St. Landry democrat., 1879-04-05
ANCIENT WORK OF ART.
a Famous ChE eae esaSOdan-The Celeb Il
ted Porcelain TUWer,

tea HSTceka2H EIWeF
The celebrated Porcelain tower near
Nanting China, is described by a travel
er, who says: In the quiet evening We
made our way out of the city by the
south gate, through well>c0nstructed
tunnel, and shortly stood upon an emf
hence whose surface was mass OF debris
consisting OF broken bricks, tiles anu
plaster several feet thick. This was all
all that was left of chat which, for its
historic beauty, the ingenuity of its cons
struction and lis great cost, took rank
with the wonders CT the wOrd-the "a
NOUS Porcelain tower 1t must have
been very beautiful in its perfection, if
we accept the statements OF its various
historians, who differ SO little in their &C
counts that one does Tor all. From them
we learn its form was octogonal, niIe
stolits high, tapering, as it ar )se, to the
! hight OF two hundred and sixty one feet
from the ground, the circumference of
the lower STORY being one hundred and
| twenty feet. The body of the pag0da
! was of orick, but its lace Was composed
of porcelain tiles o. many colors Each
toI med kind OF saloon, Though which
ran the spiral staircase leading to the
summit, and whose walls were covered
with small giIded idols resting in inches,
the entire aparl ment richly paints d and
gilded. Each story was defined by 8
projecting cornice Of green tiles, from
whore POINTS giIded bells were hung
The root was overlaid with copper, and
above rose mast thirty feet high, capped
by golden ball, and coiied about by an
immense band of iron, appearing like
rings from below. The base of this
shaft was an iron ball formed of two
| halves, tue outer surface of which il
msgniicently embossed. | say il. for
one,halt rests where il fell, the only tan
glble tulng in the mass of ruin. The
other halt, weighing twelve tons, being
broken by the fall, was recast into tenn
pie bell. Standing before the half which
is left, we query, who were they that
fashioned this beautiful casting, worthy
| the hand of master -? Whose writing
and inscription embellished its face, IN
like any Chinese workmanship? Whose
skill was great enough in 1870 to place a
ball of iron thirty-six feet in circumfer-
ence, weighing t7enty-four tons, upon a
pedestal two hundred and slzty-one Get
high. This ball wss the receptacle of
various treasures calculated to warn off
eVi! influences, among which were night
shining Jewels pearls, books, gold, sil-
yer, Thousands Of strings of cash, satin,
silk and priceless medicine. The number
Of bells on the structure was one hun.
dred and ffty'two, and the interior wa,
illuminated Oy several hundreds of
lamps, while the exterior required one
hundred and twenty eight to light it.
IL look nlneteen years 10 Dulld IL, ana
cost three million three hundred and
seventy eight dollars. OF all this, not
one story rests on the other. lightning,
fire and water have laid their hands O.
on it, and it fell, its final destroyer being
the Tapping rebels, about twenty years
ago. It stood on the grounds of a
Buddhist monastery, which fell at the
same time q prey to the fanaticism and
rapacity of the invaders. One work OF
art within the grounds escaped destruc>
tion--a pure white marble tortoise, bear
ing upon his back perpendicular tablet
with an inscription. This, with one SOL
itary priest, keeps watch and ward over
the ruins of bygone glory.