ABSTRACT
There are in the neighbourhood of Peking, that is within a few days' ride of it, no less than three Imperial burial-places, rivalling each other in the beauty of their situation and the lavish extravagance of their architecture. They are the Ming-ling, or Tombs of the Ming Dynasty, the Hsi-ling or Western Tombs, where a certain number of the Emperors of the present dynasty have found their last resting-place, and the Tungling or Eastern Tombs where the remainder are buried. The Great Wall, the Chinese name of which means " the ten thousand mile rampart," was designed and for the most part built by Shih Wangti, First Universal Emperor of China, in the year 221 b.c., and was intended as a means of defence against Mongolian aggression. The main shrine of the Tomb of Yung-lo stands shaded by venerable juniper trees in the midst of a stone-paved weed-overgrown court and surrounded by high, pink, yellow-topped walls.
