Temples of the Western Hills
ATHERED together within the sheltering arms of the beautiful Western Hills are numberless interesting temples and shrines. No other spot in the world, except perhaps the lamaseries of Tibet, harbors so many religious institutions. Hoary with age, and steeped in the romance and mystery of the past, these quiet mountain monasteries breathe an at 3 mosphere of peace and intellectual repose. As day after day we wander over the mountains, discovering at every turn in the way some new temple or out-of-the way shrine, we are led to wonder how this spot came to be such a center of religious culture. G. E. Hubbard, in his fascinating little work, The Temples of the Western Hills, gives us an excellent insight into the motive back of this great wave of temple building which in the last thousand years has swept over the Western Hills. He says: "In these surroundings, rich in the romantic mountain scenery which appeals especially to Chinese laste, but at the same time conveniently near to the metropolis, the center of art and riches, a great number of Buddhist temples have, in the course of centuries, been built and endowed by emperors of China and the more wealthy and pious of their subjects. The founder often enough was a palace eunuch who having, after the manner of his kind, amassed a substantial fortune which his misfortune debarred him from bequeathing to his lineal descendants, chose this means of spending it, providing himself by the self-same act with a lasting memorial on earth and a safe passport to heaven. Sometimes a tired functionary - an ex-viceroy, as likely as not-wearied of this world's vanities, devoted the peculations of a lifetime to the building of a temple where he could end his days in peace and safety. Fortunately for us of to-day, merit could be gained by restoring as well as building, and many existing temples have been saved fron der crepitude, as the inscribed stone tablets in the courtyards attest, by the munificence of pious benefactors." The sites chosen for the Destern Hill temples are varied in the extreme. Some ate found nestled close under gently sloping foothills, some are set out in the open, among the corn and rice fields of the plain; some are built in steep rocky ravines; others cling to the sides of rugged mountain peaks; while a chosen few crown the lordly summits of the hills. All of these temples, like the beautiful Pi Yün Ssă shown in the opposite plate, are surrounded by splendid groves of fine old trees. This splendid monastery, known as the "Temple of the Azure Clouds," is regarded as the most beautiful of all the religious structures within the boundaries of the Western Hills, while many consider it the finest temple in China. It is superbly located in the bosom of converging hills, and occupies a site adjacent to the Imperial Hunting Park For an inti mate description of this temple with its wonderful marble "stupa," see paqes 98 and 207.
