ce buildings which the Chinese call
_tien_ are always of one story. Polo speaks also of a 'very fine pillared
balustrade' (the _chu lang_, pillared verandah, of the Chinese author).
Marco Polo states that the basement of the great palace 'is raised some
ten palms above the surrounding soil.' We find in the _Ku kung i lu_: 'The
basement of the Ta-ming tien is raised about 10 _ch'i_ above the soil.'
There can also be no doubt that the Ta-ming tien stood at about the same
place where now the _T'ai-ho tien_, the principal hall of the palace, is
situated." (_Bretschneider, Peking_, 28, note.)

[Illustration: Winter Palace at Peking.]

The _Ch'ue keng lu_, translated by Bretschneider, 25, contains long
articles devoted to the description of the palace of the Mongols and the
adjacent palace grounds. They are too long to be reproduced here.--H. C.]

NOTE 9.--"As all that one sees of these palaces is varnished in those
colours, when you catch a distant view of them at sunrise, as I have done
many a time, you would think them all made of, or at least covered with,
pure gold enamelled in azure and green, so that the spectacle is at once
majestic and charming." (_Magaillans_, p. 353.)

NOTE 10.--[This is the _Ling yu_ or "Divine Park," to the east of the
_Wan-sui shan_, "in which rare birds and beasts are kept. Before the
Emperor goes to Shang-tu, the officers are accustomed to be entertained at
this place." (_Ch'ue keng lu_, quoted by Bretschneider, 36.)--H. C.]

NOTE 11.--"On the west side, where the space is amplest, there is a lake
very full of fish. It is in the form of a fiddle, and is an Italian mile
and a quarter in length. It is crossed at the narrowest part, which
corresponds to gates in the walls, by a handsome bridge, the extremities
of which are adorned by two triumphal arches of three openings each....
The lake is surrounded by palaces and pleasure houses, built partly in the
water and partly on shore, and charming boats are provided on it for the
use of the Emperor when he chooses to go a-fishing or to take an airing."
(Ibid. 282-283.) The marble bridge, as it now exists, consists of nine
arches, and is 600 feet long. (_Rennie's Peking_, II. 57.)

Ramusio specifies another lake in the _city_, fed by the same stream
before it enters the palace, and used by the public for watering cattle.

["The lake which Marco Polo saw is the same as the _T'ai-yi ch'i_ of our
days. It has, however, changed a little in its form.