Observatory at Peking
Before we left Peking, on the morning of the 12th we
procured an order of admission to the observatory on the east wall. The way was
through the house of the keeper, up a winding flight of stone steps to a
platform higher than the wall.
The astronomical instruments were numerous, finished with a
nicety impossible to surpass, and mounted on Chinese designs of great beauty
and exquisite workmanship. I saw no glasses for observing the heavenly bodies
which surprised me, as the neighbouring nation of Japan is famed for their
construction.
The heavens were depicted on a magnificent bronze globe by
raised stars of solid brass, displaying more knowledge than the Chinese are
supposed to possessed. Indeed, these instruments were planned and constructed
under the direction of Jesuit missionaries, though no small credit is due to
mechanics who could finish so inimitably, such difficult and delicate work.
There was an artful combination of lightness with strength in the bronze work,
the sextants being mounted on the shoulders of fantastic dragons.
Mrs Muter’s Travels in India and China &c vol ii p 163
www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
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