Peking

IMG:p439_5.png:Chinese characters pei ching. There have been. several cities with various names on the site now occupied by Peking. 1. The earliest of these was called IMG:p439_6.png:Chinese characters Chi, from B.C. 723 to 221 the capital of the Yen IMG:p439_7.png:Chinese characters Kingdom. It was destroyed by Ch'in Shih HUANG-TI. 2. A new city was built on the ruins in a.d, 70, by the Han dynasty, and it was called Yen IMG:p439_8.png:Chinese characters which is still used as a literary name for Peking. 3. From the time of the Three Kingdoms to the T'ang dynasty the same place had the name of Yu chou IMG:p439_9.png:Chinese characters W. 4. The K'itans destroyed the place when they established the Liao dynasty in 986, but they built again on the same spot and called the place Nanking IMG:p439_10.png:Chinese characters southern capital, to distinguish it from their earlier capital which was north, up in Liaotung. They also called it Yen ching IMG:p439_11.png:Chinese characters 5. The Chin IMG:p439_12.png:Chinese characters dynasty followed in 1126, built a new city adjoining the old one on the east and of the same size, calling the double city Chung Tu tjj f IMG:p439_13.png:Chinese characters Central capital: their northern capital was near Jehol and their southern at K'ai-feng fu. It was' also called Ta-hsing fu IMG:p439_14.png:Chinese characters 6. This city was completely destroyed by Chenghis Khan in 1215. His grandson Khubilai Khan removed the Yuan dynasty capital from Karakorum, building on the Peking Isdte the city 440 called Khanbaligh, sometimes written Cambuluc and, in fact, written in many ways. Khanbaligh stood on the site occupied by the present Tartar city, but its north wall was five li further north and its east and west walls were one li outside the walls of to-day. The Bell Tower is in the centre of this old city, and the Observatory is at its southeastern corner. This is, of course, the city which was made known to Europe by the early Francis can mi ionaries and by Marco Polo. Another name by which it was called during the Yiian dynasty is Ta tu IMG:p440_1.png:Chinese characters fP, great capital. 7. The first Ming rulers had their capital at the city famous as Nanking, and KJianbaligh became a simple prefecture with the name Pei-p'ing fu IMG:p440_2.png:Chinese characters Being considered too large its northern wall was removed five li to the southward; whether the east and west walls were moved is not certain. 8. The third Ming emperor Yung Lo removed his capital to Pei-p'ing fu and called it Pei ching IMG:p440_3.png:Chinese characters Siy or as it may be spelt, Pe-king, which means Northern Capital; and it has remained the seat of government ever since. Two things may be borne in mind by those who wonder at the situation of Peking.' (i) The enemies of the Empire were generally on the North, —for half the time during the last seven or eight centuries China has actually been ruled by conquerors from the North. Hence, a capital near the northern frontier seemed nece ary. (ii) The fact that the city is on a dusty plain instead of being, like Nanking, near a noble river, reminds one that the founders of such cities were horsemen, used to scouring the plains with their armies. They did not seek a site suitable for water supply, for unloading of goods, etc. The present city of Peking consists of four enclosures. The Tartar city or North city is almost square; within it and more or le central is the enclosure called the Imperial City, the walls being about five miles in total length; and within this again there is a third enclosure, the Imperial Palace or the Purple Forbidden City. The Chinese city or South city is south of the Tartar city and adjoining it; east and west it extends beyond the Tartar city, but its width north and south is le than half its length IMG:p440_4.png:Chinese characters and west. The Tartar city is so called because the Manchus at the beginning of their dynasty drove out the Chinese into the suburb which has become the South city. All the palaces of Manchu princes and important Manchu families and all government buildings are in the Tartar city. The older walls were faced with brick by Yung Lo of the Ming dynasty in 1437, and the three divisions of the city were also made by him. The Imperial City IMG:p440_5.png:Chinese characters huang ch'eng is almost square, being a little more north and south than east and west; the length of itfc walls isi 10,350 kilometres. It has in it, besides the Forbidden city, three lakes, the Coal Hill, many temples, the Pei t'ang, etc. Its walls are 18 feet in height and are pierced by four gates. The Purple Forbidden city, tzu chin ch'eng, is the innermost enclosure, and it was the strictly private residence of the emperors. The mortar used in the buildings was purple or violet, and this general tinge gave the name to the city. Another explanation, however, connects the name with the Pole Star, called by an ancient writer 'the Star of the violet myrtle,' the empire depending on this central spot as the heavens on the pole star. The walls of this enclosure are 1006 metres north and south and 786 metres east and weist, and are 22 feet high. Outside is a moat 60 metres wide. There are four gates. Among the better-known 'sights' of Peking the first place must be given to the Altar of Heaven (q.v.). The Confucian Temple with the Stone Drums IMG:p440_6.png:Chinese characters The Lama Temple IMG:p440_7.png:Chinese characters the Observatory IMG:p440_8.png:Chinese characters with its remaining instruments, the Summer Palace IMG:p440_9.png:Chinese characters the Drum Tower and Bell Tower, are all attractive. Some people may take more pleasure in visiting the sites connected with early church history in Peking, — the Cathedrals, the Portuguese cemetery with the graves of Ricci, ScHALL and many more (see Chda). The Legation Quarter adjoins the eastern part of the southern wall of the Tartar city, and is now always in a state of defence. Unfortunately no very good guide to Peking has ever been i ued. Favier's work has many inaccuracies, and Bretschneider' s is too short and limited. Bretschneider: Archcelogical and Historical Researches on Peking, Shanghai, 1876; Favier: Peking. [The plans of these cities, given below, are reduced from those in Le Bulletin Catholique de Pekin for February, 1914, by kind permi ion of Brother A. Maes, Director of the Lazarist Pre at Peking. In these plans the broken lines represent the present Peking, while the dark lines show the relative size and situation of each ancient city.] IMG:p440_10.png:Chinese characters 1. Chi B.C. 725—221. IMG:p440_11.png:Chinese characters 441 r I 2. Yen, built in a.d. 70; t known as Yu Chou (B) from 4th to 10th centuries IMG:p441_1.png:Chinese characters ) 4. Nan ching L.D. 10th century r 5. Chung ttj \ 1 4 'f A.D. 12th century r H 0 - - IMG:p441_2.png:Chinese characters.2 6 -f,..,! »— « — r n. \ 4..4 6. Khanbaligh A.D. 13th century.....J u......