Anking pagoda is the only one of the latter class. Many small towers of various shapes and heights may be seen scattered about, but they are mostly bone towers, or little towers built, over the two large crocks in which the corpses of Buddhists have been cremated, or buried without cremation.
It is an interesting fact that there is not and never has been any claim of Buddhist relies for Anking pagoda. There is no record of such. The only claim made is that the man who gets the credit of building it, himself well versed in geomancy, did so hecauise he believed it was necessary for the peace and happiness not only of this part of the country, but also of Hupeh and Kiangsi, where they had to do with Anhui, Pagodas are generally called T'ah G8). Whatever other character may be used in conjunction with it, this character is used. The meaning is "a tower or pagoda." But visitors to Anking would be wise to his home being in Taiho. How long it took to build is not. stated, hut the year of completion is given as A.D. 1582, a couple of years before Maurice had his wee Dutch Republic fixed up: a few years before the Armada was destroyed; a year chiefly memorable to us, not for the squabbles of Elizabeth and her northern neighbours, but for the death of a great man, George Buchanan. Why Mr. ug should decide on a pagoda is not clearly stated, beyond the fact, that he thought it was necessary for Feng Shui.
The Taiping's It was to be expected that such a structure would suffer something at about 81 ft. The was computed by lor (who is supposed to have bee: one of the last foreigners to visit it) to be more than 300 ft, round the base, and Lieutenant Fitzjames in gave his measurement of the meter as 96 ft. 10 in. Tt would em that there is A certain proportion observed in the building agedes. Anking being but seven nine. king pagoda is said_ to s, and Nanking having been
have cost £600,000 sterling. What Anking cost we do not know, but it is quite possible that it represents half a million.
One good feature of the Anking pagoda is that the balustrades, or outside platforms are kept in good repair and are well and_ strongly built, being built right into the walls, These walls are about 12 ft. thick at the bottom and at the very top about 3 ft. thick. There are few bells, and what there are are away at the very top mostly. No porcelain bells, but just good ordinary serviceable brass cast. bells.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.