[Illustration: “MARCVS POLVS VENETVS TOTIVS ORBIS ET INDIE PEREGRATOR
PRIMUS.”
Copied by permission from a painting bearing the above inscription
in the Gallery of Monsignore BADIA in Rome.]
THE TRAVELS OF
MARCO POLO
THE COMPLETE
YULE-CORDIER EDITION
Including the unabridged third edition (1903) of
Henry Yule’s annotated translation, as revised
by Henri Cordier; together with Cordier’s later
volume of notes and addenda (1920)
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME II
_Containing the second volume of the 1903 edition
and the 1920 volume of addenda
(two original volumes bound as one)_
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
PAGE
SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS iii
EXPLANATORY LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvi
THE BOOK OF MARCO POLO
APPENDICES 503
INDEX 607
SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.
BOOK SECOND—(_Continued_).
PART II.
_Journey to the West and South-West of Cathay._
CHAP. PAGE
XXXV.—HERE BEGINS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERIOR OF CATHAY; AND
FIRST OF THE RIVER PULISANGHIN 3
NOTES.—1. _Marco’s Route._ 2. _The Bridge Pul-i-sangin, or
Lu-ku-k’iao._
XXXVI.—ACCOUNT OF THE CITY OF JUJU 10
NOTES.—1. _The Silks called |Sendals|._ 2. _Chochau._ 3.
_Bifurcation of Two Great Roads at this point._
XXXVII.—THE KINGDOM OF TAIANFU 12
NOTES.—1. _Acbaluc._ 2. _T’ai-yuan fu._ 3. _Grape-wine of
that place._ 4. _P’ing-yang fu._
XXXVIII.—CONCERNING THE CASTLE OF CAICHU. THE GOLDEN KING AND
PRESTER JOHN 17
NOTES.—1. _The Story and Portrait of the |Roi d’Or|._ 2.
_Effeminacy reviving in every Chinese Dynasty._
XXXIX.—HOW PRESTER JOHN TREATED THE GOLDEN KING HIS PRISONER 21
XL.—CONCERNING THE GREAT RIVER CARAMORAN AND THE CITY OF
CACHANFU 22
NOTES.—1. _The Kará Muren._ 2. _Former growth of silk in
Shan-si and Shen-si._ 3. _The |akché| or |asper|._
XLI.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF KENJANFU 24
NOTES.—1. _Morus alba._ 2. _Geography of the Route since
Chapter XXXVIII._ 3. _Kenjanfu or Si-ngan fu; the
Christian monument there._ 4. _Prince Mangala._
XLII.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CUNCUN, WHICH IS RIGHT WEARISOME
TO TRAVEL THROUGH 31
NOTE.—_The Mountain Road to Southern Shen-si._
XLIII.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF ACBALEC MANZI 33
NOTES.—1. _Geography, and doubts about Acbalec._ 2. _Further
Journey into Sze-ch’wan._
XLIV.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF SINDAFU 36
NOTES.—1. _Ch’êng-tu fu._ 2. _The Great River or |Kiang|._ 3.
_The word |Comercque|._ 4. _The Bridge-Tolls._ 5.
_Correction of Text._
XLV.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF TEBET 42
NOTES.—1. _The Part of Tibet and events referred to._ 2.
_Noise of burning bamboos._ 3. _Road retains its
desolate character._ 4. _Persistence of eccentric
manners illustrated._ 5. _Name of the Musk animal._
XLVI.—FURTHER DISCOURSE CONCERNING TEBET 49
NOTES.—1. _Explanatory._ 2. “Or de Paliolle.” 3. _Cinnamon._
4. 5. _Great Dogs, and |Beyamini| oxen._
XLVII.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CAINDU 53
NOTES.—1. _Explanation from Ramusio._ 2. _Pearls of Inland
Waters._ 3. _Lax manners._ 4. _Exchange of Salt for
Gold._ 5. _Salt currency._ 6. _Spiced Wine._ 7. _Plant
like the Clove, spoken of by Polo. Tribes of this
Tract._
XLVIII.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CARAJAN 64
NOTES.—1. _Geography of the Route between Sindafu or
Ch’êng-tu fu, and Carajan or Yun-nan._ 2. _Christians
and Mahomedans in Yun-nan._ 3. _Wheat._ 4. _Cowries._
5. _Brine-spring._ 6. _Parallel._
XLIX.—CONCERNING A FURTHER PART OF THE PROVINCE OF CARAJAN 76
NOTES.—1. _City of Talifu._ 2. _Gold._ 3. _Crocodiles._ 4.
_Yun-nan horses and riders. Arms of the Aboriginal
Tribes._ 5. _Strange superstition and parallels._
L.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF ZARDANDAN 84
NOTES.—1. _Carajan and Zardandan._ 2. _The Gold-Teeth._ 3.
_Male Indolence._ 4. _The Couvade._ (See App. L. 8.) 5.
_Abundance of Gold. Relation of Gold to Silver._ 6.
_Worship of the Ancestor._ 7. _Unhealthiness of the
climate._ 8. _Tallies._ 9.–12. _Medicine-men or
Devil-dancers; extraordinary identity of practice in
various regions._
LI.—WHEREIN IS RELATED HOW THE KING OF MIEN AND BANGALA VOWED
VENGEANCE AGAINST THE GREAT KAAN 98
NOTES.—1. _Chronology._ 2. _Mien or Burma. Why the King may
have been called King of Bengal also._ 3. _Numbers
alleged to have been carried on elephants._
LII.—OF THE BATTLE THAT WAS FOUGHT BY THE GREAT KAAN’S HOST AND
HIS SENESCHAL AGAINST THE KING OF MIEN 101
NOTES.—1. _Nasruddin._ 2. _Cyrus’s Camels._ 3. _Chinese
Account of the Action. General Correspondence of the
Chinese and Burmese Chronologies._
LIII.—OF THE GREAT DESCENT THAT LEADS TOWARDS THE KINGDOM OF MIEN 106
NOTES.—1. _Market-days._ 2. _Geographical difficulties._
LIV.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF MIEN, AND THE TWO TOWERS THAT ARE
THEREIN, ONE OF GOLD, AND THE OTHER OF SILVER 109
NOTES.—1. _Amien._ 2. _Chinese Account of the Invasion of
Burma. Comparison with Burmese Annals. The City
intended. The Pagodas._ 3. _Wild Oxen._
LV.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF BANGALA 114
NOTES.—1. _Polo’s view of Bengal; and details of his account
illustrated._ 2. _Great Cattle._
LVI.—DISCOURSES OF THE PROVINCE OF CAUGIGU 116
NOTE.—_A Part of Laos. Papesifu. Chinese Geographical
Etymologies._
LVII.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF ANIN 119
NOTES.—1. _The Name. Probable identification of territory._
2. _Textual._
LVIII.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF COLOMAN 122
NOTES.—1. _The Name. The Kolo-man._ 2. _Natural defences of
Kwei-chau._
LIX.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CUIJU 124
NOTES.—1. _Kwei-chau. Phungan-lu._ 2. _Grass-cloth._ 3.
_Tigers._ 4. _Great Dogs._ 5. _Silk._ 6. _Geographical
Review of the Route since Chapter LV._ 7. _Return to
Juju._
BOOK SECOND.
(_Continued_.)
PART III.
_Journey Southward through Eastern Provinces of Cathay and Manzi._
LX.—CONCERNING THE CITIES OF CACANFU AND CHANGLU 132
NOTES.—1. _Pauthier’s Identifications._ 2. _Changlu. The
Burning of the Dead ascribed to the Chinese._
LXI.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF CHINANGLI, AND THAT OF TADINFU, AND
THE REBELLION OF LITAN 135
NOTES.—1. _T’si-nan fu._ 2. _Silk of Shan-tung._ 3. _Title
|Sangon|._ 4. _Agul and Mangkutai._ 5. _History of
Litan’s Revolt._
LXII.—CONCERNING THE NOBLE CITY OF SINJUMATU 138
NOTE.—_The City intended. The Great Canal._
LXIII.—CONCERNING THE CITIES OF LINJU AND PIJU 140
NOTES.—1. _Linju._ 2. _Piju._
LXIV.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF SIJU, AND THE GREAT RIVER CARAMORAN 141
NOTES.—1. _Siju._ 2. _The Hwang-Ho and its changes._ 3.
_Entrance to Manzi; that name for Southern China._
LXV.—HOW THE GREAT KAAN CONQUERED THE PROVINCE OF MANZI 144
NOTES.—1. _Meaning and application of the title |Faghfur|._
2. _Chinese self-devotion._ 3. _Bayan the Great
Captain._ 4. _His lines of Operation._ 5. _The Juggling
Prophecy._ 6. _The Fall of the Sung Dynasty._ 7.
_Exposure of Infants, and Foundling Hospitals._
LXVI.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF COIGANJU 151
NOTE.—_Hwai-ngan fu._
LXVII.—OF THE CITIES OF PAUKIN AND CAYU 152
NOTE.—_Pao-yng and Kao-yu._
LXVIII.—OF THE CITIES OF TIJU, TINJU, AND YANJU 153
NOTES.—1. _Cities between the Canal and the Sea._ 2.
_Yang-chau._ 3. _Marco Polo’s Employment at this City._
LXIX.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF NANGHIN 157
NOTE.—_Ngan-king._
LXX.—CONCERNING THE VERY NOBLE CITY OF SAIANFU, AND HOW ITS
CAPTURE WAS EFFECTED 158
NOTES.—1. and 2. _Various Readings._ 3. _Digression on the
Military Engines of the Middle Ages._ 4. _Mangonels of
Cœur de Lion._ 5. _Difficulties connected with Polo’s
Account of this Siege._
LXXI.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF SINJU AND THE GREAT RIVER KIAN 170
NOTES.—1. _I-chin hien._ 2. _The Great Kiang._ 3. _Vast
amount of tonnage on Chinese Waters._ 4. _Size of River
Vessels._ 5. _Bamboo Tow-lines._ 6. _Picturesque Island
Monasteries._
LXXII.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF CAIJU 174
NOTES.—1. _Kwa-chau._ 2. _The Grand Canal and Rice-Transport._
3. _The Golden Island._
LXXIII.—OF THE CITY OF CHINGHIANFU 176
NOTE.—_Chin-kiang fu. Mar Sarghis, the Christian Governor._
LXXIV.—OF THE CITY OF CHINGINJU AND THE SLAUGHTER OF CERTAIN ALANS
THERE 178
NOTES.—1. _Chang-chau._ 2. _Employment of Alans in the Mongol
Service._ 3. _The Chang-chau Massacre. Mongol Cruelties._
LXXV.—OF THE NOBLE CITY OF SUJU 181
NOTES.—1. _Su-chau._ 2. _Bridges of that part of China._ 3.
_Rhubarb; its mention here seems erroneous._ 4. _The
Cities of Heaven and Earth. Ancient incised Plan of
Su-chau._ 5. _Hu-chau, Wu-kiang, and Kya-hing._
LXXVI.—DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT CITY OF KINSAY, WHICH IS THE
CAPITAL OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY OF MANZI 185
NOTES.—1. _King-szé now Hang-chau._ 2. _The circuit ascribed
to the City; the Bridges._ 3. _Hereditary Trades._ 4.
_The Si-hu or Western Lake._ 5. _Dressiness of the
People._ 6. _Charitable Establishments._ 7. _Paved
roads._ 8. _Hot and Cold Baths._ 9. _Kanp’u, and the
Hang-chau Estuary._ 10. _The Nine Provinces of Manzi._
11. _The Kaan’s Garrisons in Manzi._ 12. _Mourning
costume._ 13. 14. _Tickets recording inmates of houses._
LXXVII.—[FURTHER PARTICULARS CONCERNING THE GREAT CITY OF KINSAY.] 200
(From Ramusio only.)
NOTES.—1. _Remarks on these supplementary details._ 2. _Tides
in the Hang-chau Estuary._ 3. _Want of a good Survey of
Hang-chau. The Squares._ 4. _Marco ignores pork._ 5.
_Great Pears: Peaches._ 6. _Textual._ 7. _Chinese use
of Pepper._ 8. _Chinese claims to a character for Good
Faith._ 9. _Pleasure-parties on the Lake._ 10. _Chinese
Carriages._ 11. _The Sung Emperor._ 12. _The Sung
Palace. Extracts regarding this Great City from other
mediæval writers, European and Asiatic. Martini’s
Description._
LXXVIII.—TREATING OF THE YEARLY REVENUE THAT THE GREAT KAAN HATH
FROM KINSAY 215
NOTES.—1. _Textual._ 2. _Calculations as to the values spoken
of._
LXXIX.—OF THE CITY OF TANPIJU AND OTHERS 218
NOTES.—1. _Route from Hang-chau southward._ 2. _Bamboos._ 3.
_Identification of places. Chang-shan the key to the
route._
LXXX.—CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF FUJU 224
NOTES.—1. “_Fruit like Saffron._” 2. 3. _Cannibalism ascribed
to Mountain Tribes on this route._ 4. _Kien-ning fu._
5. _Galingale._ 6. _Fleecy Fowls._ 7. _Details of the
Journey in Fo-kien and various readings._ 8. _Unken.
Introduction of Sugar-refining into China._
LXXXI.—CONCERNING THE GREATNESS OF THE CITY OF FUJU 231
NOTES.—1. _The name |Chonka|, applied to Fo-kien here.
|Cayton| or |Zayton|._ 2. _Objections that have been
made to identity of |Fuju| and Fu-chau._ 3. _The Min
River._
LXXXII.—OF THE CITY AND GREAT HAVEN OF ZAYTON 234
NOTES.—1. _The Camphor Laurel._ 2. _The Port of Zayton or
T’swan-chau; Recent objections to this identity.
Probable origin of the word_ Satin. 3. _Chinese
Consumption of Pepper._ 4. _Artists in Tattooing._ 5.
_Position of the Porcelain manufacture spoken of.
Notions regarding the |Great River| of China._ 6.
_Fo-kien dialects and variety of spoken language in
China._ 7. _From Ramusio._
BOOK THIRD.
_Japan, the Archipelago, Southern India, and the Coasts and
Islands of the Indian Sea._
CHAP. PAGE
I.—OF THE MERCHANT SHIPS OF MANZI THAT SAIL UPON THE INDIAN
SEAS 249
NOTES.—1. _Pine Timber._ 2. _Rudder and Masts._ 3. _Watertight
Compartments._ 4. _Chinese substitute for Pitch._ 5.
_Oars used by Junks._ 6. _Descriptions of Chinese Junks
from other Mediæval Writers._
II.—DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF CHIPANGU, AND THE GREAT KAAN’S
DESPATCH OF A HOST AGAINST IT 253
NOTES.—1. _Chipangu or Japan._ 2. _Abundance of Gold._ 3.
_The Golden Palace._ 4. _Japanese Pearls. Red Pearls._
III.—WHAT FURTHER CAME OF THE GREAT KAAN’S EXPEDITION AGAINST
CHIPANGU 258
NOTES.—1. _Kúblái’s attempts against Japan. Japanese Narrative
of the Expedition here spoken of._ (See App. L. 9.) 2.
_Species of Torture._ 3. _Devices to procure
Invulnerability._
IV.—CONCERNING THE FASHION OF THE IDOLS 263
NOTES.—1. _Many-limbed Idols._ 2. _The Philippines and
Moluccas._ 3. _The name |Chin| or |China|._ 4. _The Gulf
of Cheinan._
V.—OF THE GREAT COUNTRY CALLED CHAMBA 266
NOTES.—1. _Champa, and Kúblái’s dealings with it._ (See App.
L. 10). 2. _Chronology._ 3. _Eagle-wood and Ebony.
Polo’s use of Persian words._
VI.—CONCERNING THE GREAT ISLAND OF JAVA 272
NOTE.—_Java; its supposed vast extent. Kúblái’s expedition
against it and failure._
VII.—WHEREIN THE ISLES OF SONDUR AND CONDUR ARE SPOKEN OF; AND
THE KINGDOM OF LOCAC 276
NOTES.—1. _Textual._ 2. _Pulo Condore._ 3. _The Kingdom of
Locac, Southern Siam._
VIII.—OF THE ISLAND CALLED PENTAM, AND THE CITY MALAIUR 280
NOTES.—1. _Bintang._ 2. _The Straits of Singapore._ 3.
_Remarks on the Malay Chronology. Malaiur probably
Palembang._
IX.—CONCERNING THE ISLAND OF JAVA THE LESS. THE KINGDOMS OF
FERLEC AND BASMA 284
NOTES.—1. _The Island of Sumatra: application of the term
|Java|._ 2. _Products of Sumatra. The six kingdoms._ 3.
_Ferlec or Parlák. The Battas._ 4. _Basma, Pacem, or
Pasei._ 5. _The Elephant and the Rhinoceros. The Legend
of Monoceros and the Virgin._ 6. _Black Falcon._
X.—THE KINGDOMS OF SAMARA AND DAGROIAN 292
NOTES.—1. _Samara, Sumatra Proper._ 2. _The Tramontaine and
the Mestre._ 3. _The Malay Toddy-Palm._ 4. _Dagroian._
5. _Alleged custom of eating dead relatives._
XI.—OF THE KINGDOMS OF LAMBRI AND FANSUR 299
NOTES.—1. _Lambri._ 2. _Hairy and Tailed Men._ 3. _Fansur and
Camphor Fansuri. Sumatran Camphor._ 4. _The Sago-Palm._
5. _Remarks on Polo’s Sumatran Kingdoms._
XII.—CONCERNING THE ISLAND OF NECUVERAN 306
NOTE.—_Gauenispola, and the Nicobar Islands._
XIII.—CONCERNING THE ISLAND OF ANGAMANAIN 309
NOTE.—_The Andaman Islands._
XIV.—CONCERNING THE ISLAND OF SEILAN 312
NOTES.—1. _Chinese Chart._ 2. _Exaggeration of Dimensions.
The Name._ 3. _Sovereigns then ruling Ceylon._ 4.
_Brazil Wood and Cinnamon._ 5. _The Great Ruby._
XV.—THE SAME CONTINUED. THE HISTORY OF SAGAMONI BORCAN AND THE
BEGINNING OF IDOLATRY 316
NOTES.—1. _Adam’s Peak, and the Foot thereon._ 2. _The Story
of Sakya-Muni Buddha. The History of Saints Barlaam and
Josaphat; a Christianised version thereof._ 3. _High
Estimate of Buddha’s Character._ 4. _Curious Parallel
Passages._ 5. _Pilgrimages to the Peak._ 6. _The Pâtra
of Buddha, and the Tooth-Relic._ 7. _Miraculous
endowments of the Pâtra; it is the Holy Grail of
Buddhism._
XVI.—CONCERNING THE GREAT PROVINCE OF MAABAR, WHICH IS CALLED
INDIA THE GREATER, AND IS ON THE MAINLAND 331
NOTES.—1. _Ma’bar, its definition, and notes on its Mediæval
History._ 2. _The Pearl Fishery._
XVII.—CONTINUES TO SPEAK OF THE PROVINCE OF MAABAR 338
NOTES.—1. _Costume._ 2. _Hindu Royal Necklace._ 3. _Hindu
use of the Rosary._ 4. _The Saggio._ 5. _Companions
in Death; the word |Amok|._ 6. _Accumulated Wealth of
Southern India at this time._ 7. _Horse Importation
from the Persian Gulf._ 8. _Religious Suicides._ 9.
_Suttees._ 10. _Worship of the Ox. The Govis_. 11.
_Verbal._ 12. _The Thomacides._ 13. _Ill-success of
Horse-breeding in S. India._ 14. _Curious Mode of
Arrest for Debt._ 15. _The Rainy Seasons._ 16. _Omens
of the Hindus._ 17. _Strange treatment of Horses._ 18.
_The Devadásis._ 19. _Textual._
XVIII.—DISCOURSING OF THE PLACE WHERE LIETH THE BODY OF ST. THOMAS
THE APOSTLE; AND OF THE MIRACLES THEREOF 353
NOTES.—1. _Mailapúr._ 2. _The word |Avarian|._ 3. _Miraculous
Earth._ 4. _The Traditions of St. Thomas in India. The
ancient Church at his Tomb; the ancient Cross preserved
on St. Thomas’s Mount._ 5. _White Devils._ 6. _The
Yak’s Tail._
XIX.—CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF MUTFILI 359
NOTES.—1. _Motapallé. The Widow Queen of Telingana._ 2.
_The Diamond Mines, and the Legend of the Diamond
Gathering._ 3. _Buckram._
XX.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF LAR WHENCE THE BRAHMANS COME 363
NOTES.—1. _Abraiaman. The Country of Lar. Hindu Character._
2. _The Kingdom of Soli or Chola._ 3. _Lucky and
Unlucky Days and Hours. The Canonical Hours of the
Church._ 4. _Omens._ 5. _Jogis. The Ox-emblem._ 6.
_Verbal._ 7. _Recurrence of Human Eccentricities._
XXI.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF CAIL 370
NOTES.—1. _Káyal; its true position. |Kolkhoi| identified._
2. _The King Ashar or As-char._ 3. _Correa, Note._ 4.
_Betel-chewing._ 5. _Duels._
XXII.—OF THE KINGDOM OF COILUM 375
NOTES.—1. _Coilum, Coilon, Kaulam, Columbum, Quilon. Ancient
Christian Churches._ 2. _Brazil Wood: notes on the
name._ 3. _Columbine Ginger and other kinds._ 4.
_Indigo._ 5. _Black Lions._ 6. _Marriage Customs._
XXIII.—OF THE COUNTRY CALLED COMARI 382
NOTES.—1. _Cape Comorin._ 2. _The word |Gat-paul|._
XXIV.—CONCERNING THE KINGDOM ELI 385
NOTES.—1. _Mount D’Ely, and the City of Hili-Máráwi._ 2.
_Textual._ 3. _Produce._ 4. _Piratical custom._ 5.
_Wooden Anchors._
XXV.—CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF MELIBAR 389
NOTES.—1. _Dislocation of Polo’s Indian Geography. The name
of Malabar._ 2. _Verbal._ 3. _Pirates._ 4. _Cassia:
Turbit: Cubebs._ 5. _Cessation of direct Chinese trade
with Malabar._
XXVI.—CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF GOZURAT 392
NOTES.—1. _Topographical Confusion._ 2. _Tamarina._ 3. _Tall
Cotton Trees._ 4. _Embroidered Leather-work._
XXVII.—CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF TANA 395
NOTES.—1. _Tana, and the Konkan._ 2. _Incense of Western
India._
XXVIII.—CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF CAMBAET 397
NOTE.—_Cambay._
XXIX.—CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF SEMENAT 398
NOTE.—_Somnath, and the so-called Gates of Somnath._
XXX.—CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF KESMACORAN 401
NOTES.—1. _Kij-Mekrán. Limit of India._ 2. _Recapitulation of
Polo’s Indian Kingdoms._
XXXI.—DISCOURSETH OF THE TWO ISLANDS CALLED MALE AND FEMALE, AND
WHY THEY ARE SO CALLED 404
NOTE.—_The Legend and its diffusion._
XXXII.—CONCERNING THE ISLAND OF SCOTRA 406
NOTES.—1. _Whales of the Indian Seas._ 2. _Socotra and its
former Christianity._ 3. _Piracy at Socotra._ 4.
_Sorcerers._
XXXIII.—CONCERNING THE ISLAND OF MADEIGASCAR 411
NOTES.—1. _Madagascar; some confusion here with Magadoxo._ 2.
_Sandalwood._ 3. _Whale-killing. The |Capidoglio| or
Sperm-Whale._ 4. _The Currents towards the South._ 5.
_The Rukh_ (and see Appendix L. 11). 6. _More on the
dimensions assigned thereto._ 7. _Hippopotamus Teeth._
XXXIV.—CONCERNING THE ISLAND OF ZANGHIBAR. A WORD ON INDIA IN
GENERAL 422
NOTES.—1. _Zangibar; Negroes._ 2. _Ethiopian Sheep._ 3.
_Giraffes._ 4. _Ivory trade._ 5. _Error about
Elephant-taming._ 6. _Number of Islands assigned to the
Indian Sea._ 7. _The Three Indies, and various
distributions thereof. Polo’s Indian Geography._
XXXV.—TREATING OF THE GREAT PROVINCE OF ABASH, WHICH IS MIDDLE
INDIA, AND IS ON THE MAINLAND 427
NOTES.—1. _Ḥabash or Abyssinia. Application of the name India
to it._ 2. _Fire Baptism ascribed to the Abyssinian
Christians._ 3. _Polo’s idea of the position of Aden._
4. _Taming of the African Elephant for War._ 5. _Marco’s
Story of the Abyssinian Invasion of the Mahomedan
Low-Country, and Review of Abyssinian Chronology in
connection therewith._ 6. _Textual._
XXXVI.—CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF ADEN 438
NOTES.—1. _The Trade to Alexandria from India |viâ| Aden._ 2.
“Roncins à deux selles.” 3. _The Sultan of Aden. The
City and its Great Tanks._ 4. _The Loss of Acre._
XXXVII.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF ESHER 442
NOTES.—1. _Shihr._ 2. _Frankincense._ 3. _Four-horned Sheep._
4. _Cattle fed on Fish._ 5. _Parallel passage._
XXXVIII.—CONCERNING THE CITY OF DUFAR 444
NOTES.—1. _Dhofar._ 2. _Notes on Frankincense._
XXXIX.—CONCERNING THE GULF OF CALATU, AND THE CITY SO CALLED 449
NOTES.—1. _Kalhát._ 2. “En fra terre.” 3. _Maskat._
XL.—RETURNS TO THE CITY OF HORMOS WHEREOF WE SPOKE FORMERLY 451
NOTES.—1. _Polo’s distances and bearings in these latter
chapters._ 2. _Persian |Bád-gírs| or wind-catching
chimneys._ 3. _Island of Kish._
BOOK FOURTH.
_Wars among the Tartar Princes, and some Account of the
Northern Countries._
CHAP. PAGE
I.—CONCERNING GREAT TURKEY 457
NOTES.—1. _Kaidu Khan._ 2. _His frontier towards the Great
Kaan._
II.—OF CERTAIN BATTLES THAT WERE FOUGHT BY KING CAIDU AGAINST
THE ARMIES OF HIS UNCLE THE GREAT KAAN 459
NOTES.—1. _Textual._ 2. “Araines.” 3. _Chronology in
connection with the events described._
III.—†WHAT THE GREAT KAAN SAID TO THE MISCHIEF DONE BY CAIDU
HIS NEPHEW 463
IV.—OF THE EXPLOITS OF KING CAIDU’S VALIANT DAUGHTER 463
NOTE.—_Her name explained. Remarks on the story._
V.—HOW ABAGA SENT HIS SON ARGON IN COMMAND AGAINST KING CAIDU 466
(Extract and Substance.)
NOTES.—1. _Government of the Khorasan frontier._ 2. _The
Historical Events._
VI.—HOW ARGON AFTER THE BATTLE HEARD THAT HIS FATHER WAS DEAD
AND WENT TO ASSUME THE SOVEREIGNTY AS WAS HIS RIGHT 467
NOTES.—1. _Death of Ábáká._ 2. _Textual._ 3. _Ahmad Tigudar._
VII.—†HOW ACOMAT SOLDAN SET OUT WITH HIS HOST AGAINST HIS
NEPHEW WHO WAS COMING TO CLAIM THE THRONE THAT BELONGED TO
HIM 468
VIII.—†HOW ARGON TOOK COUNSEL WITH HIS FOLLOWERS ABOUT
ATTACKING HIS UNCLE ACOMAT SOLDAN 468
IX.—†HOW THE BARONS OF ARGON ANSWERED HIS ADDRESS 469
X.—†THE MESSAGE SENT BY ARGON TO ACOMAT 469
XI.—HOW ACOMAT REPLIED TO ARGON’S MESSAGE 469
XII.—OF THE BATTLE BETWEEN ARGON AND ACOMAT, AND THE CAPTIVITY
OF ARGON 470
NOTES.—1. _Verbal._ 2. _Historical._
XIII.—HOW ARGON WAS DELIVERED FROM PRISON 471
XIV.—HOW ARGON GOT THE SOVEREIGNTY AT LAST 472
XV.—†HOW ACOMAT WAS TAKEN PRISONER 473
XVI.—HOW ACOMAT WAS SLAIN BY ORDER OF HIS NEPHEW 473
XVII.—HOW ARGON WAS RECOGNISED AS SOVEREIGN 473
NOTES.—1. _The historical circumstances and persons named in
these chapters._ 2. _Arghún’s accession and death._
XVIII.—HOW KIACATU SEIZED THE SOVEREIGNTY AFTER ARGON’S DEATH 475
NOTE.—_The reign and character of Kaikhátú._
XIX.—HOW BAIDU SEIZED THE SOVEREIGNTY AFTER THE DEATH OF KIACATU 476
NOTES.—1. _Baidu’s alleged Christianity._ 2. _Gházán Khan._
XX.—CONCERNING KING CONCHI WHO RULES THE FAR NORTH 479
NOTES.—1. _Kaunchi Khan._ 2. _Siberia._ 3. _Dog-sledges._ 4.
_The animal here styled |Erculin|. The Vair._ 5.
_Yugria._
XXI.—CONCERNING THE LAND OF DARKNESS 484
NOTES.—1. _The Land of Darkness._ 2. _The Legend of the Mares
and their Foals._ 3. _Dumb Trade with the People of the
Darkness._
XXII.—DESCRIPTION OF ROSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. PROVINCE OF LAC 486
NOTES.—1. _Old Accounts of Russia. Russian Silver and Rubles._
2. _Lac, or Wallachia._ 3. _Oroech, Norway (?) or the
Waraeg Country (?)_
XXIII.—HE BEGINS TO SPEAK OF THE STRAITS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, BUT
DECIDES TO LEAVE THAT MATTER 490
XXIV.—CONCERNING THE TARTARS OF THE PONENT AND THEIR LORDS 490
NOTES.—1. _The Comanians; the Alans; Majar; Zic; the Goths of
the Crimea; Gazaria._ 2. _The Khans of Kipchak or the
Golden Horde; errors in Polo’s list. Extent of their
Empire._
XXV.—OF THE WAR THAT AROSE BETWEEN ALAU AND BARCA, AND THE
BATTLES THAT THEY FOUGHT 494
(Extracts and Substance.)
NOTES.—1. _Verbal._ 2. _The Sea of Sarai._ 3._ The War here
spoken of. Wassáf’s rigmarole._
XXVI.—†HOW BARCA AND HIS ARMY ADVANCED TO MEET ALAU 495
XXVII.—†HOW ALAU ADDRESSED HIS FOLLOWERS 495
XXVIII.—†OF THE GREAT BATTLE BETWEEN ALAU AND BARCA 496
XXIX.—HOW TOTAMANGU WAS LORD OF THE TARTARS OF THE PONENT; AND
AFTER HIM TOCTAI 496
NOTE.—_Confusions in the Text. Historical circumstances
connected with the Persons spoken of. Toctai and Noghai
Khan. Symbolic Messages._
XXX.—†OF THE SECOND MESSAGE THAT TOCTAI SENT TO NOGAI 498
XXXI.—†HOW TOCTAI MARCHED AGAINST NOGAI 499
XXXII.—†HOW TOCTAI AND NOGAI ADDRESS THEIR PEOPLE, AND THE NEXT
DAY JOIN BATTLE 499
XXXIII.—†THE VALIANT FEATS AND VICTORY OF KING NOGAI 499
XXXIV.—AND LAST. CONCLUSION 500
----------------------------------------------------------------------
† Of chapters so marked nothing is given but the substance in brief.
APPENDICES.
A. Genealogy of the House of Chinghiz to the End of the
Thirteenth Century 505
B. The Polo Families:—
(I.) Genealogy of the Family of Marco Polo the Traveller 506
(II.) The Polos of San Geremia 507
C. Calendar of Documents relating to Marco Polo and his Family 510
D. Comparative Specimens of the Different Recensions of Polo’s
Text 522
E. Preface to Pipino’s Latin Version 525
F. Note of MSS. of Marco Polo’s Book, so far as known:
General Distribution of MSS. 526
List of Miniatures in two of the finer MSS. 527
List of MSS. of Marco Polo’s Book, so far as they are known 530
G. Diagram showing Filiation of Chief MSS. and Editions of Marco
Polo 552
H. Bibliography:—
(I.) Principal Editions of Marco Polo’s Book 553
(II.) Bibliography of Printed Editions 554
(III.) Titles of Sundry Books and Papers treating of Marco Polo
and his Book 574
I. Titles of Works quoted by Abbreviated References in this Book 582
K. Values of Certain Moneys, Weights, and Measures occurring in
this Book 590
L. Supplementary Notes to the Book of Marco Polo 593
1. The Polos at Acre. 8. La Couvade.
2. Sorcery in Kashmir. 9. Alacan.
3. PAONANO PAO. 10. Champa.
4. Pamir. 11. Ruck Quills.
5. Number of Pamirs. 12. A Spanish Marco Polo.
6. Site of Pein. 13. Sir John Mandeville.
7. Fire-arms.
INDEX 607
EXPLANATORY LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME II.
INSERTED PLATES AND MAPS.
_To face
page_
_Title_. Portrait bearing the inscription “MARCUS POLVS VENETVS TOTIVS
ORBIS ET INDIE PEREGRATOR PRIMVS.” In the Gallery of Monsignor
_Badia_ at Rome; copied by Sign. GIUSEPPE GNOLI, Rome.
xxiv. Medallion, representing _Marco Polo_ in the PRISON of GENOA,
dictating his story to Master RUSTICIAN of PISA, drawn by
Signor QUINTO CENNI from a rough design by Sir HENRY YULE.
29. The celebrated CHRISTIAN INSCRIPTION OF SI-NGAN FU.
Photolithographed by Mr. W. GRIGG, from a Rubbing of the
original monument, given to the Editor by the _Baron F. von
Richthofen_.
This rubbing is more complete than that used in the first
edition, for which the Editor was indebted to the kindness of
_William Lockhart, Esq._
79. The LAKE of TALI (CARAJAN of Polo) from the Northern End.
Woodcut after Lieut. DELAPORTE, borrowed from Lieut. GARNIER’S
Narrative in the _Tour du Monde_.
79. Suspension Bridge, neighbourhood of TALI. From a photograph by
M. Tannant.
111. The CITY of MIEN, with the Gold and Silver Towers. From a
drawing by the Editor, based upon his sketches of the remains
of the City so called by Marco Polo, viz., PAGÁN, the mediæval
capital of Burma.
131. Itineraries of Marco Polo. No. V. The INDO-CHINESE COUNTRIES.
With a small sketch extracted from a Chinese Map in the
possession of _Baron von Richthofen_, showing the position of
KIEN-CH’ANG, the _Caindu_ of Marco Polo.
143. Sketch Map exhibiting the VARIATIONS of the TWO GREAT RIVERS of
China, within the Period of History.
182. The CITY of SU-CHAU. Reduced by the Editor from a Rubbing of a
Plan incised on Marble, and preserved in the Great Confucian
Temple in the City.
The date of the original set of Maps, of which this was one,
is uncertain, owing to the partial illegibility of the
Inscription; but it is subsequent to A.D. 1000. They were
engraved on the Marble A.D. 1247. Many of the names have been
obliterated, and a few of those given in the copy are filled
up from modern information, as the Editor learns from _Mr.
Wylie_, to whom he owes this valuable illustration.
193. Map of HANG-CHAU FU and its LAKE, from Chinese Sources.
The Map as published in the former edition was based on a
Chinese Map in the possession of _Dr. W. Lockhart_, with some
particulars from Maps in a copy of the Local Topography,
_Hang-Chau-fu-chi_, in the B. Museum Library. In the second
edition the Map has been entirely redrawn by the Editor, with
many corrections, and with the aid of new materials, supplied
by the kindness of the _Rev. G. Moule_ of the Church Mission
at Hang-chau. These materials embrace a Paper read by Mr.
Moule before the N. China Branch of the R. As. Soc. at
Shang-hai; a modern engraved Map of the City on a large scale;
and a large MS. Map of the City and Lake, compiled by _John
Shing_, Tailor, a Chinese Christian and Catechist;
The small Side-plan is the City of SI-NGAN FU, from a plan
published during the Mongol rule, in the 14th century, a
tracing of which was sent by _Mr. Wylie_. The following
references could not be introduced in lettering for want of
space:—
1. Yuen-Tu-Kwan (Tauist Monastery).
2. Chapel of Hien-ning Prince.
3. Leih-Ching Square (_Fang_).
4. Tauist Monastery.
5. Kie-lin General Court.
6. Ancestral Chapel of Yang-Wan-Kang.
7. Chapel of the Mid-year Genius.
8. Temple of the Martial Peaceful King.
9. Stone where officers are selected.
10. Mews.
11. Jasper-Waves Square (_Fang_).
12. Court of Enquiry.
13. Gate of the Făng-Yuen Circuit.
14. Bright Gate.
15. Northern Tribunal.
16. Refectory.
17. Chapel of the Făng-Yuen Prince.
18. Embroidery manufactory.
19. Hwa-li Temple.
20. Old Superintendency of Investigations.
21. Superintendent of Works.
22. Ka-yuen Monastery.
23. Prefectural Confucian Temple.
24. Benevolent Institution.
25. Temple of Tu-Ke-King.
26. Balustrade enclosure.
27. Medicine-Bazar Street.
28. Tsin and Ching States Chapel.
29. Square of the Double Cassia Tree.
N.B.—The shaded spaces are marked in the original _Min-Keu_
“Dwellings of the People.”
213. Plan of SOUTHERN PART of the CITY of KING-SZÉ (or Hang-chau),
with the PALACE of the SUNG EMPERORS. From a Chinese Plan
forming part of a Reprint of the official Topography of the
City during the period _Hien-Shun_ (1265–1274) of the Sung
Dynasty, _i.e._ the period terminated by the Mongol conquest
of the City and Empire. Mr. Moule, who possesses the Chinese
plan (with others of the same set), has come to the
conclusion that it is a copy at second-hand. Names that are
underlined are such as are preserved in the modern Map of
Hang-chau. I am indebted for the use of the original plan to
_Mr. Moule_; for the photographic copy and rendering of the
names to _Mr. Wylie_.
241. Sketch Map of the GREAT PORTS of FO-KIEN, to illustrate the
identity of Marco Polo’s ZAYTON. Besides the Admiralty Charts
and other well-known sources the Editor has used in forming
this a “Missionary Map of Amoy and the Neighbouring Country,”
on a large scale, sent him by the _Rev. Carstairs Douglas_,
LL.D., of Amoy. This contains some points not to be found in
the others.
246. Itineraries of MARCO POLO, No. VI. The Journey through
KIANG-NAN, CHE-KIANG, and FO-KIEN.
313. {1. Map to illustrate Marco Polo’s Chapters on the MALAY
{ COUNTRIES.
{2. Map to illustrate his Chapters on SOUTHERN INDIA.
375. {1. Sketch showing the Position of KÁYAL in Tinnevelly.
{2. Map showing the Position of the Kingdom of ELY in MALABAR.
440. ADEN, with the attempted Escalade under Alboquerque in 1513,
being the Reduced Facsimile of a large contemporary Wood
Engraving in the Map Department of the British Museum. (Size
of the original 42½ inches by 19⅛ inches.) Photolithographic
Reduction by Mr. G. B. PRAETORIUS, through the assistance of
_R. H. Major_, Esq.
474. Facsimile of the Letters sent to PHILIP the FAIR, King of
France, by ARGHÚN KHAN, in A.D. 1289, and by OLJAÏTU, in A.D.
1305, preserved in the Archives of France, and reproduced
from the _Recueil des Documents de l’Époque Mongole_ by kind
permission of H.H. Prince ROLAND BONAPARTE.
594. Some of the objects found by Dr. M. A. Stein, in Central Asia.
From a photograph kindly lent by the Traveller.
WOODCUTS PRINTED WITH THE TEXT.
BOOK SECOND.—PART SECOND.
_Page_
4. The BRIDGE of PULISANGHIN, the _Lu-ku-k’iao_ of the Chinese,
reduced from a large Chinese Engraving in the Geographical
work called _Ki-fu-thung-chi_ in the Paris Library. I owe the
indication of this, and of the Portrait of Kúblái Kaan in
vol. i. to notes in M. Pauthier’s edition.
