PEKING 



4552 



PEKING 



nificent of all the palaces. The wife of the 

 emperor, "Heaven's Consort," ruled her minia- 

 ture court in the imperial harem in the Palace 

 of Earth's Repose. Among other notable 

 buildings in the Forbidden City are the Hall of 



DIAGRAM OF PEKING 



(1) Hall of the Classics (5) Mohammedan 



(2) Temple of Con- Mosque 



fucius ( 6 ) British Legation 



(3) Marble Bridge (7) American Legation 



(4) Lake of Lotus (8) Chien-men 



( 9 ) Temple of Heaven 



Intense Thought, where sacrifices were offered 

 to Confucius and other sages ; the Hall of Dis- 

 tinguished Sovereigns; and the Library, or 

 Hall, of the Literary Abyss, the Guardian Tem- 

 ple of the City. All these former evidences of 

 pomp and ceremony are now open to the pub- 

 lic, to a limited degree. 



Surrounding the Forbidden City is the Im- 

 perial City, oblong in shape, with a gate in 

 each of its four walls. Here stands the Great 

 Temple in which the emperor and the members 

 of the imperial retinue worshiped their an- 

 cestors. Opposite is the altar to "the Spirits 

 of the Land and Grain." Near by is Prospect 

 Hill, 150 feet high, crowned with five Buddhist 

 temples. It is separated from the Forbidden 

 City by a moat crossed by marble bridges. 

 The western portion of the Imperial City con- 

 tains a beautiful park, whose chief attraction 

 is an artificial lake where in season the beauti- 

 ful lotus grows in abundance. The lake is 

 spanned by a wonderful marble bridge. Among 



fine groves of trees are well-paved walks, lead- 

 ing to other parks adjoining. In this section 

 is to be found the Temple of Great Happiness, 

 the altar and temple dedicated to Yuan Fei, 

 the discoverer of the uses of the silkworm. 



Outside the Imperial City lies the General 

 City, the home of the people. It is more 

 densely populated than the other parts and 

 contains the most important of the public of- 

 fices, all the foreign legations, Christian mis- 

 sions and many other places of special note. 

 The principal streets of the General City are 

 unpaved and are lined with rows of shops, 

 painted red, blue and green and decorated with 

 curious signs of Chinese characters in gilding 

 or gayly-painted colors. These shops are sur- 

 mounted by balustrades, and there are terraces 

 on the roofs. The dwelling houses are usually 

 of one story, and all, from palace to hovel, have 

 one general style of steep, concave roof. 



The yellow or green tiles of the public build- 

 ings, the dragons' heads and the earthen dogs 

 at the corners of the temples and official houses 

 make some of the streets very picturesque. 

 The most interesting places to be found in the 

 General City are the Hall of the Classics, con- 

 taining 172 pillared slabs of granite, having the 

 text of all the classical books engraved on 

 them; the Drum and Bell Towers, each over 

 100 feet high, which are sounded at night 

 watches and can be heard throughout the city; 



ONE OP PEKING'S GATES 

 The one shown Is the entrance to the Forbid- 

 den City. 



the Mohammedan Mosque, the chief resort of 

 the Moslems who come to the capital; and the 

 Temple of Emperors and Kings. 



The Chinese, or Outer, City. This part of 

 Peking was built during the thirteenth century. 

 Here most of the mercantile business is cen- 

 tered. Many trades are carried on in the 

 streets, in tents or in movable shops. Among 



