Pekin

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

a city of Illinois, the countyseat of Tazewell co. river, and on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, It is on the Illinois Chicago, and St. Louis , the Chicago and Alton, the Illinois Central, and other Nankin, and 100 miles W. N. W. of the Gulf of Pechili, in the Yellow Sea. It consists of two contiguous cities, each gether entered by 16 gates. The entire separately surrounded by walls, and tocircumference is 25 miles. The northern city, which is nearly a perfect square (called Nei-tching, or the inner city, sometimes the " Imperial" and "Tartar City"), consists of three inclosures. ty, and inner inclosure , or "forbidden city," surrounded by walls of yellow tiles, 2 miles inclosures. The in circumference, hence called the "Yellow Wall," contains the palaces of the former "outer city," is also square, and occuemperor southern city, called the Wai-ching, or and empress. The of business and the residence of most of pied by the C the population. The wall is 30 feet high, Chinese, and is both the seat 25 feet thick at the base, and 12 feet at the top. That of the imperial city is 40 he was feet high. The principal streets are very holding the wide and regular, running between op- (1) That Adam was posite gates. These are mostly filled with shops, extravagantly gilded and sinned or not; (2) that ornamented with blue and gold, flags, etc. The houses are generally one story himself, and did not affect high, and built of brick. Of the ornaborn inmental buildings, the most conspicuous same condition as Adam are those commonly called triumphal arches. They consist of a large central gateway, with small ones on each side, all covered with narrow roofs, and like the houses are splendidly gilded, varnished, and painted. Besides these, there are numerous pagodas, a beautiful mosque, Greek church, and convent. Peking is the seat of government and is not distinguished by any peculiar manufacture; nor has it any foreign commerce or trade other than that directed to the supply of its own wants. This, however, is necessarily very considerable. The country round the city being sandy and poor, a large portion of its supplies are brought from a distance-partly from the sea by the Pei-ho, but principally by the Grand canal and the Eu-ho, which connect it with Nankin and most of the E. provinces. The early history of Peking is involved in obscurity. It was besieged and taken by the Mongols, led by Zinghis Khan. Kublai Khan rebuilt it, and made it his capital in 1260. The Mongol dynasty, founded by Kublai Khan, continued to occupy this city till it was expelled from China, in 1367. In 1421, the third emperor of the Chinese dynasty of Ming transferred his residence thither from Nankin, since which it has been the capital. It surrendered to the allied armies of France and England in 1860, on which occasion the Yueng-ming, or summer palace of the emperor, situated in the vicinity of the city, was destroyed. During the "Boxer" uprising of 1900 the various foreigners in Peking were besieged in the English legation. For weeks they were given up as lost, but they managed to hold out till the arrival of the foreign troops. See BOXERS; CHINA. Pop. about 2,000,000.