The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-01
THE CITY OF PEKING.


graph.
Picking lends Itself to nickname and allit-
Grafton. An English minister described it
as the place of dirt, dust and disdaln"
Others have found it, like Lord Amherst,
a city of despair Henry Norman says
that the two moments when one appre-
ciates it are the first sight of it's frown-
ing gates and the last. Whatever it Is
or is not to the linen of long views" it
must always be one of the nerve CEN
tiers of human interest and international
relations During the dynasty of those
Mings whose name was the war cry of
the Taip.ngs, and is to-day in the mouths
of many of the secret societies that form
the great difficulty of Chinese rule and
management, it. was a city of but sec
ond rate importance Their attention was
given to the establishment Of the now
half wasted city of Marking. often called
the national capital" but Picking has
been the imperial capital since the Ia
Tsngs seized the throne, and those who
are qualified to speak are of opinion that
of place to suit the convenience of Euro
rean diplomacy is foredoomed to failure
II is not only the capital of the Manchus,
it is the capital of the mandarins. The
official world is of the Pekinese stamp.
and Pekinese is the official language, the
tongue of the graduate and educated man.
To the ear it has a pleasanter and soft
or sound than the rough dialects of the
provinces, and 1t has been developed and
moulded to the elaborate and ornate
phrases of polite society. The Ssh is Of
ten heard instead of harder and more I'M
couth conjunctions.
In the four cities which make up the
capital, and particularly in the imperial
city, live most of The leading and opu-
lent class, and, therefore, the houses are
of a more important and solid appear
ance than is the rule elsewhere. High
brick walls. with single stone entrance,
surround a multitude of courts, fianked
by tile rooted dwelling rooms. 1t is
curious and universal custom among me
Chinese to put up Immediately facing the
outer door a stone or brick screen, bear
ing tablets or painted scrolls, inscribed
with the names of ancestors or classical
texts. The object, according to time hon
ored SUPERSTITION is to ward off evil spir-
It's for the mon on entering knocks his
head against the obstacle, and, being de-
void of all sense but an elementary ma
tired of mankind IS repulsed and goes
away sorrowful Why the aforesaid de-
mon should have the clsverness to turn
in at the gate, yet not sufficient to wheel
round the screen. is difficult for the I'M
initiated to understand. There is no at
tempt at ostentatiou, or even OF decent
comfort, about these dwelling places.
cities Within the CITY.
The four cities Of Picking are the Chi
nese. the Tartar, the Imperial and the
Forbidden. Each is quadrilateral and
marked off by wall. from outside to
center, in the order given, save that the
Chinese city is an excrescence, and joins,
but does not encircle. the remainder. Or
iginally the Chinese had to be kept at a
safe distance in subsection to the Manchu
conquerer but uch a precaution is now
superfiuous, although there survives a
perceptible variety of type, In spite of
the mixture of blood, and the Manchu
women dress their hair in a different
fashion, secured at the back by a long
bar that is turned down after marriage
Within the Chinese city is a vast open
space, the two great Enclosures of which
are green with trees and dedicated respect
lively, on the north and south 90 the Tenn
pei Of Agriculture and the Temple of
Heaven In the middle kingdom there are
three great systems of religion, of wor-
ship and of philosophy working together
in harmony with a government which
patronizes and conforms to each without
friction and without fusion.
OF all three the founders lived about the
sixth century b. c.. but Taosm has had
the popular advantage Of being able to
identify itself with every object of the
wonder of veneraton of men. If the
official classes, by reason of their Grain
ing, are mainly Confusanist-that is to
say. agnosuc, in their intellectual SYM
pathies-that does not absolve them or
their imperial master from the regular
and elaborate observance Of the great
state services OF the year The mighty
spirits of earth and heaven are invoked
by the Emperor without the Intervention
OF ecclesiastic and, by deputy, through
civil officers throughout every province,
To the powers Of earth and heaven he
processes himself subject. He styles him
self "Son OF Heaven by Imperial Success
sion," and he asks for the efficient aid"
of the Imperial spirits OF earth and
heaven" by sacrifice and oblation.
An Americans Privilege.
Foreigners are rlgidly excluded from
the Temple Of Heaven, where once a
year. al dead Of night, the Emperor goes
in solemn procession. The gates are kept
strictly closed to all but the duly quail
>eed. Il was not always so, and there