55 in circuit, viz. if 1 li = 575 m., 41 li; from the north to
the south 5400 metres; from east to west 6700 metres; the wall is 13
metres in height and 12 metres in width. - H. C.]
[Illustration: PEKING As it is and As it was, about 1290]
[Illustration: Yenking or Old Cambaluc A.D. 1290]
NOTE 4. - Our attempted plan of Cambaluc, as in 1290, differs somewhat from
this description, but there is no getting over certain existing facts.
The existing Tartar city of Peking (technically Nei-ch'ing, "The
Interior City," or King-ch'ing, "City of the Court") stands on the site
of Taidu, and represents it. After the expulsion of the Mongols (1368) the
new native Dynasty of Ming established their capital at Nanking. But this
was found so inconvenient that the third sovereign of the Dynasty re-
occupied Taidu or Cambaluc, the repairs of which began in 1409. He reduced
it in size by cutting off nearly a third part of the city at the north
end. The remains of this abandoned portion of wall are, however, still in
existence, approaching 30 feet in height all round. This old wall is
called by the Chinese The Wall of the Yuen (i.e. the Mongol Dynasty),
and it is laid down in the Russian Survey. [The capital of the Ming was 40
li in circuit, according to the Ch'ang an k'o hua.] The existing walls
were built, or restored rather (the north wall being in any case, of
course, entirely new), in 1437.
