Directory_and_Chronicle_1845 — Page 232

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called 'the hill gate,' over which Háichwáng, the name of the tem- ple, is written in large capitals. Here, as you stand in the gateway, you see two colossal figuras-images of deified warrions, stationed the one on your right, the other on your left, to guard, day and night, the entrance to the inner courts. Passing further on, through another court, you enter "the palace of the four great celestial kings "-images of ancient heroes. Still advancing, a broad path- way conducts you up to the great, powerful palace. Procul O procul este profani! You are now in the presence of "the three precious Budhas," three stately images representing the past, the present, and the future, Budha. The hall, in which these images are placed, is about one hundred feet square,and contains numerous altars, statues, &c., it is occupied by the priests while celebrating their daily vespers, usually at about 5 o'clock P. M. Further onward, there are other halls, filled with other images, among which that of the goddess of mercy' is the moste worthy of notice.

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On the right side, after you have entered the temple, there is a long line of apartments, one of which is used for a printing office; and others are formed into narrow cells for the priests; or into stalls and pens for pigs, fowls, &c. These animals are brought to the temple by devout devotees, when they come to make or pay vows to the beings who inhabit the temple. On the left side, there is another set of apartments-a pavilion for Kwán fútsz', a military demigod; a hall for the reception of visitors; a treasury; retreat for ti-tsáng wáng, the king of hades;' the chief priest's room; a dining hall; and a kitchen. Beyond these, there is a spacious garden, at the extremity of which there is a mausoleum, wherein the ashes of the burnt priests are, onee a year, deposited; also a furnace for burn. ing their dead bodies, and a little cell in which the jars containing their ashes are kept, till the annual season of opening the mausoleum returns. There are likewise tombs for the bodies of those who leave money for their burial.

for their burial. There are about 175 priests now in temple. They are supported in part by property belonging to the establishment, and partly by their private resources. Only a few, and a very few, of them are wel educated. *

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The only two pagodas in this city, are the Hwátáh or adorned pagoda,' so called in contradistinction to the second, the Kwángtáh "unadorned pagoda.' They both stand near the west gate of the old city; and, when approaching Canton from the east, they are the first objects that arrest the attention of the traveler. The geomancers