5. The BRIDGE of PULISANGHIN. From the _Livre des Merveilles_.
8. BRIDGE of LU-KU-K’IAO. From a photograph by Count de SEMALLÉ.
9. BRIDGE of LU-KU-K’IAO. From a photograph by Count de SEMALLÉ.
19. The ROI D’OR. Professed Portrait of the Last of the _Altun
Khans_ or Kin Emperors of Cathay, from the (fragmentary)
Arabic Manuscript of _Rashiduddin’s History_ in the Library
of the Royal Asiatic Society. This Manuscript is supposed to
have been transcribed under the eye of Rashiduddin, and the
drawings were probably derived from Chinese originals.
26. Plan of Ki-chau, after Duhalde.
30. The CROSS incised at the head of the GREAT CHRISTIAN
INSCRIPTION of SI-NGAN FU (A.D. 781); actual size, from copy
of a pencil rubbing made on the original by the _Rev. J.
Lees_. Received from _Mr. A. Wylie_.
38. Diagram to elucidate the cities of Ch’êng-tu fu.
39. Plan of Ch’êng-tu. From MARCEL MONNIER’S _Tour d’Asie_, by kind
permission of M. PLON.
41. Bridge near Kwan-hsien (Ch’êng-tu). From MARCEL MONNIER’S _Tour
d’Asie_, by kind permission of M. PLON.
47. MOUNTAINEERS on the Borders of SZE-CH’WAN and TIBET, from one
of the illustrations to Lieut. Garnier’s Narrative (see p.
48). From _Tour du Monde_.
50. VILLAGE of EASTERN TIBET on Sze-ch’wan Frontier. From _Mr.
Cooper’s Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce_.
52. Example of ROADS on the TIBETAN FRONTIER of China (being
actually a view of the Gorge of the Lan t’sang Kiang). From
_Mr. Cooper’s Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce_.
55. The VALLEY of the KIN-SHA KIANG, near the lower end of the
CAINDU of Marco Polo. From Lieut. Garnier in the _Tour du
Monde_.
58. SALT PANS in Yun-nan. _From the same._
61. Black Lolo.
62. White Lolo. From DEVÉRIA’S _Frontière Sino-annamite_.
66. _Pa-y_ Script. From the _T’oung-Pao_.
68. Garden-House on the LAKE of YUN-NAN-FU, YACHI of Polo. From
_Lieut. Garnier_ in the _Tour du Monde_.
72. Road descending from the Table-Land of YUN-NAN into the VALLEY
of the KIN-SHA KIANG (the BRIUS of Polo). _From the same._
73. “A SARACEN of CARAJAN,” being the portrait of a Mahomedan
Mullah in Western Yun-nan. _From the same._
75. The Canal at YUN-NAN FU. From a photograph by M. TANNANT.
78. “Riding long like FRENCHMEN,” exemplified from the Bayeux
Tapestry. After Lacroix, _Vie Militaire du Moyen Age_.
83. The SANG-MIAU tribe of KWEI-CHAU, with the Cross-bow. From a
coloured drawing in a Chinese work on the Aboriginal Tribes,
belonging to _W. Lockhart, Esq._
90. Portraits of a KAKHYEN man and woman. Drawn by Q. CENNI from a
photograph (anonymous).
108. Temple called GAUDAPALÉN in the city of MIEN (_i.e._ Pagán in
Burma), erected _circa_ A.D. 1160. Engraving after a sketch
by the first Editor, from _Fergusson’s History of
Architecture_.
111. The PALACE of the KING of MIEN in modern times (viz., the
Palace at Amarapura). From the same, being partly from a
sketch by the first Editor.
118. Script _Pa-pe_. From the _T’oung-Pao_.
122. HO-NHI and other Tribes in the Department of Lin-ngan in S.
Yun-nan, supposed to be the _Anin_ country of Marco Polo.
From _Garnier_ in the _Tour du Monde_.
125. The KOLOMAN tribe, on borders of Kwei-chau and Yun-nan. From
coloured drawing in _Mr. Lockhart’s_ book as above (under p.
83).
129. Script _thaï_ of Xieng-hung. From the _T’oung-Pao_.
130. Iron SUSPENSION BRIDGE at Lowatong. From _Garnier_ in _Tour du
Monde_.
131. FORTIFIED VILLAGES on Western Frontier of KWEI-CHAU. _From the
same._
BOOK SECOND.—PART THIRD.
_Page_
155. YANG-CHAU: the three Cities under the Sung.
156. YANG-CHAU: the Great City under the Sung. From Chinese Plans
kindly sent to the present Editor by the late Father H.
Havret, S.J., Zi-ka-wei.
162. MEDIÆVAL ARTILLERY ENGINES. Figs, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, are
CHINESE. The first four are from the Encyclopædia
_San-Thsai-Thou-hoei_ (Paris Library), the last from _Amyot_,
vol. viii.
Figs. 6, 7, 8 are SARACEN, 6 and 7 are taken from the work of
_Reinaud and Favé, Du Feu Grégeois_, and by them from the
Arabic MS. of _Hassan al Raumah_ (_Arab Anc. Fonds_, No.
1127). Fig. 8 is from _Lord Munster’s Arabic Catalogue_ of
Military Works, and by him from a MS. of _Rashiduddin’s
History_.
The remainder are EUROPEAN. Fig. 9 is from _Pertz,
Scriptores_, vol. xviii., and by him from a figure of the
Siege of Arbicella, 1227, in a MS. of _Genoese Annals_ (No.
773, _Supp. Lat._ of _Bib. Imp._). Fig. 10 from _Shaw’s
Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages_, vol. i.,
No. 21, after _B. Mus. MS. Reg._ 16, _G._ vi. Fig. 11 from
_Pertz_ as above, under A.D. 1182. Fig. 12, from _Valturius
de Re Militari_, Verona, 1483. Figs. 13 and 14 from the
_Poliorceticon_ of _Justus Lipsius_. Fig. 15 is after the
Bodleian MS. of the Romance of Alexander (A.D. 1338), but is
taken from the _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 3rd ser. vol. vii.
p. 467. Fig. 16 from Lacroix’s _Art au Moyen Age_, after a
miniature of 13th cent. in the Paris Library. Figs. 17 and 18
from the Emperor Napoleon’s _Études de l’Artillerie_, and by
him taken from the MS. of _Paulus Santinus_ (Lat. MS. 7329 in
Paris Library). Fig. 19 from Professor Moseley’s restoration
of a Trebuchet, after the data in the Mediæval Note-book of
_Villars de Honcourt_, in _Gentleman’s Magazine_ as above.
Figs. 20 and 21 from the Emperor’s Book. Fig. 22 from a
German MS. in the Bern Library, the _Chronicle of Justinger
and Schilling_.
169. COIN from a treasure hidden during the siege of SIANG-YANG in
1268–73, and lately discovered in that city.
172. Island MONASTERIES on the YANG-TZŬ KIANG; viz.:—
1. _Uppermost_. The “Little Orphan Rock,” after a cut in
_Oliphant’s Narrative_.
2. _Middle_. The “Golden Island” near Chin-kiang fu, after
_Fisher’s China_. (This has been accidentally reversed in
the drawing.)
3. _Lower_. The “_Silver Island_,” below the last, after Mr.
Lindley’s book on the T’ai-P’ings.
177. The West Gate of CHIN-KIANG FU. From an engraving in _Fisher’s
China_ after a sketch made by _Admiral Stoddart_, R.N., in
1842.
183. South-West Gate and Water Gate of SU-CHAU; facsimile on half
scale from the incised Map of 1247. (See List of Inserted
Plates preceding, under p. 182.)
193. The old LUH-HO-TA or Pagoda of Six Harmonies near HANG-CHAU,
and anciently marking the extreme S.W. angle of the city.
Drawn by Q. CENNI from an anonymous photograph received from
the _Rev. G. Moule_.
196. Imperial City of HANG-CHAU in the 13th Century.
197. Metropolitan City of HANG-CHAU in the 13th Century. From the
Notes of the Right Rev. _G. E. Moule_.
209. _Fang_ of SI-NGAN FU. Communicated by _A. Wylie_.
212. Stone _Chwang_ or UMBRELLA COLUMN, one of two which still mark
the site of the ancient Buddhist Monastery called
_Fan-T’ien-Sze_ or “Brahma’s Temple” at Hang-chau. Reduced
from a pen-and-ink sketch by _Mr. Moule_.
223. Mr. PHILLIPS’ Theory of Marco Polo’s Route through Fo-Kien.
228. Scene in the BOHEA MOUNTAINS, on Polo’s route between Kiang-Si
and Fo-Kien. From _Fortune’s Three Years’ Wanderings_.
233. Scene on the MIN RIVER below Fu-chau. _From the same._
245. The KAAN’S FLEET leaving the Port of ZAYTON. The scenery is
taken from an engraving in _Fisher’s China_, purporting
to represent the mouth of the Chinchew River (or River of
Tswan-chau), after a sketch by _Capt._ (now Adm.) _Stoddart_.
But the Rev. Dr. Douglas, having pointed out that this cut
really supported _his_ view of the identity of Zayton, being
a view of the _Chang-chau_ River, reference was made to
Admiral Stoddart, and Dr. Douglas proves to be quite right.
The View was really one of the Chang-chau River; but the
Editor has not been able to procure material for one of the
Tswan-chau River, and so he leaves it.
BOOK THIRD
_Page_
248. The KAAN’S FLEET passing through the Indian ARCHIPELAGO. From a
drawing by the Editor.
254. Ancient JAPANESE EMPEROR, after a Native Drawing. From the
_Tour du Monde_.
257. Ancient JAPANESE ARCHER, after a native drawing. _From the
same._
261. The JAPANESE engaged in combat with the CHINESE, after an
ancient native drawing. From _Charton, Voyageurs Anciens et
Modernes_.
273. JAVA. A view in the interior. From a sketch of the slopes of
the Gedéh Volcano, taken by the Editor in 1860.
274. Bas Relief of one of the VESSELS frequenting the Ports of JAVA
in the Middle Ages. From one of the sculptures of the BORO
BODOR, after a photograph.
289. The three Asiatic RHINOCEROSES. Adapted from a proof of a
woodcut given to the Editor for the purpose by the late
eminent zoologist, _Edward Blyth_. It is not known to the
Editor whether the cut appeared in any other publication.
291. MONOCEROS and the MAIDEN. From a mediæval drawing engraved in
_Cahier et Martin, Mélanges d’Archéologie_, II. Pl. 30.
310. The BORÚS. From a manuscript belonging to the late CHARLES
SCHEFER, now in the _Bibliothèque Nationale_, Paris.
311. The CYNOCEPHALI. From the _Livre des Merveilles_.
321. ADAM’S PEAK from the Sea.
327. SAKYA MUNI as a Saint of the Roman Martyrology. Facsimile from
an old German version of the story of Barlaam and Josaphat
(_circa_ 1477), printed by Zainer at Augsburg, in the British
Museum.
330. TOOTH Reliques of BUDDHA. 1. At Kandy, after Emerson Tennent.
2. At Fu-chau, after Fortune.
336. “CHINESE PAGODA” (so called) at Negapatam. From a sketch taken
by _Sir Walter Elliot_, K.C.S.I., in 1846.
352. PAGODA at TANJORE. From _Fergusson’s History of Architecture_.
353. Ancient CROSS with Pehlvi Inscription, preserved in the church
on ST. THOMAS’S MOUNT near Madras. From a photograph, the
gift of A. Burnell, Esq., of the Madras Civil Service,
assisted by a lithographic drawing in his unpublished
pamphlet on Pehlvi Crosses in South India. _N.B._—The
lithograph has now appeared in the _Indian Antiquary_,
November, 1874.
356. The Little MOUNT of ST. THOMAS, near Madras. After _Daniel_.
358. Small Map of the ST. THOMAS localities at Madras.
378. Ancient Christian CHURCH at PARÚR or Palúr, on the Malabar
Coast; from an engraving in Pearson’s _Life of Claudius
Buchanan_, after a sketch by the latter.
379. SYRIAN CHURCH at Caranyachirra, showing the quasi-Jesuit Façade
generally adopted in modern times. From the _Life of Bishop
Daniel Wilson_.
379. INTERIOR of Syrian CHURCH at Kötteiyam. _From the same._
384. CAPE COMORIN. From an original sketch by Mr. FOOTE of the
Geological Survey of India.
387. MOUNT D’ELY. From a _nautical sketch of last century_.
393. Mediæval ARCHITECTURE in GUZERAT, being a view of Gateway at
Jinjawára, given in Forbes’s _Ras Mala_. From _Fergusson’s
History of Architecture_.
399. The GATES of SOMNATH (so called), as preserved in the British
Arsenal at Agra. From a photograph by Messrs. SHEPHERD and
BOURNE, converted into an elevation.
415. The RUKH, after a Persian drawing. From _Lane’s Arabian Nights_.
416. Frontispiece of A. Müller’s _Marco Polo_, showing the Bird
_Rukh_.
425. The ETHIOPIAN SHEEP. From a sketch by _Miss Catherine Frere_.
441. View of ADEN in 1840. From a sketch by Dr. R. KIRK in the
Map-room of the Royal Geographical Society.
447. The Harvest of FRANKINCENSE in Arabia. Facsimile of an
engraving in _Thevet’s Cosmographie Universelle_ (1575).
Reproduced from _Cassell’s Bible Educator_, by the courtesy
of the publishers.
448. BOSWELLIA FREREANA, from a drawing by Mr. W. H. FITCH. The use
of this engraving is granted by the India Museum through the
kindness of _Sir George Birdwood_.
453. A Persian BÁD-GÍR, or Wind-Catcher. From a drawing in the Atlas
to _Hommaire de Hell’s Persia_. Engraved by ADENEY.
BOOK FOURTH.
_Page_
478. Tomb of OLJAITU KHAN, the brother of Polo’s CASAN, at
Sultaniah. From _Fergusson’s History of Architecture_.
483. The Siberian DOG-SLEDGE. From the _Tour du Monde_.
489. Mediæval RUSSIAN Church. From _Fergusson’s History of
Architecture_.
493. Figure of a TARTAR under the Feet of Henry Duke of Silesia,
Cracow, and Poland, from the tomb at Breslau of that Prince,
killed in battle with the Tartar host, 9th April, 1241. After
a plate in _Schlesische Fürstenbilder des Mittelalters_,
Breslau, 1868.
501. Asiatic WARRIORS of Polo’s Age. From the MS. of Rashiduddin’s
History, noticed under cut at p. 19. Engraved by ADENEY.
APPENDICES.
_Page_
555. FIGURE of MARCO POLO, from the first printed edition of his
Book, published in German at Nuremberg 1477. Traced from a
copy in the Berlin Library. (This tracing was the gift of
_Mr. Samuel D. Horton_, of Cincinnati, through Mr. Marsh.)
595. Marco Polo’s rectified Itinerary from Khotan to Nia.
[Illustration: MARCO POLO in the Prison of Genoa.]
THE
BOOK OF MARCO POLO
BOOK II.—_CONTINUED_.
PART II.—JOURNEY TO THE WEST AND SOUTH-WEST OF CATHAY.
CHAPTER XXXV.
HERE BEGINS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERIOR OF CATHAY,
AND FIRST OF THE RIVER PULISANGHIN.
Now you must know that the Emperor sent the aforesaid Messer Marco
Polo, who is the author of this whole story, on business of his into
the Western Provinces. On that occasion he travelled from Cambaluc a
good four months’ journey towards the west.{1} And so now I will tell
you all that he saw on his travels as he went and returned.
When you leave the City of Cambaluc and have ridden ten miles, you
come to a very large river which is called PULISANGHIN, and flows into
the ocean, so that merchants with their merchandise ascend it from
the sea. Over this River there is a very fine stone bridge, so fine
indeed, that it has very few equals. The fashion of it is this: it is
300 paces in length, and it must have a good eight paces of width, for
ten mounted men can ride across it abreast. It has 24 arches and as
many water-mills, and ’tis all of very fine marble, well built and
firmly founded. Along the top of the bridge there is on either side a
parapet of marble slabs and columns, made in this way. At the beginning
of the bridge there is a marble column, and under it a marble lion,
so that the column stands upon the lion’s loins, whilst on the top of
the column there is a second marble lion, both being of great size and
beautifully executed sculpture. At the distance of a pace from this
column there is another precisely the same, also with its two lions,
and the space between them is closed with slabs of grey marble to
prevent people from falling over into the water. And thus the columns
run from space to space along either side of the bridge, so that
altogether it is a beautiful object.{2}
[Illustration: The Bridge of Pulisanghin. (Reduced from a Chinese
original.)
“=—et desus cest flum a un mout biaus pont de pieres: car sachiez qe
pont n’a en tout le monde de si biaus ne son pareil.=”]
NOTE 1.—[When Marco leaves the capital, he takes the main road,
the “Imperial Highway,” from Peking to Si-ngan fu, _viâ_ Pao-ting,
Cheng-ting, Hwai-luh, Taï-yuan, Ping-yang, and T’ung-kwan, on the
Yellow River. Mr. G. F. Eaton, writing from Han-chung (_Jour.
China Br. R. As. Soc._ XXVIII. No. 1) says it is a cart-road,
except for six days between Taï-yuan and Hwai-luh, and that it
takes twenty-nine days to go from Peking to Si-ngan, a figure
which agrees well with Polo’s distances; it is also the time which
Dr. Forke’s journey lasted; he left Peking on the 1st May, 1892,
reached Taï-yuan on the 12th, and arrived at Si-ngan on the 30th
(_Von Peking nach Ch’ang-an_). Mr. Rockhill left Peking on the
17th December, 1888, reached T’aï-yuan on the 26th, crossed the
Yellow River on the 5th January, and arrived at Si-ngan fu on the
8th January, 1889, in twenty-two days, a distance of 916 miles.
(_Land of the Lamas_, pp. 372–374.) M. Grenard left Si-ngan on
the 10th November and reached Peking on the 16th December, 1894 =
thirty-six days; he reckons 1389 kilometres = 863 miles. (See _Rev.
C. Holcombe, Tour through Shan-hsi and Shen-hsi_ in _Jour. North
China Br. R. A. S._ N. S. X. pp. 54–70.)—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—_Pul-i-Sangín_, the name which Marco gives the _River_,
means in Persian simply (as Marsden noticed) “The Stone Bridge.” In
a very different region the same name often occurs in the history
of Timur applied to a certain bridge, in the country north of
Badakhshan, over the Wakhsh branch of the Oxus. And the Turkish
admiral Sidi ’Ali, travelling that way from India in the 16th
century, applies the name, as it is applied here, to the river;
for his journal tells us that beyond Kuláb he crossed “the _River
Pulisangin_.”
[Illustration: _A Housselin d._
The Bridge of Pulisanghin. (From the _Livre des Merveilles_.)]
We may easily suppose, therefore, that near Cambaluc also,
the Bridge, first, and then the River, came to be known to
the Persian-speaking foreigners of the court and city by this
name. This supposition is however a little perplexed by the
circumstance that Rashiduddin calls the _River_ the _Sangín_, and
that _Sangkan_-Ho appears from the maps or citations of Martini,
Klaproth, Neumann, and Pauthier to have been one of the _Chinese_
names of the river, and indeed, Sankang is still the name of one of
the confluents forming the Hwan Ho.
[“By _Sanghin_, Polo renders the Chinese _Sang-kan_, by which name
the River Hun-ho is already mentioned, in the 6th century of our
era. _Hun-ho_ is also an ancient name; and the same river in
ancient books is often called _Lu-Kou_ River also. All these names
are in use up to the present time; but on modern Chinese maps, only
the upper part of the river is termed _Sang-Kan ho_, whilst south
of the inner Great Wall, and in the plain, the name of _Hun-ho_ is
applied to it. _Hun ho_ means “Muddy River,” and the term is quite
suitable. In the last century, the Emperor K’ien-lung ordered the
Hun-ho to be named _Yung-ting ho_, a name found on modern maps, but
the people always call it _Hun ho_.” (_Bretschneider, Peking_, p.
54.)—H. C.]
The River is that which appears in the maps as the Hwan Ho,
Hun-ho, or Yongting Ho, flowing about 7 miles west of Peking
towards the south-east and joining the Pe-Ho at Tientsin; and the
Bridge is that which has been known for ages as the _Lu-kou-K’iao_
or Bridge of Lukou, adjoining the town which is called in the
Russian map of Peking _Feuchen_, but in the official Chinese Atlas
_Kung-Keih-cheng_. (See Map at ch. xi. of Bk. II. in the first
Volume.) [“Before arriving at the bridge the small walled city
of _Kung-ki cheng_ is passed. This was founded in the first half
of the 17th century. The people generally call it _Fei-ch’eng_.”
(_Bretschneider, Peking_, p. 50.)—H. C.] It is described both by
Magaillans and Lecomte, with some curious discrepancies, whilst
each affords particulars corroborative of Polo’s account of the
character of the bridge. The former calls it the finest bridge in
China. Lecomte’s account says the bridge was the finest he had yet
seen. “It is above 170 geometrical paces (850 feet) in length.
The arches are small, but the rails or side-walls are made of a
hard whitish stone resembling marble. These stones are more than 5
feet long, 3 feet high, and 7 or 8 inches thick; supported at each
end by pilasters adorned with mouldings and bearing the figures
of lions.... The bridge is paved with great flat stones, so well
joined that it is even as a floor.”
Magaillans thinks Polo’s memory partially misled him, and that
his description applies more correctly to another bridge on the
same road, but some distance further west, over the Lieu-li Ho.
For the bridge over the Hwan Ho had really but _thirteen_ arches,
whereas that on the Lieu-li had, as Polo specifies, twenty-four.
The engraving which we give of the Lu-kou K’iao from a Chinese work
confirms this statement, for it shows but thirteen arches. And
what Polo says of the navigation of the river is almost conclusive
proof that Magaillans is right, and that our traveller’s memory
confounded the two bridges. For the navigation of the Hwan Ho, even
when its channel is full, is said to be impracticable on account of
rapids, whilst the Lieu-li Ho, or “Glass River,” is, as its name
implies, smooth, and navigable, and it is largely navigated by
boats from the coal-mines of Fang-shan. The road crosses the latter
about two leagues from Cho-chau. (See next chapter.)
[The Rev. W. S. Ament (_M. Polo in Cambaluc_, p. 116–117) remarks
regarding Yule’s quotation from Magaillans that “a glance at
Chinese history would have explained to these gentlemen that there
was no stone bridge over the Liu Li river till the days of Kia
Tsing, the Ming Emperor, 1522 A.D., or more than one hundred and
fifty years after Polo was dead. Hence he could not have confounded
bridges, one of which he never saw. The Lu Kou Bridge was first
constructed of stone by She Tsung, fourth Emperor of the Kin, in
the period Ta Ting 1189 A.D., and was finished by Chang Tsung 1194
A.D. Before that time it had been constructed of wood, and had been
sometimes a stationary and often a floating bridge. The oldest
account [end of 16th century] states that the bridge was pu 200
in length, and specifically states that each pu was 5 feet, thus
making the bridge 1000 feet long. It was called the Kuan Li Bridge.
The Emperor, Kia Tsing of the Ming, was a great bridge builder. He
reconstructed this bridge, adding strong embankments to prevent
injury by floods. He also built the fine bridge over the Liu Li Ho,
the Cho Chou Bridge over the Chü Ma Ho. What cannot be explained
is Polo’s statement that the bridge had twenty-four arches, when
the oldest accounts give no more than thirteen, there being eleven
at the present time. The columns which supported the balustrade in
Polo’s time rested upon the loins of sculptured lions. The account
of the lions after the bridge was repaired by Kia Tsing says that
there are so many that it is impossible to count them correctly,
and gossip about the bridge says that several persons have lost
their minds in making the attempt. The little walled city on the
east end of the bridge, rightly called Kung Chi, popularly called
Fei Ch’eng, is a monument to Ts’ung Chêng, the last of the Ming,
who built it, hoping to check the advance of Li Tzu ch’eng, the
great robber chief who finally proved too strong for him.”—H. C.]
[Illustration: Bridge of Lu-ku k’iao.]
The Bridge of Lu-kou is mentioned more than once in the history
of the conquest of North China by Chinghiz. It was the scene of a
notable mutiny of the troops of the _Kin_ Dynasty in 1215, which
induced Chinghiz to break a treaty just concluded, and led to his
capture of Peking.
This bridge was begun, according to Klaproth, in 1189, and was five
years a-building. On the 17th August, 1688, as Magaillans tells
us, a great flood carried away two arches of the bridge, and the
remainder soon fell. [Father Intorcetta, quoted by Bretschneider
(_Peking_, p. 53), gives the 25th of July, 1668, as the date of
the destruction of the bridge, which agrees well with the Chinese
accounts.—H. C.] The bridge was renewed, but with only nine arches
instead of thirteen, as appears from the following note of personal
observation with which Dr. Lockhart has favoured me:
“At 27 _li_ from Peking, by the western road leaving the gate of
the Chinese city called Kwang-’an-măn, after passing the old walled
town of Feuchen, you reach the bridge of _Lo-Ku-Kiao_. As it now
stands it is a very long bridge of nine arches (real _arches_)
spanning the valley of the Hwan Ho, and surrounded by beautiful
scenery. The bridge is built of green sandstone, and has a good
balustrade with short square pilasters crowned by small lions. It
is in very good repair, and has a ceaseless traffic, being on the
road to the coal-mines which supply the city. There is a pavilion
at each end of the bridge with inscriptions, the one recording
that K’ang-hi (1662–1723) _built_ the bridge, and the other that
Kienlung (1736–1796) _repaired_ it.” These circumstances are
strictly consistent with Magaillans’ account of the destruction of
the mediæval bridge. Williamson describes the present bridge as
about 700 feet long, and 12 feet wide in the middle part.
[Dr. Bretschneider saw the bridge, and gives the following
description of it: “The bridge is 350 ordinary paces long and 18
broad. It is built of sandstone, and has on either side a stone
balustrade of square columns, about 4 feet high, 140 on each
side, each crowned by a sculptured lion over a foot high. Beside
these there are a number of smaller lions placed irregularly on
the necks, behind the legs, under the feet, or on the back of the
larger ones. The space between the columns is closed by stone
slabs. Four sculptured stone elephants lean with their foreheads
against the edge of the balustrades. The bridge is supported
by eleven arches. At each end of the bridge two pavilions with
yellow roofs have been built, all with large marble tablets in
them; two with inscriptions made by order of the Emperor K’ang-hi
(1662–1723); and two with inscriptions of the time of K’ien-lung
(1736–1796). On these tablets the history of the bridge is
recorded.” Dr. Bretschneider adds that Dr. Lockhart is also right
in counting nine arches, for he counts only the waterways, not the
arches resting upon the banks of the river. Dr. Forke (p. 5) counts
11 arches and 280 stone lions.—H. C.]
(_P. de la Croix_, II. 11, etc.; _Erskine’s Baber_, p. xxxiii.;
_Timour’s Institutes_, 70; _J. As._ IX. 205; _Cathay_, 260;
_Magaillans_, 14–18, 35; _Lecomte_ in _Astley_, III. 529; _J. As._
sér. II. tom. i. 97–98; _D’Ohsson_, I. 144.)
[Illustration: Bridge of Lu-ku k’iao.]
CHAPTER XXXVI.
ACCOUNT OF THE CITY OF JUJU.
When you leave the Bridge, and ride towards the west, finding all the
way excellent hostelries for travellers, with fine vineyards, fields,
and gardens, and springs of water, you come after 30 miles to a fine
large city called JUJU, where there are many abbeys of idolaters, and
the people live by trade and manufactures. They weave cloths of silk
and gold, and very fine taffetas.{1} Here too there are many hostelries
for travellers.{2}
After riding a mile beyond this city you find two roads, one of which
goes west and the other south-east. The westerly road is that through
Cathay, and the south-easterly one goes towards the province of
Manzi.{3}
Taking the westerly one through Cathay, and travelling by it for ten
days, you find a constant succession of cities and boroughs, with
numerous thriving villages, all abounding with trade and manufactures,
besides the fine fields and vineyards and dwellings of civilized
people; but nothing occurs worthy of special mention; and so I will
only speak of a kingdom called TAIANFU.
NOTE 1.—The word is _sendaus_ (Pauthier), pl. of _sendal_, and in
G. T. _sandal_. It does not seem perfectly known what this silk
texture was, but as banners were made of it, and linings for richer
stuffs, it appears to have been a light material, and is generally
rendered _taffetas_. In _Richard Cœur de Lion_ we find
“Many a pencel of sykelatoun
And of sendel of grene and broun,”
and also _pavilions_ of sendel; and in the Anglo-French ballad of
the death of William Earl of Salisbury in St. Lewis’s battle on the
Nile—
“Le Meister du Temple brace les chivaux
Et le Count Long-Espée depli les _sandaux_.”
The oriflamme of France was made of _cendal_. Chaucer couples
taffetas and sendal. His “Doctor of Physic”
“In sanguin and in persë clad was allë,
Linëd with taffata and with sendallë.”
[La Curne, _Dict., s.v. Sendaus_ has: Silk stuff: “Somme de
la delivrance des _sendaus_.” (_Nouv. Compt. de l’Arg._ p.
19).—Godefroy, _Dict._, gives: “_Sendain_, adj., made with the
stuff called cendal: Drap d’or _sendains_ (1392, _Test. de Blanche,
duch d’Orl._, Ste-Croix, Arch. Loiret).” He says _s.v._ CENDAL,
“_cendau, cendral, cendel, ... sendail_, ... étoffe légère de soie
unie qui paraît avoir été analogue au taffetas.” “‘On faisait des
_cendaux_ forts ou faibles, et on leur donnait toute sorte de
couleurs. On s’en servait surtout pour vêtements et corsets, pour
doublures de draps, de fourrures et d’autres étoffes de soie plus
précieuses, enfin pour tenture d’appartements.’ (_Bourquelot, Foir.
de Champ._ I. 261).”
“J’ay de toilles de mainte guise,
De sidonnes et de _cendaulx_.
Soyes, satins blancs et vermaulx.”
—_Greban, Mist. de la Pass._, 26826, _G. Paris_.—H. C.]
The origin of the word seems also somewhat doubtful. The word Σενδἑς
occurs in _Constant. Porphyrog. de Ceremoniis_ (Bonn, ed. I. 468),
and this looks like a transfer of the Arabic _Săndăs_ or _Sundus_,
which is applied by Bakui to the silk fabrics of Yezd. (_Not. et
Ext._ II. 469.) Reiske thinks this is the origin of the Frank word,
and connects its etymology with Sind. Others think that _sendal_
and the other forms are modifications of the ancient _Sindon_, and
this is Mr. Marsh’s view. (See also _Fr.-Michel, Recherches, etc._
I. 212; _Dict. des Tissus_, II. 171 _seqq._)
NOTE 2.—JÚJÚ is precisely the name given to this city by
Rashiduddin, who notices the vineyards. Juju is CHO-CHAU, just at
the distance specified from Peking, viz. 40 miles, and nearly 30
from Pulisanghin or Lu-kou K’iao. The name of the town is printed
_Tsochow_ by Mr. Williamson, and _Chechow_ in a late Report of a
journey by Consul Oxenham. He calls it “a large town of the second
order, situated on the banks of a small river flowing towards the
south-east, viz. the Kiu-ma-Ho, a navigable stream. It had the
appearance of being a place of considerable trade, and the streets
were crowded with people.” (_Reports of Journeys in China and
Japan_, etc. Presented to Parliament, 1869, p. 9.) The place is
called _Jújú_ also in the Persian itinerary given by ’Izzat Ullah
in _J. R. A. S._ VII. 308; and in one procured by Mr. Shaw. (_Proc.
R. G. S._ XVI. p. 253.)
[The Rev. W. S. Ament (_Marco Polo_, 119–120) writes, “the
historian of the city of Cho-chau sounds the praises of the
people for their religious spirit. He says:—‘It was the custom
of the ancients to worship those who were before them. Thus
students worshipped their instructors, farmers worshipped the
first husbandman, workers in silk, the original silk-worker.
Thus when calamities come upon the land, the virtuous among the
people make offerings to the spirits of earth and heaven, the
mountains, rivers, streams, etc. All these things are profitable.
These customs should never be forgotten.’ After such instruction,
we are prepared to find fifty-eight temples of every variety in
this little city of about 20,000 inhabitants. There is a temple
to the spirits of Wind, Clouds, Thunder, and Rain, to the god of
silk-workers, to the Horse-god, to the god of locusts, and the
eight destructive insects, to the Five Dragons, to the King who
quiets the waves. Besides these, there are all the orthodox temples
to the ancient worthies, and some modern heroes. Liu Pei and Chang
Fei, two of the three great heroes of the _San Kuo Chih_, being
natives of Cho Chou, are each honoured with two temples, one in
the native village, and one in the city. It is not often that one
locality can give to a great empire two of its three most popular
heroes: Liu Pei, Chang Fei, Kuan Yu.”
“Judging from the condition of the country,” writes the Rev. W. S.
Ament (p. 120), “one could hardly believe that this general region
was the original home of the silk-worm, and doubtless the people
who once lived here are the only people who ever saw the silk-worm
in his wild state. The historian of Cho-Chou honestly remarks that
he knows of no reason why the production of silk should have ceased
there, except the fact that the worms refused to live there.... The
palmy days of the silk industry were in the T’ang dynasty.”—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—“About a _li_ from the southern suburbs of this town,
the great road to Shantung and the south-east diverged, causing
an immediate diminution in the number of carts and travellers”
(_Oxenham_). [From Peking “to Cheng-ting fu”, says Colonel Bell
(_Proc. R. G. S._, XII. 1890, p. 58), “the route followed is the
Great Southern highway; here the Great Central Asian highway leaves
it.” The Rev. W. S. Ament says (_l.c._, 121) about the bifurcation
of the road, one branch going on south-west to Pao-Ting fu and
Shan-si, and one branch to Shantung and Ho-nan: “The union of
the two roads at this point, bringing the travel and traffic of
ten provinces, makes Cho Chou one of the most important cities
in the Empire. The magistrate of this district is the only one,
so far as we know, in the Empire who is relieved of the duty of
welcoming and escorting transient officers. It was the multiplicity
of such duties, so harassing, that persuaded Fang Kuan-ch’eng to
write the couplet on one of the city gateways: _Jih pien ch’ung
yao, wu shuang ti: T’ien hsia fan nan, ti yi Chou_. ‘In all the
world, there is no place so public as this: for multiplied cares
and trials, this is the first Chou.’ The people of Cho-Chou, of
old celebrated for their religious spirit, are now well known for
their literary enterprise.”—H. C.] This bifurcation of the roads
is a notable point in Polo’s book. For after following the western
road through Cathay, _i.e._ the northern provinces of China, to
the borders of Tibet and the Indo-Chinese regions, our traveller
will return, whimsically enough, not to the capital to take a fresh
departure, but to this bifurcation outside of Chochau, and thence
carry us south with him to Manzi, or China south of the Yellow
River.
Of a part of the road of which Polo speaks in the latter part of
the chapter Williamson says: “The drive was a very beautiful one.
Not only were the many villages almost hidden by foliage, but the
road itself hereabouts is lined with trees.... The effect was to
make the journey like a ramble through the avenues of some English
park.” Beyond Tingchau however the country becomes more barren. (I.
268.)
CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE KINGDOM OF TAIANFU.
After riding then those ten days from the city of Juju, you find
yourself in a kingdom called TAIANFU, and the city at which you arrive,
which is the capital, is also called Taianfu, a very great and fine
city. [But at the end of five days’ journey out of those ten, they say
there is a city unusually large and handsome called ACBALUC, whereat
terminate in this direction the hunting preserves of the Emperor,
within which no one dares to sport except the Emperor and his family,
and those who are on the books of the Grand Falconer. Beyond this limit
any one is at liberty to sport, if he be a gentleman. The Great Kaan,
however, scarcely ever went hunting in this direction, and hence the
game, particularly the hares, had increased and multiplied to such an
extent that all the crops of the Province were destroyed. The Great
Kaan being informed of this, proceeded thither with all his Court, and
the game that was taken was past counting.]{1}
Taianfu{2} is a place of great trade and great industry, for here they
manufacture a large quantity of the most necessary equipments for the
army of the Emperor. There grow here many excellent vines, supplying
great plenty of wine; and in all Cathay this is the only place where
wine is produced. It is carried hence all over the country.{3} There is
also a great deal of silk here, for the people have great quantities of
mulberry-trees and silk-worms.
From this city of Taianfu you ride westward again for seven days,
through fine districts with plenty of towns and boroughs, all enjoying
much trade and practising various kinds of industry. Out of these
districts go forth not a few great merchants, who travel to India and
other foreign regions, buying and selling and getting gain. After
those seven days’ journey you arrive at a city called PIANFU, a large
and important place, with a number of traders living by commerce and
industry. It is a place too where silk is largely produced.{4}
So we will leave it and tell you of a great city called Cachanfu. But
stay—first let us tell you about the noble castle called Caichu.
NOTE 1.—Marsden translates the commencement of this passage, which
is peculiar to Ramusio, and runs “_E in capo di cinque giornate
delle predette dieci_,” by the words “At the end of five days’
journey _beyond_ the ten,” but this is clearly wrong.[1] The place
best suiting in position, as halfway between Cho-chau and T’ai-yuan
fu, would be CHENG-TING FU, and I have little doubt that this
is the place intended. The title of _Ak-Báligh_ in Turki,[2] or
_Chaghán Balghásun_ in Mongol, meaning “White City,” was applied
by the Tartars to Royal Residences; and possibly Cheng-ting fu
may have had such a claim, for I observe in the _Annales de la
Prop. de la Foi_ (xxxiii. 387) that in 1862 the Chinese Government
granted to the R. C. Vicar-Apostolic of Chihli the ruined _Imperial
Palace_ at Cheng-ting fu for his cathedral and other mission
establishments. Moreover, as a matter of fact, Rashiduddin’s
account of Chinghiz’s campaign in northern China in 1214, speaks of
the city of “Chaghan Balghasun which the Chinese call _Jintzinfu_.”
This is almost exactly the way in which the name of Cheng-ting fu
is represented in ’Izzat Ullah’s Persian Itinerary (_Jigdzinfu_,
evidently a clerical error for _Jingdzinfu_), so I think there
can be little doubt that Cheng-ting fu is the place intended. The
name of Hwai-luh’ien (see Note 2), which is the first stage beyond
Cheng-ting fu, is said to mean the “Deer-lair,” pointing apparently
to the old character of the tract as a game-preserve. The city of
Cheng-ting is described by Consul Oxenham as being now in a decayed
and dilapidated condition, consisting only of two long streets
crossing at right angles. It is noted for the manufacture of images
of Buddha from Shan-si iron. (_Consular Reports_, p. 10; _Erdmann_,
331.)
[The main road turns due west at Cheng-ting fu, and enters Shan-si
through what is known among Chinese travellers as the Ku-kwan,
Customs’ Barrier.—H. C.]
Between Cheng-ting fu and T’ai-yuan fu the traveller first crosses
a high and rugged range of mountains, and then ascends by narrow
defiles to the plateau of Shan-si. But of these features Polo’s
excessive condensation takes no notice.
The traveller who quits the great plain of Chihli [which terminates
at Fu-ch’eng-i, a small market-town, two days from Pao-ting.—H. C.]
for “the kingdom of Taianfu,” _i.e._ Northern Shan-si, enters a
tract in which predominates that very remarkable formation called
by the Chinese _Hwang-tu_, and to which the German name _Löss_ has
been attached. With this formation are bound up the distinguishing
characters of Northern Interior China, not merely in scenery but
in agricultural products, dwellings, and means of transport.
This _Löss_ is a brownish-yellow loam, highly porous, spreading
over low and high ground alike, smoothing over irregularities of
surface, and often more than 1000 feet in thickness. It has no
stratification, but tends to cleave vertically, and is traversed in
every direction by sudden crevices, almost glacier-like, narrow,
with vertical walls of great depth, and infinite ramification.
Smooth as the löss basin looks in a bird’s-eye view, it is thus
one of the most impracticable countries conceivable for military
movements, and secures extraordinary value to fortresses in
well-chosen sites, such as that of Tung-kwan mentioned in Note 2 to
chap. xli.
Agriculture may be said in N. China to be confined to the alluvial
plains and the löss; as in S. China to the alluvial plains and
the terraced hill-sides. The löss has some peculiar quality which
renders its productive power self-renewing without manure (unless
it be in the form of a surface coat of fresh löss), and unfailing
in returns if there be sufficient rain. This singular formation is
supposed by Baron Richthofen, who has studied it more extensively
than any one, to be no subaqueous deposit, but to be the
accumulated residue of countless generations of herbaceous plants
combined with a large amount of material spread over the face of
the ground by the winds and surface waters.
