Another unique building, west of the Confucius Temple, is the Hall of the Classics. Here there is a richly decorated pailow, with encaustic tiles, chiefly green and yellow; the three archways are lined with white marble. This hall was designed by the Emperor, Chien Lung, to complete the Confucius Temple, in which till then the classics had been expounded. It is lofty and square, with double eaves, yellow tiles, surmounted by a specially large gilt ball, and encircled by a fringe carried to the roof and supported by massive wooden pillars. In the centre is a circular pool of water, edged by marble balustrades, with a bridge spanning it. There is also a remarkable sun-dial. Two hundred upright stone monuments engraved on both sides contain the complete text of the nine classics, very finely executed; it was thought thus to preserve the purity of the text. There are also more lists of successful students on stone monoliths.
The Drum Tower was another point visited, one of the most striking objects in Peking; it is oblong and quite Chinese in character, the upper story being of wood, the lower of brick. It is one hundred feet high and about the same in length toward the base. It was built under the Mongol dynasty; a very large drum stands in the middle of the last story, and a climb of sixty-eight steps up a steep Chinese staircase gave us a fine view of the entire city. A short distance from the Drum Tower is the Bell Tower. This is built of brick and stone, ninety feet high, and is also Mongol in origin; the bell weighs twenty thousand pounds and is still used to tell the watches of the night; the drum in the tower is struck at the same time.
Some Chinese authority states that there are ten thousand temples in Peking, all built under the Mongol dynasty (thirteenth century), or the Ming dynasty (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries). Of these, the most striking is the Temple or Altar of Heaven in the southern part of the Chinese City, erected by the Ming Emperor, Yung-loh, in 1421; the enclosure, a fine park, measures about six thousand feet around. There are three large, imposing gates,—south, east, and west. To the north, the wall is crescent shaped and is without an entrance. The Altar or Temple of Heaven, open to the sky, is circular and of white marble. It is three stories high; the base measures two hundred and ten feet across, the second story one hundred and fifty feet, the third ninety feet. One large marble slab is in the centre. The white marble balustrades are richly carved to represent clouds. In the upper story, there are seventy-two pillars; in the middle, one hundred and eight; and in the lower, one hundred and eighty; thus making, in all, three hundred and sixty, the number of degrees in a circle. It is on the central marble slab that the Emperor stands and prostrates himself, worshipping under the blue arch of heaven. He goes three times a year to this temple, praying before daybreak, and having spent the previous night in the Grand Hall of Abstinence close by.