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There are no images of any kind connected with the temple or the
worship, the only offerings being a bullock, the various
productions of the soil, and a cylindrical piece of jade about a
foot long, formerly used as a symbol of sovereignty. Twelve
bundles of cloth are offered to Heaven, and only one to each of
the emperors, and to the sun and moon. The bullocks must be two
years old, the best of their kind, without blemish, and while
they were formerly killed by the Emperor they are now slaughtered
by an official appointed for that purpose.
The covered altar is, I think, the most beautiful piece of
architecture in China. It is smaller than the one already
described but has erected upon it a lofty, circular triple-roofed
temple ninety-nine feet in height, roofed with blue tiles, the
eaves painted in brilliant colours and protected from the birds
by a wire netting. In the centre, immediately in front of the
altar, is a circular stone, as in the open altar. The ceiling is
covered with gilded dragons in high relief, and the whole is
supported by immense pillars. It was this building that was
struck by lightning in 1890, but it was restored during the ten
years that followed. Being made the camp of the British during
the occupation of 1900, it received some small injuries from
curio seekers, but none of any consequence. The Sikh soldiers who
died during this period were cremated in the furnace connected
with the open altar
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