147, 150, 151, are public granaries, very well built. Without the gates
146, 173, are many of these public granaries; as also in the environs
of the city to the north, south, east, and west. The largest and most
magnificent are in the city of _Tong tcheou_, four French Leagues to
the east of Peking.
37, 38, 42, 52, 54, 59, 60, 66, 80, 83, 84, 85, 91, 93, 117, 118, 152,
154, 156, 160, 165, 178, 196, 203, 210, 215, 218, 225, 229, 230, 250,
255, 261, these numbers mark temples of idols. Some of these numbers
mark halls for honouring of illustrious deceased persons; but of
these there are only a few. There are several small _miao_, which are
not numbered. In the Chinese city, in the suburbs, are many temples
of idols; and some even in the emperor’s palace. And almost all the
palaces of the princes have idol temples.
33, 35, 36, 61, 62, 64, 67, 68, 71, 109, 126, 128, 133, 134, 135,
136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 144, 180, 182, 185, 193, 219, 222, 233,
243, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 259, 260, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 297,
these numbers mark the tribunals, as well those, which I have already
mentioned, as many other subaltern ones, which depend on them. There is
one for the physicians.
101, 119, 121, 124, 125, 129, 148, 149, 155, 161, 162, 166, 172, 174,
175, 176, 192, 194, 195, 202, 208, 209, 216, 220, 221, 224, 232,
237, 238, 239, 241, 244, 247, 249, 262, 263, 264, mark the palaces
of the princes of the blood, who are divided into several classes
_Tsing ouang_, _reguli_ of the first order; _Kun ouang_, _reguli_ of
the second order; _Pey le_, _reguli_ of the third order; _Pey tse_,
_reguli_ of the fourth order; _Kong_, or counts, divided still farther
into other classes; and _Tsiang kun_, or generals of armies, divided
likewise into other classes.
Some years ago the emperor caused to be measured the circumference of
the walls of _King tching_, of _Hoang tching_, and of _He kin_, _&c._
as likewise the breadth of the streets, the space filled by the _miao_,
our three churches, that of the Russians, palaces, _&c._ The Chinese
city was not measured. A drawing of all this was made at large,
and then reduced to a smaller scale, as it appears here. I will not
undertake for the perfect exactness of it, either in the measures or
the reduction. All this is by a Chinese hand. The foot made use of in
this mensuration is to that of France as 1000 to 1016. 1800 of these
feet make a _ly_[150]. By the scale to be seen in the small plan, and
from the dimensions of the south and east walls of _King tching_, may
be deduced all the dimensions. The circumference of the walls of the
Chinese city has been formerly measured, and well, by several measures;
and the result of them may be seen here by the scale.
The south wall of _King tching_ is from east to west eleven _ly_ and
near a third. The east wall from north to south is nine _ly_ and some
paces. So that the city is not square, as several persons have written.
The persons employed by the emperor to measure did not think of
measuring the space, which contains the house and church of the
congregation _de propagandâ fide_. This house and church are situated
to the south between number 207 and a small bridge to the west of
number 201.
In the accounts sufficient mention has been made of the walls and gates
of the city of _King tching_; for which reason it is not necessary for
me to say any thing concerning it.
In the year of our Lord 1267, the Tartar emperor _Koublay han_ (in
Chinese _Yuen chi tsou_) built the city called _Ta tou_. It is the
principal part of the present city of _King tching_. It contained the
_Kin chun_, a palace _Yng tay_, _Hoang tching_, _Tse kin_, &c. the
walls of the city, an observatory, the towers of the Drum and the
Bell. _Yong lo_, emperor of the last dynasty _Tay ming_, made great
alterations in the city built by _Yuen chi tsou_.
In the year 1406 the emperor _Yong lo_ undertook to build stronger and
higher walls, and more magnificent gates, to the city; to rebuild the
_Hoang tching_, the emperor and empress’s proper habitation, and the
several parts of _Tse kin_, the courts, hall of the throne or of _Tay
ho tien_, the _Kou leou_, the _Tchong leou_. He undertook also to build
the _Sien nong tan_ and _Tien tan_, which are now in the Chinese city.
