The Summer Palace
ALMOST midway between Peking and the Western Hills -out and away from the whirl and bustle of the great"Northern Capital"—there lies a lovely paradise of pleasure. Ideally situated on the sides of a tiny mountain, amid the rare beauties of nature, the New Summer Palace stands to-day in almost undiminished splendor, a lasting monument to the artistic sense and skill of the Chinese people, The popularity of this spot through so many ages has been due principally to the presence of the famous Jade Fountain, only a mile or so distant, from whose cool depths there flows a constant and copious stream of the purest water. Around this crystal stream from age to age numerous palaces have been erected- the summer homes of the Imperial family. After the flight of the royal family and the destruction of the Old Summer Palace in the war of 1860, this beautiful place was abandoned. The Yüan Ming Yuan, as it was called, has never been rebuilt, and for more than twelve years the Imperial Court was without a summer residence. As Tzu Hsi, the Empress Dowager, began to advance in years, however, she longed for a quiet retreat from the strict formalities and routine of the Forbidden City, and so determined to build a summer residence near the site of the Old Summer Palace ruins. From the first she met with opposition. But this did not worry her. Furthermore, her private purse was empty; but that did not detain her in her purpose. She solved this difficult problem quite characteristically by appropriating the 24,000,000 taels set aside by the government to build a modem Chinese navy, for the erection of her "dome of pleasure," and on her sixtieth birthday, the Dan Shou Shan was ready for occupation. Our photo-study shows the beautiful entrance gateway, or pailou, that fronts the Summer Palace lake, and leads from the marble landing-place past two huge bronze guardian lions into the secluded recesses of the Pan Yün Tien, a group of lovely palaces surrounded by red walls and capped by a massive pagodalike temple. This handsome pailou is an elaborate wooden structure elegantly carved with extraordinary richness and variety of design. The delicate tracery of its numerous panels blends beautifully with the wealth of color on lacquered pillars and dragon-mounted beams. Those old court painters were lavish with color. Red, yellow, blue, gold, and green predominate, but these stronger tones are carefully blended with more subtle hues, and transform this archway into a thing of living beauty. The colorful eaves with their wealth of omamentation are surmounted by a glowing, glittering mass of Imperial yellow glaze. This forms the roof, and caps the whole with a triple crown of never-fading glory. [See paqes 38, 46, 58, 80, 90, 94, 104, 110, 118, and 130.]