[I do not agree with the theory of Baron von Richthofen, of the
almost exclusive Eolian formation of _loess_; water has something
to do with it as well as wind, and I think it is more exact to say
that loess _in China_ is due to a double action, Neptunian as well
as Eolian. The climate was different in former ages from what it
is now, and rain was plentiful and to its great quantity was due
the fertility of this yellow soil. (Cf. _A. de Lapparent, Leçons de
Géographie Physique_, 2ᵉ éd. 1898, p. 566.)—H. C.]
Though we do not expect to find Polo taking note of geological
features, we are surprised to find no mention of a characteristic
of Shan-si and the adjoining districts, which is due to the _löss_;
viz. the practice of forming cave dwellings in it; these in fact
form the habitations of a majority of the people in the löss
country. Polo _has_ noticed a similar usage in Badakhshan (I. p.
161), and it will be curious if a better acquaintance with that
region should disclose a surface formation analogous to the _löss_.
(_Richthofen’s Letters_, VII. 13 _et passim_.)
NOTE 2.—Taianfu is, as Magaillans pointed out, T’AI-YUAN FU, the
capital of the Province of Shan-si, and Shan-si is the “Kingdom.”
The city was, however, the capital of the great T’ang Dynasty for a
time in the 8th century, and is probably the _Tájah_ or _Taiyúnah_
of old Arab writers. Mr. Williamson speaks of it as a very pleasant
city at the north end of a most fertile and beautiful plain,
between two noble ranges of mountains. It was a residence, he
says, also of the Ming princes, and is laid out in Peking fashion,
even to mimicking the Coal-Hill and Lake of the Imperial Gardens.
It stands about 3000 feet above the sea [on the left bank of the
Fen-ho.—H. C.]. There is still an Imperial factory of artillery,
matchlocks, etc., as well as a powder mill; and fine carpets like
those of Turkey are also manufactured. The city is not, however,
now, according to Baron Richthofen, very populous, and conveys no
impression of wealth or commercial importance. [In an interesting
article on this city, the Rev. G. B. Farthing writes (_North China
Herald_, 7th September, 1894): “The configuration of the ground
enclosed by T’ai-yuan fu city is that of a ‘three times to stretch
recumbent cow.’ The site was chosen and described by Li Chun-feng,
a celebrated professor of geomancy in the days of the T’angs, who
lived during the reign of the Emperor T’ai Tsung of that ilk. The
city having been then founded, its history reaches back to that
date. Since that time the cow has stretched twice.... T’ai-yuan
city is square, and surrounded by a wall of earth, of which the
outer face is bricked. The height of the wall varies from thirty to
fifty feet, and it is so broad that two carriages could easily pass
one another upon it. The natives would tell you that each of the
sides is three miles, thirteen paces in length, but this, possibly,
includes what it will be when the cow shall have stretched for the
third and last time. Two miles is the length of each side; eight
miles to tramp if you wish to go round the four of them.”—H. C.]
The district used to be much noted for cutlery and hardware, iron
as well as coal being abundantly produced in Shan-si. Apparently
the present Birmingham of this region is a town called Hwai-lu, or
Hwo-luh’ien, about 20 miles west of Cheng-ting fu, and just on the
western verge of the great plain of Chihli. [Regarding Hwai-lu,
the Rev. C. Holcombe calls it “a miserable town lying among the
foot hills, and at the mouth of the valley, up which the road into
Shan-si lies.” He writes (p. 59) that Ping-ting chau, after the
Customs’ barrier (Ku Kwan) between Chih-li and Shan-si, would,
under any proper system of management, at no distant day become
the Pittsburg, or Birmingham, of China.—H. C.] (_Richthofen’s
Letters_, No. VII. 20; _Cathay_, xcvii. cxiii. cxciv.; _Rennie_,
II. 265; _Williamson’s Journeys in North China; Oxenham_, u.s.
11; _Klaproth_ in _J. As._ sér. II. tom. i. 100; _Izzat Ullah’s
Pers. Itin._ in _J. R. A. S._ VII. 307; _Forke, Von Peking nach
Ch’ang-an_, p. 23.)
[“From Khavailu (Hwo-luh’ien), an important commercial centre
supplying Shansi, for 130 miles to Sze-tien, the road traverses
the loess hills, which extend from the Peking-Kalgan road in a
south-west direction to the Yellow River, and which are passable
throughout this length only by the Great Central Asian trade
route to T’ai-yuan fu and by the Tung-Kwan, Ho-nan, _i.e._ the
Yellow River route.” (_Colonel Bell, Proc. R. G. S._ XII. 1890, p.
59.) Colonel Bell reckons seven days (218 miles) from Peking to
Hwo-lu-h’ien and five days from this place to T’ai-yuan fu.—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—Martini observes that the grapes in Shan-si were very
abundant and the best in China. The Chinese used them only as
raisins, but wine was made there for the use of the early Jesuit
Missions, and their successors continue to make it. Klaproth,
however, tells us that the wine of T’ai-yuan fu was celebrated
in the days of the T’ang Dynasty, and used to be sent in tribute
to the Emperors. Under the Mongols the use of this wine spread
greatly. The founder of the Ming accepted the offering of wine
of the vine from T’ai-yuan in 1373, but prohibited its being
presented again. The finest grapes are produced in the district
of Yukau-hien, where hills shield the plain from north winds,
and convert it into a garden many square miles in extent. In the
vintage season the best grapes sell for less than a farthing a
pound. [Mr. Theos. Sampson, in an article on “Grapes in China,”
writes (_Notes and Queries on China and Japan_, April, 1869, p.
50): “The earliest mention of the grape in Chinese literature
appears to be contained in the chapter on the nations of Central
Asia, entitled _Ta Yuan Chwan_, or description of Fergana, which
forms part of the historical records (_Sze-Ki_) of Sze-ma Tsien,
dating from B.C. 100. Writing of the political relations instituted
shortly before this date by the Emperor Wu Ti with the nations
beyond the Western frontiers of China, the historian dwells at
considerable length, but unluckily with much obscurity, on the
various missions despatched westward under the leadership of Chang
K’ien and others, and mentions the grape vine in the following
passage:—‘Throughout the country of Fergana, wine is made from
grapes, and the wealthy lay up stores of wine, many tens of
thousands of _shih_ in amount, which may be kept for scores of
years without spoiling. Wine is the common beverage, and for horses
the _mu-su_ is the ordinary pasture. The envoys from China brought
back seeds with them, and hereupon the Emperor for the first time
cultivated the grape and the mu-su in the most productive soils.’
In the Description of Western regions, forming part of the History
of the Han Dynasty, it is stated that grapes are abundantly
produced in the country of K’i-pin (identified with Cophene, part
of modern Afghanistan) and other adjacent countries, and referring,
if I mistake not, to the journeys of Chang K’ien, the same work
says, that the Emperor Wu-Ti despatched upwards of ten envoys to
the various countries westward of Fergana, to search for novelties,
and that they returned with grape and mu-su seeds. These references
appear beyond question to determine the fact that grapes were
introduced from Western—or, as we term it, Central—Asia, by Chang
K’ien.”
Dr. Bretschneider (_Botanicon Sinicum_, I. p. 25), relating the
mission of Chang K’ien (139 B.C. Emperor Wu-Ti), who died about
B.C. 103, writes:—“He is said to have introduced many useful plants
from Western Asia into China. Ancient Chinese authors ascribe to
him the introduction of the Vine, the Pomegranate, Safflower, the
Common Bean, the Cucumber, Lucerne, Coriander, the Walnut-tree, and
other plants.”—H. C.] The river that flows down from Shan-si by
Cheng-ting-fu is called “Putu-ho, or the Grape River.” (_J. As._
u.s.; _Richthofen_, u.s.)
[Regarding the name of this river, the Rev. C. Holcombe (_l.c._ p.
56) writes: “Williamson states in his _Journeys in North China_
that the name of this stream is, properly _Poo-too Ho_—‘Grape
River,’ but is sometimes written Hu-t’ou River incorrectly. The
above named author, however, is himself in error, the name given
above [_Hu-t’o_] being invariably found in all Chinese authorities,
as well as being the name by which the stream is known all along
its course.”
West of the Fan River, along the western border of the Central
Plain of Shan-si, in the extreme northern point of which lies
T’aï-yuan fu, the Rev. C. Holcombe says (p. 61), “is a large
area, close under the hills, almost exclusively given up to the
cultivation of the grape. The grapes are unusually large, and of
delicious flavour.”—H. C.]
NOTE 4.—✛In no part of China probably, says Richthofen, do the
towns and villages consist of houses so substantial and costly
as in this. Pianfu is undoubtedly, as Magaillans again notices,
P’ING-YANG FU.[3] It is the _Bikan_ of Shah Rukh’s ambassadors.
[Old P’ing yang, 5 _lis_ to the south] is said to have been the
residence of the primitive and mythical Chinese Emperor Yao. A
great college for the education of the Mongols was instituted at
P’ing-yang, by Yeliu Chutsai, the enlightened minister of Okkodai
Khan. [Its dialect differs from the T’aï-yuan dialect, and is more
like Pekingese.] The city, lying in a broad valley covered with
the yellow löss, was destroyed by the T’aï-P’ing rebels, but it
is reviving. [It is known for its black pottery.] The vicinity is
noted for large paper factories. [“From T’ai-yuan fu to P’ing-yang
fu is a journey of 185 miles, down the valley of the Fuen-ho.”
(Colonel Bell, _Proc. R. G. S._ XII. 1890, p. 61.) By the way, Mr.
Rockhill remarks (_Land of the Lamas_, p. 10): “Richthofen has
transcribed the name of this river _Fuen_. This spelling has been
adopted on most of the recent maps, both German and English, but
_Fuen_ is an impossible sound in Chinese.” (Read _Fen ho_.)—H.
C.] (_Cathay_, ccxi.; _Ritter_, IV. 516; _D’Ohsson_, II. 70;
_Williamson_, I. 336.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] And I see Ritter understood the passage as I do (IV. 515).
[2] _Báligh_ is indeed properly Mongol.
[3] It seems to be called _Piyingfu_ (miswritten Piying_ku_) in Mr.
Shaw’s _Itinerary_ from Yarkand (_Pr. R. G. S._ XVI. 253.) We often
find the Western modifications of Chinese names very persistent.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
CONCERNING THE CASTLE OF CAICHU.
On leaving Pianfu you ride two days westward, and come to the noble
castle of CAICHU, which was built in time past by a king of that
country, whom they used to call the GOLDEN KING, and who had there a
great and beautiful palace. There is a great hall of this palace, in
which are pourtrayed all the ancient kings of the country, done in gold
and other beautiful colours, and a very fine sight they make. Each king
in succession as he reigned added to those pictures.{1}
[This Golden King was a great and potent Prince, and during his stay at
this place there used to be in his service none but beautiful girls,
of whom he had a great number in his Court. When he went to take the
air about the fortress, these girls used to draw him about in a little
carriage which they could easily move, and they would also be in
attendance on the King for everything pertaining to his convenience or
pleasure.{2}]
Now I will tell you a pretty passage that befell between the Golden
King and Prester John, as it was related by the people of the Castle.
It came to pass, as they told the tale, that this Golden King was at
war with Prester John. And the King held a position so strong that
Prester John was not able to get at him or to do him any scathe;
wherefore he was in great wrath. So seventeen gallants belonging to
Prester John’s Court came to him in a body, and said that, an he would,
they were ready to bring him the Golden King alive. His answer was,
that he desired nothing better, and would be much bounden to them if
they would do so.
So when they had taken leave of their Lord and Master Prester John,
they set off together, this goodly company of gallants, and went to
the Golden King, and presented themselves before him, saying that they
had come from foreign parts to enter his service. And he answered by
telling them that they were right welcome, and that he was glad to have
their service, never imagining that they had any ill intent. And so
these mischievous squires took service with the Golden King; and served
him so well that he grew to love them dearly.
And when they had abode with that King nearly two years, conducting
themselves like persons who thought of anything but treason, they one
day accompanied the King on a pleasure party when he had very few else
along with him: for in those gallants the King had perfect trust, and
thus kept them immediately about his person. So after they had crossed
a certain river that is about a mile from the castle, and saw that they
were alone with the King, they said one to another that now was the
time to achieve that they had come for. Then they all incontinently
drew, and told the King that he must go with them and make no
resistance, or they would slay him. The King at this was in alarm and
great astonishment, and said: “How then, good my sons, what thing is
this ye say? and whither would ye have me go?” They answered, and said:
“You shall come with us, will ye, nill ye, to Prester John our Lord.”
NOTE 1.—The name of the castle is very doubtful. But of that and
the geography, which in this part is tangled, we shall speak
further on.
Whilst the original French texts were unknown, the king here spoken
of figured in the old Latin versions as King _Darius_, and in
Ramusio as _Re Dor_. It was a most happy suggestion of Marsden’s,
in absence of all knowledge of the fact that the original narrative
was _French_, that this Dor represented the Emperor of the _Kin_ or
Golden Dynasty, called by the Mongols _Altun Khán_, of which _Roi
D’Or_ is a literal translation.
[Illustration: The “Roi d’Or.” (From a MS. in the Royal Asiatic
Society’s Collection.)
“=Et en ceste chastiaus ha un mout biaus paleis en quel a une
grandisme sale là ou il sunt portrait à mout belles pointures tout
les rois de celes provences que furent ansienemant, et ce est mout
belle viste à voir.=”]
Of the legend itself I can find no trace. Rashiduddin relates
a story of the grandfather of Aung Khan (Polo’s Prester John),
Merghuz Boirúk Khan, being treacherously made over to the King of
the Churché (the Kin sovereign), and put to death by being nailed
to a wooden ass. But the same author tells us that Aung Khan got
his title of Aung (Ch. _Wang_) or king from the Kin Emperor of his
day, so that no hereditary feud seems deducible.
Mr. Wylie, who is of opinion, like Baron Richthofen, that the
_Caichu_ which Polo makes the scene of that story, is Kiai-chau (or
Hiai-chau as it seems to be pronounced), north of the Yellow River,
has been good enough to search the histories of the Liao and Kin
Dynasties,[1] but without finding any trace of such a story, or of
the Kin Emperors having resided in that neighbourhood.
On the other hand, he points out that the story has a strong
resemblance to a real event which occurred in Central Asia in the
beginning of Polo’s century.
The Persian historians of the Mongols relate that when Chinghiz
defeated and slew Taiyang Khan, the king of the Naimans, Kushluk,
the son of Taiyang, fled to the Gur-Khan of Karakhitai and received
both his protection and the hand of his daughter (see i. 237); but
afterwards rose against his benefactor and usurped his throne. “In
the Liao history I read,” Mr. Wylie says, “that Chih-lu-ku, the
last monarch of the Karakhitai line, ascended the throne in 1168,
and in the 34th year of his reign, when out hunting one day in
autumn, Kushluk, who had 8000 troops in ambush, made him prisoner,
seized his throne and adopted the customs of the Liao, while he
conferred on Chih-lu-ku the honourable title of _Tai-shang-hwang_
‘the old emperor.’”[2]
It is this Kushluk, to whom Rubruquis assigns the rôle of King
(or Prester) John, the subject of so many wonderful stories.
And Mr. Wylie points out that not only was his father Taiyang
Khan, according to the Chinese histories, a much more important
prince than Aung Khan or Wang Khan the Kerait, but his name
_Tai-Yang-Khan_ is precisely “Great King John” as near as John
(or Yohana) can be expressed in Chinese. He thinks therefore that
Taiyang and his son Kushluk, the Naimans, and not Aung Khan and his
descendants, the Keraits, were the parties to whom the character of
Prester John properly belonged, and that it was probably this story
of Kushluk’s capture of the Karakhitai monarch (_Roi de Fer_) which
got converted into the form in which he relates it of the _Roi
d’Or_.
The suggestion seems to me, as regards the story, interesting and
probable; though I do not admit that the character of Prester John
properly belonged to any real person.
I may best explain my view of the matter by a geographical analogy.
Pre-Columbian maps of the Atlantic showed an Island of Brazil, an
Island of Antillia, founded—who knows on what?—whether on the real
adventure of a vessel driven in sight of the Azores or Bermudas,
or on mere fancy and fogbank. But when discovery really came to be
undertaken, men looked for such lands and found them accordingly.
And there they are in our geographies, Brazil and the Antilles!
The cut which we give is curious in connection with our traveller’s
notice of the portrait-gallery of the Golden Kings. For it is taken
from the fragmentary MS. of Rashiduddin’s History in the library
of the Royal Asiatic Society, a MS. believed to be one of those
executed under the great Vazír’s own supervision, and is presented
there as the portrait of the last sovereign of the Dynasty in
question, being one of a whole series of similar figures. There
can be little doubt, I think, that these were taken from Chinese
originals, though, it may be, not very exactly.
NOTE 2.—The history of the Tartar conquerors of China, whether
Khitan, Churché, Mongol, or Manchu, has always been the same. For
one or two generations the warlike character and manly habits were
maintained; and then the intruders, having adopted Chinese manners,
ceremonies, literature, and civilization, sank into more than
Chinese effeminacy and degradation. We see the custom of employing
only female attendants ascribed in a later chapter (lxxvii.) to
the Sung Emperors at Kinsay; and the same was the custom of the
later Ming emperors, in whose time the imperial palace was said
to contain 5000 women. Indeed, the precise custom which this
passage describes was in our own day habitually reported of the
T’ai-P’ing sovereign during his reign at Nanking: “None but women
are allowed in the interior of the Palace, and _he is drawn to the
audience-chamber in a gilded sacred dragon-car by the ladies_.”
(_Blakiston_, p. 42; see also _Wilson’s Ever-Victorious Army_, p.
41.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] [There is no trace of it in Harlez’s French translation from the
Manchu of the History of the Kin Empire, 1887.—H. C.]
[2] See also Oppert (p. 157), who cites this story from Visdelou, but
does not notice its analogy to Polo’s.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
HOW PRESTER JOHN TREATED THE GOLDEN KING HIS PRISONER.
And on this the Golden King was so sorely grieved that he was like
to die. And he said to them: “Good, my sons, for God’s sake have
pity and compassion upon me. Ye wot well what honourable and kindly
entertainment ye have had in my house; and now ye would deliver me
into the hands of mine enemy! In sooth, if ye do what ye say, ye will
do a very naughty and disloyal deed, and a right villainous.” But they
answered only that so it must be, and away they had him to Prester John
their Lord.
And when Prester John beheld the King he was right glad, and greeted
him with something like a malison.[1] The King answered not a word, as
if he wist not what it behoved him to say. So Prester John ordered him
to be taken forth straightway, and to be put to look after cattle, but
to be well looked after himself also. So they took him and set him to
keep cattle. This did Prester John of the grudge he bore the King, to
heap contumely on him, and to show what a nothing he was, compared to
himself.
And when the King had thus kept cattle for two years, Prester John sent
for him, and treated him with honour, and clothed him in rich robes,
and said to him: “Now Sir King, art thou satisfied that thou wast in
no way a man to stand against me?” “Truly, my good Lord, I know well
and always did know that I was in no way a man to stand against thee.”
And when he had said this Prester John replied: “I ask no more; but
henceforth thou shalt be waited on and honourably treated.” So he
caused horses and harness of war to be given him, with a goodly train,
and sent him back to his own country. And after that he remained ever
friendly to Prester John, and held fast by him.
So now I will say no more of this adventure of the Golden King, but I
will proceed with our subject.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] “Lui dist que il feust le mal venuz.”
CHAPTER XL.
CONCERNING THE GREAT RIVER CARAMORAN AND THE CITY OF CACHANFU.
When you leave the castle, and travel about 20 miles westward, you come
to a river called CARAMORAN,{1} so big that no bridge can be thrown
across it; for it is of immense width and depth, and reaches to the
Great Ocean that encircles the Universe,—I mean the whole earth. On
this river there are many cities and walled towns, and many merchants
too therein, for much traffic takes place upon the river, there being
a great deal of ginger and a great deal of silk produced in the
country.{2}
Game birds here are in wonderful abundance, insomuch that you may buy
at least three pheasants for a Venice groat of silver. I should say
rather for an _asper_, which is worth a little more.{3}
[On the lands adjoining this river there grow vast quantities of great
canes, some of which are a foot or a foot and a half (in girth), and
these the natives employ for many useful purposes.]
After passing the river and travelling two days westward you come
to the noble city of CACHANFU, which we have already named. The
inhabitants are all Idolaters. And I may as well remind you again that
all the people of Cathay are Idolaters. It is a city of great trade
and of work in gold-tissues of many sorts, as well as other kinds of
industry.
There is nothing else worth mentioning, and so we will proceed and tell
you of a noble city which is the capital of a kingdom, and is called
Kenjanfu.
NOTE 1.—_Ḳará-Muren_, or Black River, is one of the names applied
by the Mongols to the Hwang Ho, or Yellow River, of the Chinese,
and is used by all the mediæval western writers, _e.g._ Odoric,
John Marignolli, Rashiduddin.
The River, where it skirts Shan-si, is for the most part difficult
both of access and of passage, and ill adapted to navigation, owing
to the violence of the stream. Whatever there is of navigation is
confined to the transport of coal down-stream from Western Shan-si,
in large flats. Mr. Elias, who has noted the River’s level by
aneroid at two points 920 miles apart, calculated the fall over
that distance, which includes the contour of Shan-si, at 4 feet per
mile. The best part for navigation is above this, from Ning-hia
to Chaghan Kuren (in about 110° E. long.), in which Captain
Prjevalski’s observations give a fall of less than 6 inches per
mile. (_Richthofen_, _Letter_ VII. 25; _Williamson_, I. 69; _J. R.
G. S._ XLIII. p. 115; _Petermann_, 1873, pp. 89–91.)
[On 5th January, 1889, Mr. Rockhill coming to the Yellow River from
P’ing-yang, found (_Land of the Lamas_, p. 17) that “the river was
between 500 and 600 yards wide, a sluggish, muddy stream, then
covered with floating ice about a foot thick.... The Yellow River
here is shallow, in the main channel only is it four or five feet
deep.” The Rev. C. Holcombe, who crossed in October, says (p. 65):
that “it was nowhere more than 6 feet deep, and on returning, three
of the boatmen sprang into the water in midstream and waded ashore,
carrying a line from the ferry-boat to prevent us from rapidly
drifting down with the current. The water was just up to their
hips.”—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—It is remarkable that the abundance of silk in Shan-si and
Shen-si is so distinctly mentioned in these chapters, whereas now
there is next to no silk at all grown in these districts. Is this
the result of a change of climate, or only a commercial change?
Baron Richthofen, to whom I have referred the question, believes
it to be due to the former cause: “No tract in China would appear
to have suffered so much by a change of climate as Shen-si and
Southern Shan-si.” [See pp. 11–12.]
NOTE 3.—The _asper_ or _akché_ (both meaning “white”) of the
Mongols at Tana or Azov I have elsewhere calculated, from
Pegolotti’s data (_Cathay_, p. 298), to have contained about 0_s._
2·8_d._ worth of silver, which is _less_ than the grosso; but the
name may have had a loose application to small silver coins in
other countries of Asia. Possibly the money intended may have been
the 50 _tsien_ note. (See note 1, ch. xxiv. _supra_.)
CHAPTER XLI.
CONCERNING THE CITY OF KENJANFU.
And when you leave the city of Cachanfu of which I have spoken, and
travel eight days westward, you meet with cities and boroughs abounding
in trade and industry, and quantities of beautiful trees, and gardens,
and fine plains planted with mulberries, which are the trees on the
leaves of which the silkworms do feed.{1} The people are all Idolaters.
There is also plenty of game of all sorts, both of beasts and birds.
And when you have travelled those eight days’ journey, you come to that
great city which I mentioned, called KENJANFU.{2} A very great and fine
city it is, and the capital of the kingdom of Kenjanfu, which in old
times was a noble, rich, and powerful realm, and had many great and
wealthy and puissant kings.{3} But now the king thereof is a prince
called MANGALAI, the son of the Great Kaan, who hath given him this
realm, and crowned him king thereof.{4} It is a city of great trade
and industry. They have great abundance of silk, from which they weave
cloths of silk and gold of divers kinds, and they also manufacture
all sorts of equipments for an army. They have every necessary of
man’s life very cheap. The city lies towards the west; the people are
Idolaters; and outside the city is the palace of the Prince Mangalai,
crowned king, and son of the Great Kaan, as I told you before.
This is a fine palace and a great, as I will tell you. It stands in a
great plain abounding in lakes and streams and springs of water. Round
about it is a massive and lofty wall, five miles in compass, well
built, and all garnished with battlements. And within this wall is the
king’s palace, so great and fine that no one could imagine a finer.
There are in it many great and splendid halls, and many chambers, all
painted and embellished with work in beaten gold. This Mangalai rules
his realm right well with justice and equity, and is much beloved by
his people. The troops are quartered round about the palace, and enjoy
the sport (that the royal demesne affords).
So now let us quit this kingdom, and I will tell you of a very
mountainous province called Cuncun, which you reach by a road right
wearisome to travel.
NOTE 1.—[“_Morus alba_ is largely grown in North China for feeding
silkworms.” (_Bretschneider, Hist. of Bot. Disc._ I. p. 4.)—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—Having got to sure ground again at Kenjanfu, which is,
as we shall explain presently, the city of SI-NGAN FU, capital
of Shen-si, let us look back at the geography of the route from
P’ing-yang fu. Its difficulties are great.
The traveller carries us two days’ journey from P’ing-yang fu to
his castle of the Golden King. This is called in the G. Text and
most other MSS. _Caicui_, _Caytui_, or the like, but in Ramusio
alone _Thaigin_. He then carries us 20 miles further to the
Caramoran; he crosses this river, travels two days further, and
reaches the great city Cachanfu; eight days more (or as in Ramusio
_seven_) bring him to Si-ngan fu.
There seems scarcely room for doubt that CACHANFU is the HO-CHUNG
FU [the ancient capital of Emperor Shun—H. C.] of those days,
now called P’U-CHAU FU, close to the great elbow of the Hwang Ho
(_Klaproth_). But this city, instead of being _two days west_ of
the great river, stands _near_ its _eastern_ bank.
[The Rev. C. Holcombe writes (pp. 64–65): “P’u-chau fu lies on a
level with the Yellow River, and on the edge of a large extent
of worthless marsh land, full of pools of brackish, and in some
places, positively salt water.... The great road does not pass
into the town, having succeeded in maintaining its position on the
high ground from which the town has _backslided_.... The great
road keeping to the bluff, runs on, turning first south, and then
a trifle to the east of south, until the road, the bluff, and
Shan-si, all end together, making a sudden plunge down a precipice
and being lost in the dirty waters of the Yellow River.”—H. C.]
Not maintaining the infallibility of our traveller’s memory, we may
conceive confusion here, between the recollections of his journey
westward and those of his return; but this does not remove all the
difficulties.
The most notable fortress of the Kin sovereigns was that of
T’ungkwan, on the right bank of the river, 25 miles below P’u-chau
fu, and closing the passage between the river and the mountains,
just where the boundaries of Ho-nan, Shan-si, and Shen-si meet. It
was constantly the turning-point of the Mongol campaigns against
that Dynasty, and held a prominent place in the dying instructions
of Chinghiz for the prosecution of the conquest of Cathay. This
fortress must have continued famous to Polo’s time—indeed it
continues so still, the strategic position being one which nothing
short of a geological catastrophe could impair,—but I see no way of
reconciling its position with his narrative.
[Illustration: Plan of Ki-chau, after Duhalde.]
The _name_ in Ramusio’s form might be merely that of the Dynasty,
viz. _Tai-Kin_ = Great Golden. But we have seen that Thaigin is
not the only reading. That of the MSS. seems to point rather to
some name like _Kaichau_. A hypothesis which has seemed to me to
call for least correction in the text is that the castle was at
the _Ki-chau_ of the maps, nearly due west of P’ing-yang fu, and
just about 20 miles from the Hwang Ho; that the river was crossed
in that vicinity, and that the traveller then descended the valley
to opposite P’u-chau fu, or possibly embarked and descended the
river itself to that point. This last hypothesis would mitigate the
apparent disproportion in the times assigned to the different parts
of the journey, and would, I think, clear the text of error. But
it is only a hypothesis. There is near Ki-chau one of the easiest
crossing places of the River, insomuch that since the Shen-si
troubles a large garrison has been kept up at Ki-chau to watch
it.[1] And this is the only direction in which two days’ march, at
Polo’s rate, would bring him within 20 miles of the Yellow River.
Whether there is any historic castle at Ki-chau I know not; the
plan of that place in Duhalde, however, has the aspect of a strong
position. Baron v. Richthofen is unable to accept this suggestion,
and has favoured me with some valuable remarks on this difficult
passage, which I slightly abridge:—
“The difficulties are, (1) that for either reading, _Thaigin_ or
_Caichu_, a corresponding place can be found; (2) in the position
of _Cachanfu_, setting both at naught.
“_Thaigin_. There are two passages of the Yellow River near its
great bend. One is at T’ungkwan, where I crossed it; the other,
and more convenient, is at the fortress of Taiching-kwan, locally
pronounced _Taigin_-kwan. This fortress, or rather fortified camp,
is a very well-known place, and to be found on native maps; it
is very close to the river, on the left bank, about 6 m. S.W. of
P’u-chau fu. The road runs hence to Tung-chau fu and thence to
Si-ngan fu. T’aiching-kwan could not possibly (at Polo’s rate) be
reached in 2 days from P’ing-yang fu.
“_Caichu_. If this reading be adopted Marsden may be right in
supposing _Kiai-chau_, locally _Khaidju_, to be meant. This city
dominates the important salt marsh, whence Shan-si and Shen-si
are supplied with salt. It is 70 or 80 m. from P’ing-yang fu, but
_could_ be reached in 2 days. It commands a large and tolerably
populous plain, and is quite fit to have been an imperial residence.
“May not the striking fact that there is a place corresponding to
either name suggest that one of them was passed by Polo in going,
the other in returning? and that, this being the only locality
between Ch’êng-tu fu and Chu-chau where there was any deviation
between the two journeys, his geographical ideas may have become
somewhat confused, as might now happen to any one in like case and
not provided with a map? Thus the traveller himself might have put
into Ramusio’s text the name of _Thaigin_ instead of _Caichu_. From
Kiai-chau he would probably cross the River at T’ungkwan, whilst in
returning by way of Taiching-kwan he would pass through P’uchau-fu
(or _vice versâ_). The question as to Caichu may still be settled,
as it must be possible to ascertain where the Kin resided.”[2]
[Mr. Rockhill writes (_Land of the Lamas_, p. 17): “One hundred and
twenty _li_ south-south-west of the city is Kiai Chou, with the
largest salt works in China.” Richthofen has estimated that about
150,000 tons of salt are produced annually from the marshes around
it.—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—The eight days’ journey through richly cultivated plains
run up the basin of the Wei River, the most important agricultural
region of North-West China, and the core of early Chinese History.
The _löss_ is here more than ever predominant, its yellow tinge
affecting the whole landscape, and even the atmosphere. Here,
according to Baron v. Richthofen, originated the use of the word
_hwang_ “yellow,” as the symbol of the Earth, whence the primeval
emperors were styled _Hwang-ti_, “Lord of the Earth,” but properly
“Lord of the _Löss_.”
[The Rev. C. Holcombe (_l.c._ p. 66) writes: “From T’ung-kwan to
Si-ngan fu, the road runs in a direction nearly due west, through
a most lovely section of country, having a range of high hills
upon the south, and the Wei River on the north. The road lies
through one long orchard, and the walled towns and cities lie
thickly along, for the most part at a little distance from the
highway.” Mr. Rockhill says (_Land of the Lamas_, pp. 19–20): “The
road between T’ung-kwan and Si-ngan fu, a distance of 110 miles,
is a fine highway—for China—with a ditch on either side, rows of
willow-trees here and there, and substantial stone bridges and
culverts over the little streams which cross it. The basin of the
Wei ho, in which this part of the province lies, has been for
thousands of years one of the granaries of China. It was the colour
of its loess-covered soil, called ‘yellow earth’ by the Chinese,
that suggested the use of yellow as the colour sacred to imperial
majesty. Wheat and sorghum are the principal crops, but we saw also
numerous paddy fields where flocks of flamingoes were wading, and
fruit-trees grew everywhere.”—H. C.]
Kenjanfu, or, as Ramusio gives it, Quenzanfu, is SI-NGAN FU, or
as it was called in the days of its greatest fame, Chang-ngan,
probably the most celebrated city in Chinese history, and the
capital of several of the most potent dynasties. It was the
metropolis of Shi Hwang-ti of the T’sin Dynasty, properly the
first emperor and whose conquests almost intersected those of his
contemporary Ptolemy Euergetes. It was, perhaps, the _Thinae_
of Claudius Ptolemy, as it was certainly the Khumdán[3] of the
early Mahomedans, and the site of flourishing Christian Churches
in the 7th century, as well as of the remarkable monument, the
discovery of which a thousand years later disclosed their forgotten
existence.[4] _Kingchao-fu_ was the name which the city bore when
the Mongol invasions brought China into communication with the
west, and Klaproth supposes that this was modified by the Mongols
into KENJANFU. Under the latter name it is mentioned by Rashiduddin
as the seat of one of the Twelve _Sings_ or great provincial
administrations, and we find it still known by this name in
Sharífuddin’s history of Timur. The same name is traceable in the
_Kansan_ of Odoric, which he calls the second best province in the
world, and the best populated. Whatever may have been the origin
of the name _Kenjanfu_, Baron v. Richthofen was, on the spot, made
aware of its conservation in the exact form of the Ramusian Polo.
The Roman Catholic missionaries there emphatically denied that
Marco could ever have been at Si-ngan fu, or that the city had ever
been known by such a name as Kenjan-fu. On this the Baron called in
one of the Chinese pupils of the Mission, and asked him directly
what had been the name of the city under the Yuen Dynasty. He
replied at once with remarkable clearness: “QUEN-ZAN-FU.” Everybody
present was struck by the exact correspondence of the Chinaman’s
pronunciation of the name with that which the German traveller had
adopted from Ritter.
[Illustration: _Reduced Facsimile of the celebrated Christian
Inscription of Singanfu, in Chinese and Syriac Characters_.
_Photo-lithograph, from a Rubbing._
W. GRIGGS, PHOTO-LITH.]
[The vocabulary _Hweï Hwei_ (Mahomedan) of the College of
Interpreters at Peking transcribes King chao from the Persian
Kin-chang, a name it gives to the Shen-si province. King chao was
called Ngan-si fu in 1277. (_Devéria, Epigraphie_, p. 9.) Ken-jan
comes from Kin-chang = King-chao = Si-ngan fu.—H. C.]
Martini speaks, apparently from personal knowledge, of the
splendour of the city, as regards both its public edifices and
its site, sloping gradually up from the banks of the River Wei,
so as to exhibit its walls and palaces at one view like the
interior of an amphitheatre. West of the city was a sort of
Water Park, enclosed by a wall 30 _li_ in circumference, full of
lakes, tanks, and canals from the Wei, and within this park were
seven fine palaces and a variety of theatres and other places of
public diversion. To the south-east of the city was an artificial
lake with palaces, gardens, park, etc., originally formed by the
Emperor Hiaowu (B.C. 100), and to the south of the city was another
considerable lake called _Fan_. This may be the Fanchan Lake,
beside which Rashid says that Ananda, the son of Mangalai, built
his palace.
The adjoining districts were the seat of a large Musulman
population, which in 1861–1862 [and again in 1895 (See _Wellby,
Tibet_, ch. xxv.)—H. C.] rose in revolt against the Chinese
authority, and for a time was successful in resisting it. The
capital itself held out, though invested for two years; the rebels
having no artillery. The movement originated at Hwachau, some 60
miles east of Si-ngan fu, now totally destroyed. But the chief seat
of the Mahomedans is a place which they call _Salar_, identified
with Hochau in Kansuh, about 70 miles south-west of Lanchau-fu, the
capital of that province. [Mr. Rockhill (_Land of the Lamas_, p.
40) writes: “Colonel Yule, quoting a Russian work, has it that the
word Salar is used to designate Ho-chou, but this is not absolutely
accurate. Prjevalsky (_Mongolia_, II. 149) makes the following
complicated statement: ‘The Karatangutans outnumber the Mongols
in Koko-nor, but their chief habitations are near the sources of
the Yellow River, where they are called Salirs; they profess the
Mohammedan religion, and have rebelled against China.’ I will
only remark here that the Salar have absolutely no connection
with the so-called Kara-tangutans, who are Tibetans. In a note by
Archimandrite Palladius, in the same work (II. 70), he attempts to
show a connection between the Salar and a colony of Mohammedans
who settled in Western Kan-Suh in the last century, but the _Ming
shih_ (History of the Ming Dynasty) already makes mention of the
Salar, remnants of various Turkish tribes (_Hsi-ch’iang_) who had
settled in the districts of Ho-chou, Huang-chou, T’ao-chou, and
Min-chou, and who were a source of endless trouble to the Empire.
(See _Wei Yuen, Sheng-wu-ki_, vii. 35; also _Huang ch’ing shih kung
t’u_, v. 7.) The Russian traveller, Potanin, found the Salar living
in twenty-four villages, near Hsün-hua t’ing, on the south bank
of the Yellow River. (See _Proc. R. G. S._ ix. 234.) The Annals
of the Ming Dynasty (_Ming Shíh_, ch. 330) say that An-ting wei,
1500 _li_ south-west of Kan-chou, was in old times known as _Sa-li
Wei-wu-ehr_. These Sari Uigurs are mentioned by Du Plan Carpin, as
_Sari_ Huiur. Can _Sala_ be the same as _Sari_?”
“Mohammedans,” says Mr. Rockhill (_Ibid._ p. 39), “here are divided
into two sects, known as ‘white-capped Hui-hui,’ and ‘black-capped
Hui-hui.’ One of the questions which separate them is the hour at
which fast can be broken during the Ramadan. Another point which
divides them is that the white-capped burn incense, as do the
ordinary Chinese; and the Salar condemn this as Paganish. The usual
way by which one finds out to which sect a Mohammedan belongs is
by asking him if he burns incense. The black-capped Hui-hui are
more frequently called _Salar_, and are much the more devout and
fanatical. They live in the vicinity of Ho-chou, in and around
Hsün-hua t’ing, their chief town being known as Salar Pakun or
Paken.”
[Illustration: Cross on the Monument at Si-ngan fu. (From a
rubbing.)]
Ho-chou, in Western Kan-Suh, about 320 _li_ (107 miles) from
Lan-chau, has a population of about 30,000 nearly entirely
Mahomedans with 24 mosques; it is a “hot-bed of rebellion.”
_Salar-pa-kun_ means “the eight thousand Salar families,” or “the
eight thousands of the Salar.” The eight _kiun_ (Chinese _t’sun_?
a village, a commune) constituting the Salar pa-kun are Kä-tzŭ,
the oldest and largest, said to have over 1300 families living
in it, Chang-chia, Némen, Ch’ing-shui, Munta, Tsu-chi, Antasu
and Ch’a-chia. Besides these Salar kiun there are five outer
(_wai_) kiun: Ts’a-pa, Ngan-ssŭ-to, Hei-ch’eng, Kan-tu and Kargan,
inhabited by a few Salar and a mixed population of Chinese and
T’u-ssŭ: each of these wai-wu kiun has, theoretically, fifteen
villages in it. Tradition says that the first Salar who came to
China (from Rúm or Turkey) arrived in this valley in the third year
of Hung-wu of the Ming (1370). (_Rockhill, Land of the Lamas,
Journey; Grenard_, II. p. 457)—H. C.] (_Martini; Cathay_, 148,
269; _Pétis de la Croix_, III. 218; _Russian paper on the Dungen_,
see _supra_, vol. i. p. 291; _Williamson’s North China_, u.s.;
_Richthofen’s Letters_, and MS. Notes.)
NOTE 4.—_Mangalai_, Kúblái’s third son, who governed the provinces
of Shen-si and Sze-ch’wan, with the title of _Wang_ or king
(_supra_ ch. ix. note 2), died in 1280, a circumstance which limits
the date of Polo’s journey to the west. It seems unlikely that
Marco should have remained ten years ignorant of his death, yet he
seems to speak of him as still governing.
