down to the great Monastery (the Choey-yen-sze) at the foot of the Western Teen-muh san? Cypress and Fir, planted in regular lines over the green sward, or little hills of wheat, are the principal features.
The Choey-yen-sze is the most remarkable establishment of its kind for many a league around. It was originally founded, by the priests' account, in the Sung Dynasty (A.D. 420) (18) and will have continually increased until now it numbers on its foundation four hundred priests and a hundred laymen. Its situation, within an amphitheatre of wooded mountains, is most beautiful;—and should it at any time be necessary to fix the head quarters of an embassy, or to found a seminary in this locality, by no possibility could a better site be selected.
The principal entrance of the Sze faces the south, the depth from the portico to the northern wall being 575 feet, with a mean breadth in the centre of 425 feet, the corners rounding of with an easy sweep. Fronting the portico is a semi-circular paved area, 122 feet wide and 72 feet deep, bounded by a moat, or ha-ha, beyond which the ground is cultivated as a kitchen garden. Within the entrance from the front area is a spacious court yard, 70 feet wide by 100 feet in depth, with a flight of steps, leading into a temple of a secondary class; branching from which, on the west, are dormitories for the better class of guests; and on the east, the refectories of devotees and priests. Beyond this temple, still proceeding north, is another court yard leading to a capacious hall, beyond that again being another court with a large censer, and then the principal. Temple—a Shrine to the three goddesses Kwan-yin
