The White Columns Which Support It Have Capitals
Formed Of Great Red-Throated Heads Of The Mythical Kirin.
Above
the architrave is a projecting balcony which runs all round the
gateway with a railing carried by dragons' heads.
In the centre
two white dragons fight eternally. Underneath, in high relief,
there are groups of children playing, then a network of richly
painted beams, and seven groups of Chinese sages. The high roof is
supported by gilded dragons' heads with crimson throats. In the
interior of the gateway there are side-niches painted white, which
are lined with gracefully designed arabesques founded on the botan
or peony. A piazza, whose outer walls of twenty-one compartments
are enriched with magnificent carvings of birds, flowers, and
trees, runs right and left, and encloses on three of its sides
another court, the fourth side of which is a terminal stone wall
built against the side of the hill. On the right are two decorated
buildings, one of which contains a stage for the performance of the
sacred dances, and the other an altar for the burning of cedar wood
incense. On the left is a building for the reception of the three
sacred cars which were used during festivals. To pass from court
to court is to pass from splendour to splendour; one is almost glad
to feel that this is the last, and that the strain on one's
capacity for admiration is nearly over.
In the middle is the sacred enclosure, formed of gilded trellis-
work with painted borders above and below, forming a square of
which each side measures 150 feet, and which contains the haiden or
chapel.
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