[With reference to the translation of the oldest of the
Chinese-Mongol inscriptions known hitherto (1283) in the name of
Ananda, King of Ngan-si, Professor Devéria (_Notes d’Épigraphie
Mongolo-Chinoise_, p. 9) writes: “In 1264, the Emperor Kúbláï
created in this region [Shen si] the department of Ngan-si chau,
occupied by ten hordes of Si-fan (foreigners from the west). All
this country became in 1272, the apanage of the Imperial Prince
Mangala; this prince, third son of Kúbláï, had been invested with
the title of King of Ngan-si, a territory which included King-chao
fu (modern Si-ngan fu). His government extended hence over Ho-si
(west of the Yellow River), the T’u-po (Tibetans), and Sze-ch’wan.
The following year (1273) Mangala received from Kúbláï a second
investiture, this of the Kingdom of Tsin, which added to his domain
part of Kan-Suh; he established his royal residence at K’ia-ch’eng
(modern Ku-yuan) in the Liu-p’an shan, while King-chao remained
the centre of the command he exercised over the Mongol garrisons.
In 1277 this prince took part in military operations in the north;
he died in 1280 (17th year Che Yuan), leaving his principality of
Ngan-si to his eldest son Ananda, and this of Tsin to his second
son Ngan-tan Bu-hoa. Kúbláï, immediately after the death of his son
Mangala, suppressed administrative autonomy in Ngan-si.” (_Yuan-shi
lei pien_).—H. C.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] I am indebted for this information to Baron Richthofen.
[2] See the small map attached to “Marco Polo’s Itinerary Map, No.
IV.,” at end of vol. i.
[3] [It is supposed to come from _kang_ (king) _dang_.—H. C.]
[4] In the first edition I was able to present a reduced facsimile of
a _rubbing_ in my possession from this famous inscription, which I
owed to the generosity of Dr. Lockhart. To the Baron von Richthofen
I am no less indebted for the more complete rubbing which has
afforded the plate now published. A tolerably full account of this
inscription is given in _Cathay_, p. xcii. _seqq._, and p. clxxxi.
_seqq._, but the subject is so interesting that it seems well to
introduce here the most important particulars:—
The stone slab, about 7½ feet high by 3 feet wide, and some
10 inches in thickness,[A] which bears this inscription, was
accidentally found in 1625 by some workmen who were digging in
the Chang-ngan suburb of the city of Singanfu. The cross, which
is engraved at p. 30, is incised at the top of the slab, and
beneath this are 9 large characters in 3 columns, constituting the
heading, which runs: “_Monument commemorating the introduction and
propagation of the noble Law of_ Ta T’sin _in the Middle Kingdom;_”
_Ta T’sin_ being the term applied in Chinese literature to the
Roman Empire, of which the ancient Chinese had much such a shadowy
conception as the Romans had, conversely, of the Chinese as _Sinae_
and _Seres_. Then follows the body of the inscription, of great
length and beautiful execution, consisting of 1780 characters.
Its chief contents are as follows:— 1st. An abstract of Christian
doctrine, of a vague and figurative kind; 2nd. An account of
the arrival of the missionary OLOPĂN (probably a Chinese form
of _Rabban_ = Monk),[B] from Ta T’sin in the year equivalent to
A.D. 635, bringing sacred books and images; of the _translation
of the said books_; of the Imperial approval of the doctrine
and permission to teach it publicly. There follows a decree of
the Emperor (T’ai Tsung, a very famous prince) issued in 638, in
favour of the new doctrine, and ordering a church to be built in
the Square of Peace and Justice (_I-ning Fang_), at the capital.
The Emperor’s portrait was to be placed in the church. After this
comes a description of Ta T’sin (here apparently implying Syria);
and then some account of the fortunes of the Church in China. Kao
Tsung (650–683, the devout patron also of the Buddhist traveller and
Dr. Hiuen Tsang) continued to favour it. In the end of the century,
Buddhism gets the upper hand, but under HIUAN-TSUNG (713–755) the
Church recovers its prestige, and KIHO, a new missionary, arrives.
Under TE-TSUNG (780–783) the monument was erected, and this part
ends with the eulogy of ISSÉ, a statesman and benefactor of the
Church. 3rd. There follows a recapitulation of the purport in
octosyllabic verse.
The Chinese inscription concludes with the date of erection, viz.
the second year _Kienchung_ of the Great T’ang Dynasty, the seventh
day of the month _Tait’su_, the feast of the great _Yaosan_.
This corresponds, according to Gaubil, to 4th February, 781; and
_Yaosan_ is supposed to stand for _Hosanna_ (_i.e._ Palm Sunday;
but this apparently does not fit; see _infra_). There are added the
name chief of the law, NINGCHU (presumed to be the Chinese name
of the Metropolitan), the name of the writer, and the official
sanction.
The _Great Hosanna_ was, though ingenious, a misinterpretation
of Gaubil’s. Mr. Wylie has sent me a paper of his own (in _Chin.
Recorder and Miss. Journal_, July, 1871, p. 45), which makes
things perfectly clear. The expression transcribed by Pauthier,
_Yao-săn-wen_, and rendered “Hosanna,” appears in a Chinese work,
without reference to this inscription, as _Yao-săn-wăh_, and is in
reality only a Chinese transcript of the Persian word for Sunday,
“_Yak-shambah_.” Mr. Wylie verified this from the mouth of a Peking
Mahomedan. The 4th of February, 781 _was_ Sunday; why _Great_
Sunday? Mr. Wylie suggests, possibly because the first Sunday of
the (Chinese) year.
The monument exhibits, in addition to the Chinese text, a series
of short inscriptions in the Syriac language, and _Estranghelo_
character, containing the date of erection, viz. 1092 of the Greeks
(= A.D. 781), the name of the reigning Patriarch of the Nestorian
church MAR HANAN ISHUA (dead in 778, but the fact apparently had
not reached China), that of ADAM, Bishop and Pope of Tzinisthán
(_i.e._ China), and those of the clerical staff of the capital
which here bears the name, given it by the early Arab Travellers,
of _Kúmdán_. There follow sixty-seven names of persons in Syriac
characters, most of whom are characterised as priests (_Kashíshá_),
and sixty-one names of persons in Chinese, all priests save one.
[It appears that Adam (_King-tsing_), who erected the monument
under Te-Tsung was, under the same Emperor, with a Buddhist the
translator of a Buddhist sûtra, the Saṭpâramitâ from a Hu text.
(See a curious paper by Mr. J. Takakusu in the _T’oung Pao_, VII
pp. 589–591.)
Mr. Rockhill (_Rubruck_, p. 157, _note_) makes the following
remarks. “It is strange, however, that the two famous Uigur
Nestorians, Mar Jabalaha and Rabban Cauma, when on their journey
from Koshang in Southern Shan-hsi to Western Asia in about 1276,
while they mention ‘the city of Tangut,’ or Ning-hsia on the Yellow
River as an important Nestorian centre, do not once refer to
Hsi-anfu or Chang-an. Had Chang-an been at the time the Nestorian
Episcopal see, one would think that these pilgrims would have
visited it, or at least referred to it. (_Chabot, Mar Jabalaha_,
21)”—H. C.]
Kircher gives a good many more Syriac names than appear on the
rubbing, probably because some of these are on the edge of the slab
now built in. We have no room to speak of the controversies raised
by this stone. The most able defence of its genuine character,
as well as a transcript with translation and commentary, a work
of great interest, was published by the late M. Pauthier. The
monument exists intact, and has been visited by the Rev. Mr.
Williamson, Baron Richthofen, and other recent travellers. [The
Rev. Moir Duncan wrote from Shen-si regarding the present state
of the stone. (_London and China Telegraph_, 5th June, 1893): “Of
the covering rebuilt so recently, not a trace remains save the
pedestals for the pillars and atoms of the tiling. In answer to a
question as to when and how the covering was destroyed, the old
priest replied, with a twinkle in his eye as if his conscience
pinched, ‘There came a rushing wind and blew it down.’ He could
not say when, for he paid no attention to such mundane affairs.
More than one outsider however, said it had been deliberately
destroyed, because the priests are jealous of the interest
manifested in it.... The stone has evidently been recently tampered
with, several characters are effaced and there are other signs of
malicious hands.”—H. C.] Pauthier’s works on the subject are—_De
l’Authenticité de l’Inscription Nestorienne_, etc., B. Duprat,
1857; and _l’Inscription Syro-Chinoise de Si-ngan-fou_, etc.,
Firmin Didot, 1858. (See also _Kircher, China Illustrata_; and
article by Mr. Wylie in _J. Am. Or. Soc._, V. 278.) [Father Havret,
S.J., of Zi-ka-wei, near Shang-hai, has undertaken to write a large
work on this inscription with the title of _La Stèle Chrétienne de
Si-ngan-fou_; the first part giving the inscription in full size,
and the second containing the history of the monument, have been
published at Shang-hai in 1895 and 1897; the author died last year
(29th September, 1901), and the translation which was to form a
third part has not yet appeared. The Rev. Dr. J. Legge has given a
translation and the Chinese text of the monument, in 1888.—H. C.]
Stone monuments of character strictly analogous are frequent in
the precincts of Buddhist sanctuaries, and probably the idea of
this one was taken from the Buddhists. It is reasonably supposed
by Pauthier that the monument may have been buried in 845, when
the Emperor Wu-Tsung issued an edict, still extant, against the
vast multiplication of Buddhist convents, and ordering their
destruction. A clause in the edict also orders the _foreign bonzes
of Ta-T’sin_ and _Mubupa_ (Christian and _Mobed_ or Magian?) _to
return to secular life_.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[A] [M. Grenard, who reproduces (III. p. 152) a good facsimile of the
inscription, gives to the slab the following dimensions: high 2m.
36, wide 0m. 86, thick 0m. 25.—H. C.]
[B] [Dr. F. Hirth (_China and the Roman Orient_, p. 323) writes:
“O-LO-PÊN = Ruben, Rupen?” He adds (_Jour. China Br. R. As. Soc._
XXI. 1886, pp. 214–215): “Initial _r_ is also quite commonly
represented by initial _l_. I am in doubt whether the two
characters _o-lo_ in the Chinese name for Russia (_O-lo-ssŭ_) stand
for foreign _ru_ or _ro_ alone. This word would bear comparison
with a Chinese transcription of the Sanskrit word for silver,
_rūpya_, which in the _Pen-ts’ao-kang-mu_ (ch. 8, p. 9) is given
as _o-lu-pa_. If we can find further analogies, this may help us
to read that mysterious word in the Nestorian stone inscription,
being the name of the first Christian missionary who carried the
cross to China, _O-lo-pên_, as ‘Ruben’. This was indeed a common
name among the Nestorians, for which reason I would give it the
preference over Pauthier’s Syriac ‘Alopeno’. But Father Havret
(_Stèle Chrétienne_, Leide, 1897, p. 26) objects to Dr. Hirth that
the Chinese character _lo_, to which he gives the sound _ru_,
is not to be found as a Sanskrit phonetic element in Chinese
characters, but that this phonetic element _ru_ is represented by
the Chinese characters pronounced _lu_, and therefore, he, Father
Havret, adopts Colonel Yule’s opinion as the only one being fully
satisfactory.”—H. C.]
CHAPTER XLII.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CUNCUN, WHICH IS RIGHT WEARISOME TO
TRAVEL THROUGH.
On leaving the Palace of Mangalai, you travel westward for three days,
finding a succession of cities and boroughs and beautiful plains,
inhabited by people who live by trade and industry, and have great
plenty of silk. At the end of those three days, you reach the great
mountains and valleys which belong to the province of CUNCUN.{1} There
are towns and villages in the land, and the people live by tilling the
earth, and by hunting in the great woods; for the region abounds in
forests, wherein are many wild beasts, such as lions, bears, lynxes,
bucks and roes, and sundry other kinds, so that many are taken by
the people of the country, who make a great profit thereof. So this
way we travel over mountains and valleys, finding a succession of
towns and villages, and many great hostelries for the entertainment of
travellers, interspersed among extensive forests.
NOTE 1.—The region intended must necessarily be some part of the
southern district of the province of Shen-si, called HAN-CHUNG,
the axis of which is the River Han, closed in by exceedingly
mountainous and woody country to north and south, dividing it on
the former quarter from the rest of Shen-si, and on the latter from
Sze-ch’wan. Polo’s _C_ frequently expresses an _H_, especially the
Guttural _H_ of Chinese names, yet _Cuncun_ is not satisfactory as
the expression of _Hanchung_.
The country was so ragged that in ancient times travellers from
Si-ngan fu had to make a long circuit eastward by the frontier of
Ho-nan to reach Han-chung; but, at an early date, a road was made
across the mountains for military purposes; so long ago indeed that
various eras and constructors are assigned to it. Padre Martini’s
authorities ascribed it to a general in the service of Liu Pang,
the founder of the first Han Dynasty (B.C. 202), and this date
is current in Shan-si, as Baron v. Richthofen tells me. But in
Sze-ch’wan the work is asserted to have been executed during the
3rd century, when China was divided into several states, by Liu
Pei, of the Han family, who, about A.D. 226, established himself
as Emperor [Minor Han] of Western China at Ch’êng-tu fu.[1] This
work, with its difficulties and boldness, extending often for
great distances on timber corbels inserted in the rock, is vividly
described by Martini. Villages and rest-houses were established
at convenient distances. It received from the Chinese the name of
_Chien-tao_, or the “Pillar Road.” It commenced on the west bank
of the Wei, opposite Pao-ki h’ien, 100 miles west of Si-ngan fu,
and ended near the town of Paoching-h’ien, some 15 or 20 miles
north-west from Han-chung.
We are told that Tului, the son of Chinghiz, when directing his
march against Ho-nan in 1231 by this very line from Paoki, had
to _make_ a road with great difficulty; but, as we shall see
presently, this can only mean that the ancient road had fallen
into decay, and had to be repaired. The same route was followed
by Okkodai’s son Kutan, in marching to attack the Sung Empire in
1235, and again by Mangku Kaan on his last campaign in 1258. These
circumstances show that the road from Paoki was in that age the
usual route into Han-chung and Sze-ch’wan; indeed there is no other
road in that direction that is more than a mere jungle-track, and
we may be certain that this was Polo’s route.
This remarkable road was traversed by Baron v. Richthofen in
1872. To my questions, he replies: “The entire route is a work
of tremendous engineering, and all of this was done by Liu Pei,
who first ordered the construction. The hardest work consisted in
cutting out long portions of the road from solid rock, chiefly
where ledges project on the verge of a river, as is frequently the
case on the He-lung Kiang.... It had been done so thoroughly from
the first, that scarcely any additions had to be made in after
days. Another kind of work which generally strikes tourists like
Father Martini, or Chinese travellers, is the poling up of the road
on the sides of steep cliffs[2].... Extensive cliffs are frequently
rounded in this way, and imagination is much struck with the
perils of walking on the side of a precipice, with the foaming
river below. When the timbers rot, such passages of course become
obstructed, and thus the road is said to have been periodically
in complete disuse. The repairs, which were chiefly made in the
time of the Ming, concerned especially passages of this sort.”
Richthofen also notices the abundance of game; but inhabited places
appear to be rarer than in Polo’s time. (See _Martini_ in _Blaeu_;
_Chine Ancienne_, p. 234; _Ritter_, IV. 520; _D’Ohsson_, II. 22,
80, 328; _Lecomte_, II. 95; _Chin. Rep._ XIX. 225; _Richthofen_,
_Letter_ VII. p. 42, and MS. Notes).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] The last is also stated by Klaproth. Ritter has overlooked the
discrepancy of the dates (B.C. and A.D.) and has supposed Liu Pei
and Liu Pang to be the same. The resemblance of the names, and the
fact that both princes were founders of Han Dynasties, give ample
room for confusion.
[2] See cut from Mr. Cooper’s book at p. 51 below. This so exactly
illustrates Baron R.’s description that I may omit the latter.
CHAPTER XLIII.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF ACBALEC MANZI.
After you have travelled those 20 days through the mountains of CUNCUN
that I have mentioned, then you come to a province called ACBALEC
MANZI, which is all level country, with plenty of towns and villages,
and belongs to the Great Kaan. The people are Idolaters, and live
by trade and industry. I may tell you that in this province, there
grows such a great quantity of ginger, that it is carried all over
the region of Cathay, and it affords a maintenance to all the people
of the province, who get great gain thereby. They have also wheat
and rice, and other kinds of corn, in great plenty and cheapness; in
fact the country abounds in all useful products. The capital city is
called ACBALEC MANZI [which signifies “the White City of the Manzi
Frontier”].{1}
This plain extends for two days’ journey, throughout which it is
as fine as I have told you, with towns and villages as numerous.
After those two days, you again come to great mountains and valleys,
and extensive forests, and you continue to travel westward through
this kind of country for 20 days, finding however numerous towns
and villages. The people are Idolaters, and live by agriculture, by
cattle-keeping, and by the chase, for there is much game. And among
other kinds, there are the animals that produce the musk, in great
numbers.{2}
NOTE 1.—Though the termini of the route, described in these two
chapters, are undoubtedly Si-ngan fu and Ch’êng-tu fu, there are
serious difficulties attending the determination of the line
actually followed.
The time according to all the MSS., so far as I know, except those
of one type, is as follows:
In the plain of Kenjanfu 3 days.
In the mountains of Cuncun 20 „
In the plain of Acbalec 2 „
In mountains again 20 „
——
45 days.
——
[From Si-ngan fu to Ch’êng-tu (Sze-ch’wan), the Chinese reckon
2300 _li_ (766 miles). (Cf. _Rockhill, Land of the Lamas_, p. 23.)
Mr. G. F. Eaton, writing from Han-chung (_Jour. China Br. R. A.
S._ xxviii. p. 29) reckons: “From Si-ngan Fu S.W. to Ch’êng-tu,
_viâ_ K’i-shan, Fung-sien, Mien, Kwang-yuan and Chao-hwa, about 30
days, in chairs.” He says (p. 24): “From Ch’êng-tu _viâ_ Si-ngan
to Peking the road does not touch Han-chung, but 20 _li_ west of
the city strikes north to Pao-ch’eng.—The road from Han-chung to
Ch’êng-tu made by Ts’in Shi Hwang-ti to secure his conquest of
Sze-ch’wan, crosses the Ta-pa-shan.”—H. C.]
It seems to me almost impossible to doubt that the Plain of
Acbalec represents some part of the river-valley of the Han,
interposed between the two ranges of mountains called by Richthofen
_T’sing-Ling-Shan_ and _Ta-pa-Shan_. But the time, as just stated,
is extravagant for anything like a direct journey between the two
termini.
The distance from Si-ngan fu to Pao-ki is 450 _li_, which _could_
be done in 3 days, but at Polo’s rate would probably require 5.
The distance by the mountain road from Pao-ki to the Plain of
Han-chung, could never have occupied 20 days. It is really a 6 or 7
days’ march.
But Pauthier’s MS. C (and its double, the Bern MS.) has viii.
marches instead of xx., through the mountains of Cuncun. This
reduces the time between Kenjanfu and the Plain to 11 days, which
is just about a proper allowance for the whole journey, though
not accurately distributed. Two days, though ample, would not be
excessive for the journey across the Plain of Han-chung, especially
if the traveller visited that city. And “20 days from Han-chung, to
Ch’êng-tu fu would correspond with Marco Polo’s rate of travel.”
(_Richthofen_).
So far then, provided we admit the reading of the MS. C, there is
no ground for hesitating to adopt the usual route between the two
cities, _viâ_ Han-chung.
But the key to the exact route is evidently the position of Acbalec
Manzi, and on this there is no satisfactory light.
For the name of the province, Pauthier’s text has _Acbalec Manzi_,
for the name of the city _Acmalec_ simply. The G. T. has in the
former case _Acbalec Mangi_, in the latter “Acmelic Mangi _qe vaut
dire_ le une _de le confine dou Mangi_.” This is followed literally
by the Geographic Latin, which has “_Acbalec Mangi et est dictum
in lingua nostra_ unus _ex confinibus Mangi_.” So also the Crusca;
whilst Ramusio has “_Achbaluch Mangi, che vuol dire_ Città Bianca
de’ confini di Mangi.” It is clear that Ramusio alone has here
preserved the genuine reading.
Klaproth identified Acbalec conjecturally with the town of
_Pe-ma-ching_, or “White-Horse-Town,” a place now extinct, but
which stood like Mien and Han-chung on the extensive and populous
Plain that here borders the Han.
It seems so likely that the latter part of the name _Pe_-MACHING
(“_White_ Maching”) might have been confounded by foreigners with
_Máchín_ and _Manzi_ (which in Persian parlance were identical),
that I should be disposed to overlook the difficulty that we have
no evidence produced to show that Pemaching was a place of any
consequence.
It is possible, however, that the name _Acbalec_ may have been
given by the Tartars without any reference to Chinese etymologies.
We have already twice met with the name or its equivalent
(_Acbaluc_ in ch. xxxvii. of this Book, and _Chaghan Balghasun_ in
note 3 to Book I. ch. lx.), whilst Strahlenberg tells us that the
Tartars call all great residences of princes by this name (Amst.
ed. 1757, I. p. 7). It may be that Han-chung itself was so named
by the Tartars; though its only claim that I can find is, that it
was the first residence of the Han Dynasty. Han-chung fu stands
in a beautiful plain, which forms a very striking object to the
traveller who is leaving the T’sing-ling mountains. Just before
entering the plains, the Helung Kiang passes through one of its
wildest gorges, a mere crevice between vertical walls several
hundred feet high. The road winds to the top of one of the cliffs
in zigzags cut in the solid rock. From the temple of Kitau Kwan,
which stands at the top of the cliff, there is a magnificent view
of the Plain, and no traveller would omit this, the most notable
feature between the valley of the Wei and Ch’êng-tu-fu. It is,
moreover, the only piece of level ground, of any extent, that is
passed through between those two regions, whichever road or track
be taken. (_Richthofen_, MS. Notes.)
[In the _China Review_ (xiv. p. 358) Mr. E. H. Parker, has an
article on _Acbalec Manzi_, but does not throw any new light on the
subject.—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—Polo’s journey now continues through the lofty mountainous
region in the north of Sze-ch’wan.
The dividing range Ta-pa-shan is less in height than the
T’sing-ling range, but with gorges still more abrupt and deep; and
it would be an entire barrier to communication but for the care
with which the road, here also, has been formed. But this road,
from Han-chung to Ch’êng-tu fu, is still older than that to the
north, having been constructed, it is said, in the 3rd century B.C.
[See _supra_.] Before that time Sze-ch’wan was a closed country,
the only access from the north being the circuitous route down the
Han and up the Yang-tz’ŭ. (_Ibid._)
[Mr. G. G. Brown writes (_Jour. China Br. R. As. Soc._ xxviii.
p. 53): “Crossing the Ta-pa-shan from the valley of the Upper
Han in Shen-si we enter the province of Sze-ch’wan, and are now
in a country as distinct as possible from that that has been
left. The climate which in the north was at times almost Arctic,
is now pluvial, and except on the summits of the mountains no
snow is to be seen. The people are ethnologically different....
More even than the change of climate the geological aspect is
markedly different. The loess, which in Shen-si has settled like
a pall over the country, is here absent, and red sandstone rocks,
filling the valleys between the high-bounding and intermediate
ridges of palæozoic formation, take its place. Sze-ch’wan is
evidently a region of rivers flowing in deeply eroded valleys,
and as these find but one exit, the deep gorges of Kwei-fu,
their disposition takes the form of the innervations of a leaf
springing from a solitary stalk. The country between the branching
valleys is eminently hilly; the rivers flow with rapid currents
in well-defined valleys, and are for the most part navigable
for boats, or in their upper reaches for lumber-rafts.... The
horse-cart, which in the north and north-west of China is the
principal means of conveyance, has never succeeded in gaining
an entrance into Sze-ch’wan with its steep ascents and rapid
unfordable streams; and is here represented for passenger traffic
by the sedan-chair, and for the carriage of goods, with the
exception of a limited number of wheel-barrows, by the backs of
men or animals, unless where the friendly water-courses afford the
cheapest and readiest means of intercourse.”—H. C.]
Martini notes the musk-deer in northern Sze-ch’wan.
CHAPTER XLIV.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE AND CITY OF SINDAFU.
When you have travelled those 20 days westward through the mountains,
as I have told you, then you arrive at a plain belonging to a province
called Sindafu, which still is on the confines of Manzi, and the
capital city of which is (also) called SINDAFU. This city was in former
days a rich and noble one, and the Kings who reigned there were very
great and wealthy. It is a good twenty miles in compass, but it is
divided in the way that I shall tell you.
You see the King of this Province, in the days of old, when he found
himself drawing near to death, leaving three sons behind him, commanded
that the city should be divided into three parts, and that each of his
three sons should have one. So each of these three parts is separately
walled about, though all three are surrounded by the common wall of the
city. Each of the three sons was King, having his own part of the city,
and his own share of the kingdom, and each of them in fact was a great
and wealthy King. But the Great Kaan conquered the kingdom of these
three Kings, and stripped them of their inheritance.{1}
Through the midst of this great city runs a large river, in which they
catch a great quantity of fish. It is a good half mile wide, and very
deep withal, and so long that it reaches all the way to the Ocean
Sea,—a very long way, equal to 80 or 100 days’ journey. And the name
of the River is KIAN-SUY. The multitude of vessels that navigate this
river is so vast, that no one who should read or hear the tale would
believe it. The quantities of merchandize also which merchants carry
up and down this river are past all belief. In fact, it is so big, that
it seems to be a Sea rather than a River!{2}
Let us now speak of a great Bridge which crosses this River within the
city. This bridge is of stone; it is seven paces in width and half a
mile in length (the river being that much in width as I told you); and
all along its length on either side there are columns of marble to bear
the roof, for the bridge is roofed over from end to end with timber,
and that all richly painted. And on this bridge there are houses in
which a great deal of trade and industry is carried on. But these
houses are all of wood merely, and they are put up in the morning and
taken down in the evening. Also there stands upon the bridge the Great
Kaan’s _Comercque_, that is to say, his custom-house, where his toll
and tax are levied.{3} And I can tell you that the dues taken on this
bridge bring to the Lord a thousand pieces of fine gold every day and
more. The people are all Idolaters.{4}
When you leave this city you travel for five days across a country of
plains and valleys, finding plenty of villages and hamlets, and the
people of which live by husbandry. There are numbers of wild beasts,
lions, and bears, and such like.
I should have mentioned that the people of Sindu itself live by
manufactures, for they make fine sendals and other stuffs.{5}
After travelling those five days’ march, you reach a province called
Tebet, which has been sadly laid waste; we will now say something of it.
NOTE 1.—We are on firm ground again, for SINDAFU is certainly
CH’ÊNG-TU FU, the capital of Sze-ch’wan. Probably the name used by
Polo was _Sindu-fu_, as we find _Sindu_ in the G. T. near the end
of the chapter. But the same city is, I observe, called _Thindafu_
by one of the Nepalese embassies, whose itineraries Mr. Hodgson has
given in the _J. A. S. B._ XXV. 488.
┌────────────┐
│ │
┌───┤ ┌───┐ │
│ B │ │ C │ A │
│ │ │ │ │
└───┤ └───┘ │
│ │
└────────────┘
A. The Great City.
B. The Little City.
C. The Imperial City.
The modern French missions have a bishop in Ch’êng-tu fu, and the
city has been visited of late years by Mr. T. T. Cooper, by Mr. A.
Wylie, by Baron v. Richthofen, [Captain Gill, Mr. Baber, Mr. Hosie,
and several other travellers]. Mr. Wylie has kindly favoured me
with the following note:—“My notice all goes to corroborate Marco
Polo. The covered bridge with the stalls is still there, the only
difference being the absence of the toll-house. I did not see any
traces of a tripartite division of the city, nor did I make any
enquiries on the subject during the 3 or 4 days I spent there, as
it was not an object with me at the time to verify Polo’s account.
The city is indeed divided, but the division dates more than a
thousand years back. It is something like this, I should say [see
diagram].[1]
“The Imperial City (_Hwang Ching_) was the residence of the
monarch Lew Pé (_i.e._ Liu Pei of p. 32) during the short period
of the ‘Three Kingdoms’ (3rd century), and some relics of the
ancient edifice still remain. I was much interested in looking
over it. It is now occupied by the Public Examination Hall and its
dependencies.”
I suspect Marco’s story of the Three Kings arose from a
misunderstanding about this historical period of the _San-Kwé_, or
Three Kingdoms (A.D. 222–264). And this tripartite division of the
city may have been merely that which we see to exist at present.
[Mr. Baber, leaving Ch’êng-tu, 26th July, 1877, writes (_Travels_,
p. 28): “We took ship outside the East Gate on a rapid narrow
stream, apparently the city moat, which soon joins the main river,
a little below the An-shun Bridge, an antiquated wooden structure
some 90 yards long. This is in all probability the bridge mentioned
by Marco Polo. The too flattering description he gives of it leads
one to suppose that the present handsome stone bridges of the
province were unbuilt at the time of his journey.” Baber is here
mistaken.
Captain Gill writes (_l.c._ II. p. 9): “As Mr. Wylie in recent days
had said that Polo’s covered bridge was still in its place, we went
one day on an expedition in search of it. Polo, however, speaks of
a bridge full half a mile long, whilst the longest now is but 90
yards. On our way we passed over a fine nine-arched stone bridge,
called the Chin-Yen-Ch’iao. Near the covered bridge there is a very
pretty view down the river.”—H. C.]
Baron Richthofen observes that Ch’êng-tu is among the largest of
Chinese cities, and is of all the finest and most refined. The
population is called 800,000. The walls form a square of about 3
miles to the side, and there are suburbs besides. The streets are
broad and straight, laid out at right angles, with a pavement of
square flags very perfectly laid, slightly convex and drained at
each side. The numerous commemorative arches are sculptured with
skill; there is much display of artistic taste; and the people
are remarkably civil to foreigners. This characterizes the whole
province; and an air of wealth and refinement prevails even in the
rural districts. The plain round Ch’êng-tu fu is about 90 miles
in length (S.E. to N.W.), by 40 miles in width, with a copious
irrigation and great fertility, so that in wealth and population it
stands almost unrivalled. (_Letter_ VII. pp. 48–66.)
[Illustration: PLAN OF CHENG-TU.
_Églises ou Établissements français des “Missions étrangères”_
_Reproduction d’une carte chinoise_]
[Mr. Baber (_Travels_, p. 26) gives the following information
regarding the population of Ch’êng-tu: “The census of 1877 returned
the number of families at about 70,000, and the total population
at 330,000—190,000 being males and 140,000 females; but probably
the extensive suburb was not included in the enumeration. Perhaps
350,000 would be a fair total estimate.” It is the seat of the
Viceroy of the Sze-ch’wan province. Mr. Hosie says (_Three Years in
Western China_, p. 86): “It is without exception the finest city I
have seen in China; Peking and Canton will not bear comparison with
it.” Captain Gill writes (_River of Golden Sand_, II. p. 4): “The
city of Ch’êng-Tu is still a rich and noble one, somewhat irregular
in shape, and surrounded by a strong wall, in a perfect state of
repair. In this there are eight bastions, four being pierced by
gates.”
“It is one of the largest of Chinese cities, having a circuit of
about 12 miles.” (_Baber_, p. 26.) “It is now three and a half
miles long by about two and a half miles broad, the longest side
lying about east-south-east, and west-north-west, so that its
compass in the present day is about 12 miles.” (_Captain Gill_, II.
p. 4.)—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—Ramusio is more particular: “Through the city flow many
great rivers, which come down from distant mountains, and run
winding about through many parts of the city. These rivers vary in
width from half a mile to 200 paces, and are very deep. Across them
are built many bridges of stone,” etc. “And after passing the city
these rivers unite and form one immense river called Kian,” etc.
Here we have the Great River or KIANG, Kian (Quian) as in Ramusio,
or KIANG-SHUI, “Waters of the Kiang,” as in the text. So Pauthier
explains. [Mr. Baber remarks at Ch’êng-tu (_Travels_, p. 28): “When
all allowance is made for the diminution of the river, one cannot
help surmising that Marco Polo must have felt reluctant to call it
the _Chiang-Sui_ or ‘Yangtzŭ waterway.’ He was, however, correct
enough, as usual, for the Chinese consider it to be the main upper
stream of the Yangtzŭ.”—H. C.] Though our Geographies give the
specific names of Wen and Min to the great branch which flows by
Ch’êng-tu fu, and treat the Tibetan branch which flows through
northern Yunnan under the name of Kin sha or “Golden Sand,” as the
main river, the Chinese seem always to have regarded the former as
the true Kiang; as may be seen in Ritter (IV. 650) and Martini. The
latter describes the city as quite insulated by the ramifications
of the river, from which channels and canals pass all about it,
adorned with many quays and bridges of stone.
The numerous channels in reuniting form two rivers, one the Min,
and the other the To-Kiang, which also joins the Yangtzŭ at Lu-chau.
[In his _Introductory Essay to Captain Gill’s River of Golden
Sand_, Colonel Yule (p. 37) writes: “Captain Gill has pointed out
that, of the many branches of the river which ramify through the
plain of Ch’êng-tu, no one now passes through the city at all
corresponding in magnitude to that which Marco Polo describes,
about 1283, as running through the midst of Sin-da-fu, ‘a good
half-mile wide, and very deep withal.’ The largest branch adjoining
the city now runs on the south side, but does not exceed a hundred
yards in width; and though it is crossed by a covered bridge with
huxters’ booths, more or less in the style described by Polo, it
necessarily falls far short of his great bridge of half a mile
in length. Captain Gill suggests that a change may have taken
place in the last five (this should be _six_) centuries, owing to
the deepening of the river-bed at its exit from the plain, and
consequent draining of the latter. But I should think it more
probable that the ramification of channels round Ch’êng-tu, which
is so conspicuous even on a small general map of China, like that
which accompanies this work, is in great part due to art; that
the mass of the river has been drawn off to irrigate the plain;
and that thus the wide river, which in the 13th century may have
passed through the city, no unworthy representative of the mighty
Kiang, has long since ceased, on that scale, to flow. And I have
pointed out briefly that the fact, which Baron Richthofen attests,
of an actual bifurcation of waters on a large scale taking place
in the plain of Ch’êng-tu—one arm ‘branching east to form the To’
(as in the terse indication of the Yü-Kung)—viz. the To Kiang or
Chung-Kiang flowing south-east to join the great river at Lu-chau,
whilst another flows south to Sü-chau or Swi-fu, does render
change in the distribution of the waters about the city highly
credible.”] [See _Irrigation of the Ch’eng-tu Plain_, by _Joshua
Vale_, China Inland Mission in _Jour. China Br. R. A. S. Soc._
XXXIII. 1899–1900, pp. 22–36.—H. C.]
[Above Kwan Hsien, near Ch’êng-tu, there is a fine suspension
bridge, mentioned by Marcel Monnier (_Itinéraires_, p. 43), from
whom I borrow the cut reproduced on this page. This bridge is also
spoken of by Captain Gill (_l.c._ I. p. 335): “Six ropes, one above
the other, are stretched very tightly, and connected by vertical
battens of wood laced in and out. Another similar set of ropes is
at the other side of the roadway, which is laid across these, and
follows the curve of the ropes. There are three or four spans with
stone piers.”—H. C.]
[Illustration: Bridge near Kwan-hsien (Ch’êng-tu).]
NOTE 3.—(G. T.) “_Hi est le_ couiereque _dou Grant Sire, ce est
cilz qe recevent la rente dou Seignor_.” Pauthier has _couvert_.
Both are, I doubt not, misreadings or misunderstandings of
_comercque_ or _comerc_. This word, founded on the Latin
_commercium_, was widely spread over the East with the meaning
of _customs-duty_ or _custom-house_. In Low Greek it appeared as
κομμέρκιον and κουμέρκιον, now κομέρκι; in Arabic and Turkish as
قمرق and كمرك (_ḳumruḳ_ and _gyumruk_), still in use; in Romance
dialects as _comerchio, comerho, comergio_, etc.
NOTE 4.—The word in Pauthier’s text which I have rendered _pieces_
of gold is _pois_, probably equivalent to _saggi_ or _misḳáls_.[2]
The G. T. has “is well worth 1000 _bezants_ of gold,” no doubt
meaning _daily_, though not saying so. Ramusio has “100 bezants
daily.” The term Bezant may be taken as synonymous with _Dínár_,
and the statement in the text would make the daily receipt of
custom upwards of 500_l._, that in Ramusio upwards of 50_l._ only.
NOTE 5.—I have recast this passage, which has got muddled, probably
in the original dictation, for it runs in the G. text: “Et de ceste
cité se part l’en et chevauche cinq jornée por plain et por valée,
et treve-l’en castiaus et casaus assez. Les homes vivent dou profit
qu’il traient de la terre. Il hi a bestes sauvajes assez, lions et
orses et autres bestes. _Il vivent d’ars: car il hi se laborent des
biaus sendal et autres dras. Il sunt de Sindu meisme._” I take it
that in speaking of Ch’êng-tu fu, Marco has forgotten to fill up
his usual formula as to the occupation of the inhabitants; he is
reminded of this when he speaks of the occupation of the peasantry
on the way to Tibet, and reverts to the citizens in the words which
I have quoted in Italics. We see here _Sindu_ applied to the city,
suggesting _Sindu-fu_ for the reading at the beginning of the
chapter.
Silk is a large item in the produce and trade of Sze-ch’wan; and
through extensive quarters of Ch’êng-tu fu, in every house, the
spinning, dying, weaving, and embroidering of silk give occupation
to the people. And though a good deal is exported, much is consumed
in the province, for the people are very much given to costly
apparel. Thus silk goods are very conspicuous in the shops of the
capital. (_Richthofen_.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] My lamented friend Lieutenant F. Garnier had kindly undertaken to
send me a plan of Ch’êng-tu fu from the place itself, but, as is
well known, he fell on a daring enterprise elsewhere. [We hope
that the plan from a Chinese map we give from _M. Marcel Monnier’s
Itinéraires_ will replace the promised one.
It will be seen that Ch’êng-tu is divided into three cities: the
Great City containing both the Imperial and Tartar cities.—H. C.]
[2] I find the same expression applied to the misḳál or dínár in a
MS. letter written by Giovanni dell’Affaitado, Venetian Agent at
Lisbon in 1503, communicated to me by Signor Berchet. The King of
Melinda was to pay to Portugal a tribute of 1500 _pesi d’oro_, “che
un peso val un ducato e un quarto.”
CHAPTER XLV.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF TEBET.
After those five days’ march that I spoke of, you enter a province
which has been sorely ravaged; and this was done in the wars of Mongu
Kaan. There are indeed towns and villages and hamlets, but all harried
and destroyed.{1}
In this region you find quantities of canes, full three palms in girth
and fifteen paces in length, with some three palms’ interval between
the joints. And let me tell you that merchants and other travellers
through that country are wont at nightfall to gather these canes and
make fires of them; for as they burn they make such loud reports that
the lions and bears and other wild beasts are greatly frightened, and
make off as fast as possible; in fact nothing will induce them to come
nigh a fire of that sort. So you see the travellers make those fires to
protect themselves and their cattle from the wild beasts which have so
greatly multiplied since the devastation of the country. And ’tis this
great multiplication of the wild beasts that prevents the country from
being reoccupied. In fact but for the help of these canes, which make
such a noise in burning that the beasts are terrified and kept at a
distance, no one would be able even to travel through the land.
I will tell you how it is that the canes make such a noise. The people
cut the green canes, of which there are vast numbers, and set fire to
a heap of them at once. After they have been awhile burning they burst
asunder, and this makes such a loud report that you might hear it ten
miles off. In fact, any one unused to this noise, who should hear it
unexpectedly, might easily go into a swound or die of fright. But those
who are used to it care nothing about it. Hence those who are not used
to it stuff their ears well with cotton, and wrap up their heads and
faces with all the clothes they can muster; and so they get along until
they have become used to the sound. ’Tis just the same with horses.
Those which are unused to these noises are so alarmed by them that they
break away from their halters and heel-ropes, and many a man has lost
his beasts in this way. So those who would avoid losing their horses
take care to tie all four legs and peg the ropes down strongly, and to
wrap the heads and eyes and ears of the animals closely, and so they
save them. But horses also, when they have heard the noise several
times, cease to mind it. I tell you the truth, however, when I say that
the first time you hear it nothing can be more alarming. And yet, in
spite of all, the lions and bears and other wild beasts will sometimes
come and do much mischief; for their numbers are great in those
tracts.{2}
You ride for 20 days without finding any inhabited spot, so that
travellers are obliged to carry all their provisions with them, and are
constantly falling in with those wild beasts which are so numerous and
so dangerous. After that you come at length to a tract where there
are towns and villages in considerable numbers.{3} The people of those
towns have a strange custom in regard to marriage which I will now
relate.
