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National Geographic : 1936 Dec
Contents
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE held in the Pai Yiin Kuan, or White Cloud Temple (page 752), one of the oldest and certainly the largest and wealthiest Taoist temple in the neighborhood of Peiping. When Ghengis Khan acknowledged as his teacher the great sage Chiu Chu-chi, the Tatar conquerer called the group of build ings here the Temple of Eternal Spring (Chang Chun Kung). The sage-abbot is indeed referred to as Chang Chun, his tomb being in one of the great halls. Of all the vast throngs which attend temple fairs during the Lunar New Year, the greatest by far is that which gathers here on these two days. Entering, one sees the long, yellow ban ner containing a black dragon, the fair symbol used in imperial days. To the sides are food and tea stalls, while in the great space in the center are multitudinous bright-colored windmills, rods of sugared haws, and glass fruits that sparkle in the crisp Peiping sunshine. TOUCHING THE CURATIVE MONKEY When you pass through the middle of the three arches leading to the second inclosure, you notice that everyone reverently touches a tiny carving at the right end of the white stone border. So black and smooth has the object become from years of rubbing that you may have to be told that it repre sents a monkey, a creature of supernatural quality. If rubbed on any part of its body, it will effect a miraculous and immediate cure of the corresponding part of the sup plicant's anatomy. Those who have no ailment finger the little animal all over to insure themselves good health for the coming year. Crowds gather about the two pits on either side of the Bridge That Imprisons Winds, under the arch of which two old Taoist priests sit all day in deep meditation. One legend concerned with this bridge is delightfully characteristic. Long, long ago the present Temple of Heavenly Peace was called the Temple of the Autumnal Winds. The abbots of the two temples, quarreling over the division of land, became bitter adversaries. The fact that the neighboring temple used "Autumn Winds" in its name was an intentional effort on the part of its abbot to do harm geomantically to White Cloud Temple, for everyone knows that "When the autumn winds rise, O! white clouds scatter." But the old abbot of the endangered tem ple was not to be outdone! He at once built the Bridge That Imprisons Winds, under which was the cavern (arch) for confining winds so that as soon as the "autumnal winds" blew there, they were safely imprisoned within the cavern under the bridge and no harm came to the "white clouds." With the geomantic danger completely overcome, White Cloud Temple has con tinued to prosper down through the cen turies to the present day. An entire half day may be pleasantly spent wandering through the labyrinthian courtyards, of which there are four main ones arranged on the central north and south axis. On either side are innumerable smaller shrines, courtyards, a kitchen with gigantic caldrons for feeding the priests, a handsome pagoda which marks the grave of one of the three famous holy men buried in the precincts, and a small artificial mound made of broken bits of chinaware. Pigs here are allowed to live until a natural death overtakes them. This prac tice, according to Buddhist teaching, brings great merit to the donor of the animals. Usually there are to be found in one of the sunny courtyards one or two priests who claim an age over the century mark. To the extreme north is a rockery, a garden, and an open-air stage. Unlike many other temples, the White Cloud is well kept. Each shrine possesses a complete equipment of tapestry, altar ornaments, and handsome old horn lanterns, and every establishment is a delightful artistic unity. On the side walls and at the rear of the great halls of worship in the central courtyards hang an infinite variety of lan terns, faced with gauze and often rectan gular. The lanterns on the walls of Chi Chen Hall tell, in pictures, of the life of the great sage, Chang Chun. Striking are the four large square lanterns, their points set in wooden stands and containing the charac ters Wan Ku Chang Chun-"Ten Thou sand, Ancient, Eternal, Spring." The last two refer to the abbot-sage. His huge food or alms bowl, which might comfortably accommodate several square feet of coppers, seems a product of the mind of the same genius who conceived the idea of hitting "the gold piece's eye" with cop pers (page 789). 776
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