PEKIN UNDER THE ALLIED POWERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11541, 28 November 1900, Page 5

PEKIN UNDER THE ALLIED POWERS.

'<, ...-■;■. :. No. m. THE BRITISH IN THE TEMPLE OF ; ~ HEAVEN. [BY AETHTO H. ADAMS, OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT IN CHINA.] - , Pbkin, September 27. The headquarters of the British army in Pekin is at the Temple of Heaven. The city has been divided up under the various for-" eign commands. The Japanese hold the northern half of the Tartar City, the Russians the south-eastern quarter, and the Americans, English, and French occupy the rest of that city. The Chinese City is apportioned between the Germans, the Americans, and the English.' Certain parts of special interest are reserved as international —such as the Coal Hill, overlooking the Forbidden City, and the quarter in which the Legations are placed. The Japanese camp is to the north of the city, on the An Tung plain, with headquarters in one of the temples outside the wall. The Americans have chosen for the main body of their troops the parks of the Temple of Agriculture, and the British have made themselves at home in the beautiful Temple of Heaven. . , THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN. Undoubtedly this is the most beautiful of all the temples of the city, Others have their wonderful features —such as the huge bronze-gilt Buddha, 70ft high, in the Llama Temple, and the age-old stone tablets and drums, inscribed with the earliest " picturewriting" of the Chinese Empire, and to be found in the great Temple of Confucius. But for pure beauty, undisturbed by the tawdriness that is found in so many of the older temples, the Temple of Heaven stands unchallenged. It is the newest of all the temples, and is said to be unsurpassed by the Forbidden City itself. PROFANATION. The two temples—that of Agriculture and that of Heaven— in the midst of huge parks on either side of the great South Road through the Chinese City. Long red walls shut out these sacred places from the common view, and the two gates leading south seem built more to exclude the profane intruder than to excite the admiration of the beholder. To these temples the Emperor— the Son of —comes once a year to sacrifice and to plough a sacred furrow in the soil. And now in and out of these sacred gates all day come strings of mules or cavalry horses to be watered, ridden by dingy Indian camp-followers, or slouching American soldiers in their undress. Inside the Temple of Agriculture, around the altar of white marble, the cavalry are camped, and here is the drilling-ground of the infantry. General Chaffee (commanding the American army) has taken up his quarters in one of the numorous temples scattered about the beautiful grounds. The British site is even more picturesque. Immense numbers of mules and horses are tethered beneath the beautiful trees of this park, and big guns, white tents, and all the appurtenances to a camp are strewn about the various buildings in the grounds, while from the top of one of the temples British soldiers in khaki are heliographing to their comrades guarding and repairing the railway line miles away on the southern plain. A THING OF BEAUTY. The temple, like the Palace of the Emperor, is securely shut from intrusion by a series of enclosing walls. Passing under the second gate, a long avenue and an inclined plane leads to a straight road of white marble which connects the Temple of Heaven with the altar, some two hundred yards distant. Through two great gates, reached by marble steps, the Circular Temple, rising dazzling in its rich colouring, its purple-tiled roofs, and its glittering gold from , a. wonderful white marble platform stands before you. The elevation is reached by tjvo flights of white steps, the middle of which is occupied by an inclined, richlycarved slab. ■ All stairways used by the Emperor have this peculiarity, and it is said that up this inclined carved block of marble the Emperor has the privilegeor the temerity — go. Common people must use the common-"steps; the Emperor has the honour of ascending by this central slab, and runs the risk of bumping his Imperial nose., Beautiful bronze irons are placed on both sides of the steps, and at the top of the flight stood a Sikh sentry on guard. This sudden appearance of the military modern in a place of such sanctity was a shock, to be equalled a moment later when, on entering the wonderful circular temple, with its profuse and rich ornamentation, I saw on the floor a party of Sikh soldiers calmly asleep. I had a similar experience when on entering the Llama Temple in the Imperial City—-a great hall, with a " dim religious light" faintly showing the great grotesque forms of hideous idols saw a British subaltern in coat-sleeves evidently going through his dumb-bell exercises. The place had been taken by the officers for their mess, and their beds were made up in front of the central altar. INSIDE THE TEMPLE. There is no idol in this circular building. A vacant altar occupies one end of it, and in all other respects the building is abso lutely symmetrical. Twelve huge pillars, of a rich red colour, carry the ceiling, and the central dome is supported by five beautifully decorated' larger pillars. The whole beauty of a Chinese temple is frequently expended on the roof, inside and out, and in this temple the most gorgeous decorative effects are to be found there. Nothing could surpass for beauty the rich effect of the purple tiles that reflect the sunlight, and inside the dome is one complicated design of dragons and birds in green and purple and vermilion and gold. THE ALTAR OF HEAVEN. Leaving the Temple of Heaven and following the straight white road\ through the beautiful park, I had my first view of the Altar of Heaven. This is a plain circular elevation of white marble, reached on every side by flights of steps. Arched gateways of quaint shape and rich carvings guard the paths that radiate from this centre. And growing out of the crevices of the marble slabs were creeping plants and weeds, the green affording a very grateful relief to the dazzling white. Every temple I have entered in Pekin shows the same signs of —wonderfully paved courtyards overgrown with grass, marble stairways dislodged by creeping plantseverywhere desolation. In one forgotten temple which I explored on the An Tung plain, I rode down a broken stairway into an inner courtyard, when suddenly before me I saw a wonder in whitea great bell-shaped monument, every facade of which was beautifully carved, while it was surmounted by a huge dazzling golden lotus. And yet out of this pile of carved marble young trees were growing and the grass was creeping up its sides. THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. The central slab of the platform of the Altar of Heaven is circular in shape. Here it is the Son of Heaven stands, when once a year he makes his sacrifices to the sun. This exact spot, according to Chinese belief, is the centre of the earth. On that slab a Rajput, one of a conquered Indian race, yet in his picturesque, half-barbaric uniform, representing the British Empire, stood on guard. I was personally pleased that the British Empire had taken possession of the centre of the earth, and when I photographed the Rajput on the spot he seemed almost as pleased as 1., At the back of the altar stood the furnace, in which the bullocks of tlffe Imperial sacrifice were consumed. Just now it was in full working order. A British corporal was directing a ccrps of Indian coolies who were dragging dead mules to the smoking furnace. It was so like a British corporal to profane the Emperor's furnace with dead mules.