Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/62



WISE Emperor knows his troops; he holds to him the hearts of his people. Before his footprints, his subjects bow down in reverence. Such an Emperor was Ming Huang, Emperor of all China. His Palace at Changan sprawled over many thousand mows, that is, including the gardens, but then gardens always have been considered the most important rooms in Chinese homes whether they are hovels or palaces. No hut too small to shelter at least a few flowers. And so it was that the Imperial Palace at Changan wound in and out among fragrant gardens like a colorful dragon. The gardens were gaudy of hue and rich in moon bridges, marble gates and tiled paths. Even in autumn when the night wind was frost-tipped and the moon, stark and clear, shone with a biting cold light, many of the hardier flowers still bloomed as though reluctant to leave the garden that they loved.

The entrance to the palace was known as "The Facing the Sun Gate"; one of the smaller rooms to which the Emperor repaired to meditate and sip tea in solitude was called, "The Hall of Gathering Truth." And in the palace were jewels and gems of a value not to be reckoned; rich textiles and rugs; mirrors as clear as a crystal sea though they were wrought of copper, mirrors that reflected only what one wished them to reflect. The air was heavy with incense. Lanterns of