On account of the wars with the Tartars, the works undertaken by _Yong
lo_ were not finished till the year of our Lord 1421. Since that time,
in the _Kin tchin_ some alterations have been made in the palace, and a
good number of new _miao_ and palaces have been built. The emperor _Kia
tsing_ built the Chinese city in the year of Christ 1544.
The gates and walls of the Chinese city are not all equal in beauty to
those in the city _King tching_. The streets are neither so broad, nor
so well kept in repair. More than a third of the space of the Chinese
city is not inhabited. It consists only of fields and gardens. The
spaces occupied by the _Sien nong tan_ and the _Tien tan_ are vast;
and between these two there is a very broad road. In this Chinese
city are some mosques for the Mahometans. The inhabited part of this
city is much more so than the city _King tching_ and _Hoang tching_.
In the Chinese city are vast inns for those, who come out of the
southern provinces to Peking. Here are likewise a curious manufacture
of _lieou ly_ or Chinese glass, rich merchants of women’s ornaments,
of gold, of the plant _gin cheng_ so much esteemed and so dear here,
of varnished furniture, tea, stuffs of value, _&c._ The booksellers
shops are also in this city. It is to be remarked, that the walls of
the Chinese city and _King tching_ do not run directly north and south
and east and west, but decline towards the north-west 2° 30´, and
as much south-east. It is probable, that the architects employed in
directing the building of these walls made use of a compass; and that
the declinatiation of the needle was then what is mentioned above.
What I have said of the walls of the city is likewise to be said of the
walls of _Hoang tching_ and of _Tse king_.
At the time of building the city _King tching_, and the Chinese city,
the Chinese astronomers very well understood, that the north and south
of the compass was not the north and south of the heavens at Peking;
they knew, that the needle declined to the north-west and south-east;
but that this declination was not considerable.
Without the gates of the Chinese city, and of _King tching_, I mark the
suburbs; which are very full of people and merchants, and like so many
cities. In most of these suburbs there are fine temples of idols.
The _Sien nong tan_ in the Chinese city is almost six _ly_ in circuit.
These three words signify, The hill of the ancient husbandmen.
The emperor goes thither every year in the spring to till the ground,
and sacrifices on that hill to heaven. The emperor’s apartments there
have nothing magnificent in them; but the ceremony of ploughing is a
solemn and curious one, and deserves a particular description. The
emperor tills under a small covering of mat. When he has ploughed
about half an hour, he ascends a large alcove, from whence he sees
the princes, great men, and mandarins, plough in the fields, which
are not covered with mats. While the emperor is ploughing, a good
number of peasants sing ancient songs on the importance of ploughing.
The emperor, princes, and great men, are dressed in the habit of
plough-men, and their instruments of husbandry are very neat, and
kept in a magazine. There are granaries for the grain produced by
this tillage; and it is carefully remarked, that the grain from the
emperor’s tillage is much better than that from the labour of others.
From this grain are made several cakes for the various sacrifices to
Heaven or _Chang ti_. The emperor prepares himself for this ceremony by
fasting, prayers to heaven, and a kind of retreat: and the intention
of it is to keep up a memorial of those times, in which the princes
themselves tilled the ground. This ceremony is of the highest antiquity
in China.
Over against the _Sien nong tan_ is the _Tien tan_, or Hill of Heaven,
near ten _ly_ in circuit. Every thing here is magnificent. The emperor
goes thither every year at the winter solstice to sacrifice to heaven.
He prepares himself three days for this ceremony by fasting, in a
palace of _Tien tan_, called the _palace of fasting_. The hill, on
which the emperor sacrifices, is magnificently adorned. At the four
avenues are beautiful triumphal arches of fine marble; and the hill is
ascended by elegant steps. In this ceremony are introduced many usages
contrary to the ancient Chinese doctrine concerning the sacrifice to
heaven. On the day of the winter solstice are added the honours paid
to the five planets, that is, to their spirit. These ceremonies added
to the sacrifice to heaven are not very ancient. There are likewise
honours to the first founders of the reigning dynasty. At several other
times the emperor goes to _Tien tan_ to perform a sacrifice to heaven,
and to honour his deceased ancestors.
