|
The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: centre of the universe, his only walls being the skies, and his
only covering, the shining dome.
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.
|
