Show THE SACRED MING TOMBS William E Curtis in Chicago Record It will be an everlasting disgrace ce to civilization on if the Ming tombs are destroyed by the expedition which Count von Waldersee is said to have sent north from Pekin for that pur purpose purpose purpose pose It will m be as wicked wl ked and inex men inexcusable Inexcusable as an if the British had destroyed Mount Vernon in 1814 when they th y cap captured t red Washington or as a If Ie the Ger tier Germans Germans mans had burned the Hotel des In vall des and aId the tomb of Napoleon when they the captured Paris Parts To a China Chinaman Chinaman Chinaman man the burial place of the dead Is the I most sacred spot on earth and the Ming I ng dynasty d nasty of emperors were the I most famous and popular in all the tho th I long list of sovereigns They were vere the thelast thelast last Jast of the th pure Chinese They call can I It the bright dynasty dynast Their tombs I Iare are situated beyond the great wall about ninety nin ty miles from Pekin and andare andare andare are not only the most holy hob sanctuary in China but are the finest example of mediaeval Chinese architecture and arid art in existence In 1859 Lord Elgin and d en n ral commanding fUN h that captured Pekin wantonly des destt ed Yuen the summer palace of the emperor distant twelve or fifteen miles in a beautiful park known l as 88 the bright round garden It II was not net a fortification but a re retreat r retreat treat like Sans Souci the country palace pal ce of Frederick Frederi k the Great It was the most elaborate and costly ex example example ample of architecture in all aU China Chine and was filled With a collection of articles which Lord Elgin EIgin himself appraised at At the time of the arrival the allies the summer palace was occupied only by the servants of the th court No defense was made no ex en excuse excuse cuse existed but the commanders of the army arm of three Christian nations ordered it burned burn and stood by to watch the destruction Is It any wonder fonder that the Chinese can call us fore foreign foreign foreIgn ign devils 2 The Ming tombs tom b are equally famous and equally equal beautiful They w were ere built fn tn the fourteenth century by Emperor Yueng Loh who was one of the great greatest greatest est eat of the rulers of China They are situated in the midst of a broad amphitheater surrounded s on three sides by a range of mountains usually covered with snow The park which is about three miles in diameter is cov coy covered ored ered with groves of evergreen e arbor arborvitae arborvitae vitae and persimmon trees in which is a collection of fourteen pantheons pagodas pavilions altars temples and other edifices mostly of marble ex exquisitely exquIsitely carved Other buildings are of brick covered with tiles of the most beautiful design These buildings are connected by bridges of wonderful workmanship and surrounded by balustrades and colonnades and from one one direction there is an avenue of or statuary a mile mite long lined with ith life Ilfe size figures in bronze and marble of men and animals warriors priests elephants el camels lions tigers and horses hordes ho Ming lUng tombs tomb have been neglected of late ISte years ears and are said to be in m a abad abad abad 1 bad condition but it would wo ld be a crime to destroy them Nothing could be gained by such vandalism because I the present emperor and empress empresa dowager are descended from the Man Manchu Manchu chu chit warriors who overthrew the Ming dynasty and drove them from the I throne It is an interesting that or the print prin prime f of as asbe H ashe be he is known kno n in tn Chinese Chin poetry one ane ne of the most famous of the Ming lUng emper emperors ors era was wan on the throne at the begin beginning beginning beginning ning of ot the Christian era when an another another another other man who ho bore the same title was born in Bethlehem his hisson hisson hisson son and successor introduced Budd Buddhism BUddhism hism into China and sent to India for forthe forthe forthe the sacred books and teachers to ex en expound expound pound them Antiquarians say that I Tt was prompted to do this be because beCause cause of or reports that had reached him of the t e advent of a Christ The news was indefinite and came by caravans across the whole of Asia When the emperor began hl his investigations the I clews dews led to India instead o to Pales Palestine Palestine Palestine tine I To reach the Ule Ming lIing tombs it is necea necessary sary to cross that most moot wonderful piece pi ce of engineering the great gre t wall waB which runs run from the seashore 1600 miles to the desert wastes of tam It was as built years before Christ and still remains in excellent condition five or thirty feet high and from flom twenty to feet thick k of brick riveted outside and andIn andin andIn In with cut granite masonry It Is sur surmounted surmounted surmounted mounted by a parapet pierced with openings for the defenders to fire through The top of the wan wall is paved with tiles a foot square Every or feet there is a flanking turret forty feet higher than the wall ano an projecting to so o that one can see in m both directions In each turret is a circular stone stairway leading from the I ground The gates are imposing structures structures I tures surmounted by castles which were wera used as barracks b for the troops The wall wail climbs the rugged mountain mountainside mountainside side descends ravines and gorges and rises again to cross rivers and valleys and plains but It did not serve its j I I purpose It was intended to keep the Mongol ol hordes out of China but they I entered overthrew the Ming dynasty and are ruling th empire today I |