To the north of the Hill of Heaven is a large and high terrace, on
which is a most magnificent hall in honour of _Chang ti_, or the
sovereign Lord, and of his ancestors. On the frontispiece of this hall
the present Tartar emperors have caused an inscription to be placed
to _Ap cai han_, or the Lord of heaven. To this Tartar inscription
answers the Chinese character _Kien_; which has the same meaning as
the character _Tien_, heaven; and it signifies the _Chang ti_, who is
intended to be honoured in this hall. The tablet for the _Chang ti_ is
in a place, which shews, that the honour paid to _Chang ti_ is of a
different kind from the honour paid to ancestors.
Without the eastern gate of _King tching_, Nº. 145, is _Ge tan_, or
Hill of the Sun. At the vernal equinox the emperor sends hither a
prince or great man to honour the sun, that is, the spirit of the sun.
This inclosure, tho’ elegant enough, has nothing very remarkable; nor
is the ceremony very ancient.
Without the north gate of _King tching_, at Nº. 183, is _Ti tan_, or
the Hill of the Earth. At the summer solstice the emperor goes thither
to sacrifice to the earth on the hill. Many of the learned men at
present distinguish this sacrifice in the _Ti tan_ from the sacrifice
in the _Tien tan_. But, according to the doctrine of Confucius, the
sacrifice to the earth has the same object as the sacrifice to heaven.
In both the supreme Lord _Chang ti_ is to be honoured. I do not know,
whether the emperor adheres to the pure doctrine of Confucius, and
whether he does not pretend to honour the earth, or spirit of the
earth, by performing a sacrifice, which originally had for its object
the _Chang ti_, as we are assured by Confucius. The inclosure of _Ti
tan_ is a vast one; but is not at all equal in beauty to the _Tien tan_.
Without the western gate of _King tching_, Nº. 211, is _Yue tan_, the
Hill of the Moon. At the autumnal equinox the emperor sends thither a
prince or great man to honour the moon, or spirit of the moon. This
ceremony is not very ancient. This inclosure is a neat one, and pretty
large.
Between the two north gates of _King tching_, Nº. 183 and 188, is a
vast esplanade for the exercise of the troops both horse and foot.
To the north of this esplanade are two beautiful temples of idols for
the lamas. These two monasteries are very elegant. The emperor and the
Tartars _Mon gou_ lay out great sums on these two monasteries and the
two temples of the lamas.
In the year 1111 before Christ, _Ou ouang_, founder of the dynasty
_Tcheou_, nominated his brother _Tchao kong_ prince of _Yen_. _Yen_ is
the ancient name of a pretty extensive country, in which Peking stands.
This prince of _Yen_ built a city there, a league and half south-west
of the city _King tching_. This city was called _Yen king_, or the
court of _Yen_. It became afterwards considerable; and the prince of
_Yen_ very powerful in the country of _Petcheli_ and _Leao tong_. In
the year 222 before Christ the emperor _Tsin chi hoang_ destroyed the
power of the princes of _Yen_, the defendants of _Tchao kong_, and
seized their dominions. The founder of the dynasty _Han_ destroyed the
power of the family of _Tsin chi hoang_. In the time of the dynasty
_Tsin_, before the Christian æra, and of the dynasty _Han_, the city
of _Yen_ was an important government, on account of the neighbourhood
of the Tartars. Some time after the dynasty _Han_ several Tartar
princes _Sien pi_ made themselves masters of the country of _Yen_.
During the dynasty of _Tang_ the city of _Yen_ was still a considerable
one. After the destruction of that dynasty the Tartars _Ki tan_[151]
made themselves masters of Tartary, and the provinces of _Chansy_,
_Petcheli_, and _Leao tong_. Their power was formidable to the Chinese.
Their court was in the city of _Yen_, which they adorned and inlarged.
These Tartars had, like the Chinese emperors, tribunals; one for the
mathematics, and another for history[152]. They had likewise some
illustrious princes, and kept some correspondence with the Caliphs.
