with iron bars fixed into the 

 solid part of the bridge ; or the curved stones are mor- 

 tised into long transverse blocks of stone, which run 

 along the whole depth of the arch. In many instances, 

 the pillars only are of stone, and beams of wood are laid 

 across to form a floor. Ona of the most remarkable of 

 the more ancient Chinese bridges, seen and described by 

 M. De Guignes on the road to Pekin, was at Tso- 

 tcheoo. It was divided into two parts by a small 

 island, and its whi.Ie length was about 600 feet. The 

 parapet was composed of slabs of marble about six feet 

 long, fixed by means of grooves upon a number of imall 



