CHINA'S TREASURES 



1035 



Vast and solemn ruins of the capitals 

 of known and unknown kingdoms are to 

 be seen throughout all China. Shangtu, 

 the "Cambaluc" of Coleridge, has been 

 located west of the important Mongol 

 market at Dolonnor. Here the remains of 

 the walls of Kublai Khan's summer capi- 

 tal may still be seen. Inscriptions have 

 been found here, and it is possible that 

 the future antiquary, studying the spot 

 with scientific scrutiny, may make dis- 

 coveries of value. 



Marco Polo, the most distinguished 

 traveler among Europeans to visit China, 

 gave to the world what is still the 

 only existing record of the wonders of 

 Shangtu, of which Coleridge dreamed 

 and wrote striking words not hitherto 

 regarded -as fact. It has been stated 

 that Coleridge knew nothing of Shangtu, 

 and that he derived the images of his 

 poem from a dream, the figment of which 

 he coined into golden measures when he 

 had risen from his couch. 



Only Shangtu and Kara Korum, of the 

 Mongols, have been described for us by 

 our own travelers. Perhaps a composite 

 of the foreign accounts of these two 

 places," with what we see of Peking, 

 Nanking, and Hsi-ngan that still exist, 

 together with the fragmentary accounts 

 from Chinese history and literature, will 

 afford approximate pictures of what must 

 have been the aspect and substance of 

 those wonderful places — Yang-hsia, Po, 

 Yin, Hao, Lo-yi, Hsien-yang, Chang-an, 

 and, Lo-yang, or even of Hang-chau. 



There is one feature of the capital that 

 has remained unchanged. From a time 

 whose identity is lost in past ages the 

 rulers of the Chinese people have pre- 

 served an imperial shrine to Shang Ti, 

 the God of Heaven now represented in 

 the Altar of Heaven at Peking, perhaps 

 the most beautiful and impressive shrine 

 the Chinese have ever built. It is one of 

 the most notable of China's monuments 

 and perhaps the simplest altar to deity 

 existing, as it is one of the most impress- 

 ive man-made places in the world. The 

 altar is of white marble, circular, perhaps 

 200 feet in diameter, and constructed in 

 its details with reference to the plan of 

 Ihe universe. It stands amid ancient and 



solemn junipers, which, according to the 

 Chinese, are the most stately and digni- 

 fied objects of the vegetable kingdom. 



We cannot claim to know much about 

 China's monuments until a more careful 

 examination has been made of the writ- 

 ings of China's antiquaries. 



No doubt an investigation more thor- 

 ough than has been made by Chinese in 

 recent generations will result in con- 

 tributing one of the most brilliant chap- 

 ters to the records of the world's antiqui- 

 ties. It is a subject that is one of the 

 interests of man universal and of nations 

 in their aspect as clay in the hands of 

 the Universal Potter. 



Pumpelly, the veteran American ex- 

 plorer in China, has visited Turkestan in 

 the interest of archaeology. Rockhill, 

 Huntington, Laufer, and others have 

 contributed to American research into 

 China's antiquities. But if for no other 

 reason, the monuments of China must 

 always have a special interest for Ameri- 

 cans because of the beautiful Porcelain 

 Tower of Nanking, immortalized in 

 Longfellow's poem "Keramos". The 

 part pertaining to the pagoda, which is 

 no less beautiful than Coleridge's "Cam- 

 baluc," may be extracted from its setting 

 as follows : 



"Turn, turn my wheel, the human race. 

 Of every tongue, of every place, 

 Caucasian, Coptic, or Malay, 

 All that inhabit this great earth, 

 Whatever be their rank or worth, 

 Are kindred and allied by birth, 

 And made of the same clay. 



"And yonder by Nankin, behold 

 The Tower of Porcelain, strange and old, 

 Uplifting to the astonished skies 

 Its ninefold painted balconies. 

 With balustrades of twining leaves, 

 And roofs of tile beneath whose eaves 

 Hang porcelain bells that all the time 

 Ring with a soft, melodious chime; 

 While the whole fabric is ablaze 

 With varied tints all fused in one 

 Great mass of colour like a maze 

 Of flowers illumined by the sun. 



"Turn, turn, my wheel. What is begun 

 At daybreak must at dark be done ; 

 Tomorrow will be another day, 

 Tomorrow the hot furnace flame 

 Will search the heart and try the frame 

 And stamp with honour or with shame 

 These vessels made of clay." 



