From The London Quarterly Review. PEKING. ONE of my chief objects in visiting Peking was, if possible, to see with my own eyes the far-famed Temple of Heaven, where, at mid-winter and mid-summer, with the star-lit midnight heavens for sole canopy, the emperor of China, as the highpriest of his people, and escorted by all the great nobles of the empire, offers most solemn worship to Heaven only. ments to Miss Webster, and sends a book in which her name and address were found A VISIT TO THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN AT written. On the 6th instant, only three days before the end of the war, the regi ment under his command formed part of a column thrown forward to Farmville by General Ord, with the intention of obstructing Lee's advance until the main body of the army of the James could come up. The loss of life which the success of the movement involved was very great, and among those who perished was Captain Seymour, who had joined the regiment but a few months before and greatly distinguished himself, having been promoted on the field. He fought like a hero and died a soldier's death. No letters or papers of any kind were on his person, and no survivors in the command knew of his home or friends; but the little book was found in his breast-pocket, and Colonel Rhas deemed it proper to forward it as stated. "Appomattox Court House, Virginia: April 12th, 1865." I, the present scribe, have had singular associations with the people and scenes of which I have just written. I was in China when the man I have called "Moulton went on board the French steamer ; indeed he came to my house before dinner to say good-bye. Seymour " "dined with me that same night and took his departure from my table. When I last saw the lady I have called Miss Webster, she was with her husband at a presidential reception in Washington, and every one was asking who she was. I never thought of writing this story until a few months ago, and then only because it made such an impression on a small party of clever men at the hospitable Union Club at San Francisco. One was the merchant, now white-headed, in whose office "Moulton" had been, and part of the narrative was new to him. "Poor fellow," said he; "I did not want him to go to China, and it was hard enough that he should die just as good times were coming." This brought out other comments on my tale. The last was made by a soldier-like man, with a gray moustache and an empty sleeve. "There is no poetical justice in that sequence of events," said he. "Your bad man came off best of all, for he died an honorable death, fighting for his country, and there is no chance to do that nowadays. But, all the same, it is a very curious story." Though the great park which is set apart for this purpose is most strictly guarded, the authorities being exceedingly jealous of the admission of foreigners to its hallowed precincts, I was fully determined, if possible, to be one of the few who overcome the scruples of the attendants! By singular good fortune I not only induced Dr. Edkins, of the London Mission (the great authority on antiquarian subjects), to be my escort, but, by deciding to make the grand effort on the very morning after arriving in Peking, it happened that we fixed on the very day when, as a mark of especial favor to the ex-president of the United States, the Tartar officials had agreed to allow General U. S. Grant and his suite to visit the temple. The attendants in charge of this jealously guarded spot knew only that on that day many barbarians were to be admitted to the sacred precincts, so when we reached the gate, about three hours before the American party, we were admitted without any question or difficulty whatever, and were able to go leisurely over the grounds, and every corner of the sacred buildings, concerning which, and all ceremonies connected with them, Dr. Edkins is a mine of information. When the subject was first mooted on the night of my arrival, several of the home party resolved to share the adventure, and face whatever difficulties it might involve in the way of scrambling over dilapidated walls and shirking or brib. ing officials, for truly of this terrestrial heaven it may be said that it suffereth violence, for few except the violent who take it by force ever enter within its gates. So carts were ordered to be ready at peep of day, and we were all astir soon after three A.M. The early dawn was most lovely, clear and comparatively cool; that is, the thermometer fell to about 80° from the noonday temperature of 106° in the shade. To make you understand this morning's expedition, I must try to sketch a bird's But here at Peking there are several temples, each unique of its kind, where the emperor, assuming the character of high-priest, himself offers to the rulers of the universe the worship of his people. eye view of the Great City, which covers a | cian- and of their various subordinate space of about sixteen square miles. To sects, are scattered about both cities, each begin with, the Tartar City and Chinese inclosed by its own high wall, so as effecCity are totally distinct, the