Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/239

 PEKING 229 pop. in 1850, 1,678; in 1860, 3,467; in 1870, 5,696; in 1875, estimated by local authorities at 8,500. The surrounding country is fertile and abounds in coal. The streets are lighted with gas and lined with shade trees. There are many elegant residences, large and costly school buildings, and a fine court house. The fair grounds are worthy of mention. The fol- lowing railroads meet at this point : the Peo- ria, Pekin, and Jacksonville ; the Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Western ; the Chicago, Pe- kin, and Southwestern ; and the Toledo, Wa- bash, and Western. The trade is important. There are two elevators, at which about 1,400,- 000 bushels of corn are handled annually ; two wholesale ice houses, shipping ice to St. Louis and to all parts of southern and central Illi- nois ; a pork-packing establishment ; the shops and offices of the Peoria, Pekin, and Jackson- ville railroad ; two breweries, three Hour mills, two founderies, three distilleries producing 1,422,149 gallons of alcohol and highwines in 1874, and manufactories of wagons and agricul- tural implements. The city contains three pri- vate banks, six hotels, graded public schools, a library, a daily and two weekly newspapers, and six churches, viz. : Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist (2), Reformed, and Roman Catholic. PEKING, or Pekin (Chinese, Pe-ching, north- ern capital), the capital of the Chinese empire and of the province of Chihli, near the river Tunghui, a small tributary of the Pei-ho, in lat. 39 56 ; K, Ion. 116 27' E., about 12 m. from the Pei-ho, about 35 m. from the near- est part of the great wall, and 85 m. N. W. of the gulf of Pechili; pop. estimated at 1,500,000. It stands on an extensive sandy plain, and consists of Kin-ching, the prohib- ited city, containing only the palaces of the emperor and the dwellings of his immediate retainers; Hwang-ching, the imperial city, with a large number of court officials ; Nm- ching, the Tartar city, area 12 sq. m. ; and Wai- ching, the Chinese city, area 15 sq. m. The Tartar city is surrounded by a wall 60 ft. high, about 50 ft. thick at the base and 40 ft. at the top ; and the Chinese city by one 30 ft. high, 25 ft. thick at the base, and 12 ft. at the top. They are built of earth or rubble, faced with stone or brick, laid in cement, with sloping embankments at intervals to enable horsemen to ascend to the top, and square buttresses at distances of about 60 yards. Outside the walls the suburbs include with the cities an area near- ly 25 m. in circumference. The cities are en- tered by 13 external gates ; and there are three from the Tartar city into the Chinese, which are closed from sunset to sunrise. The inner area, Kin-ching, or prohibited city, has a circumfer- ence of about 2 m. It is entered by four gates, each surmounted by a tower. The interior is divided into three parts by walls running from N. to S., and the whole is occupied by a suite of courtyards and apartments superior to any other buildings of the kind in China. The Meridian gate leads to the imperial buildings, and is reserved for the use of the emperor. When his troops return in triumph, the pris- The Western Gate. oners they bring are here presented to him ; and here the presents he confers on vassals and ambassadors are bestowed with great pomp. Passing through this gate into a larger court, over a small creek spanned by five marble bridges ornamented with sculptures, a second court is entered, paved with marble and ter- minated on the sides by gates, porticoes, and pillared corridors. At the head of this court is a marble structure 110 ft. high, called the