No man of that country would on any consideration take to wife a girl
who was a maid; for they say a wife is nothing worth unless she has
been used to consort with men. And their custom is this, that when
travellers come that way, the old women of the place get ready, and
take their unmarried daughters or other girls related to them, and go
to the strangers who are passing, and make over the young women to
whomsoever will accept them; and the travellers take them accordingly
and do their pleasure; after which the girls are restored to the
old women who brought them, for they are not allowed to follow the
strangers away from their home. In this manner people travelling that
way, when they reach a village or hamlet or other inhabited place,
shall find perhaps 20 or 30 girls at their disposal. And if the
travellers lodge with those people they shall have as many young women
as they could wish coming to court them! You must know too that the
traveller is expected to give the girl who has been with him a ring or
some other trifle, something in fact that she can show as a lover’s
token when she comes to be married. And it is for this in truth and for
this alone that they follow that custom; for every girl is expected to
obtain at least 20 such tokens in the way I have described before she
can be married. And those who have most tokens, and so can show they
have been most run after, are in the highest esteem, and most sought in
marriage, because they say the charms of such an one are greatest.{4}
But after marriage these people hold their wives very dear, and would
consider it a great villainy for a man to meddle with another’s wife;
and thus though the wives have before marriage acted as you have
heard, they are kept with great care from light conduct afterwards.
Now I have related to you this marriage custom as a good story to tell,
and to show what a fine country that is for young fellows to go to!
The people are Idolaters and an evil generation, holding it no sin to
rob and maltreat: in fact, they are the greatest brigands on earth.
They live by the chase, as well as on their cattle and the fruits of
the earth.
I should tell you also that in this country there are many of the
animals that produce musk, which are called in the Tartar language
_Gudderi_. Those rascals have great numbers of large and fine dogs,
which are of great service in catching the musk-beasts, and so they
procure great abundance of musk. They have none of the Great Kaan’s
paper money, but use salt instead of money. They are very poorly clad,
for their clothes are only of the skins of beasts, and of canvas, and
of buckram.{5} They have a language of their own, and they are called
Tebet. And this country of TEBET forms a very great province, of which
I will give you a brief account.
NOTE 1.—The mountains that bound the splendid plain of Ch’êng-tu fu
on the west rise rapidly to a height of 12,000 feet and upwards.
Just at the skirt of this mountain region, where the great road
to Lhása enters it, lies the large and bustling city of Yachaufu,
forming the key of the hill country, and the great entrepôt of
trade between Sze-ch’wan on the one side, and Tibet and Western
Yunnan on the other. The present political boundary between China
Proper and Tibet is to the west of Bathang and the Kin-sha Kiang,
but till the beginning of last century it lay much further east,
near _Ta-t’sien-lu_, or, as the Tibetans appear to call it,
_Tartsédo_ or _Tachindo_, which a Chinese Itinerary given by Ritter
makes to be 920 _li_, or 11 marches from Ch’êng-tu fu. In Marco’s
time we must suppose that Tibet was considered to extend several
marches further east still, or to the vicinity of Yachau.[1] Mr.
Cooper’s Journal describes the country entered _on the 5th march_
from Ch’êng-tu as very mountainous, many of the neighbouring peaks
being capped with snow. And he describes the people as speaking
a language mixed with Tibetan for some distance before reaching
Ta-t’sien-lu. Baron Richthofen also who, as we shall see, has
thrown an entirely new light upon this part of Marco’s itinerary,
was exactly five days in travelling through a rich and populous
country, from Ch’êng-tu to Yachau. [Captain Gill left Ch’êng-tu on
the 10th July, 1877, and reached Ya-chau on the 14th, a distance of
75 miles.—H. C.] (_Ritter_, IV. 190 _seqq._; _Cooper_, pp. 164–173;
_Richthofen_ in _Verhandl. Ges. f. Erdk. zu Berlin_, 1874, p. 35.)
Tibet was always reckoned as a part of the Empire of the Mongol
Kaans in the period of their greatness, but it is not very clear
how it came under subjection to them. No conquest of Tibet by their
armies appears to be related by either the Mahomedan or the Chinese
historians. Yet it is alluded to by Plano Carpini, who ascribes the
achievement to an unnamed son of Chinghiz, and narrated by Sanang
Setzen, who says that the King of Tibet submitted without fighting
when Chinghiz invaded his country in the year of the Panther
(1206). During the reign of Mangku Kaan, indeed, Uriangḳadai, an
eminent Mongol general [son of Subudai] who had accompanied Prince
Kúblái in 1253 against Yunnan, did in the following year direct
his arms against the Tibetans. But this campaign, that no doubt to
which the text alludes as “the wars of Mangu Kaan,” appears to have
occupied only a part of one season, and was certainly confined to
the parts of Tibet on the frontiers of Yunnan and Sze-ch’wan. [“In
the _Yuen-shi_, Tibet is mentioned under different names. Sometimes
the Chinese history of the Mongols uses the ancient name _T’u-fan_.
In the Annals, _s.a._ 1251, we read: ‘Mangu Khan entrusted
_Ho-li-dan_ with the command of the troops against _T’u-fan_.’ _Sub
anno_ 1254 it is stated that Kúblái (who at that time was still
the heir-apparent), after subduing the tribes of Yun-nan, entered
_T’u-fan_, when _So-ho-to_, the ruler of the country, surrendered.
Again, _s.a._ 1275: ‘The prince _Al-lu-chi_ (seventh son of
Kúblái) led an expedition to _T’u-fan_.’ In chap. ccii., biography
of _Ba-sz’-ba_, the Lama priest who invented Kúblái’s official
alphabet, it is stated that this Lama was a native of _Sa-sz’-kia_
in T’u-fan.” (_Bretschneider, Med Res._ II. p. 23.)—H. C.] Koeppen
seems to consider it certain that there was no actual conquest
of Tibet, and that Kúblái extended his authority over it only by
diplomacy and the politic handling of the spiritual potentates
who had for several generations in Tibet been the real rulers of
the country. It is certain that Chinese history attributes the
organisation of civil administration in Tibet to Kúblái. Mati
Dhwaja, a young and able member of the family which held the
hereditary primacy of the Satya [Sakya] convent, and occupied the
most influential position in Tibet, was formerly recognised by the
Emperor as the head of the Lamaite Church and as the tributary
Ruler of Tibet. He is the same person that we have already (vol. i.
p. 28) mentioned as the Passepa or Báshpah Lama, the inventor of
Kúblái’s official alphabet. (_Carpini_, 658, 709; _D’Avezac_, 564;
_S. Setzen_, 89; _D’Ohsson_, II. 317; _Koeppen_, II. 96; _Amyot_,
XIV. 128.)
With the caution that Marco’s Travels in Tibet were limited to the
same mountainous country on the frontier of Sze-ch’wan, we defer
further geographical comment till he brings us to Yunnan.
NOTE 2.—Marco exaggerates a little about the bamboos; but before
gunpowder became familiar, no sharp explosive sounds of this kind
were known to ordinary experience, and exaggeration was natural. I
have been close to a bamboo jungle on fire. There was a great deal
of noise comparable to musketry; but the bamboos were not of the
large kind here spoken of. The Hon. Robert Lindsay, describing his
elephant-catching in Silhet, says: “At night each man lights a fire
at his post, and furnishes himself with a dozen joints of the large
bamboo, one of which he occasionally throws into the fire, and the
air it contains being rarefied by the heat, it explodes with a
report as loud as a musket.” (_Lives of the Lindsays_, III. 191.)
[Dr. Bretschneider (_Hist. of Bot. Disc._ I. p. 3) says: “In
corroboration of Polo’s statement regarding the explosions produced
when burning bamboos, I may adduce Sir Joseph Hooker’s Himalayan
Journals (edition of 1891, p. 100), where in speaking of the fires
in the jungles, he says: ‘Their triumph is in reaching a great
bamboo clump, when the noise of the flames drowns that of the
torrents, and as the great stem-joints burst, from the expansion of
the confined air, the report is as that of a salvo from a park of
artillery.’”—H. C.]
[Illustration: Mountaineers on the Borders of Sze ch’wan and
Yun-nan.]
Richthofen remarks that nowhere in China does the bamboo attain
such a size as in this region. Bamboos of three palms in girth
(28 to 30 inches) exist, but are not ordinary, I should suppose,
even in Sze-ch’wan. In 1855 I took some pains to procure in Pegu
a specimen of the largest attainable bamboo. It was 10 inches in
diameter.
NOTE 3.—M. Gabriel Durand, a missionary priest, thus describes his
journey in 1861 to Kiangka, _viâ_ Ta-t’sien-lu, a line of country
partly coincident with that which Polo is traversing: “Every day
we made a journey of nine or ten leagues, and halted for the night
in a _Kung-kuan_. These are posts dotted at intervals of about
ten leagues along the road to Hlassa, and usually guarded by
three soldiers, though the more important posts have twenty. With
the exception of some Tibetan houses, few and far between, these
are the only habitations to be seen on this silent and deserted
road.... Lytang was the first collection of houses that we had seen
in ten days’ march.” (_Ann. de la Propag. de la Foi_, XXXV. 352
_seqq._)
NOTE 4.—Such practices are ascribed to many nations. Martini quotes
something similar from a Chinese author about tribes in Yunnan; and
Garnier says such loose practices are still ascribed to the Sifan
near the southern elbow of the Kin-sha Kiang. Even of the Mongols
themselves and kindred races, Pallas asserts that the young women
regard a number of intrigues rather as a credit and recommendation
than otherwise. Japanese ideas seem to be not very different. In
old times Ælian gives much the same account of the Lydian women.
Herodotus’s Gindanes of Lybia afford a perfect parallel, “whose
women wear on their legs anklets of leather. Each lover that a
woman has gives her one; and she who can show most is the best
esteemed, as she appears to have been loved by the greatest number
of men.” (_Martini_, 142; _Garnier_, I. 520; _Pall. Samml._ II.
235; _Æl. Var. Hist._ III. 1; _Rawl. Herod._ Bk. IV. ch. clxxvi.)
[“Among some uncivilised peoples, women having many gallants are
esteemed better than virgins, and are more anxiously desired in
marriage. This is, for instance, stated to be the case with the
Indians of Quito, the Laplanders in Regnard’s days, and the Hill
Tribes of North Aracan. But in each of these cases we are expressly
told that want of chastity is considered a merit in the bride,
because it is held to be the best testimony to the value of her
attractions.” (_Westermarck, Human Marriage_, p. 81.)—H. C.]
Mr. Cooper’s Journal, when on the banks of the Kin-sha Kiang, west
of Bathang, affords a startling illustration of the persistence of
manners in this region: “At 12h. 30m. we arrived at a road-side
house, near which was a grove of walnut-trees; here we alighted,
when to my surprise I was surrounded by a group of young girls and
two elderly women, who invited me to partake of a repast spread
under the trees.... I thought I had stumbled on a pic-nic party,
of which the Tibetans are so fond. Having finished, I lighted my
pipe and threw myself on the grass in a state of castle-building.
I had not lain thus many seconds when the maidens brought a young
girl about 15 years old, tall and very fair, placed her on the
grass beside me, and forming a ring round us, commenced to sing and
dance. The little maid beside me, however, was bathed in tears.
All this, I must confess, a little puzzled me, when Philip (the
Chinese servant) with a long face, came to my aid, saying, ‘_Well,
Sir, this is a bad business ... they are marrying you._’ Good
heavens! how startled I was.” For the honourable conclusion of this
Anglo-Tibetan idyll I must refer to Mr. Cooper’s Journal. (See the
now published _Travels_, ch. x.)
NOTE 5.—All this is clearly meant to apply only to the rude
people towards the Chinese frontier; nor would the Chinese (says
Richthofen) at this day think the description at all exaggerated,
as applied to the Lolo who occupy the mountains to the south of
Yachaufu. The members of the group at p. 47, from Lieutenant
Garnier’s book, are there termed Man-tzŭ; but the context shows
them to be of the race of these Lolos. (See below, pp. 60, 61.)
The passage about the musk animal, both in Pauthier and in the G.
T., ascribes the word _Gudderi_ to the language “of that people,”
_i.e._ of the Tibetans. The Geog. Latin, however, has “_linguâ
Tartaricâ_,” and this is the fact. Klaproth informs us that
_Guderi_ is the Mongol word. And it will be found (_Kuderi_) in
Kovalevski’s Dictionary, No. 2594. Musk is still the most valuable
article that goes from Ta-t’sien-lu to China. Much is smuggled, and
single travellers will come all the way from Canton or Si-ngan fu
to take back a small load of it. (_Richthofen_.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Indeed Richthofen says that the boundary lay a few (German) miles
west of Yachau. I see that Martini’s map puts it (in the 17th
century) 10 German geographical miles, or about 46 statute miles,
west of that city.
CHAPTER XLVI.
FURTHER DISCOURSE CONCERNING TEBET.
This province, called Tebet, is of very great extent. The people, as I
have told you, have a language of their own, and they are Idolaters,
and they border on Manzi and sundry other regions. Moreover, they are
very great thieves.
The country is, in fact, so great that it embraces eight kingdoms,
and a vast number of cities and villages.{1} It contains in several
quarters rivers and lakes, in which gold-dust is found in great
abundance.{2} Cinnamon also grows there in great plenty. Coral is in
great demand in this country and fetches a high price, for they delight
to hang it round the necks of their women and of their idols.{3} They
have also in this country plenty of fine woollens and other stuffs, and
many kinds of spices are produced there which are never seen in our
country.
Among this people, too, you find the best enchanters and astrologers
that exist in all that quarter of the world; they perform such
extraordinary marvels and sorceries by diabolic art, that it astounds
one to see or even hear of them. So I will relate none of them in this
book of ours; people would be amazed if they heard them, but it would
serve no good purpose.{4}
These people of Tebet are an ill-conditioned race. They have mastiff
dogs as bigs as donkeys, which are capital at seizing wild beasts
[and in particular the wild oxen which are called _Beyamini_, very
great and fierce animals]. They have also sundry other kinds of sporting
dogs, and excellent lanner falcons [and sakers], swift in flight and
well-trained, which are got in the mountains of the country.{5}
Now I have told you in brief all that is to be said about Tebet, and so
we will leave it, and tell you about another province that is called
Caindu.
[Illustration: Village of Eastern Tibet on Sze-ch’wan Frontier. (From
Cooper.)]
As regards Tebet, however, you should understand that it is subject
to the Great Kaan. So, likewise, all the other kingdoms, regions, and
provinces which are described in this book are subject to the Great
Kaan, nay, even those other kingdoms, regions, and provinces of which I
had occasion to speak at the beginning of the book as belonging to the
son of Argon, the Lord of the Levant, are also subject to the Emperor;
for the former holds his dominion of the Kaan, and is his liegeman
and kinsman of the blood Imperial. So you must know that from this
province forward all the provinces mentioned in our book are subject to
the Great Kaan; and even if this be not specially mentioned, you must
understand that it is so.
Now let us have done with this matter, and I will tell you about the
Province of Caindu.
[Illustration: Roads in Eastern Tibet. (Gorge of the Lan t’sang Kiang,
from Cooper.)]
NOTE 1.—Here Marco at least shows that he knew Tibet to be much
more extensive than the small part of it that he had seen. But
beyond this his information amounts to little.
NOTE 2.—“_Or de paliolle._” “_Oro di pagliuola_” (_pagliuola_, “a
spangle”) must have been the technical phrase for what we call
gold-dust, and the French now call _or en paillettes_, a phrase
used by a French missionary in speaking of this very region.
(_Ann. de la Foi_, XXXVII. 427.) Yet the only example of this use
of the word cited in the _Voc. Ital. Universale_ is from this
passage of the Crusca MS.; and Pipino seems not to have understood
it, translating “_aurum quod dicitur_ Deplaglola”; whilst Zurla
says erroneously that _pajola_ is an old Italian word for _gold_.
Pegolotti uses _argento in pagliuola_ (p. 219). A Barcelona tariff
of 1271 sets so much on every mark of _Pallola_. And the old
Portuguese navigators seem always to have used the same expression
for the gold-dust of Africa, _ouro de pajola_. (See _Major’s Prince
Henry_, pp. 111, 112, 116; _Capmany Memorias_, etc., II. App. p.
73; also “_Aurum_ de Pajola,” in Usodimare of Genoa, see _Gräberg,
Annali_, II. 290, quoted by Peschel, p. 178.)
NOTE 3.—The cinnamon must have been the coarser cassia produced
in the lower parts of this region. (See note to next chapter.) We
have already (Book I. ch. xxxi.) quoted Tavernier’s testimony to
the rage for coral among the Tibetans and kindred peoples. Mr.
Cooper notices the eager demand for coral at Bathang. (See also
_Desgodins, La Mission du Thibet_, 310.)
NOTE 4.—See _supra_, Bk. I. ch. lxi. note 11.
NOTE 5.—The big Tibetan mastiffs are now well known. Mr. Cooper,
at Ta-t’sien lu, notes that the people of Tibetan race “keep very
large dogs, as large as Newfoundlands.” And he mentions a pack of
dogs of another breed, tan and black, “fine animals of the size
of setters.” The missionary M. Durand also, in a letter from the
region in question, says, speaking of a large leopard: “Our brave
watch-dogs had several times beaten him off gallantly, and one of
them had even in single combat with him received a blow of the
paw which had laid his skull open.” (_Ann. de la Prop. de la Foi_,
XXXVII. 314.) On the title-page of vol. i. we have introduced one
of these big Tibetan dogs as brought home by the Polos to Venice.
The “wild oxen called _Beyamini_” are probably some such species as
the Gaur. _Beyamini_ I suspect to be no Oriental word, but to stand
for _Buemini_, _i.e._ Bohemian, a name which may have been given
by the Venetians to either the bison or urus. Polo’s contemporary,
Brunetto Latini, seems to speak of one of these as still existing
in his day in Germany: “Autre buef naissent en Alemaigne qui ont
grans cors, et sont bons por sommier et por vin porter.” (Paris
ed., p. 228; see also _Lubbock, Pre-historic Times_, 296–7.)
[Mr. Baber (_Travels_, pp. 39, 40) writes: “A special interest
attaches to the wild oxen, since they are unknown in any other
part of China Proper. From a Lolo chief and his followers, most
enthusiastic hunters, I afterwards learnt that the cattle are met
with in herds of from seven to twenty head in the recesses of the
Wilderness, which may be defined as the region between the T’ung
River and Yachou, but that in general they are rarely seen.... I
was lucky enough to obtain a pair of horns and part of the hide
of one of these redoubtable animals, which seem to show that they
are a kind of bison.” Sir H. Yule remarks in a footnote (_Ibid._
p. 40): “It is not possible to say from what is stated here what
the species is, but probably it is a _gavœus_, of which Jerdan
describes three species. (See _Mammals of India_, pp. 301–307.)
Mr. Hodgson describes the Gaur (_Gavœus gaurus_ of Jerdan) of the
forests below Nepaul as fierce and revengeful.”—H. C.]
CHAPTER XLVII.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CAINDU.
CAINDU is a province lying towards the west,{1} and there is only one
king in it. The people are Idolaters, subject to the Great Kaan, and
they have plenty of towns and villages. [The chief city is also called
Caindu, and stands at the upper end of the province.] There is a lake
here,[1] in which are found pearls [which are white but not round].
But the Great Kaan will not allow them to be fished, for if people
were to take as many as they could find there, the supply would be so
vast that pearls would lose their value, and come to be worth nothing.
Only when it is his pleasure they take from the lake so many as he may
desire; but any one attempting to take them on his own account would be
incontinently put to death.
There is also a mountain in this country wherein they find a kind of
stone called turquoise, in great abundance; and it is a very beautiful
stone. These also the Emperor does not allow to be extracted without
his special order.{2}
I must tell you of a custom that they have in this country regarding
their women. No man considers himself wronged if a foreigner, or any
other man, dishonour his wife, or daughter, or sister, or any woman of
his family, but on the contrary he deems such intercourse a piece of
good fortune. And they say that it brings the favour of their gods and
idols, and great increase of temporal prosperity. For this reason they
bestow their wives on foreigners and other people as I will tell you.
When they fall in with any stranger in want of a lodging they are all
eager to take him in. And as soon as he has taken up his quarters the
master of the house goes forth, telling him to consider everything at
his disposal, and after saying so he proceeds to his vineyards or his
fields, and comes back no more till the stranger has departed. The
latter abides in the caitiff’s house, be it three days or be it four,
enjoying himself with the fellow’s wife or daughter or sister, or
whatsoever woman of the family it best likes him; and as long as he
abides there he leaves his hat or some other token hanging at the door,
to let the master of the house know that he is still there. As long as
the wretched fellow sees that token, he must not go in. And such is the
custom over all that province.{3}
The money matters of the people are conducted in this way. They have
gold in rods which they weigh, and they reckon its value by its weight
in _saggi_, but they have no coined money. Their small change again is
made in this way. They have salt which they boil and set in a mould
[flat below and round above],{4} and every piece from the mould weighs
about half a pound. Now, 80 moulds of this salt are worth one _saggio_
of fine gold, which is a weight so called. So this salt serves them for
small change.{5}
[Illustration: The Valley of the Kin-sha Kiang, near the lower end of
Caindu, _i.e._ Kienchang. (From Garnier.)
“=Et quant l’en est alés ceste dix jornée adonc treuve-l’en un grant
flun qe est apéle Brius, auquel se fenist la provence de Cheindu.=”]
The musk animals are very abundant in that country, and thus of musk
also they have great store. They have likewise plenty of fish which
they catch in the lake in which the pearls are produced. Wild animals,
such as lions, bears, wolves, stags, bucks and roes, exist in great
numbers; and there are also vast quantities of fowl of every kind. Wine
of the vine they have none, but they make a wine of wheat and rice and
sundry good spices, and very good drink it is.{6} There grows also in
this country a quantity of clove. The tree that bears it is a small
one, with leaves like laurel but longer and narrower, and with a small
white flower like the clove.{7} They have also ginger and cinnamon in
great plenty, besides other spices which never reach our countries, so
we need say nothing about them.
Now we may leave this province, as we have told you all about it. But
let me tell you first of this same country of Caindu that you ride
through it ten days, constantly meeting with towns and villages, with
people of the same description that I have mentioned. After riding
those ten days you come to a river called BRIUS, which terminates the
province of Caindu. In this river is found much gold-dust, and there is
also much cinnamon on its banks. It flows to the Ocean Sea.
There is no more to be said about this river, so I will now tell you
about another province called Carajan, as you shall hear in what
follows.
NOTE 1.—Ramusio’s version here enlarges: “Don’t suppose from my
saying _towards the west_ that these countries really lie in what
we call the _west_, but only that we have been travelling from
regions in the east-north-east _towards_ the west, and hence we
speak of the countries we come to as lying towards the west.”
NOTE 2.—Chinese authorities quoted by Ritter mention
_mother-o’-pearl_ as a product of Lithang, and speak of turquoises
as found in Djaya to the west of Bathang. (_Ritter_, IV. 235–236.)
Neither of these places is, however, within the tract which we
believe to be Caindu. Amyot states that pearls are found in a
certain river of Yun-nan. (See _Trans. R. A. Soc._ II. 91.)
NOTE 3.—This alleged practice, like that mentioned in the last
chapter but one, is ascribed to a variety of people in different
parts of the world. Both, indeed, have a curious double parallel in
the story of two remote districts of the Himalaya which was told
to Bernier by an old Kashmiri. (See Amst. ed. II. 304–305.) Polo
has told nearly the same story already of the people of Kamul. (Bk.
I. ch. xli.) It is related by Strabo of the Massagetæ; by Eusebius
of the Geli and the Bactrians; by Elphinstone of the Hazaras; by
Mendoza of the Ladrone Islanders; by other authors of the Nairs
of Malabar, and of some of the aborigines of the Canary Islands.
(_Caubul_, I. 209; _Mendoza_, II. 254; _Müller’s Strabo_, p. 439;
_Euseb. Praep. Evan._ vi. 10; _Major’s Pr. Henry_, p. 213.)
NOTE 4.—Ramusio has here: “as big as a twopenny loaf,” and adds,
“on the money so made the Prince’s mark is printed; and no one is
allowed to make it except the royal officers.... And merchants
take this currency and go to those tribes that dwell among the
mountains of those parts in the wildest and most unfrequented
quarters; and there they get a _saggio_ of gold for 60, or 50, or
40 pieces of this salt money, in proportion as the natives are more
barbarous and more remote from towns and civilised folk. For in
such positions they cannot dispose at pleasure of their gold and
other things, such as musk and the like, for want of purchasers;
and so they give them cheap.... And the merchants travel also about
the mountains and districts of Tebet, disposing of this salt money
in like manner to their own great gain. For those people, besides
buying necessaries from the merchants, want this salt to use in
their food; whilst in the towns only broken fragments are used in
food, the whole cakes being kept to use as money.” This exchange of
salt cakes for gold forms a curious parallel to the like exchange
in the heart of Africa, narrated by Cosmas in the 6th century, and
by Aloisio Cadamosto in the 15th. (See _Cathay_, pp. clxx–clxxi.)
Ritter also calls attention to an analogous account in Alvarez’s
description of Ethiopia. “The salt,” Alvarez says, “is current as
money, not only in the kingdom of Prester John, but also in those
of the Moors and the pagans, and the people here say that it passes
right on to Manicongo upon the Western Sea. This salt is dug from
the mountain, it is said, in squared blocks.... At the place where
they are dug, 100 or 120 such pieces pass for a drachm of gold ...
equal to ¾ of a ducat of gold. When they arrive at a certain fair
... one day from the salt mine, these go 5 or 6 pieces fewer to the
drachm. And so, from fair to fair, fewer and fewer, so that when
they arrive at the capital there will be only 6 or 7 pieces to the
drachm.” (_Ramusio_, I. 207.) Lieutenant Bower, in his account of
Major Sladen’s mission, says that at Momein the salt, which was a
government monopoly, was “made up in rolls of one and two viss” (a
Rangoon viss is 3 lbs. 5 oz. 5½ drs.), “and stamped” (p. 120).
[At Hsia-Kuan, near Ta-li, Captain Gill remarked to a friend (II.
p. 312) “that the salt, instead of being in the usual great flat
cakes about two or two and a half feet in diameter, was made in
cylinders eight inches in diameter and nine inches high. ‘Yes,’
he said, ‘they make them here in a sort of loaves,’ unconsciously
using almost the words of old Polo, who said the salt in Yun-Nan
was in pieces ‘as big as a twopenny loaf.’” (See also p.
334.)—H. C.]
M. Desgodins, a missionary in this part of Tibet, gives some
curious details of the way in which the civilised traders still
prey upon the simple hill-folks of that quarter; exactly as the
Hindu Banyas prey upon the simple forest-tribes of India. He states
one case in which the account for a pig had with interest run up to
2127 bushels of corn! (_Ann. de la Prop. de la Foi_, XXXVI. 320.)
Gold is said still to be very plentiful in the mountains called
Gulan Sigong, to the N.W. of Yun-nan, adjoining the great eastern
branch of the Irawadi, and the Chinese traders go there to barter
for it. (See _J. A. S. B._ VI. 272.)
NOTE 5.—Salt is still an object highly coveted by the wild
Lolos already alluded to, and to steal it is a chief aim of
their constant raids on Chinese villages. (_Richthofen_ in
_Verhandlungen_, etc., u.s. p. 36.) On the continued existence of
the use of salt currency in regions of the same frontier, I have
been favoured with the following note by M. Francis Garnier, the
distinguished leader of the expedition of the great Kamboja River
in its latter part: “Salt currency has a very wide diffusion from
Muang Yong [in the Burman-Shan country, about lat. 21° 43′] to
Sheu-pin [in Yun-nan, about lat. 23° 43′]. In the Shan markets,
especially within the limits named, all purchases are made with
salt. At Sse-mao and Pou-erl [_Esmok_ and _Puer_ of some of our
maps], silver, weighed and cut in small pieces, is in our day
tending to drive out the custom, but in former days it must have
been universal in the tract of which I am speaking. The salt
itself, prime necessity as it is, has there to be extracted by
condensation from saline springs of great depth, a very difficult
affair. The operation consumes enormous quantities of fuel, and to
this is partly due the denudation of the country”. Marco’s somewhat
rude description of the process, “_Il prennent la sel e la font
cuire, et puis la gitent en forme_,” points to the manufacture
spoken of in this note. The cut which we give from M. Garnier’s
work illustrates the process, but the cakes are vastly greater than
Marco’s. Instead of a half pound they weigh a _picul_, _i.e._ 133⅓
lbs. In Sze-ch’wan the brine wells are bored to a depth of 700 to
1000 feet, and the brine is drawn up in bamboo tubes by a gin. In
Yun-nan the wells are much less deep, and a succession of hand
pumps is used to raise the brine.
[Illustration: Salt pans in Yun-nan. (From Garnier.)
“=Il prennent la sel e la font cuire, et puis la gitent en forme.=”]
[Mr. Hosie has a chapter (_Three Years in W. China_, VII.) to
which he has given the title of _Through Caindu to Carajan_;
regarding salt he writes (p. 121): “The brine wells from which the
salt is derived lie at Pai yen ching, 14 miles to the south-west
of the city [of Yen-yuan] ... [they] are only two in number, and
comparatively shallow, being only 50 feet in depth. Bamboo tubes,
ropes and buffaloes are here dispensed with, and small wooden tubs,
with bamboos fixed to their sides as handles for raising, are
considered sufficient. At one of the wells a staging was erected
half-way down, and from it the tubs of brine were passed up to the
workmen above. Passing from the wells to the evaporating sheds, we
found a series of mud furnaces with round holes at the top, into
which cone-shaped pans, manufactured from iron obtained in the
neighbourhood, and varying in height from one to two and a half
feet, were loosely fitted. When a pan has been sufficiently heated,
a ladleful of the brine is poured into it, and, bubbling up to
the surface, it sinks, leaving a saline deposit on the inside of
the pan. This process is repeated until a layer, some four inches
thick, and corresponding to the shape of the pan, is formed, when
the salt is removed as a hollow cone ready for market. Care must be
taken to keep the bottom of the pan moist; otherwise, the salt cone
would crack, and be rendered unfit for the rough carriage which it
experiences on the backs of pack animals. A soft coal, which is
found just under the surface of the yellow-soiled hills seven miles
to the west of Pai-yen-ching, is the fuel used in the furnaces.
The total daily output of salt at these wells does not exceed two
tons a day, and the cost at the wells, including the Government
tax, amounts to about three half-pence a pound. The area of supply,
owing to the country being sparsely populated, is greater than the
output would lead one to expect.”—H. C.]
NOTE 6.—The spiced wine of Kien-ch’ang (see note to next chapter)
has even now a high repute. (_Richthofen_.)
NOTE 7.—M. Pauthier will have it that Marco was here the discoverer
of Assam tea. Assam is, indeed, far out of our range, but his
notice of this plant, with the laurel-like leaf and white flower,
was brought strongly to my recollection in reading Mr. Cooper’s
repeated notices, almost in this region, of the _large-leaved
tea-tree, with its white flowers_; and, again, of “the hills
covered with _tea-oil_ trees, all white with flowers.” Still, one
does not clearly see why Polo should give tea-trees the name of
cloves.
Failing explanation of this, I should suppose that the cloves of
which the text speaks were _cassia-buds_, an article once more
prominent in commerce (as indeed were all similar aromatics)
than now, but still tolerably well known. I was at once supplied
with them at a _drogheria_, in the city where I write (Palermo),
on asking for _Fiori di Canella_, the name under which they are
mentioned repeatedly by Pegolotti and Uzzano, in the 14th and 15th
centuries. Friar Jordanus, in speaking of the cinnamon (or cassia)
of Malabar, says, “it is the bark of a large tree which has fruit
and _flowers like cloves_” (p. 28). The cassia-buds have indeed a
general resemblance to cloves, but they are shorter, lighter in
colour, and not angular. The cinnamon, mentioned in the next lines
as abundantly produced in the same region, was no doubt one of the
inferior sorts, called cassia-bark.
Williams says: “Cassia grows in all the southern provinces of
China, especially Kwang-si and Yun-nan, also in Annam, Japan,
and the Isles of the Archipelago. The wood, bark, buds, seeds,
twigs, pods, leaves, oil, are all objects of commerce.... The buds
(_kwei-tz’_) are the fleshy ovaries of the seeds; they are pressed
at one end, so that they bear some resemblance to cloves in shape.”
Upwards of 500 _piculs_ (about 30 tons), valued at 30 dollars each,
are annually exported to Europe and India. (_Chin. Commercial
Guide_, 113–114).
The only doubt as regards this explanation will probably be whether
the cassia would be found at such a height as we may suppose to
be that of the country in question above the sea-level. I know
that cassia bark is gathered in the Kasia Hills of Eastern Bengal
up to a height of about 4000 feet above the sea, and at least the
valleys of “Caindu” are probably not too elevated for this product.
Indeed, that of the Kin-sha or _Brius_, near where I suppose Polo
to cross it, is only 2600 feet. Positive evidence I cannot adduce.
No cassia or cinnamon was met with by M. Garnier’s party where they
intersected this region.
But in this 2nd edition I am able to state on the authority of
Baron Richthofen that cassia is produced in the whole length of the
valley of Kien-ch’ang (which is, as we shall see in the notes on
next chapter, Caindu), though in no other part of Sze-ch’wan nor in
Northern Yun-nan.
[Captain Gill (_River of Golden Sand_, II. p. 263) writes: “There
were chestnut trees ...; and the Kwei-Hua, a tree ‘with leaves like
the laurel, and with a small white flower, like the clove,’ having
a delicious, though rather a luscious smell. This was the Cassia,
and I can find no words more suitable to describe it than those of
Polo which I have just used.”—H. C.]
_Ethnology_.—The Chinese at Ch’êng-tu fu, according to Richthofen,
classify the aborigines of the Sze-ch’wan frontier as _Man-tzŭ,
Lolo, Si-fan_, and _Tibetan_. Of these the Si-fan are furthest
north, and extend far into Tibet. The Man-tzŭ (properly so called)
are regarded as the remnant of the ancient occupants of Sze-ch’wan,
and now dwell in the mountains about the parallel 30°, and along
the Lhása road, Ta-t’sien lu being about the centre of their tract.
The Lolo are the wildest and most independent, occupying the
mountains on the left of the Kin-sha Kiang where it runs northwards
(see above p. 48, and below p. 69) and also to some extent on its
right. The Tibetan tribes lie to the west of the Man-tzŭ, and to
the west of Kien-ch’ang. (See next chapter.)
Towards the Lan-ts’ang Kiang is the quasi-Tibetan tribe called
by the Chinese _Mossos_, by the Tibetans _Guions_, and between
the Lan-ts’ang and the Lú-Kiang or Salwen are the _Lissús_, wild
hill-robbers and great musk hunters, like those described by Polo
at p. 45. Garnier, who gives these latter particulars, mentions
that near the confluence of the Yalung and Kin-sha Kiang there
are tribes called _Pa-i_, as there are in the south of Yun-nan,
and, like the latter, of distinctly Shan or Laotian character. He
also speaks of _Si-fan_ tribes in the vicinity of Li-kiang fu,
and coming south of the Kin-sha Kiang even to the east of Ta-li.
Of these are told such loose tales as Polo tells of _Tebet_ and
_Caindu_.
[In the _Topography of the Yun-nan Province_ (edition of 1836)
there is a catalogue of 141 classes of aborigines, each with a
separate name and illustration, without any attempt to arrive at a
broader classification. Mr. Bourne has been led to the conviction
that exclusive of the Tibetans (including Si-fan and Ku-tsung),
there are but three great non-Chinese races in Southern China: the
Lolo, the Shan, and the Miao-tzŭ. (_Report, China_, No. 1, 1888,
p. 87.) This classification is adopted by Dr. Deblenne. (_Mission
Lyonnaise_.)
_Man-tzŭ, Man_, is a general name for “barbarian” (see my note in
_Odoric de Pordenone_, p. 248 _seqq._); it is applied as well to
the Lolo as to the Si-fan.
Mr. Parker remarks (_China Review_, XX. p. 345) that the epithet
of _Man-tzŭ_, or “barbarians,” dates from the time when the Shans,
Annamese, Miao-tzŭ, etc., occupied nearly all South China, for it
is essentially to the Indo-Chinese that the term Man-tzŭ belongs.
Mr. Hosie writes (_Three years in W. China_, 122): “At the time
when Marco Polo passed through Caindu, this country was in the
possession of the Si-fans.... At the present day, they occupy
the country to the west, and are known under the generic name of
Man-tzŭ.”
“It has already been remarked that _Si-fan_, convertible with
_Man-tzŭ_, is a loose Chinese expression of no ethnological value,
meaning nothing more than Western barbarians; but in a more
restricted sense it is used to designate a people (or peoples)
which inhabits the valley of the Yalung and the upper T’ung, with
contiguous valleys and ranges, from about the twenty-seventh
parallel to the borders of Koko-nor. This people is sub-divided
into eighteen tribes.” (_Baber_, p. 81.)
Si-fan or Pa-tsiu is the name by which the Chinese call the Tibetan
tribes which occupy part of Western China. (_Devéria_, p. 167.)
[Illustration: Black Lolo.]
Dr. Bretschneider writes (_Med. Res._ II. p. 24): “The
north-eastern part of Tibet was sometimes designated by the Chinese
name Si-fan, and Hyacinth [Bitchurin] is of opinion that in ancient
times this name was even applied to the whole of Tibet. _Si-fan_
means, ‘Western Barbarians.’ The biographer of Hiuen-Tsang reports
that when this traveller, in 629, visited Liang-chau (in the
province of Kan-Suh), this city was the entrepôt for merchants
from _Si-fan_ and the countries east of the Ts’ung-ling mountains.
In the history of the Hia and Tangut Empire (in the _Sung-shi_)
we read, _s. a._ 1003, that the founder of this Empire invaded
_Si-fan_ and then proceeded to _Si-liang_ (Liang-chau). The
_Yuen-shi_ reports, _s. a._ 1268: ‘The (Mongol) Emperor ordered
_Meng-gu-dai_ to invade _Si-fan_ with 6000 men.’ The name Si-fan
appears also in ch. ccii., biography of _Dan-ba_.” It is stated
in the _Ming-shi_, “that the name _Si-fan_ is applied to the
territory situated beyond the frontiers of the Chinese provinces
of Shen-si (then including the eastern part of present Kan-Suh)
and Sze-ch’wan, and inhabited by various tribes of Tangut race,
anciently known in Chinese history under the name of _Si Kiang_....
The _Kuang yu ki_ notices that _Si-fan_ comprises the territory
of the south-west of Shen-si, west of Sze-ch’wan and north-west
of Yun-nan.... The tribute presented by the Si-fan tribes to
the Emperor used to be carried to the court at Peking by way of
Ya-chau in Sze-ch’wan.” (_Bretschneider_, 203.) The Tangutans of
Prjevalsky, north-east of Tibet, in the country of Ku-ku nor,
correspond to the Si-fan.
“The Ta-tu River may be looked upon as the southern limit of the
region inhabited by Sifan tribes, and the northern boundary of the
Lolo country which stretches southwards to the Yang-tzŭ and east
from the valley of Kien-ch’ang towards the right bank of the Min.”
(_Hosie_, p. 102.)
To Mr. E. C. Baber we owe the most valuable information regarding
the Lolo people:
“‘Lolo’ is itself a word of insult, of unknown Chinese origin,
which should not be used in their presence, although they excuse
it and will even sometimes employ it in the case of ignorant
strangers. In the report of Governor-General Lo Ping-chang,
above quoted, they are called ‘I,’ the term applied by Chinese
to Europeans. They themselves have no objection to being styled
‘I-chia’ (I families), but that word is not their native name.
Near Ma-pien they call themselves ‘Lo-su’; in the neighbourhood of
Lui-po T’ing their name is ‘No-su’ or ‘Ngo-su’ (possibly a mere
variant of ‘Lo-su’); near Hui-li-chou the term is ‘Lé-su’—the
syllable Lé being pronounced as in French. The subject tribes on
the T’ung River, near Mount Wa, also name themselves ‘Ngo-su.’ I
have found the latter people speak very disrespectfully of the
Lé-su, which argues an internal distinction; but there can be no
doubt that they are the same race, and speak the same language,
though with minor differences of dialect.” (_Baber, Travels_,
66–67.)