former being tually to prevent its adding any feature to a great square city, and the latter forming the appearance of the city. a long oblong immediately to the south. Each city is inclosed by a mighty wall, but the south wall of the Tartar City forms the north wall of the Chinese City; the two together form twenty-five miles of this masonry for giants! The Tartar City has nine gates: two to the north, two to the east, two to the west, three to the south. These three last, consequently, open into the Chinese town which has seven gates of its own besides — not gates such as we understand in Britain, but stupendous masses of masonry, like some fine old border keep greatly magnified. Within the Tartar City lies another great walled square. This is the Imperial City in the heart of which, as a jewel in its setting, another great square district is inclosed within very high pale-pink walls. This inner space is the Forbidden City -in other words, the private grounds around the palace wherein, guarded even from the reverential gaze of his people, dwells the Imperial Son of Heaven. To this palace the city owes its name Peking (or, as the Chinese pronounce it, PaiChing, meaning literally North Palace; just as Nanking was the Southern Palace). Within these sacred precincts no foreigners have ever been allowed to set foot, though they may gaze from beyond a wide canal at the very ornamental archways, and the double and triple curved roofs of many buildings rising above the masses of cool, dark foliage. Each of these archways and buildings is roofed with brilliant golden-yellow tiles of porcelain, which are positively dazzling in the sunlight. The tall buildings on the oppo. site side of the canal are similarly roofed, denoting that they, too, are specially Imperial property, yellow being emphatically the Imperial color, the use of which is prohibited to all save Buddhist priests, who not only wear the yellow robes, but are privileged to roof their temples with the yellow tiles, stamped with the Imperial Dragon I speak especially of the Lama temples. Within the Tartar City immediately to the south of the Imperial City lies the district assigned to the tributary nations and foreign legations, while the London Mission station lies nearer to the southeast gate. Various temples of the three religions which we have met all over China - Buddhist, Taouist, and Confu Of these exceptional temples, the most important are the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Agriculture, each occupying a large walled enclosure within the walls of the Chinese City. The altar to the Earth lies on the north side of the Tartar City. That to the Sun also lies outside the walls, in a shady grove, on the north-east side of the Tartar City, near the gate of the Rising Sun, and that of the Moon outside the western gate. At each of these, and also at the Imperial Temple of Ancestors, the emperor in person, attended by all his nobles, must at stated seasons offer most solemn sacrifice and prayer on behalf of his people. And truly it would be difficult to conceive any national act of worship more imposing than the whole ceremonial attending the Imperial ministrations, which seems to recall the patriarchal times of Melchizedek, king and high-priest. This is most especially true of the services at the Temple of Heaven, where, prostrate on an elevated and roofless platform of pure white marble, the emperor kneels in lowliest adoration of Shang-te, the Superior Lord of Heaven, his courtiers and nobles kneeling reverently around on lower terraces of the same platform (or rather marble mound) - an open-air temple whose only roof is the starry canopy of the midnight heavens. In none of these temples is there any image to suggest idolatry, the celestial and terrestrial powers being alike represented only by simple wooden tablets, placed upright in stands of carved and gilded wood, precisely similar to those which bear the names of the honored dead in every ancestral hall throughout the empire. fact, the one "heathenish" touch in this very grand worship of the Lord of Heaven is that the tablets of the deceased emperors are ranged on either side of the tablet symbolizing Shang-te, the Supreme, and that to them is rendered homage and sacrifice only secondary to his own. But the true meaning of this seemed to be, that the offerings are not intended as atonement for sin, but as a spiritual banquet to which it is necessary to invite other The reigning emperor, while thus ador ing the unseen powers with lowliest humility, nevertheless fills the position of one who is the earthly vicegerent of Shang-te, and who at the moment of death will mount the Great Dragon, which will bear him to take his place in that worshipful company. guests to do honor to the principal guest, | events as the accession of a new emperor and, as the deceased emperors are held in or some extraordinary national event, such honor as to rank above all other there are three set days in the year spirits in the hierarchy of heaven, it fol- when these usually deserted grounds are lows that they are the only guests who thronged by