“In the year 283 B.C. the cruel tyrant, Prince Mín, of the State of Qí, after being defeated by a combination of other states, was strung up to the end of a roof ridge and left hanging there without food or water, exposed to the burning rays of the sun until he died. In order to stigmatize his evil deeds the people of the State of Qí placed his effigy, riding a hen, on the roof of their houses. With the weight of the prince on its back, the hen could not fly down to the ground, and in order to prevent it escaping over the roof, a qíwén, a kind of dragon, was placed at the other end of the ridge. This is the fierce beast you see, with horns and bushy tail and its mouth wide open, as if to swallow Prince Mín and the hen, if they venture near him. It was not until the time of the Míng Emperor Yônglè that the other figures were added. A correct set was put together in the following order: hen, dragon, phoenix, lion, unicorn, celestial horse, qíwén. If more were required, any of the figures could be repeated, with the exception of the hen and the qíwén, but always so as to form an odd number up to eleven. The reason for this was that odd numbers come under the influence of yáng or Male Principle. However, in later times both the principle of odd numbers and the conventional arrangement of the set were departed from. In most cases the only figures that were used, between the hen and the qíwén, were those that foreigners call dogs, but which are really lions. Moreover, since the latter days of the Republic, even the hen with Prince Mín was removed from the roofs of public buildings, so as to prevent, it is said, any possible unpleasant political comparisons.”11 It is a custom of the Chinese builders, on fixing the upper beam of the roof of a building, to let off fireworks and worship it, or the spirits that preside over the ground on which the house stands. To suspend a piece of red cloth, and a corn-sieve, from the upper beam, is supposed to promote felicity—the latter to cause an abundant harvest of grain during the year. Placing money beneath the base of a wall or below the threshold of a door is also done for the promotion of happiness and felicity on the building. Pine branches are affixed at the top of the scaffolding poles on which the builders stand, so that wandering spirits of the air will be deceived into the belief that they are passing over a forest, and will not adversely affect the success of the construction work, or bring bad luck on the house.
“Engraved rocks are seen in China, though the practice is not carried to the same extent as in Persia, India, and other eastern countries, to commemorate remarkable events, for the literature of the people obviates the necessity. The smoothed surface of rocks in situ are, however, engraved with characters under the direction of geomancers, when they lie in spots esteemed lucky; such characters are supposed to have some cabalistic influence upon the fortunes of the surrounding country. The pillars and door-posts of temples, and the entablatures of honorary portals are often inscribed with sentences and names; sometimes to commemorate distinguished or worthy individuals, and sometimes merely for ornament’s sake; the skill displayed in cutting these inscriptions is at times almost inimitable. The government also employs this mode of publishing their laws and regulations, just as the Romans anciently published their Twelve Tables, which are, as the officers say, to be kept in everlasting remembrance; the characters are plainly and deeply engraved upon marble, and the slab is afterwards set up in a conspicuous spot in such a manner as to preserve it from the effects of the weather.”12
“Memorial arches (牌樓), are scattered in great numbers over the provinces, and are erected in honour of distinguished persons, or by officers to commemorate their parents (formerly), by special favour from the Emperor. Some are put up in honour of women who have distinguished themselves for their chasity and filial duty. Permission to erect them is considered a high honour. They are placed in conspicuous places in the outskirts of towns, and in the streets before temples or near government edifices. Some of these arches are elaborately ornamented with carved work and inscriptions. Those built of stone are fastened by mortises and tenons in the same manner as the wooden ones; they seldom exceed twenty or twenty-five feet in height. The skill and taste displayed in the symmetry and carving upon some of them are very creditable.”13
The architecture of old Peking is full of symbolism (vide NEZHA). It has a beautiful appearance as viewed from the surrounding wall, from which can be seen an entrancing vista of temples and palaces, their curving roofs glittering with blue, green and yellow tiles, among the groves of trees with which the city abounds. The ancient capital presents a rather unique aspect from an aeroplane, from which we can observe that it is not only one city, but a veritable conglomeration or nest of cities, one packed within the other—like a Chinese puzzle. The shape of the whole collection is that of a square imposed upon a parallelogram. This square figure, in the north, consists of the Tartar or Inner City, while the adjoining parallelogram in the south contains the Chinese or Outer City. In the centre of the Tartar City is the Forbidden City, surrounded by the Imperial Palaces, which are open to the public on payment of a small fee. At one time they held many valuable treasures, most of which have since been removed by the Government. The main city and all its internal cities are each surrounded with separate battlemented walls of earth, concrete and brick.
Among the noted achievements of the Chinese are their great roads, numerous canals, and immense single-arched bridges; but above all the “Ten Thousand Li Rampart”(萬里長城), or Great Wall, which traverses high mountains, crosses deep valleys, spans broad rivers, and extends to a length of 1,500 miles.
In modern times there is a tendency among the Government Officials and the wealthy classes to conform more or less to the styles of western architecture, and factories have now been built which are turning out firebricks, stoneware piping, glazed tiles, flint line tiles, roofing tiles, drain-pipes, foundation bricks, and ordinary building bricks.
Astrology
(星命)
There is an intimate connection between geomancy, horoscopy, astronomy, and astrology, and it is difficult to determine precisely where the one begins and the other ends.
Climatic changes (風水), are said to be produced by the moral conduct of the people through the agency of the sun, moon, and stars.
The YIN and YANG (q. v.), and the FIVE ELEMENTS (q. v.), together with the EIGHT DIAGRAMS (q. v.), enter largely into Chinese astrological calculations.
The planets are classed as: shâoyïn (少陰), or Lesser Negative Influence; the fixed stars as shâoyáng (少陽), or Lesser Positive Influence; the sun, tàiyáng (太陽), Major Positive Influence; and the moon, tàiyïn (太陰), Major Negative Influence; their potency varying according to their positions in the zodiac (
In the computation of a fortunate time to undertake any given enterprise, a favourable combination of the eight horoscopic characters is arrived at. These eight characters are the four pairs of characters representing the year, month, day, and hour. The characters denoting the year are those of the Twelve Branches and Celestial Stems in the Chinese cycle (vide CYCLE OF SIXTY). Those denoting the month are the combinations of Branches and Stems assigned to that month (vide Table of Months under MOON), being the epoch in the annual cycle. Those denoting the day are the combinations of Branches and Stems assigned in the lunar calendar to that day, being the epoch in the lunar monthly cycle. Those denoting the hour are the combinations of Branches and Stems representing that hour (vide TWELVE TERRESTRIAL BRANCHES and TEN CELESTIAL STEMS), being the epoch in the daily solar cycle. By considering the mutual affinities of these eight characters as referred to the Yin and Yang, Five Elements, etc.,