“With very rare exceptions the male Lolo, rich or poor, free or
subject, may be instantly known by his _horn_. All his hair is
gathered into a knot over his forehead and there twisted up in a
cotton cloth so as to resemble the horn of a unicorn. The horn with
its wrapper is sometimes a good nine inches long. They consider
this _coiffure_ sacred, so at least I was told, and even those who
wear a short pig-tail for convenience in entering Chinese territory
still conserve the indigenous horn, concealed for the occasion
under the folds of the Sze-ch’wan turban.” (_Baber_, p. 61.) See
these horns on figures, Bk. II. ch. lviii.
[Illustration: White Lolo.]
“The principal clothing of a Lolo is his mantle, a capacious
sleeveless garment of grey or black felt gathered round his neck
by a string, and reaching nearly to his heels. In the case of the
better classes the mantle is of fine felt—in great request among
the Chinese—and has a fringe of cotton-web round its lower border.
For journeys on horseback they have a similar cloak differing only
in being slit half-way up the back; a wide lappet covering the
opening lies easily along the loins and croup of the horse. The
colour of the felt is originally grey, but becomes brown-black
or black, in process of time. It is said that the insects which
haunt humanity never infest these gabardines. The Lolo generally
gathers this garment closely round his shoulders and crosses his
arms inside. His legs, clothed in trousers of Chinese cotton, are
swathed in felt bandages bound on with strings, and he has not yet
been super-civilised into the use of foot-gear. In summer a cotton
cloak is often substituted for the felt mantle. The hat, serving
equally for an umbrella, is woven of bamboo, in a low conical
shape, and is covered with felt. Crouching in his felt mantle under
this roof of felt the hardy Lolo is impervious to wind or rain.”
(_Baber, Travels_, 61–62.)
“The word, ‘Black-bone,’ is generally used by the Chinese as a name
for the independent Lolos, but in the mouth of a Lolo it seems to
mean a ‘freeman’ or ‘noble,’ in which sense it is not a whit more
absurd than the ‘blue-blood,’ of Europeans. The ‘White-bones,’ an
inferior class, but still Lolo by birth, are, so far as I could
understand, the vassals and retainers of the patricians—the people,
in fact. A third class consists of Wa-tzŭ, or slaves, who are all
captive Chinese. It does not appear whether the servile class is
sub-divided, but, at any rate, the slaves born in Lolodom are
treated with more consideration than those who have been captured
in slave-hunts.” (_Baber, Travels_, 67.)
According to the French missionary, Paul Vial (_Les Lolos_,
Shang-hai, 1898) the Lolos say that they come from the country
situated between Tibet and Burma. The proper manner to address a
Lolo in Chinese is _Lao-pen-kia_. The book of Father Vial contains
a very valuable chapter on the writing of the Lolos. Mr. F. S.
A. Bourne writes (_Report, China_, No. I. 1888, p. 88):—“The old
Chinese name for this race was ‘Ts’uan Man’— ‘Ts’uan barbarians,’
a name taken from one of their chiefs. The _Yun-nan Topography_
says:—‘The name of “Ts’uan Man” is a very ancient one, and
originally the tribes of Ts’uan were very numerous. There was that
called “Lu-lu Man,” for instance, now improperly called “Lo-Lo.”’
These people call themselves ‘Nersu,’ and the vocabularies show
that they stretch in scattered communities as far as Ssŭ-mao and
along the whole southern border of Yun-nan. It appears from the
_Topography_ that they are found also on the Burmese border.”
The _Moso_ call themselves _Nashi_ and are called _Djiung_ by the
Tibetans; their ancient capital is Li-kiang fu which was taken by
their chief Mong-ts’u under the Sung Dynasty; the Mongols made
of their country the kingdom of Chaghan-djang. Li-kiang is the
territory of Yuê-si Chao, called also Mo-sie (Moso), one of the
six Chao of Nan-Chao. The Moso of Li-kiang call themselves _Ho_.
They have an epic styled _Djiung-Ling_ (Moso Division) recounting
the invasion of part of Tibet by the Moso. The Moso were submitted
during the 8th century, by the King of Nan-Chao. They have a
special hieroglyphic scrip, a specimen of which has been given by
Devéria. (_Frontière_, p. 166.) A manuscript was secured by Captain
Gill, on the frontier east of Li-t’ang, and presented by him to
the British Museum (_Add._ MSS. Or. 2162); T. de Lacouperie gave
a facsimile of it. (Plates I., II. of _Beginnings of Writing_.)
Prince Henri d’Orléans and M. Bonin both brought home a Moso
manuscript with a Chinese explanation.
Dr. Anderson (_Exped. to Yunnan_, Calcutta, p. 136) says the
_Li-sus_, or _Lissaus_ are “a small hill-people, with fair, round,
flat faces, high cheek bones, and some little obliquity of the
eye.” These Li-su or Li-siè, are scattered throughout the Yunnanese
prefectures of Yao-ngan, Li-kiang, Ta-li and Yung-ch’ang; they were
already in Yun-Nan in the 4th century when the Chinese general Ch’u
Chouang-kiao entered the country. (_Devéria, Front._, p. 164.)
The _Pa-y_ or _P’o-y_ formed under the Han Dynasty the principality
of P’o-tsiu and under the T’ang Dynasty the tribes of Pu-hiung and
of Si-ngo, which were among the thirty-seven tribes dependent on
the ancient state of Nan-Chao and occupied the territory of the
sub-prefectures of Kiang-Chuen (Ch’êng-kiang fu) and of Si-ngo
(Lin-ngan fu). They submitted to China at the beginning of the
Yuen Dynasty; their country bordered upon Burma (Mien-tien) and
Ch’ê-li or Kiang-Hung (Xieng-Hung), in Yun-Nan, on the right
bank of the Mekong River. According to Chinese tradition, the
Pa-y descended from Muong Tsiu-ch’u, ninth son of Ti Muong-tsiu,
son of Piao-tsiu-ti (Asôka). Devéria gives (p. 105) a specimen
of the Pa-y writing (16th century). (_Devéria, Front._, 99,
117; _Bourne, Report_, p. 88.) Chapter iv. of the Chinese work,
_Sze-i-kwan-k’ao_, is devoted to the _Pa-y_, including the
sub-divisions of Muong-Yang, Muong-Ting, Nan-tien, Tsien-ngaï,
Lung-chuen, Wei-yuan, Wan-tien, Chen-k’ang, Ta-how, Mang-shi,
Kin-tung, Ho-tsin, Cho-lo tien. (_Devéria, Mél. de Harlez_, p. 97.)
I give a specimen of Pa-yi writing from a Chinese work purchased
by Father Amiot at Peking, now in the Paris National Library
(Fonds chinois, No. 986). (See on this scrip, _F. W. K. Müller,
T’oung-Pao_, III. p. 1, and V. p. 329; _E. H. Parker, The Muong
Language, China Review_, I. 1891, p. 267; _P. Lefèvre-Pontalis,
Etudes sur quelques alphabets et vocab. Thais, T’oung Pao_, III.
pp. 39–64.)—H. C.]
These ethnological matters have to be handled cautiously, for there
is great ambiguity in the nomenclature. Thus _Man-tzŭ_ is often
used generically for aborigines, and the _Lolos_ of Richthofen are
called Man-tzŭ by Garnier and Blakiston; whilst _Lolo_ again has
in Yun-nan apparently a very comprehensive generic meaning, and
is so used by Garnier. (_Richt. Letter_ VII. 67–68 and MS. notes;
_Garnier_, I. 519 _seqq._ [_T. W. Kingsmill, Han Wu-ti, China
Review_, XXV. 103–109.])
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Ramusio alone has “a great _salt_ lake.”
CHAPTER XLVIII.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CARAJAN.
When you have passed that River you enter on the province of CARAJAN,
which is so large that it includes seven kingdoms. It lies towards
the west; the people are Idolaters, and they are subject to the Great
Kaan. A son of his, however, is there as King of the country, by name
ESSENTIMUR; a very great and rich and puissant Prince; and he well and
justly rules his dominion, for he is a wise man, and a valiant.
After leaving the river that I spoke of, you go five days’ journey
towards the west, meeting with numerous towns and villages. The country
is one in which excellent horses are bred, and the people live by
cattle and agriculture. They have a language of their own which is
passing hard to understand. At the end of those five days’ journey you
come to the capital, which is called YACHI, a very great and noble
city, in which are numerous merchants and craftsmen.{1}
[Illustration: _Pa-y_ script.]
The people are of sundry kinds, for there are not only Saracens and
Idolaters, but also a few Nestorian Christians.{2} They have wheat and
rice in plenty. Howbeit they never eat wheaten bread, because in that
country it is unwholesome.{3} Rice they eat, and make of it sundry
messes, besides a kind of drink which is very clear and good, and makes
a man drunk just as wine does.
Their money is such as I will tell you. They use for the purpose
certain white porcelain shells that are found in the sea, such as are
sometimes put on dogs’ collars; and 80 of these porcelain shells pass
for a single weight of silver, equivalent to two Venice groats, _i.e._
24 piccoli. Also eight such weights of silver count equal to one such
weight of gold.{4}
They have brine-wells in this country from which they make salt, and
all the people of those parts make a living by this salt. The King,
too, I can assure you, gets a great revenue from this salt.{5}
There is a lake in this country of a good hundred miles in compass, in
which are found great quantities of the best fish in the world; fish of
great size, and of all sorts.
They reckon it no matter for a man to have intimacy with another’s
wife, provided the woman be willing.
Let me tell you also that the people of that country eat their meat
raw, whether it be of mutton, beef, buffalo, poultry, or any other
kind. Thus the poor people will go to the shambles, and take the raw
liver as it comes from the carcase and cut it small, and put it in
a sauce of garlic and spices, and so eat it; and other meat in like
manner, raw, just as we eat meat that is dressed.{6}
Now I will tell you about a further part of the Province of Carajan, of
which I have been speaking.
NOTE 1.—We have now arrived at the great province of CARAJAN,
the KARÁJÁNG of the Mongols, which we know to be YUN-NAN, and
at its capital YACHI, which—I was about to add—we know to be
YUN-NAN-FU. But I find all the commentators make it something
else. Rashiduddin, however, in his detail of the twelve Sings or
provincial governments of China under the Mongols, thus speaks:
“10th, KARÁJÁNG. This used to be an independent kingdom, and the
Sing is established at the great city of YÁCHI. All the inhabitants
are Mahomedans. The chiefs are Noyan Takin, and Yaḳub Beg, son
of ’Ali Beg, the Belúch.” And turning to Pauthier’s corrected
account of the same distribution of the empire from authentic
Chinese sources (p. 334), we find: “8. The administrative province
of Yun-nan.... Its capital, chief town also of the canton of the
same name, was called _Chung-khing_, now YUN-NAN-FU.” Hence Yachi
was Yun-nan-fu. This is still a large city, having a rectangular
rampart with 6 gates, and a circuit of about 6½ miles. The suburbs
were destroyed by the Mahomedan rebels. The most important trade
there now is in the metallic produce of the Province. [According to
_Oxenham, Historical Atlas_, there were _ten_ provinces or _sheng_
(Liao-yang, Chung-shu, Shen-si, Ho-nan, Sze-ch’wan, _Yun-nan_,
Hu-kwang, Kiang-che, Kiang-si and Kan-suh) and _twelve_ military
governorships.—H. C.]
_Yachi_ was perhaps an ancient corruption of the name _Yichau_,
which the territory bore (according to Martini and Biot) under the
Han; but more probably _Yichau_ was a Chinese transformation of the
real name _Yachi_. The Shans still call the city Muang _Chi_, which
is perhaps another modification of the same name.
We have thus got Ch’êng-tu fu as one fixed point, and Yun-nan-fu as
another, and we have to track the traveller’s itinerary between the
two, through what Ritter called with reason a _terra incognita_.
What little was known till recently of this region came from the
Catholic missionaries. Of late the veil has begun to be lifted;
the daring excursion of Francis Garnier and his party in 1868
intersected the tract towards the south; Mr. T. T. Cooper crossed
it further north, by Ta-t’sien lu, Lithang and Bathang; Baron v.
Richthofen in 1872 had penetrated several marches towards the heart
of the mystery, when an unfortunate mishap compelled his return,
but he brought back with him much precious information.
Five days forward from Ch’êng-tu fu brought us on Tibetan ground.
Five days backward from Yun-nan fu should bring us to the river
Brius, with its gold-dust and the frontier of Caindu. Wanting a
local scale for a distance of five days, I find that our next point
in advance, Marco’s city of Carajan undisputably _Tali-fu_, is
said by him to be ten days from Yachi. The direct distance between
the cities of Yun-nan and Ta-li I find by measurement on Keith
Johnston’s map to be 133 Italian miles. [The distance by road is
215 English miles. (See _Baber_, p. 191.)—H. C.] Taking half this
as radius, the compasses swept from Yun-nan-fu as centre, intersect
near its most southerly elbow the great upper branch of the Kiang,
the _Kin-sha Kiang_ of the Chinese, or “River of the Golden
Sands,” the MURUS USSU and BRICHU of the Mongols and Tibetans, and
manifestly the auriferous BRIUS of our traveller.[1] Hence also the
country north of this elbow is CAINDU.
[Illustration: Garden-House on the Lake at Yun-nan-fu, Yachi of
Polo. (From Garnier.)
“=Je voz di q’il ont un lac qe gire environ bien cent miles.=”]
I leave the preceding paragraph as it stood in the first edition,
because it shows how _near_ the true position of Caindu these
unaided deductions from our author’s data had carried me. That
paragraph was followed by an erroneous hypothesis as to the
intermediate part of that journey, but, thanks to the new light
shed by Baron Richthofen, we are enabled now to lay down the whole
itinerary from Ch’êng-tu fu to Yun-nan fu with confidence in its
accuracy.
The Kin-sha Kiang or Upper course of the Great Yang-tzŭ, descending
from Tibet to Yun-nan, forms the great bight or elbow to which
allusion has just been made, and which has been a feature known to
geographers ever since the publication of D’Anville’s atlas. The
tract enclosed in this elbow is cut in two by another great Tibetan
River, the Yarlung, or Yalung-Kiang, which joins the Kin-sha not
far from the middle of the great bight; and this Yalung, just
before the confluence, receives on the left a stream of inferior
calibre, the Ngan-ning Ho, which also flows in a valley parallel
to the meridian, like all that singular _fascis_ of great rivers
between Assam and Sze-ch’wan.
This River Ngan-ning waters a valley called Kien-ch’ang, containing
near its northern end a city known by the same name, but in our
modern maps marked as Ning-yuan fu; this last being the name
of a department of which it is the capital, and which embraces
much more than the valley of Kien-ch’ang. The town appears,
however, as Kien-ch’ang in the _Atlas Sinensis_ of Martini,
and as _Kienchang-ouei_ in D’Anville. This remarkable valley,
imbedded as it were in a wilderness of rugged highlands and wild
races, accessible only by two or three long and difficult routes,
rejoices in a warm climate, a most productive soil, scenery that
seems to excite enthusiasm even in Chinamen, and a population
noted for amiable temper. Towns and villages are numerous. The
people are said to be descended from Chinese immigrants, but their
features have little of the Chinese type, and they have probably
a large infusion of aboriginal blood. [Kien-ch’ang, “otherwise
the Prefecture of Ning-yuan, is perhaps the least known of the
Eighteen Provinces,” writes Mr. Baber. (_Travels_, p. 58.) “Two
or three sentences in the book of Ser Marco, to the effect that
after crossing high mountains, he reached a fertile country
containing many towns and villages, and inhabited by a very
immoral population, constitute to this day the only description we
possess of _Cain-du_, as he calls the district.” Baber adds (p.
82): “Although the main valley of Kien-ch’ang is now principally
inhabited by Chinese, yet the Sifan or Menia people are frequently
met with, and most of the villages possess two names, one Chinese,
and the other indigenous. Probably in Marco Polo’s time a Menia
population predominated, and the valley was regarded as part of
Menia. If Marco had heard that name, he would certainly have
recorded it; but it is not one which is likely to reach the ears of
a stranger. The Chinese people and officials never employ it, but
use in its stead an alternative name, _Chan-tu_ or _Chan-tui_, of
precisely the same application, which I make bold to offer as the
original of Marco’s Caindu, or preferably Ciandu.”—H. C.]
This valley is bounded on the east by the mountain country of the
Lolos, which extends north nearly to Yachau (_supra_, pp. 45, 48,
60), and which, owing to the fierce intractable character of the
race, forms throughout its whole length an impenetrable barrier
between East and West. [The Rev. Gray Owen, of Ch’êng-tu, wrote
(_Jour. China B. R. A. S._ xxviii. 1893–1894, p. 59): “The only
great trade route infested by brigands is that from Ya-chau to
Ning-yuan fu, where Lo-lo brigands are numerous, especially in the
autumn. Last year I heard of a convoy of 18 mules with Shen-si
goods on the above-mentioned road captured by these brigands,
muleteers and all taken inside the Lo-lo country. It is very seldom
that captives get out of Lo-lo-dom, because the ransom asked is too
high, and the Chinese officials are not gallant enough to buy out
their unfortunate countrymen. The Lo-los hold thousands of Chinese
in slavery; and more are added yearly to the number.”—H. C.] Two
routes run from Ch’êng-tu fu to Yun-nan; these fork at Ya-chau and
thenceforward are entirely separated by this barrier. To the east
of it is the route which descends the Min River to Siu-chau, and
then passes by Chao-tong and Tong-chuan to Yun-nan fu: to the west
of the barrier is a route leading through Kien-ch’ang to Ta-li fu,
but throwing off a branch from Ning-yuan southward in the direction
of Yun-nan fu.
This road from Ch’êng-tu fu to Ta-li by Ya-chau and Ning-yuan
appears to be that by which the greater part of the goods for Bhamó
and Ava used to travel before the recent Mahomedan rebellion; it
is almost certainly the road by which Kúblái, in 1253, during the
reign of his brother Mangku Kaan, advanced to the conquest of
Ta-li, then the head of an independent kingdom in Western Yun-nan.
As far as Ts’ing-k’i hien, 3 marches beyond Ya-chau, this route
coincides with the great Tibet road by Ta-t’sien lu and Bathang to
L’hása, and then it diverges to the left.
We may now say without hesitation that by this road Marco
travelled. His _Tibet_ commences with the mountain region near
Ya-chau; his 20 days’ journey through a devastated and dispeopled
tract is the journey to Ning-yuan fu. Even now, from Ts’ing-k’i
onwards for several days, not a single inhabited place is seen.
The official route from Ya-chau to Ning-yuan lays down 13 stages,
but it generally takes from 15 to 18 days. Polo, whose journeys
seem often to have been shorter than the modern average,[2] took
20. On descending from the highlands he comes once more into a
populated region, and enters the charming Valley of Kien-ch’ang.
This valley, with its capital near the upper extremity, its
numerous towns and villages, its cassia, its spiced wine, and
its termination southward on the River of the Golden Sands, is
CAINDU. The traveller’s road from Ningyuan to Yunnanfu probably lay
through Hwei-li, and the Kin-sha Kiang would be crossed as already
indicated, near its most southerly bend, and almost due north of
Yun-nan fu. (See _Richthofen_ as quoted at pp. 45–46.)
As regards the _name_ of CAINDU or GHEINDU (as in G. T.), I think
we may safely recognise in the last syllable the _do_ which is so
frequent a termination of Tibetan names (Amdo, Tsiamdo, etc.);
whilst the _Cain_, as Baron Richthofen has pointed out, probably
survives in the first part of the name _Kien_chang.
[Baber writes (pp. 80–81): “Colonel Yule sees in the word _Caindu_
a variation of ‘Chien-ch’ang,’ and supposes the syllable ‘du’ to
be the same as the termination ‘du,’ ‘do,’ or ‘tu,’ so frequent in
Tibetan names. In such names, however, ‘do’ never means a district,
but always a confluence, or a town near a confluence, as might
almost be guessed from a map of Tibet.... Unsatisfied with Colonel
Yule’s identification, I cast about for another, and thought
for a while that a clue had been found in the term ‘Chien-t’ou’
(sharp-head), applied to certain Lolo tribes. But the idea had to
be abandoned, since Marco Polo’s anecdote about the ‘caitiff,’ and
the loose manners of his family, could never have referred to the
Lolos, who are admitted even by their Chinese enemies to possess a
very strict code indeed of domestic regulations. The Lolos being
eliminated, the Si-fans remained; and before we had been many days
in their neighbourhood, stories were told us of their conduct which
a polite pen refuses to record. It is enough to say that Marco’s
account falls rather short of the truth, and most obviously applies
to the Si-fan.”
Devéria (_Front._ p. 146 note) says that Kien-ch’ang is the ancient
territory of Kiung-tu which, under the Han Dynasty, fell into the
hands of the Tibetans, and was made by the Mongols the march of
Kien-ch’ang (_Che-Kong-t’u_); it is the _Caindu_ of Marco Polo;
under the Han Dynasty it was the Kiun or division of Yueh-sui
or Yueh-hsi. Devéria quotes from the _Yuen-shi-lei pien_ the
following passage relating to the year 1284: “The twelve tribes
of the Barbarians to the south-west of _Kien-tou_ and _Kin-Chi_
submitted; Kien-tou was administered by Mien (Burma); Kien-tou
submits because the Kingdom of Mien has been vanquished.” Kien-tou
is the _Chien-t’ou_ of Baber, the Caindu of Marco Polo. (_Mélanges
de Harlez_, p. 97.) According to Mr. E. H. Parker (_China Review_,
xix. p. 69), Yueh-hsi or Yueh-sui “is the modern Kien-ch’ang
Valley, the Caindu of Marco Polo, between the Yalung and Yang-tzŭ
Rivers; the only non-Chinese races found there now are the Si-fan
and Lolos.”—H. C.]
[Illustration: Road descending from the Table-Land of Yun-nan into
the Valley of the Kin-sha Kiang (the _Brius_ of Polo).
(After Garnier.)]
Turning to minor particulars, the Lake of Caindu in which the
pearls were found is doubtless one lying near Ning-yuan, whose
beauty Richthofen heard greatly extolled, though nothing of the
pearls. [Mr. Hosie writes (_Three Years_, 112–113): “If the former
tradition be true (the old city of Ning-yuan having given place
to a large lake in the early years of the Ming Dynasty), the
lake had no existence when Marco Polo passed through Caindu, and
yet we find him mentioning a lake in the country in which pearls
were found. Curiously enough, although I had not then read the
Venetian’s narrative, one of the many things told me regarding the
lake was that pearls are found in it, and specimens were brought
to me for inspection.” The lake lies to the south-east of the
present city.—H. C.] A small lake is marked by D’Anville, close to
Kien-ch’ang, under the name of _Gechoui-tang_. The large quantities
of gold derived from the Kin-sha Kiang, and the abundance of musk
in that vicinity, are testified to by Martini. The Lake mentioned
by Polo as existing in the territory of Yachi is no doubt the
_Tien-chi_, the Great Lake on the shore of which the city of
Yun-nan stands, and from which boats make their way by canals along
the walls and streets. Its circumference, according to Martini, is
500 _li_. The cut (p. 68), from Garnier, shows this lake as seen
from a villa on its banks. [Devéria (p. 129) quotes this passage
from the _Yuen-shi-lei pien_: “Yachi, of which the _U-man_ or Black
Barbarians made their capital, is surrounded by Lake _Tien-chi_ on
three sides.” Tien-chi is one of the names of Lake Kwen-ming, on
the shore of which is built Yun-nan fu.—H. C.]
Returning now to the Karájang of the Mongols, or Carajan, as Polo
writes it, we shall find that the latter distinguishes this great
province, which formerly, he says, included seven kingdoms, into
two Mongol Governments, the seat of one being at Yachi, which we
have seen to be Yun-nan fu, and that of the other at a city to
which he gives the name of the Province, and which we shall find
to be the existing Ta-li fu. Great confusion has been created in
most of the editions by a distinction in the form of the name as
applied to these two governments. Thus Ramusio prints the province
under Yachi as _Carajan_, and that under Ta-li as _Carazan_, whilst
Marsden, following out his system for the conversion of Ramusio’s
orthography, makes the former _Karaian_ and the latter _Karazan_.
Pauthier prints _Caraian_ all through, a fact so far valuable as
showing that his texts make no distinction between the names of
the two governments, but the form impedes the recognition of the
old Mongol nomenclature. I have no doubt that the name all through
should be read _Carajan_, and on this I have acted. In the Geog.
Text we find the name given at the end of ch. xlvii. _Caragian_,
in ch. xlviii. as _Carajan_, in ch. xlix. as _Caraian_, thus
just reversing the distinction made by Marsden. The Crusca has
_Charagia(n)_ all through.
The name then was _Ḳará-jáng_, in which the first element was the
Mongol or Turki _Ḳárá_, “Black.” For we find in another passage of
Rashid the following information:[3]—“To the south-west of Cathay
is the country called by the Chinese _Dailiu_ or ‘Great Realm,’ and
by the Mongols _Ḳarájáng_, in the language of India and Kashmir
_Ḳandar_, and by us _Ḳandahár_. This country, which is of vast
extent, is bounded on one side by Tibet and Tangut, and on others
by Mongolia, Cathay, and the country of the Gold-Teeth. The King
of Ḳarajang uses the title of _Mahárá_, _i.e._ Great King. The
capital is called Yachi, and there the Council of Administration
is established. Among the inhabitants of this country some are
black, and others are white; these latter are called by the Mongols
_Chaghán-Jáng_ (‘White Jang’).” _Jang_ has not been explained;
but probably it may have been a Tibetan term adopted by the
Mongols, and the colours may have applied to their clothing. The
dominant race at the Mongol invasion seems to have been Shans;[4]
and black jackets are the characteristic dress of the Shans whom
one sees in Burma in modern times. The Kara-jang and Chaghan-jang
appear to correspond also to the _U-man_ and _Pe-man_, or Black
Barbarians and White Barbarians, who are mentioned by Chinese
authorities as conquered by the Mongols. It would seem from one of
Pauthier’s Chinese quotations (p. 388), that the Chaghan-jang were
found in the vicinity of Li-kiang fu. (_D’Ohsson_, II. 317; _J.
R. Geog. Soc._ III. 294.) [Dr. Bretschneider (_Med. Res._ I. p.
184) says that in the description of Yun-nan, in the _Yuen-shi_,
“_Cara-jang_ and _Chagan-jang_ are rendered by _Wu-man_ and
_Po-man_ (Black and White Barbarians). But in the biographies of
_Djao-a-k’o-p’an_, _A-r-szelan_ (_Yuen-shi_, ch. cxxiii.), and
others, these tribes are mentioned under the names of _Ha-la-djang_
and _Ch’a-han-djang_, as the Mongols used to call them; and in the
biography of _Wu-liang-ho t’ai_, [Uriang kadai], the conqueror of
Yun-nan, it is stated that the capital of the Black Barbarians was
called _Yach’i_. It is described there as a city surrounded by
lakes from three sides.”—H. C.]
[Illustration: A Saracen of Carajan, being a portrait of a
Mahomedan Mullah in Western Yun-nan. (From Garnier’s Work.)
“=Les sunt des plosors maineres, car il hi a jens qe aorent
Maomet.=”]
Regarding Rashiduddin’s application of the name _Ḳandahár_ or
Gandhára to Yun-nan, and curious points connected therewith, I must
refer to a paper of mine in the _J. R. A. Society_ (N.S. IV. 356).
But I may mention that in the ecclesiastical translation of the
classical localities of Indian Buddhism to Indo-China, which is
current in Burma, Yun-nan represents Gandhára,[5] and is still so
styled in state documents (_Gandálarít_).
What has been said of the supposed name _Caraian_ disposes, I
trust, of the fancies which have connected the origin of the
_Karens_ of Burma with it. More groundless still is M. Pauthier’s
deduction of the _Talains_ of Pegu (as the Burmese call them) from
the people of Ta-li, who fled from Kúblái’s invasion.
NOTE 2.—The existence of Nestorians in this remote province is
very notable [see _Bonin, J. As._ XV. 1900, pp. 589–590.—H. C.];
and also the early prevalence of Mahomedanism, which Rashiduddin
intimates in stronger terms. “All the inhabitants of Yachi,” he
says, “are Mahomedans.” This was no doubt an exaggeration, but the
Mahomedans seem always to have continued to be an important body in
Yun-nan up to our own day. In 1855 began their revolt against the
imperial authority, which for a time resulted in the establishment
of their independence in Western Yun-nan under a chief whom they
called Sultan Suleiman. A proclamation in remarkably good Arabic,
announcing the inauguration of his reign, appears to have been
circulated to Mahomedans in foreign states, and a copy of it some
years ago found its way through the Nepalese agent at L’hasa, into
the hands of Colonel Ramsay, the British Resident at Katmandu.[6]
NOTE 3.—Wheat grows as low as Ava, but there also it is not used by
natives for bread, only for confectionery and the like. The same
is the case in Eastern China. (See ch. xxvi. note 4, and _Middle
Kingdom_, II. 43.)
NOTE 4.—The word _piccoli_ is supplied, doubtfully, in lieu of
an unknown symbol. If correct, then we should read “24 piccoli
_each_,” for this was about the equivalent of a grosso. This is the
first time Polo mentions cowries, which he calls _porcellani_.
This might have been rendered by the corresponding vernacular name
“_Pig-shells_,” applied to certain shells of that genus (_Cypraea_)
in some parts of England. It is worthy of note that as the name
_porcellana_ has been transferred from these shells to China-ware,
so the word _pig_ has been in Scotland applied to crockery; whether
the process has been analogous, I cannot say.
Klaproth states that Yun-nan is the only country of China in
which cowries had continued in use, though in ancient times they
were more generally diffused. According to him 80 cowries were
equivalent to 6 _cash_, or a half-penny. About 1780 in Eastern
Bengal 80 cowries were worth ⅜th of a penny, and some 40 years ago,
when Prinsep compiled his tables in Calcutta (where cowries were
still in use a few years ago, if they are not now), 80 cowries were
worth ³⁄₁₀ of a penny.
At the time of the Mahomedan conquest of Bengal, early in the 13th
century, they found the currency exclusively composed of cowries,
aided perhaps by bullion in large transactions, but with no coined
money. In remote districts this continued to modern times. When
the Hon. Robert Lindsay went as Resident and Collector to Silhet
about 1778, cowries constituted nearly the whole currency of the
Province. The yearly revenue amounted to 250,000 rupees, and this
was entirely paid in cowries at the rate of 5120 to the rupee. It
required large warehouses to contain them, and when the year’s
collection was complete a large fleet of boats to transport them to
Dacca. Before Lindsay’s time it had been the custom to _count_ the
whole before embarking them! Down to 1801 the Silhet revenue was
entirely collected in cowries, but by 1813, the whole was realised
in specie. (_Thomas_, in _J. R. A. S._ N.S. II. 147; _Lives of the
Lindsays_, III. 169, 170.)
Klaproth’s statement has ceased to be correct. Lieutenant Garnier
found cowries nowhere in use north of Luang Prabang; and among
the Kakhyens in Western Yun-nan these shells are used only for
ornament. [However, Mr. E. H. Parker says (_China Review_, XXVI. p.
106) that the porcelain money still circulates in the Shan States,
and that he saw it there himself.—H. C.]
[Illustration: The Canal at Yun-nan fu.]
NOTE 5.—See ch. xlvii. note 4. Martini speaks of a great
brine-well to the N.E. of Yaogan (W.N.W. of the city of Yun-nan),
which supplied the whole country round.
NOTE 6.—Two particulars appearing in these latter paragraphs are
alluded to by Rashiduddin in giving a brief account of the overland
route from India to China, which is unfortunately very obscure:
“Thence you arrive at the borders of Tibet, where they _eat raw
meat_ and worship images, _and have no shame respecting their
wives_.” (_Elliot_, I. p. 73.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] [Baber writes (p. 107): “The river is never called locally by
any other name than _Kin-ho_, or ‘Gold River.’[A] The term
_Kin-sha-Kiang_ should in strictness be confined to the Tibetan
course of the stream; as applied to other parts it is a mere book
name. There is no great objection to its adoption, except that it
is unintelligible to the inhabitants of the banks, and is liable
to mislead travellers in search of indigenous information, but
at any rate it should not be supposed to asperse Marco Polo’s
accuracy. _Gold River_ is the local name from the junction of the
Yalung to about P’ing-shan; below P’ing-shan it is known by various
designations, but the Ssu-ch’uanese naturally call it ‘the River,’
or, by contrast with its affluents, the ‘Big River’ (_Ta-ho_).” I
imagine that Baber here makes a slight mistake, and that they use
the name _kiang_, and not _ho_, for the river.—H. C.]
[Mr. Rockhill remarks (_Land of the Lamas_, p. 196 note) that
“Marco Polo speaks of the Yang-tzŭ as the _Brius_, and Orazio
della Penna calls it _Biciu_, both words representing the Tibetan
_Dré ch’u_. This last name has been frequently translated ‘Cow
yak River,’ but this is certainly not its meaning, as cow yak is
_dri-mo_, never pronounced _dré_, and unintelligible without the
suffix, _mo_. _Dré_ may mean either mule, dirty, or rice, but as
I have never seen the word written, I cannot decide on any of
these terms, all of which have exactly the same pronunciation.
The Mongols call it _Murus osu_, and in books this is sometimes
changed to _Murui osu_, ‘Tortuous river.’ The Chinese call it
_Tung t’ien ho_, ‘River of all Heaven.’ The name _Kin-sha kiang_,
‘River of Golden Sand,’ is used for it from Bat’ang to Sui-fu, or
thereabouts.” The general name for the river is _Ta-Kiang_ (Great
River), or simply _Kiang_, in contradistinction to _Ho_, for
_Hwang-Ho_ (Yellow River) in Northern China.—H. C.]
[2] Baron Richthofen, who has travelled hundreds of miles in his
footsteps, considers his allowance of time to be generally from ¼
to ⅓ greater than that now usual.
[3] See _Quatremère’s Rashiduddin_, pp. lxxxvi.–xcvi. My quotation is
made up from _two_ citations by Quatremère, one from his text of
Rashiduddin, and the other from the History of Benaketi, which
Quatremère shows to have been drawn from Rashiduddin, whilst it
contains some particulars not existing in his own text of that
author.
[4] The title _Chao_ in _Nan-Chao_ (_infra_, p. 79) is said by a
Chinese author (Pauthier, p. 391) to signify _King_ in the language
of those barbarians. This is evidently the _Chao_ which forms an
essential part of the title of all Siamese and Shan princes.
[Regarding the word _Nan-Chao_, Mr. Parker (_China Review_, XX.
p. 339) writes “In the barbarian tongue ‘prince’ is _Chao_,” says
the Chinese author; and there were six _Chao_, of which the _Nan_
or Southern was the leading power. Hence the name Nan-Chao ... it
is hardly necessary for me to say that _chao_ or _kyiao_ is still
the Shan-Siamese word for ‘prince.’” Pallegoix (_Dict._ p. 85) has
_Chào_, Princeps, rex.—H. C.]
[5] _Gandhára_, Arabicé _Ḳandahár_, is properly the country about
Peshawar, _Gandaritis_ of Strabo.
[6] This is printed almost in full in the French _Voyage
d’Exploration_, I. 564.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[A] Marco Polo nowhere calls the river “Gold River,” the name he gives
it is _Brius_.—H. Y.
CHAPTER XLIX.
CONCERNING A FURTHER PART OF THE PROVINCE OF CARAJAN.
After leaving that city of Yachi of which I have been speaking, and
travelling ten days towards the west, you come to another capital
city which is still in the province of Carajan, and is itself called
Carajan. The people are Idolaters and subject to the Great Kaan; and
the King is COGACHIN, who is a son of the Great Kaan.{1}
In this country gold-dust is found in great quantities; that is to say
in the rivers and lakes, whilst in the mountains gold is also found in
pieces of larger size. Gold is indeed so abundant that they give one
_saggio_ of gold for only six of the same weight in silver. And for
small change they use porcelain shells as I mentioned before. These are
not found in the country, however, but are brought from India.{2}
In this province are found snakes and great serpents of such vast size
as to strike fear into those who see them, and so hideous that the very
account of them must excite the wonder of those to hear it. I will tell
you how long and big they are.
You may be assured that some of them are ten paces in length; some are
more and some less. And in bulk they are equal to a great cask, for the
bigger ones are about ten palms in girth. They have two forelegs near
the head, but for foot nothing but a claw like the claw of a hawk or
that of a lion. The head is very big, and the eyes are bigger than a
great loaf of bread. The mouth is large enough to swallow a man whole,
and is garnished with great [pointed] teeth. And in short they are so
fierce-looking and so hideously ugly, that every man and beast must
stand in fear and trembling of them. There are also smaller ones, such
as of eight paces long, and of five, and of one pace only.
The way in which they are caught is this. You must know that by day
they live underground because of the great heat, and in the night they
go out to feed, and devour every animal they can catch. They go also to
drink at the rivers and lakes and springs. And their weight is so great
that when they travel in search of food or drink, as they do by night,
the tail makes a great furrow in the soil as if a full ton of liquor
had been dragged along. Now the huntsmen who go after them take them
by certain gyn which they set in the track over which the serpent has
past, knowing that the beast will come back the same way. They plant a
stake deep in the ground and fix on the head of this a sharp blade of
steel made like a razor or a lance-point, and then they cover the whole
with sand so that the serpent cannot see it. Indeed the huntsman plants
several such stakes and blades on the track. On coming to the spot the
beast strikes against the iron blade with such force that it enters his
breast and rives him up to the navel, so that he dies on the spot [and
the crows on seeing the brute dead begin to caw, and then the huntsmen
know that the serpent is dead and come in search of him].
This then is the way these beasts are taken. Those who take them
proceed to extract the gall from the inside, and this sells at a great
price; for you must know it furnishes the material for a most precious
medicine. Thus if a person is bitten by a mad dog, and they give him
but a small pennyweight of this medicine to drink, he is cured in a
moment. Again if a woman is hard in labour they give her just such
another dose and she is delivered at once. Yet again if one has any
disease like the itch, or it may be worse, and applies a small quantity
of this gall he shall speedily be cured. So you see why it sells at
such a high price.
[Illustration: “Riding long like Frenchmen.”
“=Et encore sachié qe ceste gens chevauchent lonc come franchois.=”]
They also sell the flesh of this serpent, for it is excellent eating,
and the people are very fond of it. And when these serpents are very
hungry, sometimes they will seek out the lairs of lions or bears or
other large wild beasts, and devour their cubs, without the sire
and dam being able to prevent it. Indeed if they catch the big ones
themselves they devour them too; they can make no resistance.{3}
In this province also are bred large and excellent horses which are
taken to India for sale. And you must know that the people dock two
or three joints of the tail from their horses, to prevent them from
flipping their riders, a thing which they consider very unseemly.
They ride long like Frenchmen, and wear armour of boiled leather, and
carry spears and shields and arblasts, and all their quarrels are
poisoned.{4} [And I was told as a fact that many persons, especially
those meditating mischief, constantly carry this poison about with
them, so that if by any chance they should be taken, and be threatened
with torture, to avoid this they swallow the poison and so die
speedily. But princes who are aware of this keep ready dog’s dung,
which they cause the criminal instantly to swallow, to make him vomit
the poison. And thus they manage to cure those scoundrels.]
[Illustration: The Lake of Tali (Carajan of Polo) from the Northern
End.]
[Illustration: Suspension Bridge, neighbourhood of Tali.]
I will tell you of a wicked thing they used to do before the Great Kaan
conquered them. If it chanced that a man of fine person or noble birth,
or some other quality that recommended him, came to lodge with those
people, then they would murder him by poison, or otherwise. And this
they did, not for the sake of plunder, but because they believed that
in this way the goodly favour and wisdom and repute of the murdered
man would cleave to the house where he was slain. And in this manner
many were murdered before the country was conquered by the Great Kaan.
But since his conquest, some 35 years ago, these crimes and this evil
practice have prevailed no more; and this through dread of the Great
Kaan who will not permit such things.{5}
NOTE 1.—There can be no doubt that this second chief city of
Carajan is TALI-FU, which was the capital of the Shan Kingdom
called by the Chinese Nan-Chao. This kingdom had subsisted in
Yun-nan since 738, and probably had embraced the upper part of
the Irawadi Valley. For the Chinese tell us it was also called
_Maung_, and it probably was identical with the Shan Kingdom of
Muang Maorong or of _Pong_, of which Captain Pemberton procured a
Chronicle. [In A.D. 650, the Ai-Lao, the most ancient name by which
the Shans were known to the Chinese, became the Nan-Chao. The Mêng
family ruled the country from the 7th century; towards the middle
of the 8th century, P’i-lo-ko, who is the real founder of the Thai
kingdom of Nan-Chao, received from the Chinese the title of King of
Yun-Nan and made T’ai-ho, 15 _lis_ south of Ta-li, his residence;
he died in 748. In A.D. 938, Twan Sze-ying, of an old Chinese
family, took Ta-li and established there an independent kingdom.
