Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-08-01

fectly equipped temple in China.
The court yard is fiagstones OF
marble, surrounding it are the homes
of the 1900 priests who attend upon
the temple.
AS you enter on either side are
those images of devils found in all
buddhist temples. Farther inside is
the chief object of interest, the great
image of Maitreye, the Buddhist Re-
deemer, over 20 feet high and pa
broad and made of one tree. 1t is
certainly very imposing piece OF
carving, where such a tree was found
we could not learn but close scru-
tina could not detect but it was one
piece. Our attendant said it was
brought from Tibet.
A huge prayer wheel in the same
temple as high as the Buddha was
another curiosity.
From the Lama temple we go to
the Imperial city within the walls of
the Tartar city. The walls of the
Imperial city are 20 feet high; pas
sing through this wall and farther on
is the forbidden city surrounded by
redish pink wall 80 feet high and
80 feet thick at base, as we'll sur
rounded by a moat 100 feet wide.
h in To- nd
royal residence apartments for
eunudhs and concubines of the Man
chu royal family.
This forbidden city was built in
1410 and up to the boxer revolution
in 1900, nc white man had ever en-
tered. At that time the different le-
cations consregated here and with
such protection as they could muster
defended themselves until succor ar
rived from Tientsin.
AS we enter the grounds we are
surrounded by marble courts, bridges,
canals, and all surroundings of mar
BILE except the palaces ahead. We
pass from one Building to another, al
ways passing Up stairs to reach the
next in going from one to another. ]
measured three blocks of marble with
dragons carved the length; they
were each 35 feet long and 10 wide,
over these the emperor was carried
by men on the stairs either side
In front of one of the temples were
two bronze kettles nine feet wide and
five high. From this location
counted 80 of the same size. Inside
the audience hall we measured the
building was 100 by 200 feet. 1t was
in this audience hall that the treaty
of peace after the boxer revolution
was signed.
Farther back of this audience hall
is the home of the young emperor now
thirteen years old. He is kept con-
fined here by the republican official:
and given pension of S4,000,000. II
was this young prince that the Man.
chus in the uprising just put down
were going to reinstate in office.
AS we return we pass through
many of the imperial buildings. IL
some of them are shown the Imperial
treasures. Here one sees what must
have been al era of splendor. Vases
of bronze surrounded with rows OF
diamonds and rubies set round the
vases, inside representations of flow
ers so real that one could not be-
lieve they were not living plants, yet
they were made of gold and silver
formed into this beautiful deception
that would never fade. Here were
solid gold pagodas and other things
of great value. They have so large a
collection that they are not all shown
at the same time but every two years
those on exhibition put away and
others put in their place. 1t surely
was the most interesting exhibit and
OuC uCFCl W uC lOl SOllCu. L
what attracted us most was some
large bronze vases made six hundred
years before Christ, il which was
shown the most perfect workmanship.
/ might write book on this alone
but we must hurry on to the Temple
of Heaven, the Altar of Heaven, and
other beautiful surroundings in the
Tartar city.
1t is some distance from the For
hidden City to the Altar and Temple
of Heaven and in going from one to
the other a Chinaman ran into our
auto and from all appearances was
dead, when we left him. They arrest
ed our driver, took our auto and we
were obliged to wait until our guide
could get another auto.
The walls surrounding the Temple
of Heaven, Altar of Heaven, and AL
tar Of Agriculture are three and half
miles long and would say forty feet
high. Inside this Enclosure was kept
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