all the nobles of the land can be invited to share this banquet. namely, the summer and winter solstice, when the great religious solemnities are performed at midnight at the roofless southern altar, and the festival which marks the beginning of spring, when the sacrifices are offered, at the earliest glimpse of dawn, at the northern altar, on which is erected a perfectly circular wooden temple, in three stories, forming a sort of telescopic pagoda, of which each story is smaller than the one below it, and is roofed with the loveliest bright-blue encaustic tiles, the topmost roof rising to a tall peak. This temple is called the Chenien-tien, Temple of Prayers for a Fruitful Year, which name is inscribed on a large tablet beneath the eaves of the topmost roof. Well, to return to our expedition that lovely early morning. Our route lay in a perfectly straight line along a broad street (so wide that an extemporary rag-fair of booths occupies the centre all the way!) till we came to the Ha ta-mun, the southeast gate, and so passed into the Chinese City, and through densely crowded streets, till we reached such countrified suburbs that it was difficult to believe that we were still within the walls of the city. When we had almost reached the central south gate we came to a large open space with great walled enclosures on either side. That to the west is the Sian-nun-tian, or the Temple of Agriculture. That to the east is the park of Tian-Tian, or the Temple of Heaven. These high red walls are roofed with yellow china tiles, each of which ends in a circular tablet bearing the Imperial dragon. There is nothing imposing about the approach rather the contrary; we halted at a dilapidated gateway, where, as I before said, instead of slamming the door in our faces and bargaining for much coin (which is the usual manner of receiving visitors at this Celestial Temple), the attendants passed us in with the utmost courtesy, and we found ourselves in a large grassy park shaded by fine trees. This is a walled park, three miles in circumference, forming the pleasant pastures wherein the bullocks, sheep, and other animals destined for sacrifice graze till their last hour draws near, without a thought of the slaughter house which lies hidden in a grove at the north-east corner. I found it difficult to realize that this cool, green, shady park was actually within the walls of a city where human beings cluster in throngs as dense as bees on a swarming day! The first building we come to is the Hall of Fasting, in which the emperor spends some hours in silence and solitude, in preparation of spirit ere assuming his office as high-priest. Besides occasional services" marking such The name of north and south altar is here applied to two immense circular platforms or hillocks (Yuen-Kew or round hillock, is the name of the southern altar) formed by three terraces of beautifully sculptured white marble piled one above the other. On each occasion the emperor leaves his palace at sunset, in a car drawn by an elephant (I only hear of the existence of two elephants in China),* and escorted by a train of about two thousand courtiers and attendants. A perfectly straight street runs from his palace to the gate of the temple, passing through the Chien-mun, which is the central south gate of the Tartar City, never opened on any other occasion save these, or for any person except the emperor or one of the Imperial tablets. For that matter, it is not only in Peking that there is an objection to opening the south gate of a city. In times of drought, especially, the south gate is kept closed, because the Chinese suppose that as the sun's rays reach them from the south, so may the Fire God enter thence, and, espe * Elephants were imported solely to grace certain State festivals. The emperor Hien-Fung owned thirtyeight elephants, but apparently the very variable climate only one survived and it became necessary to import does not suit them, for at the time of his death in 1861 new ones. Of those only two now survive. A third died two years ago, and his body was thrown into the city moat, there to putrefy at leisure beneath the midsummer sun, poisoning the atmosphere for weeks! Pieces of its thick hide were preserved for sale to persons visiting the Imperial elephant stables. These are situated near the south wall of the Tartar City, and have accommodation for forty-eight elephants, each in a separate stable, solidly built with walls six feet thick. These cover a large extent of ground, where the elephants (when there are any) are exercised. The whole is, however, in a very neglected condition. cially in the burning summer, may produce a conflagration which, in a town chiefly built of wood, would be a matter too serious to risk. One crowning point of good fortune lay in the fact that this temple itself, which is usually so rigidly closed as to defy all bribery, to-day opened wide its portals, so we were able to examine the interior at our leisure. There is no ceiling, so you look right up into the pointed roof, the interior of which is richly gilded. The highest roof is supported by four very tall