The Tartars _Nuntche_ destroyed the power of _Leao_. Their court was
also at _Yen_; and they made it as magnificent and large a city as
Peking is now. The Mogol Tartars destroyed the empire of the _Nuntche_
or _Kin_. Their court was at first at _Yen_; but the Tartar Mogol
emperor _Koublay_ demolished that city, and built what is now called
_King tching_: at least _King tching_ is a good part of the city built
by _Koublay_, which was some _ly_ larger. The emperor’s palace was
likewise larger.
This city _King tching_ is that, which Marco Paulo calls _Cambalu_.
_Car_ is _khan_, which signifies a _king_; and _balu_ is a corruption
of an old Mogol word _balga_, or _balah_, which signifies a _city_:
whence is formed the word _balgasan_ in Mogol or Mongou, which
signifies city. _Khan balu_, or _khan balou_, signifies the royal
city. _King tching_, in the time of Marco Paulo, was the capital of
the empire of China. The Persians and Arabians, from the Mongou word
_khan balou_, or _khan balgasun_, or _khan balga_, formed the word
_khan balik_ or _khan balek_, which signifies also the royal city.
This name was given by the eastern people to the city of _Caifong
fou_, the capital of _Honan_, and to that of _Nanking_, the capital of
_Kiangnan_, at the time when these cities were the court of princes.
This name was also given to the cities of Tartary, when some powerful
princes kept sometimes their court there. What I have remarked
concerning the words _khan balik_, _khan balek_, _khan balga_, &c. is
to be applied to the words _ordo balik_, _ordou balik_. _Ordo_, or
_ordou_, or _orto_, signifies royal, imperial, in the Mogol or Mongou
language. So _ordou balik_ signifies a court, a royal city; and these
words are in fact the names of some old cities, where the Mogol or
Mongou kings kept their courts.
REMARKS _on_ Nº. 5, _Fan king tchang_; which is the place where the
foreign classical books are kept.
_Tchang_ signifies magazine, or large place, where any thing is
contained. _Fan_ signifies stranger or foreigner; and _king_ signifies
a classical book.
The Jews of _Caifong fou_, the capital of _Honan_, first told the
Jesuit missionaries, that they conceived, that the Hebrew Bible was
preserved at Peking in the place called _Fan king tchang_. These first
missionaries neglected to make a search for it at Peking, or did not
think of it. But it did not escape the attention of Father Bouvet,
a French Jesuit, who went to _Fan king tchang_. The antient place,
where the foreign books were kept, had been destroyed; and those books
removed into a neighbouring _miao_ where there were bonzes. Father
Bouvet went to this _miao_ with two other French Jesuits; but they
found only the Koran, fragments of the classical books of the Indians,
and the classical books of the lamas; the whole in bad condition.
Father Bouvet thought, that he saw in an old coffer Chaldee, Syriac,
and Hebrew characters. The bonze would not shew the place, where Father
Bouvet thought that he had seen those characters, which, on returning
to the _miao_, were not found. The emperor had ordered the bonzes
to shew every thing to Father Bouvet. All the classical books were
afterwards removed to the palace; the _miao_ was demolished; and there
remained nothing but the name of _Fan king tchang_. When I passed thro’
_Caifong fou_, the Jews, in the presence of Father Gozani, who served
me as interpreter, assured me, that I should find the Bible in the _Fan
king tchang_. These Jews had not been at Peking. What they said was in
consequence of what they had been told by old Jews, who were deceased.
When I arrived at Peking, I made inquiries myself, and caused inquiries
to be made by others; but I could not find the Bible. It is not yet an
hundred years since there were at Peking some Jewish families; which
afterwards turned Mahometans. A Mahometan, who was a man of parts,
assured me several times, that the Bible was in the possession of the
Mahometans here, whose ancestors were Jews. But when, in consequence of
what he said, inquiries were made, nothing was found. This Mahometan
informed me likewise, that he had made inquiries; but if he had done
so, his researches proved unsuccessful.
REMARKS _on the_ Ti ouang miao, Nº. 217.