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this lower obelisk and built or 

 rebuilt a temple there, the 

 nucleus or forerunner of the 

 present temple Tai Miao, 

 which in its turn is the nucleus 

 of Taian city. 



WHERE BUDDHIST, TAOIST, AND 

 CONFUCIAN MEET 



The principal business of 

 this "very religious" city is to 

 cater to the whims and wants 

 of the thousands of pilgrims 

 who annually throng her 

 streets. Everything is on sale 

 from little yellow mud tigers 

 to portraits of the "Mother of 

 Heaven" and fine brass works 

 and silks. 



Tai Miao is the "great tem- 

 ple" which has grown up since 

 the time of the Caesars, and 

 probably has been mostly re- 

 built toward the end of the 

 Sung Dynasty (1020 - 1120 

 A. D.) to accommodate the 

 large number who, though 

 coming to worship at the Holy 

 Mountain, are unable to make 

 the ascent. 



Passing the ferocious door- 

 guards, we traverse the main 

 hall of the temple, on the walls 

 of which are fine, large fres- 

 coes representing a horde of 

 officials and gentry making a 

 pilgrimage to Tai Shan, and 

 enter the inner shrine to be- 

 hold the image of the "God- 

 dess of Mercy." 



Leaving the city by the 

 north gate and journeying 

 about a mile across the plain, 

 we see Tai Shan towering 

 high above all other peaks in 

 the range, as if keeping soli- 

 tary watch over the country 

 roundabout. On its slopes 

 every sect, Buddhist, Taoist, 

 and Confucian, has its tem- 

 ples and its priests practicing 

 manifold superstitions to at- 

 tract pilgrims to their shrines. 

 The number of beggars who 

 beset the road to the summit 

 indicates the great crowds of 



239 