In 1115 embassies with China were exchanged, and the Emperor
conferred (1119) upon Twan Ch’êng-yn the title of King of Ta-li
(_Ta-li Kwo Wang_). Twan Siang-hing was the last king of Ta-li
(1239–1251). In 1252 the Kingdom of Nan-Chao was destroyed by the
Mongols; the Emperor She Tsu (Kúblái) gave the title of Maháraja
(_Mo-ho Lo-tso_) to Twan Hing-che (son of Twan Siang-hing), who had
fled to Yun-Nan fu and was captured there. Afterwards (1261) the
Twan are known as the eleven _Tsung-Kwan_ (governors); the last of
them, Twan Ming, was made a prisoner by an army sent by the Ming
Emperors, and sent to Nan-King (1381). (_E. H. Parker, Early Laos
and China, China Review_, XIX. and the _Old Thai or Shan Empire of
Western Yun-Nan_, _Ibid._, XX.; _E. Rocher, Hist. des Princes du
Yunnan, T’oung Pao_, 1899; _E. Chavannes, Une Inscription du roy.
de Nan Tchao, J.A._, November–December, 1900; _M. Tchang, Tableau
des Souverains de Nan-Tchao, Bul. Ecole Franç. d’Ext. Orient_, I.
No. 4.)—H. C.] The city of Ta-li was taken by Kúblái in 1253–1254.
The circumstance that it was known to the invaders (as appeals from
Polo’s statement) by the name of the province is an indication of
the fact that it was the capital of Carajan before the conquest.
[“That _Yachi_ and _Carajan_ represent Yünnan-fu and Tali, is
proved by topographical and other evidence of an overwhelming
nature. I venture to add one more proof, which seems to have been
overlooked.
“If there is a natural feature which must strike any visitor to
those two cities, it is that they both lie on the shore of notable
lakes, of so large an extent as to be locally called seas; and for
the comparison, it should be remembered that the inhabitants of the
Yünnan province have easy access to the ocean by the Red River, or
Sung Ka. Now, although Marco does not circumstantially specify the
fact of these cities lying on large bodies of water, yet in both
cases, two or three sentences further on, will be found mention of
lakes; in the case of Yachi, ‘a lake of a good hundred miles in
compass’—by no means an unreasonable estimate.
“Tali-fu is renowned as the strongest hold of Western Yünnan, and
it certainly must have been impregnable to bow and spear. From
the western margin of its majestic lake, which lies approximately
north and south, rises a sloping plain of about three miles average
breadth, closed in by the huge wall of the Tien-tsang Mountains. In
the midst of this plain stands the city, the lake at its feet, the
snowy summits at its back. On either flank, at about twelve and six
miles distance respectively, are situated Shang-Kuan and Hsia-Kuan
(upper and lower passes), two strongly fortified towns guarding the
confined strip between mountain and lake; for the plain narrows at
the two extremities, and is intersected by a river at both points.”
(_Baber_, _Travels_, 155.)—H. C.]
The distance from Yachi to this city of Karajang is ten days,
and this corresponds well with the distance from Yun-nan fu to
Tali-fu. For we find that, of the three Burmese Embassies whose
itineraries are given by Burney, one makes 7 marches between those
cities, specifying 2 of them as double marches, therefore equal to
9, whilst the other two make 11 marches; Richthofen’s information
gives 12. Ta-li-fu is a small old city overlooking its large lake
(about 24 miles long by 6 wide), and an extensive plain devoid of
trees. Lofty mountains rise on the south side of the city. The Lake
appears to communicate with the Mekong, and the story goes, no
doubt fabulous, that boats have come up to Ta-li from the Ocean.
[Captain Gill (II. pp. 299–300) writes: “Ta-li fu is an ancient
city ... it is the Carajan of Marco Polo.... Marco’s description
of the lake of Yun-Nan may be perfectly well applied to the Lake
of Ta-li.... The fish were particularly commended to our notice,
though we were told that there were no oysters in this lake, as
there are said to be in that of Yun-Nan; if the latter statement be
true, it would illustrate Polo’s account of another lake somewhere
in these regions in which are found pearls (which are white but not
round).”—H. C.]
Ta-li fu was recently the capital of Sultan Suleiman [Tu Wen-siu].
It was reached by Lieutenant Garnier in a daring détour by the
north of Yun-nan, but his party were obliged to leave in haste on
the second day after their arrival. The city was captured by the
Imperial officers in 1873, when a horrid massacre of the Mussulmans
took place [19th January]. The Sultan took poison, but his head was
cut off and sent to Peking. Momein fell soon after [10th June], and
the _Panthé_ kingdom is ended.
We see that Polo says the King ruling for Kúblái at this city
was a son of the Kaan, called COGACHIN, whilst he told us in
the last chapter that the King reigning at Yachi was also a son
of the Kaan, called ESSENTIMUR. It is probably a mere lapsus or
error of dictation calling the latter a son of the Kaan, for in
ch. li. _infra_, this prince is correctly described as the Kaan’s
grandson. Rashiduddin tells us that Kúblái had given his son
HUKÁJI (or perhaps _Hogáchi_, _i.e._ Cogachin) the government of
Karajang,[1] and that after the death of this Prince the government
was continued to his son ISENTIMUR. Klaproth gives the date of the
latter’s nomination from the Chinese Annals as 1280. It is not easy
to reconcile Marco’s statements perfectly with a knowledge of these
facts; but we may suppose that, in speaking of Cogachin as ruling
at Karajang (or Tali-fu) and Esentimur at Yachi, he describes
things as they stood when his visit occurred, whilst in the second
reference to “Sentemur’s” being King in the province and his father
dead, he speaks from later knowledge. This interpretation would
confirm what has been already deduced from other circumstances,
that his visit to Yun-nan was prior to 1280. (_Pemberton’s Report
on the Eastern Frontier_, 108 _seqq._; _Quat. Rashid._ pp.
lxxxix-xc.; _Journ. Asiat._ sér. II. vol. i.)
NOTE 2.—[Captain Gill writes (II. p. 302): “There are said to be
very rich gold and silver mines within a few days’ journey of the
city” (of Ta-li). Dr. Anderson says (_Mandalay to Momien_, p. 203):
“Gold is brought to Momein from Yonephin and Sherg-wan villages,
fifteen days’ march to the north-east; but no information could
be obtained as to the quantity found. It is also brought in leaf,
which is sent to Burma, where it is in extensive demand.”—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—It cannot be doubted that Marco’s serpents here are
crocodiles, in spite of his strange mistakes about their having
only two feet and one claw on each, and his imperfect knowledge of
their aquatic habits. He may have seen only a mutilated specimen.
But there is no mistaking the hideous ferocity of the countenance,
and the “eyes bigger than a fourpenny loaf,” as Ramusio has it.
Though the actual _eye_ of the crocodile does not bear this
comparison, the prominent _orbits_ do, especially in the case of
the _Ghaṛiyál_ of the Ganges, and form one of the most repulsive
features of the reptile’s physiognomy. In fact, its presence on the
surface of an Indian river is often recognisable only by three dark
knobs rising above the surface, viz. the snout and the two orbits.
And there is some foundation for what our author says of the
animal’s habits, for the crocodile does sometimes frequent holes
at a distance from water, of which a striking instance is within
my own recollection (in which the deep furrowed track also was a
notable circumstance).
The Cochin Chinese are very fond of crocodile’s flesh, and there is
or was a regular export of this dainty for their use from Kamboja.
I have known it eaten by certain classes in India. (_J. R. G. S._
XXX. 193.)
The term _serpent_ is applied by many old writers to crocodiles and
the like, _e.g._ by Odoric, and perhaps allusively by Shakspeare
(“_Where’s my Serpent of Old Nile?_”). Mr. Fergusson tells me he
was once much struck with the _snake-like_ motion of a group of
crocodiles hastily descending to the water from a high sand-bank,
without apparent use of the limbs, when surprised by the approach
of a boat.[2]
Matthioli says the gall of the crocodile surpasses all medicines
for the removal of pustules and the like from the eyes. Vincent of
Beauvais mentions the same, besides many other medical uses of the
reptile’s carcass, including a very unsavoury cosmetic. (_Matt._ p.
245; _Spec. Natur._ Lib. XVII. c. 106, 108.)
[“According to Chinese notions, Han Yü, the St. Patrick of China,
having persuaded the alligators in China that he was all-powerful,
induced the stupid saurians to migrate to Ngo Hu or ‘Alligators’
Lake’ in the Kwang-tung province.” (_North-China Herald_, 5th July,
1895, p. 5.)
Alligators have been found in 1878 at Wu-hu and at Chen-kiang
(Ngan-hwei and Kiang-Su). (See _A. A. Fauvel, Alligators in China_,
in _Jour. N. China B. R. A. S._ XIII. 1879, 1–36.)—H. C.]
NOTE 4.—I think the _great_ horses must be an error, though running
through all the texts, and that _grant quantité de chevaus_
was probably intended. Valuable _ponies_ are produced in those
regions, but I have never heard of large horses, and Martini’s
testimony is to like effect (p. 141). Nor can I hear of any race in
those regions in modern times that uses what we should call long
stirrups. It is true that the Tartars rode _very short_—“_brevissimas
habent strepas_,” as Carpini says (643); and the Kirghiz Kazaks now
do the same. Both Burmese and Shans ride what we should call short;
and Major Sladen observes of the people on the western border of
Yun-nan: “Kachyens and Shans ride on ordinary Chinese saddles.
The stirrups are of the usual average length, but the saddles are
so constructed as to rise at least a foot above the pony’s back.”
He adds with reference to another point in the text: “I noticed a
few Shan ponies _with docked tails_. But the more general practice
is to loop up the tail in a knot, the object being to protect the
rider, or rather his clothes, from the dirt with which they would
otherwise be spattered from the flipping of the animal’s tail.”
(_MS. Notes._)
[After Yung-ch’ang, Captain Gill writes (II. p. 356): “The manes
were hogged and the tails cropped of a great many of the ponies
these men were riding; but there were none of the docked tails
mentioned by Marco Polo.”—H. C.]
Armour of boiled leather—“_armes cuiracés de cuir bouilli_”; so
Pauthier’s text; the material so often mentioned in mediæval
costume; _e.g._ in the leggings of Sir Thopas:—
“His jambeux were of cuirbouly,
His swerdës sheth of ivory,
His helme of latoun bright.”
But the reading of the G. Text which is “_cuir de bufal_,” is
probably the right one. Some of the Miau-tzŭ of Kweichau are
described as wearing armour of buffalo-leather overlaid with
iron plates. (_Ritter_, IV. 768–776.) Arblasts or crossbows are
still characteristic weapons of many of the wilder tribes of this
region; _e.g._ of some of the Singphos, of the Mishmis of Upper
Assam, of the Lu-tzŭ of the valley of the Lukiang, of tribes of
the hills of Laos, of the Stiens of Cambodia, and of several of
the Miau-tzŭ tribes of the interior of China. We give a cut copied
from a Chinese work on the Miau-tzŭ of Kweichau in Dr. Lockhart’s
possession, which shows _three_ little men of the Sang-Miau tribe
of Kweichau combining to mend a crossbow, and a chief with _armes
cuiracés_ and _jambeux_ also. [The cut (p. 83) is well explained by
this passage of _Baber’s Travels_ among the Lolos (p. 71): “They
make their own swords, three and a half to five spans long, with
square heads, and have bows which it takes three men to draw, but
no muskets.”—H. C.]
NOTE 5.—I have nowhere met with a _precise_ parallel to this
remarkable superstition, but the following piece of Folk-Lore has a
considerable analogy to it. This extraordinary custom is ascribed
by Ibn Fozlan to the Bulgarians of the Volga: “If they find a man
endowed with special intelligence then they say: ‘This man should
serve our Lord God;’ and so they take him, run a noose round his
neck and hang him on a tree, where they leave him till the corpse
falls to pieces.” This is precisely what Sir Charles Wood did with
the Indian Corps of Engineers;—doubtless on the same principle.
Archbishop Trench, in a fine figure, alludes to a belief prevalent
among the Polynesian Islanders, “that the strength and valour of
the warriors whom they have slain in battle passes into themselves,
as their rightful inheritance.” (_Fraehn, Wolga-Bulgaren_, p. 50;
_Studies in the Gospels_, p. 22; see also _Lubbock_, 457.)
[Illustration: The Sangmiau Tribe of Kweichau, with the Crossbow.
(From a Chinese Drawing.)
“=Ont armes corasés de cuir de bufal, et ont lances et scuz et ont
balestres.=”]
There is some analogy also to the story Polo tells, in the
curious Sindhi tradition, related by Burton, of Bahá-ul-haḳḳ, the
famous saint of Multán. When he visited his disciples at Tatta
they plotted his death, in order to secure the blessings of his
perpetual presence. The people of Multán are said to have murdered
two celebrated saints with the same view, and the Hazáras to “make
a point of killing and burying in their own country any stranger
indiscreet enough to commit a miracle or show any particular sign
of sanctity.” The like practice is ascribed to the rude Moslem of
Gilghit; and such allegations must have been current in Europe, for
they are the motive of _Southey’s St. Romuald_:
“‘But,’ quoth the Traveller, ‘wherefore did he leave
A flock that knew his saintly worth so well?’
• • • • •
“‘Why, Sir,’ the Host replied,
‘We thought perhaps that he might one day leave us;
And then, should strangers have
The good man’s grave,
A loss like that would naturally grieve us;
For he’ll be made a saint of, to be sure.
Therefore we thought it prudent to secure
His relics while we might;
And so we meant to strangle him one night.’”
(See _Sindh_, pp. 86, 388; _Ind. Antiq._ I. 13; _Southey’s
Ballads_, etc., ed. Routledge, p. 330.)
[Captain Gill (I. p. 323) says that he had made up his mind to
visit a place called Li-fan Fu, near Ch’êng-tu. “I was told,”
he writes, “that this place was inhabited by the Man-Tzŭ, or
Barbarians, as the Chinese call them; and Monseigneur Pinchon told
me that, amongst other pleasing theories, they were possessed of
the belief that if they poisoned a rich man, his wealth would
accrue to the poisoner; that, therefore, the hospitable custom
prevailed amongst them of administering poison to rich or noble
guests; that this poison took no effect for some time, but that in
the course of two or three months it produced a disease akin to
dysentery, ending in certain death.”—H. C.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] [Mr. E. H. Parker writes (_China Review_, XXIV. p. 106): “Polo’s
Kogatin is _Hukoch’ih_, who was made King of Yun-nan in 1267, with
military command over Ta-li, Shen-shen, Chagan Chang, Golden-Teeth,
etc.”—H. C.]
[2] Though the bellowing of certain American crocodiles is often spoken
of, I have nowhere seen allusion to the roaring of the _ghaṛiyál_,
nor does it seem to be commonly known. I have once only heard it,
whilst on the bank of the Ganges near Rampúr Boliah, waiting for
a ferry-boat. It was like a loud prolonged snore; and though it
seemed to come distinctly from a crocodile on the surface of the
river, I made sure by asking a boatman who stood by: “It is the
ghaṛiyál speaking,” he answered.
CHAPTER L.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF ZARDANDAN.
When you have left Carajan and have travelled five days westward, you
find a province called ZARDANDAN. The people are Idolaters and subject
to the Great Kaan. The capital city is called VOCHAN.{1}
The people of this country all have their teeth gilt; or rather every
man covers his teeth with a sort of golden case made to fit them, both
the upper teeth and the under. The men do this, but not the women.{2}
[The men also are wont to gird their arms and legs with bands or
fillets pricked in black, and it is done thus; they take five needles
joined together, and with these they prick the flesh till the blood
comes, and then they rub in a certain black colouring stuff, and this
is perfectly indelible. It is considered a piece of elegance and the
sign of gentility to have this black band.] The men are all gentlemen
in their fashion, and do nothing but go to the wars, or go hunting and
hawking. The ladies do all the business, aided by the slaves who have
been taken in war.{3}
And when one of their wives has been delivered of a child, the infant
is washed and swathed, and then the woman gets up and goes about her
household affairs, whilst the husband takes to bed with the child by
his side, and so keeps his bed for 40 days; and all the kith and kin
come to visit him and keep up a great festivity. They do this because,
say they, the woman has had a hard bout of it, and ’tis but fair the
man should have his share of suffering.{4}
They eat all kinds of meat, both raw and cooked, and they eat rice with
their cooked meat as their fashion is. Their drink is wine made of rice
and spices, and excellent it is. Their money is gold, and for small
change they use pig-shells. And I can tell you they give one weight of
gold for only five of silver; for there is no silver-mine within five
months’ journey. And this induces merchants to go thither carrying a
large supply of silver to change among that people. And as they have
only five weights of silver to give for one of fine gold, they make
immense profits by their exchange business in that country.{5}
These people have neither idols nor churches, but worship the
progenitor of their family, “for ’tis he,” say they, “from whom we
have all sprung.”{6} They have no letters or writing; and ’tis no
wonder, for the country is wild and hard of access, full of great
woods and mountains which ’tis impossible to pass, the air in summer
is so impure and bad; and any foreigners attempting it would die for
certain.{7} When these people have any business transactions with one
another, they take a piece of stick, round or square, and split it,
each taking half. And on either half they cut two or three notches. And
when the account is settled the debtor receives back the other half of
the stick from the creditor.{8}
And let me tell you that in all those three provinces that I have
been speaking of, to wit Carajan, Vochan, and Yachi, there is never a
leech. But when any one is ill they send for their magicians, that is
to say the Devil-conjurors and those who are the keepers of the idols.
When these are come the sick man tells what ails him, and then the
conjurors incontinently begin playing on their instruments and singing
and dancing; and the conjurors dance to such a pitch that at last one
of them shall fall to the ground lifeless, like a dead man. And then
the devil entereth into his body. And when his comrades see him in this
plight they begin to put questions to him about the sick man’s ailment.
And he will reply: “Such or such a spirit hath been meddling with the
man,{9} for that he hath angered the spirit and done it some despite.”
Then they say: “We pray thee to pardon him, and to take of his blood
or of his goods what thou wilt in consideration of thus restoring him
to health.” And when they have so prayed, the malignant spirit that is
in the body of the prostrate man will (mayhap) answer: “The sick man
hath also done great despite unto such another spirit, and that one is
so ill-disposed that it will not pardon him on any account;”—this at
least is the answer they get, an the patient be like to die. But if he
is to get better the answer will be that they are to bring two sheep,
or may be three; and to brew ten or twelve jars of drink, very costly
and abundantly spiced.{10} Moreover it shall be announced that the
sheep must be all black-faced, or of some other particular colour as it
may hap; and then all those things are to be offered in sacrifice to
such and such a spirit whose name is given.{11} And they are to bring
so many conjurors, and so many ladies, and the business is to be done
with a great singing of lauds, and with many lights, and store of good
perfumes. That is the sort of answer they get if the patient is to get
well. And then the kinsfolk of the sick man go and procure all that has
been commanded, and do as has been bidden, and the conjuror who had
uttered all that gets on his legs again.
So they fetch the sheep of the colour prescribed, and slaughter them,
and sprinkle the blood over such places as have been enjoined, in
honour and propitiation of the spirit. And the conjurors come, and the
ladies, in the number that was ordered, and when all are assembled and
everything is ready, they begin to dance and play and sing in honour
of the spirit. And they take flesh-broth and drink and lign-aloes, and
a great number of lights, and go about hither and thither, scattering
the broth and the drink and the meat also. And when they have done this
for a while, again shall one of the conjurors fall flat and wallow
there foaming at the mouth, and then the others will ask if he have
yet pardoned the sick man? And sometimes he shall answer yea! and
sometimes he shall answer no! And if the answer be _no_, they shall be
told that something or other has to be done all over again, and then
he will be pardoned; so this they do. And when all that the spirit has
commanded has been done with great ceremony, then it shall be announced
that the man is pardoned and shall be speedily cured. So when they at
length receive such a reply, they announce that it is all made up with
the spirit, and that he is propitiated, and they fall to eating and
drinking with great joy and mirth, and he who had been lying lifeless
on the ground gets up and takes his share. So when they have all eaten
and drunken, every man departs home. And presently the sick man gets
sound and well.{12}
Now that I have told you of the customs and naughty ways of that
people, we will have done talking of them and their province, and I
will tell you about others, all in regular order and succession.
NOTE 1.—[Baber writes (_Travels_, p. 171) when arriving to the
Lan-tsang kiang (Mekong River): “We were now on the border-line
between Carajan and Zardandan: ‘When you have travelled five days
you find a province called Zardandan,’ says Messer Marco, precisely
the actual number of stages from Tali-fu to the present boundary
of Yung-ch’ang. That this river must have been the demarcation
between the two provinces is obvious; one glance into that deep
rift, the only exit from which is by painful worked artificial
zigzags which, under the most favourable conditions, cannot be
called safe, will satisfy the most sceptical geographer. The exact
statement of distance is a proof that Marco entered the territory
of Yung-ch’ang.” Captain Gill says (II. p. 343–344) that the five
marches of Marco Polo “would be very long ones. Our journey was
eight days, but it might easily have been done in seven, as the
first march to Hsia-Kuan was not worthy of the name. The Grosvenor
expedition made eleven marches with one day’s halt—twelve days
altogether, and Mr. Margary was nine or ten days on the journey.
It is true that, by camping out every night, the marches might be
longer; and, as Polo refers to the crackling of the bamboos in the
fires, it is highly probable that he found no ‘_fine hostelries_’
on this route. This is the way the traders still travel in Tibet;
they march until they are tired, or until they find a nice grassy
spot; they then off saddles, turn their animals loose, light a
fire under some adjacent tree, and halt for the night; thus the
longest possible distance can be performed every day, and the
five days from Ta-li to Yung-Ch’ang would not be by any means an
impossibility.”—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—Ramusio says that both men and women use this gold case.
There can be no better instance of the accuracy with which Polo is
generally found to have represented Oriental names, when we recover
his _real_ representation of them, than this name _Zardandan_. In
the old Latin editions the name appeared as _Ardandan_, _Arcladam_,
etc.; in Ramusio as _Cardandan_, correctly enough, only the first
letter should have been printed Ç. Marsden, carrying out his
systematic conversion of the Ramusian spelling, made this into
_Kardandan_, and thus the name became irrecognizable. Klaproth,
I believe, first showed that the word was simply the Persian
ZĂR-DANDÁN, “Gold-Teeth,” and produced quotations from Rashiduddin
mentioning the people in question by that identical name. Indeed
that historian mentions them several times. Thus: “North-west of
China is the frontier of Tibet, and of the ZARDANDAN, who lie
between Tibet and Karájáng. These people cover their teeth with
a gold case, which they take off when they eat.” They are also
frequently mentioned in the Chinese annals about this period under
the same name, viz. _Kin-Chi_, “Gold-Teeth,” and some years after
Polo’s departure from the East they originated a revolt against the
Mongol yoke, in which a great number of the imperial troops were
massacred. (_De Mailla_, IX. 478–479.)
[Baber writes (p. 159): “In Western Yünnan the betel-nut is chewed
with prepared lime, colouring the teeth red, and causing a profuse
expectoration. We first met with the practice near Tali-fu.
“Is it not possible that the red colour imparted to the teeth by
the practice of chewing betel with lime may go some way to account
for the ancient name of this region, ‘Zar-dandan,’ ‘Chin-Ch’ih,’
or ‘Golden-Teeth’? Betel-chewing is, of course, common all over
China; but the use of lime is almost unknown and the teeth are not
necessarily discoloured.
“In the neighbourhood of Tali, one comes suddenly upon a
lime-chewing people, and is at once struck with the strange
red hue of their teeth and gums. That some of the natives used
formerly to cover their teeth with plates of gold (from which
practice, mentioned by Marco Polo, and confirmed elsewhere, the
name is generally derived) can scarcely be considered a myth; but
the peculiarity remarked by ourselves would have been equally
noticeable by the early Chinese invaders, and seems not altogether
unworthy of consideration. It is interesting to find the name
‘Chin-Ch’ih’ still in use.
“When Tu Wên-hsiu sent his ‘Panthay’ mission to England with
tributary boxes of rock from the Tali Mountains, he described
himself in his letter ‘as a humble native of the golden-teeth
country.’”—H. C.]
_Vochan_ seems undoubtedly to be, as Martini pointed out, the city
called by the Chinese YUNG-CH’ANG-FU. Some of the old printed
editions read _Unciam_, _i.e._ Uncham or Unchan, and it is probable
that either this or _Võcian_, _i.e._ VONCHAN, was the true reading,
coming very close to the proper name, which is WUNCHEN. (See
_J. A. S. B._ VI. 547.) [In an itinerary from Ava to Peking, we
read on the 10th September, 1833: “Slept at the city Wun-tsheng
(Chinese Yongtchang fú and Burmese _Wun-zen_).” (_Chin. Rep._ IX.
p. 474.)—Mr. F. W. K. Müller in a study on the Pa-yi language
from a Chinese manuscript entitled _Hwa-i-yi-yü_ found by Dr. F.
Hirth in China, and belonging now to the Berlin Royal Library,
says the proper orthography of the word is _Wan-chang_ in Pa-yi.
(_T’oung Pao_, III. p. 20.) This helps to find the origin of the
name _Vochan_.—H. C.] This city has been a Chinese one for several
centuries, and previous to the late Mahomedan revolt its population
was almost exclusively Chinese, with only a small mixture of Shans.
It is now noted for the remarkable beauty and fairness of the
women. But it is mentioned by Chinese authors as having been in the
Middle Ages the capital of the Gold-Teeth. These people, according
to Martini, dwelt chiefly to the north of the city. They used to
go to worship a huge stone, 100 feet high, at Nan-ngan, and cover
it annually with gold-leaf. Some additional particulars about the
Kin-Chi, in the time of the Mongols, will be found in Pauthier’s
notes (p. 398).
[In 1274, the Burmese attacked Yung ch’ang, whose inhabitants were
known under the name of _Kin-Chi_ (Golden-Teeth). (_E. Rocher,
Princes du Yun-nan_, p. 71.) From the Annals of Momein, translated
by Mr. E. H. Parker (_China Review_, XX. p. 345), we learn that:
“In the year 1271, the General of Ta-li was sent on a mission to
procure the submission of the Burmese, and managed to bring a
Burmese envoy named Kiai-poh back with him. Four years later Fu
A-pih, Chief of the Golden-Teeth, was utilised as a guide, which
so angered the Burmese that they detained Fu A-pih and attacked
Golden-Teeth: but he managed to bribe himself free. A-ho, Governor
of the Golden-Teeth, was now sent as a spy, which caused the
Burmese to advance to the attack once more, but they were driven
back by Twan Sin-cha-jih. These events led to the Burmese war,”
which lasted till 1301.
According to the _Hwang-tsing Chi-kung t’u_ (quoted by Devéria,
_Front._ p. 130), the _Pei-jen_ were _Kin-chi_, of Pa-y race, and
were surnamed Min-kia-tzŭ; the Min-kia, according to F. Garnier,
say that they come from Nan-king, but this is certainly an error
for the Pei-jen. From another Chinese work, Devéria (p. 169) gives
this information: The Piao are the Kin-Chi; they submitted to the
Mongols in the 13th century; they are descended from the people of
Chu-po or Piao Kwo (Kingdom of Piao), ancient Pegu; P’u-p’iao, in
a little valley between the Mekong and the Salwen Rivers, was the
place through which the P’u and the Piao entered China.
The Chinese geographical work _Fang-yu-ki-yao_ mentions the name
of Kin-Chi Ch’eng, or city of Kin-Chi, as the ancient denomination
of Yung-ch’ang. A Chinese Pa-y vocabulary, belonging to Professor
Devéria, translates Kin-Chi by Wan-Chang (Yung-ch’ang). (_Devéria,
Front._ p. 128.)—H. C.]
It has not been determined who are the representatives of these
Gold-Teeth, who were evidently distinct from the Shans, not
Buddhist, and without literature. I should think it probable that
they were _Kakhyens_ or _Singphos_, who, excluding Shans, appear
to form the greatest body in that quarter, and are closely akin to
each other, indeed essentially identical in race.[1] The Singphos
have now extended widely to the west of the Upper Irawadi and
northward into Assam, but their traditions bring them from the
borders of Yunnan. The original and still most populous seat of
the Kakhyen or Singpho race is pointed out by Colonel Hannay in
the Gulansigung Mountains and the valley of the eastern source of
the Irawadi. This agrees with Martini’s indication of the seat of
the Kin-Chi as north of Yung-ch’ang. One of Hannay’s notices of
Singpho customs should also be compared with the interpolation from
Ramusio about tattooing: “The men tattoo their limbs slightly, and
all married females are tattooed on both legs from the ankle to
the knee, in broad horizontal circular bands. Both sexes also wear
rings below the knee of fine shreds of rattan varnished black” (p.
18). These rings appear on the Kakhyen woman in our cut.
[Illustration: Kakhyens. (From a Photograph.)]
The only other wild tribe spoken of by Major Sladen as attending
the markets on the frontier is that of the _Lissus_, already
mentioned by Lieutenant Garnier (_supra_, ch. xlvii. note 6), and
who are said to be the most savage and indomitable of the tribes
in that quarter. Garnier also mentions the Mossos, who are alleged
once to have formed an independent kingdom about Li-kiang fu.
Possibly, however, the Gold-Teeth may have become entirely absorbed
in the Chinese and Shan population.
The characteristic of casing the teeth in gold should identify the
tribe did it still exist. But I can learn nothing of the continued
existence of such a custom among any tribe of the Indo-Chinese
continent. The insertion of gold studs or spots, which Bürck
confounds with it, is common enough among Indo-Chinese races,
but that is quite a different thing. The actual practice of the
Zardandan is, however, followed by some of the people of Sumatra,
as both Marsden and Raffles testify: “The great men sometimes
set their teeth in gold, by casing with a plate of that metal
the under row ... it is sometimes indented to the shape of the
teeth, but more usually quite plain. They do not remove it either
to eat or sleep.” The like custom is mentioned by old travellers
at Macassar, and with the substitution of _silver_ for gold by
a modern traveller as existing in Timor; but in both, probably,
it was a practice of Malay tribes, as in Sumatra. (_Marsden’s
Sumatra_, 3rd ed., p. 52; _Raffles’s Java_, I. 105; _Bickmore’s
Ind. Archipelago_.)
[In his second volume of _The River of Golden Sand_, Captain Gill
has two chapters (viii. and ix.) with the title: _In the footsteps
of Marco Polo and of Augustus Margary_ devoted to _The Land of the
Gold-Teeth_ and _The Marches of the Kingdom of Mien_.—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—This is precisely the account which Lieutenant Garnier
gives of the people of Laos: “The Laos people are very indolent,
and when they are not rich enough to possess slaves they make
over to their women the greatest part of the business of the
day; and ’tis these latter who not only do all the work of the
house, but who husk the rice, work in the fields, and paddle the
canoes. Hunting and fishing are almost the only occupations which
pertain exclusively to the stronger sex.” (_Notice sur le Voyage
d’Exploration_, etc., p. 34.)
NOTE 4.—This highly eccentric practice has been ably illustrated
and explained by Mr. Tylor, under the name of the _Couvade_, or
“Hatching,” by which it is known in some of the Béarn districts of
the Pyrenees, where it formerly existed, as it does still or did
recently, in some Basque districts of Spain. [In a paper on _La
Couvade chez les Basques_, published in the _République Française_,
of 19th January, 1877, and reprinted in _Études de Linguistique et
d’Ethnographie par A. Hovelacque et Julien Vinson_, Paris, 1878,
Prof. Vinson quotes the following curious passage from the poem
in ten cantos, _Luciniade_, by Sacombe, of Carcassonne (Paris and
Nîmes, 1790):
“En Amérique, en Corse, et chez l’Ibérien,
En France même encor chez le Vénarnien,
Au pays Navarrois, lorsqu’une femme accouche,
L’épouse sort du lit et le mari se couche;
Et, quoiqu’il soit très sain et d’esprit et de corps,
Contre un mal qu’il n’a point l’art unit ses efforts.
On le met au régime, et notre faux malade,
Soigné par l’accouchée, en son lit fait _couvade_:
On ferme avec grand soin portes, volets, rideaux;
Immobile, on l’oblige à rester sur le dos,
Pour étouffer son lait, qui gêné dans sa course,
Pourrait en l’étouffant remonter vers sa source.
Un mari, dans sa couche, au médecin soumis,
Reçoit, en cet état, parents, voisins, amis,
Qui viennent l’exhorter à prendre patience
Et font des vœux au ciel pour sa convalescence.”
Professor Vinson, who is an authority on the subject, comes to the
conclusion that it is not possible to ascribe to the Basques the
custom of the _couvade_.
Mr. Tylor writes to me that he “did not quite begin the use of
this good French word in the sense of the ‘man-child-bed’ as they
call it in Germany. It occurs in Rochefort, _Iles Antilles_, and
though Dr. Murray, of the English Dictionary, maintains that it is
spurious, if so, it is better than any genuine word I know of.”—H.
C.] “In certain valleys of Biscay,” says Francisque-Michel, “in
which the popular usages carry us back to the infancy of society,
the woman immediately after her delivery gets up and attends to the
cares of the household, whilst the husband takes to bed with the
tender fledgeling in his arms, and so receives the compliments of
his neighbours.”
The nearest people to the Zardandan of whom I find this custom
elsewhere recorded, is one called _Langszi_,[2] a small tribe of
aborigines in the department of Wei-ning, in Kweichau, but close
to the border of Yun-nan: “Their manners and customs are very
extraordinary. For example, when the wife has given birth to a
child, the husband remains in the house and holds it in his arms
for a whole month, not once going out of doors. The wife in the
mean time does all the work in doors and out, and provides and
serves up both food and drink for the husband, she only giving suck
to the child.” I am informed also that, among the Miris on the
Upper Assam border, the husband on such occasions confines himself
strictly to the house for forty days after the event.
The custom of the Couvade has especially and widely prevailed in
South America, not only among the Carib races of Guiana, of the
Spanish Main, and (where still surviving) of the West Indies, but
among many tribes of Brazil and its borders from the Amazons to
the Plate, and among the Abipones of Paraguay; it also exists or
has existed among the aborigines of California, in West Africa,
in Bouro, one of the Moluccas, and among a wandering tribe of the
Telugu-speaking districts of Southern India. According to Diodorus
it prevailed in ancient Corsica, according to Strabo among the
Iberians of Northern Spain (where we have seen it has lingered to
recent times), according to Apollonius Rhodius among the Tibareni
of Pontus. Modified traces of a like practice, not carried to the
same extent of oddity, are also found in a variety of countries
besides those that have been named, as in Borneo, in Kamtchatka,
and in Greenland. In nearly all cases some particular diet, or
abstinence from certain kinds of food and drink, and from exertion,
is prescribed to the father; in some, more positive and trying
penances are inflicted.
Butler had no doubt our Traveller’s story in his head when he made
the widow in _Hudibras_ allude in a ribald speech to the supposed
fact that
————“Chineses go to bed
And lie in, in their ladies’ stead.”
The custom is humorously introduced, as Pauthier has noticed, in
the Mediæval Fabliau of _Aucassin and Nicolete_. Aucassin arriving
at the castle of Torelore asks for the king and is told he is in
child-bed. Where then is his wife? She is gone to the wars and has
taken all the people with her. Aucassin, greatly astonished, enters
the palace, and wanders through it till he comes to the chamber
where the king lay:—
“En le canbre entre Aucassins
Li cortois et li gentis;
Il est venus dusqu’au lit
Alec ú li Rois se gist.
Pardevant lui s’arestit
Si parla, Oès que dist;
Diva fau, que fais-tu ci?
Dist le Rois, Je gis d’un fil,
Quant mes mois sera complis,
Et ge serai bien garis,
Dont irai le messe oïr
Si comme mes ancessor fist,” etc.
Aucassin pulls all the clothes off him, and cudgels him soundly,
making him promise that never a man shall lie in again in his
country.
This strange custom, if it were unique, would look like a coarse
practical joke, but appearing as it does among so many different
races and in every quarter of the world, it must have its root
somewhere deep in the psychology of the uncivilised man. I must
refer to Mr. Tylor’s interesting remarks on the rationale of the
custom, for they do not bear abridgment. Professor Max Müller
humorously suggests that “the treatment which a husband receives
among ourselves at the time of his wife’s confinement, not only
from mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and other female relations,
but from nurses, and from every consequential maid-servant in the
house,” is but a “survival,” as Mr. Tylor would call it, of the
_couvade_; or at least represents the same feeling which among
those many uncivilised nations thus drove the husband to his
bed, and sometimes (as among the Caribs) put him when there to
systematic torture.
(_Tylor_, _Researches_, 288–296; _Michel, Le Pays Basque_, p. 201;
_Sketches of the Meau-tsze_, transl. by _Bridgman_ in _J. of North
China Br. of R. As. Soc._, p. 277; _Hudibras_, Pt. III., canto
I. 707; _Fabliaus et Contes par Barbazan, éd. Méon_, I. 408–409;
_Indian Antiq._ III. 151; _Müller’s Chips_, II. 227 _seqq._; many
other references in TYLOR, and in a capital monograph by Dr. H. H.
Ploss of Leipzig, received during revision of this sheet: ‘_Das
Männerkindbett_.’ What a notable example of the German power of
compounding is that title!)
[This custom seems to be considered generally as a survival of
the matriarchate in a society with a patriarchal régime. We may
add to the list of authorities on this subject: _E. Westermarck,
Hist. of Human Marriage_, 106, _seqq._; _G. A. Wilken, De Couvade
bij de Volken v.d. Indischen Archipel, Bijdr. Ind. Inst._, 5th
ser., iv. p. 250. Dr. Ernest Martin, late physician of the French
Legation at Peking, in an article on _La Couvade en Chine_ (_Revue
Scientifique_, 24th March, 1894), gave a drawing representing the
couvade from a sketch by a native artist.
In the _China Review_ (XI. pp. 401–402), “Lao Kwang-tung” notes
these interesting facts: “The Chinese believe that certain
actions performed by the husband during the pregnancy of his wife
will affect the child. If a dish of food on the table is raised
by putting another dish, or anything else below it, it is not
considered proper for a husband, who is expecting the birth of a
child, to partake of it, for fear the two dishes should cause the
child to have two tongues. It is extraordinary that the caution
thus exercised by the Chinese has not prevented many of them from
being double-tongued. This result, it is supposed, however, will
only happen if the food so raised is eaten in the house in which
the future mother happens to be. It is thought that the pasting
up of the red papers containing antithetical and felicitous
sentences on them, as at New Year’s time, by a man under similar
circumstances, and this whether the future mother sees the action
performed or not, will cause the child to have red marks on the
face or any part of the body. The causes producing _naevi materni_
have probably been the origin of such marks, rather than the idea
entertained by the Chinese that the father, having performed an
action by some occult mode, influences the child yet unborn. A
case is said to have occurred in which ill effects were obviated,
or rather obliterated, by the red papers being torn down, after
the birth of the infant, and soaked in water, when as the red
disappeared from the paper, so the child’s face assumed a natural
hue. Lord Avebury also speaks of _la couvade_ as existing among the
Chinese of West Yun-Nan. (_Origin of Civilisation and Primitive
Condition of Man_, p. 18).”
Dr. J. A. H. Murray, editor of the _New English Dictionary_,
wrote, in _The Academy_, of 29th October, 1892, a letter with the
heading of _Couvade, The Genesis of an Anthropological Term_, which
elicited an answer from Dr. E. B. Tylor (_Academy_, 5th November):
“Wanting a general term for such customs,” writes Dr. Tylor, “and
finding statements in books that this male lying-in lasted on
till modern times, in the south of France, and was there called
_couvade_, that is brooding or hatching (_couver_), I adopted this
word for the set of customs, and it has since become established in
English.” The discussion was carried on in _The Academy_, 12th and
19th November, 10th and 17th December; Mr. A. L. Mayhew wrote (12th
November): “There is no doubt whatever that Dr. Tylor and Professor
Max Müller (in a review of Dr. Tylor’s book) share the glory of
having given a new technical sense to an old provincial French
word, and of seeing it accepted in France, and safely enshrined in
the great Dictionary of Littré.”
