The Coolidge examiner., 1937-04-08


more than 40 feet high.
Bastions thrust out at regular in
tervals, and the top is crenelated,
once affording shelter to bowmen.
Wide ramps lead up to the nine
gates: three on the south, and two
for each of the other faces. Above
every gate stands a guard tower,
with quarters for the garrison, and
formerly these were covered by
curtain walls enclosing a space
where travellers were examined and
duty assessed and collected on
goods coming in.
Peiping is no longer the capital.
From 1912 to 1923 the republic sat
in the dismantled pavilions that had
housed the emperors. Then the gov
ernment moved to Nanking. By
edict the name of the ancient city
was abandoned; Peking, North
ern Capital" became officially
Peiping, "City of the Northern
Plains," or Northern Peace" So
said the Peoples party, the postal
authorities, and the office-holders.
But to the residents and to the for
eigners who love it, the city re-
mains Peking. From the heights
within the walls one may survey
the city.
Climb Coal hill 1t is an artificial
eminence, rising 210 feet above the
town, lying east and west, its con-
tours following the conventional art
form Of the breaking wave. A CEN
trail pavilion crowns it, f1anked by
four smaller pavilions to left and
right as the slopes descend. Cedars
and white pines and sparse grass
clothe it sketchily.
There is a legend that some
thrifty emperor created it by piling
up reserve supply of coal against
a seige, covering the fuel with dirt
by way of camouha ge-but there is
no coal here and never was. His
businesslike people would have sold
it at reasonable profit long cen
turies ago. More likely it was made
of the dirt excavated from the line
of artificial lakes which the poetic
inhabitants call the Three Seas"
lying in the old Imperial City.
View of City From Coal Hill.
The pavilion on the crest houses
tall Buddha, once richly gilded,
now secured to drabness by the sun
and wind, which broods eternally
over the city. Standing between his
knees, you are on the medal line
of Peiping, and little north of it's
exact center.
In general, the view is of a one
story town, with geometrical pat
terms of low roofs and walled court
yards defined in blocks by the in
tersections Of the great streets.
From this level rise the temples
and pavilions, and the gate towers,
the bright tiles of their roofs in
dicating official status. Yellow tile
was wholly imperial; green tile and
blue, the latter rare, meant the in
terest of the government or the I'M
perial family.
There are, among the varicolored
roofs, surprisingly numerous lines
and summer Peiping gives the i'm
preston of being extensively wood
ed; and in the winter, when the
leaves are off, you see that every
temple inclosure and pleasure gar
den is set with noble evergreens,
white pines and cedars, so that the
prospect is never barren.
You see the three cities, one with
in another, like a Cantonese puzzle
box, and the fourth, the Chinese
City, away to the south, beyond
Chen Men and Hata Men. The
foursquare line of the Tatar Wall
lays out the Tatar City, which was,
under the Manchus, divided among
the Eight Banners, each having it's
own district in the several quad
rants.
Then your eye picks up the pink
ish-red wall of the Imperial City,
pierced now by the great streets
that run east and west. 1t was orig
inally a long, narrow rectangle,
lying from north to south on the
axis of Peiping. 1t enclosed the
"'Three Seas" the lakes shining sill
yer in the sun down its western
half; and in it were located the pal
aces of the court officials and inn
perial princes. 1t stretches from the
Tung Chang an Chieh to the I'll An
Men Ia Chieh, north Of Coal hill.
which are the two east and west
| boulevards.
The republic smeared black paint
and democratic blue over its inn
periaI red; but it is pleasant to OBJ
serve that the black and blue have
faxed away, and the ancient ruddy
water pigment persists to delight
the eye. 1t is no longer a distinc-
tive quarter; the houses of the
dukes and princes are nearly all
for rent.
Tortoise Leg Bones Valued