Page:Illustrations of China and Its People vol. III.pdf/47



WU-CHANG Tower, one of the most remarkable objects in this part of the Upper Yangtsze, stands upon the extremity of a low range of hills which bisect the city of that name, and which terminate abruptly just below the town on the left bank of the river. A corresponding range, already noticed, rises on the opposite bank above the town of Hanyang.

As to the tower, it was built originally in the early half of the sixth century, when the Chin dynasty was on the throne, and the site then selected was the house of a wine-seller named Hsing. The tower was demolished by the Taipings, and barely three years have elapsed since it was completely restored. It now rests on a platform of solid masonry, rising boldly from the bank of the river, and the sole relic of the original structure is an ancient monument to be seen in front of the tower, upon which, if we are to believe the legend, the saintly founder alighted from the sky to partake there of a spiritual repast, and wake the echoes with a melody on his flute. It was in the year b.c. 202, or thereabouts, that this important incident occurred, and we are told that the sage, whose name was Fli Wei, managed his aerial flight on the back of a stork. Storks may still be found, but there are no musical sages to use them now. In Plate XVII., No. 32, a picture of this tower is to be seen, but it was not without difficulty that I obtained it. I found the court in front of the edifice filled with the customary crowd of idlers who loiter in the precincts of the temples — beggars, fortune-tellers, hawkers, city roughs, and street boys. I was therefore compelled to retire within the city wall, in order to avoid the throng. The gate was then shut to, but still the mob managed to scale the ramparts, perfectly civil, indeed, but intensely curious to watch my operations, some doubtless imagining that I intended to open fire on the town, as they saw my camera pointed through the ramparts. The weather was against me as well, for a high wind, charged with clouds of sand, was blowing up stream, and stirring up so great a tempest that the only native boats to be seen as we crossed the river were the well-equipped craft which bore " The Great Peace-Save Life Boats " inscribed in huge black characters on their sides.

1 now propose to conclude the present volume with a short narrative of my voyage to the gorges of the Upper Yangtsze.