round pillars, the second roof rests on twelve medium columns, and the lowest roof on twelve shorter ones, all of wood, and elaborately colored and gilded. Oa the north side, facing the door, is an altar on which stands the simple wooden tablet inscribed with the name of Shang-te, the supreme lord and master of heaven and earth and all things. On either side are ranged altars bearing the tablets of the eight deceased emperors, each upheld by a handsomely carved wooden stand repre On reaching the temple grounds, the emperor proceeds first to inspect all the animals for sacrifice which are stabled in the outer park. He then retires to the Penitential Hall, where he is left alone, and, to assist his meditations, a small copper image of a Taouist priest, which had been carried before him in the procession, is placed on his right hand. The image bears in one hand a tablet on which is inscribed "Fast for three days," while the other hand, with three fingers raised to the lips, inculcates silence- the idea being that, unless the mind is filled with holy thoughts, the religious spirits will not attend the sacrifice. This image, which is only fifteen inches in height, was cast in the year A.D. 1380, by order of Choo-tai-senting dragons. Except that these are tsoo, the founder of the Ming dynasty, in order to remind him of the duty of solemn meditation as a preparation for his priestly duties. When the appointed hour arrives, the emperor proceeds to a robing tent, where he washes his hands ceremonially and assumes the sacrificial robes. Then, escorted by two hundred and thirty-four musicians robed in heaven's blue, and an equal number of dancers, who perform slow and solemn religious dances, and followed by all his princes and nobles, the imperial high-priest passes on to the altars of sacrifice. To these we now made our way, and presently came to another wall, completely enclosing the sacred buildings. Here also we found an open gate, and passed in unchidden. We were now on the green turf, and before us towered the triple roof of the three-storied temple on the great northern altar-three roofs rising one above the other pyramidally, and composed of brilliant Albert-blue tiles, dazzlingly bright in the early sunlight. But this also is enclosed by a square wall, colored pale pink, and roofed with tiles of a lovely aqua-marine color, about the tint of a thrush's egg. Here again the door was open, and we passed in and found ourselves on a square platform at the base of the great circular triple platform of white marble on which stands the aforesaid temple. Eight triple flights of nine steps each lead to the upper platform. These somehow represent a mystic figure known as the eight diagrams, the symbolism of which none but a born Chinaman can fully grasp ! colored scarlet and gold, there is nothing to relieve the severe simplicity of this interior, which is precisely on the principle of all ancestral temples. Standing on the marble platform at the door of the temple, we looked due south along the paved road leading to the great south altar, which lies at a considerable distance. Half-way between the two there is another circular tower with a splendid single-peaked roof of the same intensely rich blue tiles. It is surrounded by a circular wall of a pink-salmon color, roofed with lovely pale-green dragon-tiles, and its three great gateways have bandsome curved roofs of the brightest yellow tiles edged with a row of the brightest green dragon-tiles. All the coloring has special symbolic signification. Blue roofs indicate buildings for the worship of Shang-te only, yellow or brown have reference to earth, while green, combining both, is deemed suitable for such buildings as the Hall of Fasting and the buildings in which the musicians practise their choral anthems. At a considerable distance beyond the central blue-roofed building lies the great triple terrace of white marble, which is the south altar, generally distinguished as the Altar of Heaven, the approach to which is beautified by two sets of three white marble Pai-lows-i.e., the squareshaped triumphal arch-facing each of the four sets of stairs. Before proceeding thither we turned aside into the dense grove of very large old cypress-trees which forms a broad belt of dark-green foliage on either side of this long roadway and of these altars. They are noble old trees, and their cool, deep shade was doubly delightful as the slant ing rays of the morning sun were already striking with extreme heat. Here four triple flights of nine steps each, instead of eight as at the north altar, lead to the summit. Each terrace is surrounded by a very handsome balustrade, The objects of special interest which we sought in the depths of this arbor-vitæ pire-not a sacrifice to the sun however, but to watergrove were six great unhewn stone boul- demons, as a form of exorcism. It occurs in any disders which lie beneath one of the old trees, or indeed wherever the land has been afflicted with any trict where many persons have been recently drowned, and are said to guard the fortunes of the serious epidemic, which may possibly have