PREFACE

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THE origin of this book is the beauty of the city gates of Peking;their importance as characteristic elements in some of the finest views of the Chinese capital;their wonderful setting amidst old buildings,fresh trees and decaying moats;their decorative architectural character. Some of these gates may still be called landmarks of Peking, historically as well as topographically;they reflect,together with the adjoining walls,much of the early history of this great city,and they form, together with the streets and?landscapes in which they are set, the most relevant spots of characteristic and beautiful scenery.

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Such were the impressions which led me to devote months of special study to the Peking gates with the aim of reproducing their beauty in a series of photographs. To what degree this has been accomplished may be left to the reader to judge; a selection of these photographs are reproduced in the present work on 109?heliogravure plates.

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The interest in the artistic character of the gates gradually awakened the desire to know something about their importance as monuments of the past, to penetrate further into?the history of their construction and their modifications in various ages. Not only the gates but their surroundings and the long walls of which they form parts attracted my interest as material for historical and architectural studies; and the more I dwelt on this material, the more I realized that it contained the keys to some important chapters of Chinese history. Very little of this is reflected in the text, but even the fragmentary information that I am able to offer may make the reader realize that the Gates and Walls of Peking form an unbroken chain with the past,renewed at many places with new links, but nevertheless mainly old and full of the marks and records of bygone days.

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The historical part of the text is mainly based on the local Chinese chronicles, which contain much information about the city walls and the gates during earlier dynasties, and which never before have been published to the same extent in any foreign language. Besides these printed records others are to be found on the monuments themselves, mainly brickmarks and inscriptions on stone tablets inserted at various places on the walls and the gates. All these?materials have been carefully collected and utilized for the historical discussion and dating of the various parts of the monuments. But all these documentary evidences form merely corroborations for the technical and architectural analysis which in many instances, where no written information was available, became the main basis for the historical study and definition.

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The work had, of course, to be carried out within certain restrictions. It was not possible to make any material tests on the buildings, to dig into walls or to erect scaffoldings for a closer study of their upper parts, but permission was obtained from the Ministry of the Interior to make measured drawings of a number of the gates. These drawings, which were all executed by Chinese artists under the supervision of the author, will no doubt form a most valuable?source of exact information, not only about the Peking gates but also about Chinese architecture in general, because the gates are, after all, highly representative examples of the general principles of Chinese architecture.

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In preparing this work I have had the assistance of various persons to whom I rest under obligation. The Chinese chronicles from which long extracts are quoted in our text were translated by Miss A. G. Bowden-Smith?and some of her assistants,at the Pei Hua school in Peking;the credit and the responsibility for this part of the work thus rest with her.

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Most of the inscriptions on the tablets and the bricks were taken down with great care and patience by my Chinese teacher,Mr. Chou Ku-chen, and some of these inscriptions were translated by Mr. Scott of the British Legation.

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Valuable practical assistance was given me on various occasions by the well-known Baumeister Thiele,who also put me into communication with the Chinese draughtsmen. Their work, which was done under my direction, may be appreciated from?the drawings reproduced in colour and line engraving in the present volume.

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The drawings of the outer tower and the plans of Ch'ien men were kindly placed at my disposition by Architect Rothkegel, under whose supervision the great central gate was rearranged a few years ago.

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I also owe special thanks to Mr. Jupp of the R.I.B.A.,who kindly undertook to examine some of the?architectural descriptions in the text.

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The greatest difficulty in connection with the preparation of the text has been the unavoidable inclusion of a great number of Chinese words and names. The ideal way would, of course, have been to give every one of these words in Chinese characters,but as this proved impossible for various reasons, Mr. Yih, of the School of Oriental Studies, undertook to prepare a list of the more important of the Chinese words,which may, to some extent, atone for the?lack of Chinese characters in the text.

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The English transcriptions are generally in conformity with the Wade system, though I am conscious of certain slight deviations such as the use of e instead of e, and I know only too well that the use of capital letters in Chinese compound names is somewhat arbitrary,which is almost unavoidable in reference to names codified by the Post Office;but I hope nevertheless—in spite of certain omissions and irregularities—that nothing remains unintelligible to the well-disposed reader.

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My efforts may after all make it easier for some one further advanced than the author of this book in the intricacies of Chinese language and history to carry the researches on the same field a step further. If I have succeeded in awakening a fresh interest in the Walls and Gates of Peking, those wonderful but now decaying historical monuments, and in reflecting some glimpses of their transcient beauty,my ambition is satisfied and I feel that I have acquitted some of my obligation to the great capital of China.

OSVALD SIREN.

PARIS,?May,?1924.

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