Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-22

the sinner make a pilgrimage thither either
with his staff his knees. or by meas
urlng his length on the ground at every
third step from his home, however distant.
Indeed. it might be that she would pass in
i, her flight thousands of these pilgrims go
| ing to or from some of these numerous
temples, for there are those who sin and
VINO realize their sin to such an extent
TO be unable to turn their minds from 1t.
| even in time of Boxer trouble and foreign
war. and who know of no better method
or relieving the tension of their conscience
than to cast themselves upon the ground at
every third step for hundreds of miles over
these rough roads so that 1T may be either
She or they might think of the proverb:
''Pi shang pu tzu, pi hsia WI yu
Jen CHA chi ma, ch'ilu;''
Though some there be above me,
And others far below.
Above they ride on horseback,
l ride a donkey slow.
Past Engineering Feats.
Let us suppose that our party has ar
rived in the neighborhood of Siganfu what
now will they find? Some of the most re-
markable engineering feats of ancient
times. When the founder of the Han dy-
nasty overthrow the son of the builder OF
the great wall he determined to remove his
capital from the eastern plain in Honan to
the city Of Perpetual Peace" in these
cluded mountains. He changed the name
of the city to Western Peace and after
having destroyed the palaces of the con-
quered he built palace in this mountain
city. The building of the palace, however,
was small matter. He found that roads
would be necessary in order that taxes and
tribute as well as visitors and officials
might be able to reach his capital, and
he began constructing roads and bridges
through and over these mountain passes
and gOrges, which proved to be an under
taking second only to that of building the
great wall, accomplished only few years
before
For years he employed not less than
100000 workmen who dug away the noun
tains to fill up the valleys, and where 1t
was impossible to fill them up, built bridges
which were supported on great stone pillars
or suspended in air. Some of these sus-
pension or "'fying bridges" they are
called by the Chinese, not less than
$50 feet in length, 500 feet above the valley
and wide enough for four horses to cross
abreast, and are still standing after n
period of more than 1000 years These
are some of their engineering feats-feats
which were performed 1000 years before
suspension bridges were known in Europe,
and 1t was these roads and these bridges
which made Siganfu easy of access through
the widest and most wonderful scenery
known to China. Along these roads the
conqueror built post houses and resting
places, inns and caravansaries, which made
travelling not only dream of romance, but
matter of comparative comfort as we'll
and for 200 years he and his successors
governed the empire from this city, giving
a new name not only to the country, but
to the people as well. the proudest literary
name they bear today-the country and the
people of the Hans.
City Behind the Mountains
Arrived at her destination the exiIed en-
press finds city of more than a million
inhabitants-the principal trade center be-
tween the east and the west. In it rises a
great temple to Lao tzu, the founder of the
Iaoist sect-one of the most famous tenn
pies In the empire. The city is the capital
not only of the Han. but also of the Tang.
the dynasty which embodied the greatest
poetlcally literary period of the empire
But there are other memories of a more
stable and permanent nature. Here was
established the great Han Lin College, an
institution which is commonly compared
VIII the French Academy, the oldest really
living institution of learning in the world
today, unless We except the College for the
Sons OF the Empire in Pekin, which was
probably established first in the same CITY
For the eyes of the empress there will be
here sight calculated to excite her wrath
In this city, during the great literary
PERIOD, there was erected in the year ISL
AID, monument which preserves an In
scrlptlon In praise of Christianity and the
GOD or heaven-the great HISTORIAN monu-
ment, from which she will learn that the
emperor himself at that early date estab-
lshed and patronized the church which
she at the close of the nineteenth century
is trying to blot out of existence She may
be reminded of the fact that here have been
( brick as old as the great wall-which was
subsequently made into an ink tablet and
sold for several thousand taels after fierce
competition. She may also be reminded OF
the fact that three thousand Manchus at
the beginning of the present dynasty kept
back a horde of rebels until one hundred
and fifty thousand braves from Pekin could
go to relieve them.
She may remember how the founder OF
the great Tang dynasty after seating his
father on the throne as an act of fiial
obedience, after conquering the country and
setting 1t at rest, came over these great
roads and bridges and into the city, dressed
in costly coat of mail, with breast plate
of gold, surrounded by 10000 picked horse
men and 300 600 curassiers bringing with
him captive Tartar king, and If she
compares her entry with his, and her re-
oeption with the royal feast that was given
him, 1t will not add to her happiness.
Or she may compare her following of I'M
successful rag tag and bob tail' Boxers
with the conQuering army of Black Crows,
as they were called, that entered the city
more than one thousand years ago,
army of which 1t was said, Unhappy are
they who fall under the talons Of the Black
Crows" Indeed, the empress dowager Will
have an abundance of food for thought
while IL Siganfu, whether she receives mes
sages from Pekin or not. One cannot but
wonder what her thoughts will be as she
looks upon her great generals" Tung Flu
hsiang and Prince Tuan, and remembers
the records they have made as compared
with those of the mighty Chinese fighting
men of the past. She cannot but wish for
q return to the days when Gnu ke-llang
could sit upon the wall of the city and
brighten an army away by the music or
when China will be able to organize an
army which can put to flight all the troops
which can be transported from Europe.
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