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0638 Across Asia : vol.1
Across Asia : vol.1 / Page 638 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000221
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C. G. MANNERHEIM

seeing together. The sights are far less interesting than one would have expected. Possibly an archaeologist or sinologist might discover hidden treasures that escape the inexperienced eye of a tourist. I doubt this, however, unless excavations were to be made in the vicinity. They should yield interesting results, although it may be assumed that the greater part of the treasures hidden in the graves has been stolen in the course of time. In addition to the graves near Kienchow that I have mentioned, an Emperor Outiline is supposed to have been buried 15-20 li from a small place called Hingping (about wo li from Si-an-fu

N?).

The town is supposed to have been founded during the Han dynasty (according to other reports even earlier). The original town is said to have been built during the reign of the Emperor Tsing-hsi-huan. During the Han dynasty Si-an-fu was the capital of the country and remained so until the Sung dynasty, when the capital was transferred to Pingliang (Fu) ( = Kai-feng-fu). Peiping only became the capital during the Yun dynasty. The town is said to have been rebuilt during the time of the Emperor T'ang. At that time it was called Ch'ang-an or Si-King (the capital of the west). Its former site is pointed out halfway between the present Si-an-fu and Sien yang on the Wei ho. Others say that there was merely a country seat there. According to old Chinese annals it is supposed to have occupied the whole space between the latter place and Lintung. If they are to be credited, greater luxury, pomp and comfort were indulged in there at that time than at any court or great metropolis to-day. Even to-day a Chinese historian would, no doubt, describe the official residences of the mandarins with their spacious courtyards, colonnades, centuries-old trees etc., their public appearances, surrounded by red-clad »heyduks» carrying the gilded emblems of office, the temples with their enormous gilded idols, as a refinement of luxury passing all description. The reader would never suspect that the palaces were mostly simple houses built of clay, the heyduks tatterdemalions clothed in rags, the streets often a stinking sea of dust and dirt and so on.

From gate to gate the town measures about 3 miles from W to E and not quite 2 miles from S to N. The main streets are paved with blocks of stone, and although they are rather narrow, it is a pleasure to walk along them, especially if you come from the W and have not seen anything better for a couple of years. There is a continuous row of shops along both sides of a large number of streets; every open space, however small, is occupied by small stands, large or small tables, at which bachelors and travellers have their meals etc. Traffic is very lively, arbahs, wheelbarrows, horsemen and pedestrians moving about in all directions without any order. From time to time a couple of vehicles collide, other vehicles and loiterers come up and in a few moments there is a throng of shouting men, animals and vehicles that it is difficult to disentangle. Closer to the town walls the quarters are poorer. Poorly populated, crooked lanes frequently alternate with more or less empty spaces. The NE part of the town is inhabited by the Manchurian population and is separated from the rest by a very decayed clay wall, 35-40 feet high, with several gates, and running along two of the main streets. This part of the town is poor and neglected. I was told that the Manchurian population was deprived of its means of subsistence, because the troops it had formed fled ignominiously before the Dungans, and had since then suffered great

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