been caused present Imperial dynasty. Strange how by the malice of water-spirits. Then, just as we read of the Persian Magi at the bidding of King Xerxes widespread are the survivals of primitive sacrificing white horses on the banks of the river Strystone-worship! Britain too has her king mon, as an offering to the river on behalf of the Persian host, so do the Chinese bring a white horse to the brink making stone, which is securely housed of a stream, a lake, or a canal, and there solemnly debeneath the coronation chair in her Tem-capitate it, burying its head below low-water mark, but ple of Heaven, commonly called West-reserving its carcase for food. The sacrificial butcher is a specially appointed layman, but both Buddhist and minster Abbey-a rude, water-worn stone Taouist priests take part in the religious ceremonial. which holds its time-honored place in the Sometimes a horse's head sculptured in stone may be observed on the banks of a stream, symbolizing this stateliest ceremonial of the British em offering. Archdeacon Grey has had the good fortune pire! to be present on two occasions when this remarkable hd of Canton. The first time was at a village where sacrifice has been offered in the immediate neighborseveral persons had been drowned, and it was supposed that the spirits of the neglected dead were in league with the water-demons. So preparations were made for a very grand funeral service, which was held in a large cemetery where multitudes of friendless poor were buried. Many altars were erected, at each of which several priests of Taou chanted monotonous prayers from morning till night, while all the women of the dis for three days and three nights. trict kept up an incessant wailing. This was continued A little farther on we came to a spring of deliciously cool water; then, continuing our walk through grassy glades beneath the old cypresses and laburnum-trees, we passed a store-house in which are kept the musical instruments, the banners, and the sacred triple umbrellas which figure in the state ceremonies. Then, finding a gateway which admitted us within another square pink wall roofed with yellow and edged with green tiles, we found ourselves standing at the base of the magnificent white marble circular triple platforms, the summit of which is the Altar of Heaven, and here it is that the grand midnight services are held at mid-summer and mid-enjoyed a very gay religious fair, with very fine dramatic winter. Here (as at the great north altar), in a corner of the outer square wall at the base of the circular terraces, are the furnace of green porcelain (nine feet high by seven wide) and eight great cup-shaped braziers of ornamental cast-iron. These are the altars of burnt-offering in which the various sacrifices are burntthe green por. celain furnace consuming the bullock, the silks, the jade, the incense, and other things offered to Shang-te, while the eight iron braziers consume the sacrifices to deceased emperors. The hair and skins of the beasts offered are buried in pits a little farther off. The animals sacrificed may be of all sorts which are used for human food, which in China is a tolerably comprehensive list, including, besides sheep and cattle, hares, deer, and pigs. In earliest times horses were includeda survival of the primitive great horsesacrifice - but they are now omitted, not being legitimate food for the banquet.* A very remarkable survival of the horse-sacrifice is still occasionally practised in various parts of the em Amongst the offerings brought for the use of the neglected souls in the spirit-world were upwards of two hundred full-sized armchairs of bamboo wicker-work, and life-sized pasteboard figures of attendants, besides a multitude of other objects of which the etherealized essence was supposed to be valuable to the pauper dead. All these were heaped together to form one vast bonfire, and thus were fitted for the use of spirits. About forty thousand persons were present, and all representations in the temporary theatre, and brilliant processions of dragon-boats decorated with gorgeous banners of most costly silk. The decapitation of a white horse was the crowning feature of the holy fair. On the second occasion the devoted white horse was crowned with flowers, and bore on its back a wallet containing thousands of paper charms folded in the The rest of the blood was mixed with sand, and, with the head and legs, was placed in a boat; beside these portions of the sacrifice was laid a young man, bound hand and foot, with his face, hands, and feet painted black. He represented the conquered water-devils! gilded boats, in which were priests, both Buddhist and This boat headed a long procession of richly carved and Taouist, and village warriors discharging matchlocks to terrify the water-devils, while the men in the first boat sand. sprinkle the waters as they advance with blood-stained On reaching the village boundaries, the young man was unbound, and leaping into the stream, swam ashore amid a salvo of musketry. The horse's head was finally placed in an earthenware jar, and buried in the bed of the river. |