60 NOTES OX THE SYMBOLISM OF THE 



on; these bridges can only be crossed by the Euler himself 

 and his bearers; beyond stands the Gateway of Supreme 

 Harmony, the T'ai Ho Men * m PI and in front of this 

 the Son of Heaven was joined by the Officials' of his Court 

 who, having entered the Forbidden City from the east and 

 west, have now penetrated to the inner precincts, Civil 

 Officials by the Hsieh Ho Men & *fl F1 United in Harmony 

 Gate, Military Officials by the Hsi Ho Men £ft *n PI Glorious 

 Harmony Gate, and stand ready to proceed with their Chief 

 to the great Halls of Ceremony. 



As the Euler alone can use the Wu Men and the marble 

 bridges, so he alone can pass through the centre of the T'ai 

 Ho Gate. The Civil Officials use that of Chao Te DS & 

 Luminous Virtue, the Military that of Chen Tu §1 $E Correct 

 Conduct, which lead to the great open space before the first 

 and grandest of the San Ta Tien H %. Wt Three Great Halls 

 — the T'ai Ho Tien * ffi 8£ Supreme Harmony Hall. A 

 fine description in its physical aspect of the Hall and 

 courtyard which "as the official review and celebration of 

 the Allied Victory held more than 15,000 troops and guests 

 and could have still accommodated three times as many 

 people, ' ' is given by Juliet Bredon in her fine book "Peking, 

 — we are more concerned with the symbolical character of 

 the Supreme Harmony Hall and its ornaments. It stands 

 upon the highest of three white marble terraces, these 

 correspond to the San Ts'ai, Heaven Earth and Man, which 

 acting in perfect union produce those greatest of blessings — 

 Peace and Plenty. On the terraces stand various figures, 

 the Ssir Tzu $$ ^p Protectors of Temples, Palaces and Homes; 

 the Cranes emblems of longevity; and the Pei Hsi j3i Mk 

 those sons of the dragon who resemble tortoises and who 

 carry slabs bearing inscriptions. Here also we find again the 

 Sun Dial, and the Good Measure, reminders to the Euler 

 that he must follow the way of Kuei Chii. 



Four flights of marble steps for the use of chair bearers 

 and Officials, and a central "path" of marble over which the 

 chair of the Son of Heaven passes, lead up the terraces to 

 the entrance of the Hall. This approach is decorated with 

 various dragon motives. The finials to the balustrades are 

 capped by Ying Lung M fl 1 and Ch'iao Shen g£ aft 2 while- 



n m m x m m mm £ m & (=e m at) 



Tns dragon which has fins is called Ying Lung. 



(Kuang Yaoy 

 The Pan dragon which rises from the mud and flies to 

 Heaven is the spirit of the Ying Lung. ( Wang Pan Wen). 



The form of the spirit of the Ch'iao Mt (in Shantung) 

 has the body of a bird — the head of a dragon. 



(Shan Hai Ching). 