Now as to the origin of the word; we have seen above that
Rochefort was the first to use the expression _faire la couvade_.
This author, or at least the author (see _Barbier, Ouvrages
anonymes_) of the _Histoire naturelle ... des Iles Antilles_, which
was published for the first time at Rotterdam, in 1658, 4to.,
writes: “C’est qu’au méme tems que la femme est delivrée le mary
se met au lit, pour s’y plaindre et y faire l’acouchée: coutume,
qui bien que Sauvage et ridicule, se trouve neantmoins à ce que
l’on dit, parmy les paysans d’vne certaine Province de France. Et
ils appellent cela _faire la couvade_. Mais ce qui est de fâcheus
pour le pauvre Caraïbe, qui s’est mis au lit au lieu de l’acouchée,
c’est qu’on luy fait faire diéte dix ou douze jours de suite, ne
luy donnant rien par jour qu’vn petit morceau de Cassave, et vn peu
d’eau dans la quelle on a aussi fait boüillir un peu de ce pain de
racine.... Mais ils ne font ce grand jeusne qu’à la naissance de
leur premier enfant....” (II. pp. 607–608).
Lafitau (_Mœurs des Sauvages Ameriquains_, I. pp. 49–50) says on
the authority of Rochefort: “Je la trouve chez les Ibériens ou les
premiers Peuples d’Espagne ... elle est aujourd’hui dans quelques
unes de nos Provinces d’Espagne.”
The word _couvade_, forgotten in the sense of lying-in-bed,
recalled by Sacombe, has been renovated in a happy manner by Dr.
Tylor.
As to the custom itself, there can be no doubt of its existence,
in spite of some denials. Dr. Tylor, in the third edition of his
valuable _Early History of Mankind_, published in 1878 (Murray),
since the last edition of _The Book of Ser Marco Polo_, has added
(pp. 291 _seqq._) many more proofs to support what he had already
said on the subject.
There may be some strong doubts as to the _couvade_ in the south
of France, and the authors who speak of it in Béarn and the Basque
Countries seem to have copied one another, but there is not the
slightest doubt of its having been and of its being actually
practised in South America. There is a very curious account of it
in the _Voyage dans le Nord du Brésil_ made by Father Yves d’Evreux
in 1613 and 1614 (see pp. 88–89 of the reprint, Paris, 1864, and
the note of the learned Ferdinand Denis, pp. 411–412). Compare with
_Durch Central-Brasilien ... im Jahre_ 1884 _von K.v. den Steinen_.
But the following extract from _Among the Indians of Guiana_....
_By Everard im Thurn_ (1883), will settle, I think, the question:
“Turning from the story of the day to the story of the life, we may
begin at the beginning, that is, at the birth of the children. And
here, at once, we meet with, perhaps, the most curious point in
the habits of the Indians; the _couvade_ or male child-bed. This
custom, which is common to the uncivilized people of many parts of
the world, is probably among the strangest ever invented by the
human brain. Even before the child is born, the father abstains
for a time from certain kinds of animal food. The woman works as
usual up to a few hours before the birth of the child. At last she
retires alone, or accompanied only by some other women, to the
forest, where she ties up her hammock; and then the child is born.
Then in a few hours—often less than a day—the woman, who, like all
women living in a very unartificial condition, suffers but little,
gets up and resumes her ordinary work. According to Schomburgk, the
mother, at any rate among the Macusis, remains in her hammock for
some time, and the father hangs his hammock, and lies in it, by her
side; but in all cases where the matter came under my notice, the
mother left her hammock almost at once. In any case, no sooner is
the child born than the father takes to his hammock and, abstaining
from every sort of work, from meat and all other food, except
weak gruel of cassava meal, from smoking, from washing himself,
and, above all, from touching weapons of any sort, is nursed and
cared for by all the women of the place. One other regulation,
mentioned by Schomburgk, is certainly quaint; the interesting
father may not scratch himself with his finger-nails, but he may
use for this purpose a splinter, specially provided, from the
mid-rib of a cokerite palm. This continues for many days, and
sometimes even weeks. _Couvade_ is such a wide-spread institution,
that I had often read and wondered at it; but it was not until I
saw it practised around me, and found that I was often suddenly
deprived of the services of my best hunters or boat-hands, by
the necessity which they felt, and which nothing could persuade
them to disregard, of observing _couvade_, that I realized its
full strangeness. No satisfactory explanation of its origin seems
attainable. It appears based on a belief in the existence of a
mysterious connection between the child and its father—far closer
than that which exists between the child and its mother,—and
of such a nature that if the father infringes any of the rules
of the _couvade_, for a time after the birth of the child, the
latter suffers. For instance, if he eats the flesh of a water-haas
(_Capybara_), a large rodent with very protruding teeth, the teeth
of the child will grow as those of the animal; or if he eats the
flesh of the spotted-skinned labba, the child’s skin will become
spotted. Apparently there is also some idea that for the father to
eat strong food, to wash, to smoke, or to handle weapons, would
have the same result as if the new-born babe ate such food, washed,
smoked, or played with edged tools” (pp. 217–219.)
I have to thank Dr. Edward B. Tylor for the valuable notes he
kindly sent me.—H. C.]
NOTE 5.—“The abundance of gold in Yun-nan is proverbial in China,
so that if a man lives very extravagantly they ask if his father is
governor of Yun-nan.” (_Martini_, p. 140.)
Polo has told us that in Eastern Yun-nan the exchange was 8 of
silver for one of gold (ch. xlviii.); in the Western division of
the province 6 of silver for one of gold (ch. xlix.); and now,
still nearer the borders of Ava, only 5 of silver for one of gold.
Such discrepancies within 15 days’ journey would be inconceivable,
but that in both the latter instances at least he appears to
speak of the rates at which the gold was purchased from secluded,
ignorant, and uncivilised tribes. It is difficult to reconcile with
other facts the reason which he assigns for the high value put
on silver at Vochan, viz., that there was no silver-mine within
five months’ journey. In later days, at least, Martini speaks
of many silver-mines in Yun-nan, and the “Great Silver Mine”
(_Bau-dwen gyi_ of the Burmese) or group of mines, which affords
a chief supply to Burma in modern times, is not far from the
territory of our Traveller’s Zardandan. Garnier’s map shows several
argentiferous sites in the Valley of the Lan-t’sang.
In another work[3] I have remarked at some length on the relative
values of gold and silver about this time. In Western Europe
these seem to have been as 12 to 1, and I have shown grounds for
believing that in India, and generally over civilised Asia, the
ratio was 10 to 1. In Pauthier’s extracts from the _Yuen-shi_ or
Annals of the Mongol Dynasty, there is an incidental but precise
confirmation of this, of which I was not then aware. This states
(p. 321) that on the issue of the paper currency of 1287 the
official instructions to the local treasuries were to issue notes
of the nominal value of two strings, _i.e._ 2000 _wen_ or cash, for
every ounce of flowered silver, and 20,000 cash for every ounce of
gold. Ten to 1 must have continued to be the relation in China down
to about the end of the 17th century if we may believe Lecomte; but
when Milburne states the same value in the beginning of the 19th he
must have fallen into some great error. In 1781 Sonnerat tells us
that _formerly_ gold had been exported from China with a profit of
25 per cent., but at that time a profit of 18 to 20 per cent. was
made by _importing_ it. At present[4] the relative values are about
the same as in Europe, viz. 1 to 15½ or 1 to 16; but in Canton,
in 1844, they were 1 to 17; and Timkowski states that at Peking
in 1821 the finest gold was valued at 18 to 1. And as regards the
precise territory of which this chapter speaks I find in Lieutenant
Bower’s Commercial Report on Sladen’s Mission that the price of
pure gold at Momein in 1868 was 13 times its weight in silver (p.
122); whilst M. Garnier mentions that the exchange at Ta-li in 1869
was 12 to 1 (I. 522).
Does not Shakspeare indicate at least a memory of 10 to 1 as the
traditional relation of gold to silver when he makes the Prince of
Morocco, balancing over Portia’s caskets, argue:—
“Or shall I think in silver she’s immured,
Being ten times undervalued to tried gold?
O sinful thought!”
In Japan, at the time trade was opened, we know from Sir R.
Alcock’s work the extraordinary fact that the proportionate value
set upon gold and silver currency by authority was as 3 to 1.
(_Cathay_, etc., p. ccl. and p. 442; _Lecomte_, II. 91; _Milburne’s
Oriental Commerce_, II. 510; _Sonnerat_, II. 17; _Hedde, Etude,
Pratique_, etc., p. 14; _Williams, Chinese Commercial Guide_, p.
129; _Timkowski_, II. 202; _Alcock_, I. 281; II. 411, etc.)
NOTE 6.—Mr. Lay cites from a Chinese authority a notice of a tribe
of “Western Miautsze,” who “in the middle of autumn sacrifice to
the Great Ancestor or Founder of their Race.” (_The Chinese as they
are_, p. 321.)
NOTE 7.—Dr. Anderson confirms the depressing and unhealthy
character of the summer climate at Momein, though standing between
5000 and 6000 feet above the sea (p. 41).
NOTE 8.—“Whereas before,” says Jack Cade to Lord Say, “our
forefathers had no books but score and tally, thou hast caused
printing to be used.” The use of such tallies for the record of
contracts among the aboriginal tribes of Kweichau is mentioned by
Chinese authorities, and the French missionaries of Bonga speak of
the same as in use among the simple tribes in that vicinity. But,
as Marsden notes, the use of such rude records was to be found in
his day in higher places and much nearer home. They continued to be
employed as records of receipts in the British Exchequer till 1834,
“and it is worthy of recollection that the fire by which the Houses
of Parliament were destroyed was supposed to have originated in the
over-heating of the flues in which the discarded tallies were being
burnt.” I remember often, when a child, to have seen the tallies of
the colliers in Scotland, and possibly among that class they may
survive. They appear to be still used by bakers in various parts
of England and France, in the Canterbury hop-gardens, and locally
in some other trades. (_Martini_, 135; _Bridgman_, 259, 262; _Eng.
Cyclop._ sub v. _Tally_; _Notes and Queries_, 1st ser. X. 485.)
[According to Father Crabouillet (_Missions Cath._ 1873, p. 105),
the Lolos use tallies for their contracts; Dr. Harmand mentions
(_Tour du Monde_, 1877, No. VII.) the same fact among the Khas of
Central Laos; and M. Pierre Lefèvre-Pontalis (_Populations du nord
de l’Indo-Chine_, 1892, p. 22, from the _J. As._) says he saw these
tallies among the Khas of Luang-Prabang.—H. C.]
“In Illustration of this custom I have to relate what follows. In
the year 1863 the Tsaubwa (or Prince) of a Shan Province adjoining
Yun-nan was in rebellion against the Burmese Government. He wished
to enter into communication with the British Government. He sent
a messenger to a British Officer with a letter tendering his
allegiance, and accompanying this letter was a piece of bamboo
about five inches long. This had been split down the middle, so
that the two pieces fitted closely together, forming a tube in
the original shape of the bamboo. A notch at one end included
the edges of both pieces, showing that they were a pair. The
messenger said that if the reply were favourable one of the pieces
was to be returned and the other kept. I need hardly say the
messenger received no written reply, and both pieces of bamboo were
retained.” (_MS. Note by Sir Arthur Phayre._)
NOTE 9.—Compare Mr. Hodgson’s account of the sub-Himalayan Bodos
and Dhimals: “All diseases are ascribed to supernatural agency.
The sick man is supposed to be possessed by one of the deities,
who racks him with pain as a punishment for impiety or neglect of
the god in question. Hence not the mediciner, but the exorcist, is
summoned to the sick man’s aid.” (_J. A. S. B._ XVIII. 728.)
NOTE 10.—Mr. Hodgson again: “Libations of fermented liquor always
accompany sacrifice—_because_, to confess the whole truth,
sacrifice and feast are commutable words, and feasts need to be
crowned with copious potations.” (_Ibid._)
NOTE 11.—And again: “The god in question is asked what sacrifice
he requires? a buffalo, a hog, a fowl, or a duck, to spare the
sufferer; ... anxious as I am fully to illustrate the topic, I will
not try the patience of my readers by describing all that vast
variety of black victims and white, of red victims and blue, which
each particular deity is alleged to prefer.” (_Ibid._ and p. 732.)
NOTE 12.—The same system of devil-dancing is prevalent among the
tribes on the Lu-kiang, as described by the R. C. Missionaries. The
conjurors are there called _Mumos_. (_Ann. de la Prop. de la Foi_,
XXXVI. 323, and XXXVII. 312–313.)
“Marco’s account of the exorcism of evil spirits in cases of
obstinate illness exactly resembles what is done in similar cases
by the Burmese, except that I never saw animals sacrificed on such
occasions.” (_Sir A. Phayre._)
Mouhot says of the wild people of Cambodia called _Stiens_: “When
any one is ill they say that the Evil Spirit torments him; and to
deliver him they set up about the patient a dreadful din which does
not cease night or day, until some one among the bystanders falls
down as if in a syncope, crying out, ‘I have him,—he is in me,—he
is strangling me!’ Then they question the person who has thus
become possessed. They ask him what remedies will save the patient;
what remedies does the Evil Spirit require that he may give up his
prey? Sometimes it is an ox or a pig; but too often it is a human
victim.” (_J. R. G. S._ XXXII. 147.)
See also the account of the Samoyede _Tadibeï_ or Devil-dancer in
Klaproth’s _Magasin Asiatique_ (II. 83).
In fact these strange rites of Shamanism, devil-dancing, or what
not, are found with wonderful identity of character among the
non-Caucasian races over parts of the earth most remote from one
another, not only among the vast variety of Indo-Chinese Tribes,
but among the Tamulian tribes of India, the Veddahs of Ceylon,
the races of Siberia, and the red nations of North and South
America. Hinduism has assimilated these “prior superstitions of the
sons of Tur” as Mr. Hodgson calls them, in the form of Tantrika
mysteries, whilst, in the wild performance of the Dancing Dervishes
at Constantinople, we see perhaps again the infection of Turanian
blood breaking out from the very heart of Mussulman orthodoxy.
Dr. Caldwell has given a striking account of the practice of
devil-dancing among the Shanars of Tinnevelly, which forms a
perfect parallel in modern language to our Traveller’s description
of a scene of which he also had manifestly been an eye-witness:
“When the preparations are completed and the devil-dance is about
to commence, the music is at first comparatively slow; the dancer
seems impassive and sullen, and he either stands still or moves
about in gloomy silence. Gradually, as the music becomes quicker
and louder, his excitement begins to rise. Sometimes, to help him
to work himself up into a frenzy, he uses medicated draughts, cuts
and lacerates himself till the blood flows, lashes himself with
a huge whip, presses a burning torch to his breast, drinks the
blood which flows from his own wounds, or drains the blood of the
sacrifice, putting the throat of the decapitated goat to his mouth.
Then, as if he had acquired new life, he begins to brandish his
staff of bells, and to dance with a quick but wild unsteady step.
Suddenly the afflatus descends; there is no mistaking that glare,
or those frantic leaps. He snorts, he stares, he gyrates. The demon
has now taken bodily possession of him, and though he retains the
power of utterance and motion, both are under the demon’s control,
and his separate consciousness is in abeyance. The bystanders
signalise the event by raising a long shout, attended with a
peculiar vibratory noise, caused by the motion of the hand and
tongue, or the tongue alone. The devil-dancer is now worshipped
as a present deity, and every bystander consults him respecting
his diseases, his wants, the welfare of his absent relatives, the
offerings to be made for the accomplishment of his wishes, and in
short everything for which superhuman knowledge is supposed to be
available.” (_Hodgson, J. R. As. Soc._ XVIII. 397; _The Tinnevelly
Shanars_, by the _Rev. R. Caldwell, B.A._, Madras, 1849, pp. 19–20.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] “_Singpho_,” says Colonel Hannay, “signifies in the Kakhyen
language ‘a man,’ and all of this race who have settled in Hookong
or Assam are thus designated; the reason of their change of name I
could not ascertain, but so much importance seems to be attached
to it, that the Singphos, in talking of their eastern and southern
neighbours, call them Kakhyens or Kakoos, and consider it an
insult to be called so themselves.” (_Sketch of the Singphos, or
the Kakhyens of Burma_, Calcutta, 1847, pp. 3–4.) If, however,
the Kakhyens, or _Kachyens_ (as Major Sladen calls them), are
represented by the _Go-tchang_ of Pauthier’s Chinese extracts,
these seem to be distinguished from the Kin-Chi, though associated
with them. (See pp. 397, 411.)
[2] [Mr. E. H. Parker (_China Review_, XIV. p. 359) says that Colonel
Yule’s _Langszi_ are evidently the _Szilang_, one of the six
_Chao_, but turned upside down.—H. C.]
[3] _Cathay_, etc., pp. ccl. _seqq._ and p. 441.
[4] Written in 1870.
CHAPTER LI.
WHEREIN IS RELATED HOW THE KING OF MIEN AND BANGALA VOWED
VENGEANCE AGAINST THE GREAT KAAN.
But I was forgetting to tell you of a famous battle that was fought in
the kingdom of Vochan in the Province of Zardandan, and that ought not
to be omitted from our Book. So we will relate all the particulars.
You see, in the year of Christ, 1272,{1} the Great Kaan sent a large
force into the kingdoms of Carajan and Vochan, to protect them from
the ravages of ill-disposed people; and this was before he had sent
any of his sons to rule the country, as he did afterwards when he made
Sentemur king there, the son of a son of his who was deceased.
Now there was a certain king, called the king of MIEN and of BANGALA,
who was a very puissant prince, with much territory and treasure and
people; and he was not as yet subject to the Great Kaan, though it was
not long after that the latter conquered him and took from him both
the kingdoms that I have named.{2} And it came to pass that when this
king of Mien and Bangala heard that the host of the Great Kaan was at
Vochan, he said to himself that it behoved him to go against them with
so great a force as should insure his cutting off the whole of them,
insomuch that the Great Kaan would be very sorry ever to send an army
again thither [to his frontier].
So this king prepared a great force and munitions of war; and he had,
let me tell you, 2000 great elephants, on each of which was set a tower
of timber, well framed and strong, and carrying from twelve to sixteen
well-armed fighting men.{3} And besides these, he had of horsemen and
of footmen good 60,000 men. In short, he equipped a fine force, as well
befitted such a puissant prince. It was indeed a host capable of doing
great things.
And what shall I tell you? When the king had completed these great
preparations to fight the Tartars, he tarried not, but straightway
marched against them. And after advancing without meeting with anything
worth mentioning, they arrived within three days of the Great Kaan’s
host, which was then at Vochan in the territory of Zardandan, of which
I have already spoken. So there the king pitched his camp, and halted
to refresh his army.
NOTE 1.—This date is no doubt corrupt. (See note 3, ch. lii.)
NOTE 2.—MIEN is the name by which the kingdom of Burma or Ava was
and is known to the Chinese. M. Garnier informs me that _Mien-Kwé_
or _Mien-tisong_ is the name always given in Yun-nan to that
kingdom, whilst the Shans at Kiang Hung call the Burmese _Man_
(pronounced like the English word).
The title given to the sovereign in question of King of BENGAL, as
well as of Mien, is very remarkable. We shall see reason hereafter
to conceive that Polo did more or less confound Bengal with _Pegu_,
which was subject to the Burmese monarchy up to the time of the
Mongol invasion. But apart from any such misapprehension, there
is not only evidence of rather close relations between Burma and
Gangetic India in the ages immediately preceding that of our
author, but also some ground for believing that he may be right in
his representation, and that the King of Burma may have at this
time arrogated the title of “King of Bengal,” which is attributed
to him in the text.
Anaurahta, one of the most powerful kings in Burmese history
(1017–1059), extended his conquests to the frontiers of India,
and is stated to have set up images within that country. He also
married an Indian princess, the daughter of the King of _Wethali_
(_i.e._ _Vaiçali_ in Tirhút).
There is also in the _Burmese Chronicle_ a somewhat confused story
regarding a succeeding king, Kyan-tsittha (A.D. 1064), who desired
to marry his daughter to the son of the King of _Patteik-Kará_, a
part of Bengal.[1] The marriage was objected to by the Burmese
nobles, but the princess was already with child by the Bengal
prince; and their son eventually succeeded to the Burmese throne
under the name of Alaungtsi-thu. When king, he travelled all over
his dominions, and visited the images which Anaurahta had set up in
India. He also maintained intercourse with the King of Patteik-Kará
and married his daughter. Alaungtsi-thu is stated to have lived to
the age of 101 years, and to have reigned 75. Even then his death
was hastened by his son Narathu, who smothered him in the temple
called Shwé-Ku (“Golden Cave”), at Pagán, and also put to death
his Bengali step-mother. The father of the latter sent eight brave
men, disguised as Brahmans, to avenge his daughter’s death. Having
got access to the royal presence through their sacred character,
they slew King Narathu and then themselves. Hence King Narathu is
known in the Burmese history as the _Kalá-Ḳya Meng_, or “King slain
by the Hindus.” He was building the great Temple at Pagán called
_Dhammayangyi_, at the time of his death, which occurred about
the year 1171. The great-grandson of this king was Narathihapade
(presumably _Narasinha-pati_), the king reigning at the time of the
Mongol invasion.
All these circumstances show tolerably close relations between
Burma and Bengal, and also _that the dynasty then reigning in
Burma was descended from a Bengal stock_. Sir Arthur Phayre, after
noting these points, remarks: “From all these circumstances, and
from the conquests attributed to Anaurahta, it is very probable
that, after the conquest of Bengal by the Mahomedans in the 13th
century, the kings of Burma would assume the title of _Kings of
Bengal_. This is nowhere expressly stated in the Burmese history,
but the course of events renders it very probable. We know that the
claim to Bengal was asserted by the kings of Burma in long after
years. In the Journal of the Marquis of Hastings, under the date of
6th September, 1818, is the following passage: ‘The king of Burma
favoured us early this year with the obliging requisition that we
should cede to him Moorshedabad and the provinces to the east of
it, which he deigned to say were all natural dependencies of his
throne.’ And at the time of the disputes on the frontier of Arakan,
in 1823–1824, which led to the war of the two following years,
the Governor of Arakan made a similar demand. We may therefore
reasonably conclude that at the close of the 13th century of the
Christian era the kings of Pagán called themselves kings of Burma
and of Bengala.” (_MS. Note by Sir Arthur Phayre_; see also his
paper in _J. A. S. B._ vol. XXXVII. part I.)
NOTE 3.—It is very difficult to know what to make of the repeated
assertions of old writers as to the numbers of men carried by
war-elephants, or, if we could admit those numbers, to conceive how
the animal could have carried the enormous structure necessary to
give them space to use their weapons. The Third Book of Maccabees
is the most astounding in this way, alleging that a single elephant
carried 32 stout men, besides the Indian _Mahaut_. Bochart indeed
supposes the number here to be a clerical error for 12, but this
would even be extravagant. Friar Jordanus is, no doubt, building
on the Maccabees rather than on his own Oriental experience when
he says that the elephant “carrieth easily more than 30 men.”
Philostratus, in his _Life of Apollonius_, speaks of 10 to 15;
Ibn Batuta of about 20; and a great elephant sent by Timur to the
Sultan of Egypt is said to have carried 20 drummers. Christopher
Borri says that in Cochin China the elephant did ordinarily carry
13 or 14 persons, 6 on each side in two tiers of 3 each, and 2
behind. On the other hand, among the ancients, Strabo and Aelian
speak of _three_ soldiers only in addition to the driver, and
Livy, describing the Battle of Magnesia, of _four_. These last are
reasonable statements.
(_Bochart_, _Hierozoicon_, ed. 3rd, p. 266; _Jord._, p. 26;
_Philost._ trad. par _A. Chassaing_, liv. II. c. ii.; _Ibn Bat._
II. 223; _N. and E._ XIV. 510; _Cochin China_, etc., London, 1633,
ed. 3; _Armandi, Hist. Militaire des Eléphants_, 259 _seqq._ 442.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Sir A. Phayre thinks this may have been _Vikrampúr_, for some
time the capital of Eastern Bengal before the Mahomedan conquest.
Vikrampúr was some miles east of Dacca, and the dynasty in question
was that called _Vaidya_. (See _Lassen_, III. 749.) _Patteik-Kará_
is apparently an attempt to represent some Hindi name such as
_Patthargarh_, “The Stone-Fort.”
CHAPTER LII.
OF THE BATTLE THAT WAS FOUGHT BY THE GREAT KAAN’S HOST AND HIS
SENESCHAL, AGAINST THE KING OF MIEN.
And when the Captain of the Tartar host had certain news that the
king aforesaid was coming against him with so great a force, he waxed
uneasy, seeing that he had with him but 12,000 horsemen. Natheless he
was a most valiant and able soldier, of great experience in arms and
an excellent Captain; and his name was NESCRADIN.{1} His troops too
were very good, and he gave them very particular orders and cautions
how to act, and took every measure for his own defence and that of
his army. And why should I make a long story of it? The whole force
of the Tartars, consisting of 12,000 well-mounted horsemen, advanced
to receive the enemy in the Plain of Vochan, and there they waited to
give them battle. And this they did through the good judgment of the
excellent Captain who led them; for hard by that plain was a great
wood, thick with trees. And so there in the plain the Tartars awaited
their foe. Let us then leave discoursing of them a while; we shall come
back to them presently; but meantime let us speak of the enemy.
After the King of Mien had halted long enough to refresh his troops, he
resumed his march, and came to the Plain of Vochan, where the Tartars
were already in order of battle. And when the king’s army had arrived
in the plain, and was within a mile of the enemy, he caused all the
castles that were on the elephants to be ordered for battle, and the
fighting-men to take up their posts on them, and he arrayed his horse
and his foot with all skill, like a wise king as he was. And when he
had completed all his arrangements he began to advance to engage the
enemy. The Tartars, seeing the foe advance, showed no dismay, but came
on likewise with good order and discipline to meet them. And when they
were near and nought remained but to begin the fight, the horses of the
Tartars took such fright at the sight of the elephants that they could
not be got to face the foe, but always swerved and turned back; whilst
all the time the king and his forces, and all his elephants, continued
to advance upon them.{2}
And when the Tartars perceived how the case stood, they were in great
wrath, and wist not what to say or do; for well enough they saw that
unless they could get their horses to advance, all would be lost. But
their Captain acted like a wise leader who had considered everything
beforehand. He immediately gave orders that every man should dismount
and tie his horse to the trees of the forest that stood hard by, and
that then they should take to their bows, a weapon that they know how
to handle better than any troops in the world. They did as he bade
them, and plied their bows stoutly, shooting so many shafts at the
advancing elephants that in a short space they had wounded or slain the
greater part of them as well as of the men they carried. The enemy also
shot at the Tartars, but the Tartars had the better weapons, and were
the better archers to boot.
And what shall I tell you? Understand that when the elephants felt the
smart of those arrows that pelted them like rain, they turned tail and
fled, and nothing on earth would have induced them to turn and face the
Tartars. So off they sped with such a noise and uproar that you would
have trowed the world was coming to an end! And then too they plunged
into the wood and rushed this way and that, dashing their castles
against the trees, bursting their harness and smashing and destroying
everything that was on them.
So when the Tartars saw that the elephants had turned tail and could
not be brought to face the fight again, they got to horse at once
and charged the enemy. And then the battle began to rage furiously
with sword and mace. Right fiercely did the two hosts rush together,
and deadly were the blows exchanged. The king’s troops were far more
in number than the Tartars, but they were not of such metal, nor so
inured to war; otherwise the Tartars who were so few in number could
never have stood against them. Then might you see swashing blows dealt
and taken from sword and mace; then might you see knights and horses
and men-at-arms go down; then might you see arms and hands and legs
and heads hewn off: and besides the dead that fell, many a wounded
man, that never rose again, for the sore press there was. The din and
uproar were so great from this side and from that, that God might have
thundered and no man would have heard it! Great was the medley, and
dire and parlous was the fight that was fought on both sides; but the
Tartars had the best of it.{3}
In an ill hour indeed, for the king and his people, was that battle
begun, so many of them were slain therein. And when they had continued
fighting till midday the king’s troops could stand against the Tartars
no longer; but felt that they were defeated, and turned and fled. And
when the Tartars saw them routed they gave chase, and hacked and slew
so mercilessly that it was a piteous sight to see. But after pursuing
a while they gave up, and returned to the wood to catch the elephants
that had run away, and to manage this they had to cut down great trees
to bar their passage. Even then they would not have been able to take
them without the help of the king’s own men who had been taken, and
who knew better how to deal with the beasts than the Tartars did. The
elephant is an animal that hath more wit than any other; but in this
way at last they were caught, more than 200 of them. And it was from
this time forth that the Great Kaan began to keep numbers of elephants.
So thus it was that the king aforesaid was defeated by the sagacity and
superior skill of the Tartars as you have heard.
NOTE 1.—_Nescradin_ for Nesradin, as we had _Bascra_ for Basra.
This NÁSRUDDIN was apparently an officer of whom Rashiduddin
speaks, and whom he calls governor (or perhaps commander) in
Karájáng. He describes him as having succeeded in that command to
his father the Sayad Ajil of Bokhara, one of the best of Kúblái’s
chief Ministers. Nasr-uddin retained his position in Yun-nan till
his death, which Rashid, writing about 1300, says occurred five or
six years before. His son Bayan, who also bore the grandfather’s
title of Sayad Ajil, was Minister of Finance under Kúblái’s
successor; and another son, Ḥálá, is also mentioned as one of the
governors of the province of Fu-chau. (See _Cathay_, pp. 265, 268,
and _D’Ohsson_, II. 507–508.)
Nasr-uddin (_Nasulating_) is also frequently mentioned as employed
on this frontier by the Chinese authorities whom Pauthier cites.
[Na-su-la-ding [Nasr-uddin] was the eldest of the five sons of
the Mohammedan Sai-dien-ch’i shan-sze-ding, Sayad Ajil, a native
of Bokhara, who died in Yun-nan, where he had been governor when
Kúblái, in the reign of Mangu, entered the country. Nasr-uddin “has
a separate biography in ch. cxxv of the _Yuen-shi_. He was governor
of the province of Yun-nan, and distinguished himself in the war
against the southern tribes of _Kiao-chi_ (Cochin-China) and _Mien_
(Burma). He died in 1292, the father of twelve sons, the names of
five of which are given in the biography, viz. _Bo-yen-ch’a-rh_
[Bayan], who held a high office, Omar, Djafar, Hussein, and Saadi.”
(_Bretschneider, Med. Res._ I. 270–271). Mr. E. H. Parker writes
in the _China Review_, February–March, 1901, pp. 196–197, that the
Mongol history states that amongst the reforms of Nasr-uddin’s
father in Yun-nan, was the introduction of coffins for the dead,
instead of burning them.—H. C.]
[NOTE 2.—In his battle near Sardis, Cyrus “collected together all
the camels that had come in the train of his army to carry the
provisions and the baggage, and taking off their loads, he mounted
riders upon them accoutred as horsemen. These he commanded to
advance in front of his other troops against the Lydian horse....
The reason why Cyrus opposed his camels to the enemy’s horse was,
because the horse has a natural dread of the camel, and cannot
abide either the sight or the smell of that animal.... The two
armies then joined battle, and immediately the Lydian war-horses,
seeing and smelling the camels, turned round and galloped off.”
(_Herodotus_, Bk. I. i. p. 220, _Rawlinson’s_ ed.)—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—We are indebted to Pauthier for very interesting
illustrations of this narrative from the Chinese Annalists (p.
410 _seqq._). These latter fix the date to the year 1277, and it
is probable that the 1272 or MCCLXXII of the Texts was a clerical
error for MCCLXXVII. The Annalists describe the people of Mien as
irritated at calls upon them to submit to the Mongols (whose power
they probably did not appreciate, as their descendants did not
appreciate the British power in 1824), and as crossing the frontier
of Yung-ch’ang to establish fortified posts. The force of Mien,
they say, amounted to 50,000 men, with 800 elephants and 10,000
horses, whilst the Mongol Chief had but _seven hundred_ men. “When
the elephants felt the arrows (of the Mongols) they turned tail and
fled with the platforms on their backs into a place that was set
thickly with sharp bamboo-stakes, and these their riders laid hold
of to prick them with.” This threw the Burmese army into confusion;
they fled, and were pursued with great slaughter.
The Chinese author does not mention Nasr-uddin in connection with
this battle. He names as the chief of the Mongol force _Huthukh_
(Kutuka?), commandant of Ta-li fu. Nasr-uddin is mentioned as
advancing, a few months later (about December, 1277), with nearly
4000 men to Kiangtheu (which appears to have been on the Irawadi,
somewhere near Bhamó, and is perhaps the Kaungtaung of the
Burmese), but effecting little (p. 415).
[I have published in the _Rev. Ext. Orient_, II. 72–88, from the
British Museum _Add. MS._ 16913, the translation by Mgr. Visdelou,
of Chinese documents relating to the Kingdom of Mien and the wars
of Kúblái; the battle won by _Hu-tu_, commandant of Ta-li, was
fought during the 3rd month of the 14th year (1277). (Cf. Pauthier,
_supra_.)—H. C.]
These affairs of the battle in the Yung-ch’ang territory, and the
advance of Nasr-uddin to the Irawadi are, as Polo clearly implies
in the beginning of ch. li., quite distinct from the invasion and
conquest of Mien some years later, of which he speaks in ch. liv.
They are not mentioned in the Burmese Annals at all.
Sir Arthur Phayre is inclined to reject altogether the story of
the battle near Yung-ch’ang in consequence of this absence from
the _Burmese Chronicle_, and of its inconsistency with the purely
defensive character which that record assigns to the action of
the Burmese Government in regard to China at this time. With the
strongest respect for my friend’s opinion I feel it impossible
to assent to this. We have not only the concurrent testimony of
Marco and of the Chinese Official Annals of the Mongol Dynasty to
the facts of the Burmese provocation and of the engagement within
the Yung-ch’ang or Vochan territory, but we have in the Chinese
narrative a consistent chronology and tolerably full detail of the
relations between the two countries.
[Baber writes (p. 173): “Biot has it that Yung-ch’ang was first
established by the Mings, long subsequent to the time of Marco’s
visit, but the name was well known much earlier. The mention by
Marco of the Plain of Vochan (Unciam would be a perfect reading),
as if it were a plain _par excellence_, is strikingly consistent
with the position of the city on the verge of the largest plain
west of Yünnan-fu. Hereabouts was fought the great battle between
the ‘valiant soldier and the excellent captain Nescradin,’ with his
12,000 well-mounted Tartars, against the King of Burmah and a large
army, whose strength lay in 2000 elephants, on each of which was
set a tower of timber full of well-armed fighting men.
“There is no reason to suppose this ‘dire and parlous fight’ to
be mythical, apart from the consistency of annals adduced by
Colonel Yule; the local details of the narrative, particularly
the prominent importance of the wood as an element of the Tartar
success, are convincing. It seems to have been the first occasion
on which the Mongols engaged a large body of elephants, and this,
no doubt, made the victory memorable.
“Marco informs us that ‘from this time forth the Great Khan began
to keep numbers of elephants.’ It is obvious that cavalry could not
manœuvre in a morass such as fronts the city. Let us refer to the
account of the battle.
“‘The Great Khan’s host was at Yung-ch’ang, from which they
advanced into the plain, and there waited to give battle. This they
did through the good judgment of the captain, for hard by that
plain was a great wood thick with trees.’ The general’s purpose
was more probably to occupy the dry undulating slopes near the
south end of the valley. An advance of about five miles would
have brought him to that position. The statement that ‘the King’s
army arrived in the plain, and was within a mile of the enemy,’
would then accord perfectly with the conditions of the ground. The
Burmese would have found themselves at about that distance from
their foes as soon as they were fairly in the plain.
“The trees ‘hard by the plain,’ to which the Tartars tied their
horses, and in which the elephants were entangled, were in all
probability in the corner below the ‘rolling hills’ marked in the
chart. Very few trees remain, but in any case the grove would
long ago have been cut down by the Chinese, as everywhere on
inhabited plains. A short distance up the hill, however, groves
of exceptionally fine trees are passed. The army, as it seems to
us, must have entered the plain from its southernmost point. The
route by which we departed on our way to Burmah would be very
embarrassing, though perhaps not utterly impossible, for so great a
number of elephants.”—H. C.]
Between 1277 and the end of the century the Chinese Annals record
three campaigns or expeditions against MIEN; viz. (1) that which
Marco has related in this chapter; (2) that which he relates in
ch. liv.; and (3) one undertaken in 1300 at the request of the
son of the legitimate Burmese King, who had been put to death by
an usurper. The Burmese Annals mention only the two latest, but,
concerning both the date and the main circumstances of these two,
Chinese and Burmese Annals are in almost entire agreement. Surely
then it can scarcely be doubted that the Chinese authority is amply
trustworthy for the _first_ campaign also, respecting which the
Burmese book is silent; even were the former not corroborated by
the independent authority of Marco.
Indeed the mutual correspondence of these Annals, especially as
to chronology, is very remarkable, and is an argument for greater
respect to the chronological value of the Burmese Chronicle and
other Indo-Chinese records of like character than we should
otherwise be apt to entertain. Compare the story of the expedition
of 1300 as told after the Chinese Annals by De Mailla, and after
the Burmese Chronicle by Burney and Phayre. (See _De Mailla_, IX.
476 _seqq._; and _J. A. S. B._ vol. vi. pp. 121–122, and vol.
xxxvii. Pt. I. pp. 102 and 110.)
CHAPTER LIII.
OF THE GREAT DESCENT THAT LEADS TOWARDS THE KINGDOM OF MIEN.
After leaving the Province of which I have been speaking you come to
a great Descent. In fact you ride for two days and a half continually
down hill. On all this descent there is nothing worthy of mention
except only that there is a large place there where occasionally a
great market is held; for all the people of the country round come
thither on fixed days, three times a week, and hold a market there.
They exchange gold for silver; for they have gold in abundance; and
they give one weight of fine gold for five weights of fine silver; so
this induces merchants to come from various quarters bringing silver
which they exchange for gold with these people; and in this way the
merchants make great gain. As regards those people of the country
who dispose of gold so cheaply, you must understand that nobody is
acquainted with their places of abode, for they dwell in inaccessible
positions, in sites so wild and strong that no one can get at them to
meddle with them. Nor will they allow anybody to accompany them so as
to gain a knowledge of their abodes.{1}
After you have ridden those two days and a half down hill, you find
yourself in a province towards the south which is pretty near to India,
and this province is called AMIEN. You travel therein for fifteen days
through a very unfrequented country, and through great woods abounding
in elephants and unicorns and numbers of other wild beasts. There
are no dwellings and no people, so we need say no more of this wild
country, for in sooth there is nothing to tell. But I have a story to
relate which you shall now hear{2}.
NOTE 1.—In all the Shan towns visited by Major Sladen on this
frontier he found markets held _every fifth day_. This custom, he
says, is borrowed from China, and is general throughout Western
Yun-nan. There seem to be traces of this five-day week over
Indo-China, and it is found in Java; as it is in Mexico. The
Kakhyens attend in great crowds. They do _not_ now bring gold for
sale to Momein, though it is found to some extent in their hills,
more especially in the direction of Mogaung, whence it is exported
towards Assam.
Major Sladen saw a small quantity of nuggets in the possession of a
Kakhyen who had brought them from a hill two days north of Bhamó.
(_MS. Notes by Major Sladen._)
NOTE 2.—I confess that the indications in this and the beginning
of the following chapter are, to me, full of difficulty. According
to the general style of Polo’s itinerary, the 2½ days should be
reckoned from Yung-ch’ang; the distance therefore to the capital
city of Mien would be 17½ days. The real capital of Mien or Burma
at this time was, however, Pagán, in lat. 21° 13′, and that city
could hardly have been reached by a land traveller in any such
time. We shall see that something may be said in behalf of the
supposition that the point reached was _Tagaung_ or _Old Pagán_,
on the upper Irawadi, in lat. 23° 28′; and there was perhaps some
confusion in the traveller’s mind between this and the great city.
The descent might then be from Yung-ch’ang to the valley of the
Shwéli, and that valley then followed to the Irawadi. Taking as a
scale Polo’s 5 marches from Tali to Yung-ch’ang, I find we should
by this route make just about 17 marches from Yung-ch’ang to
Tagaung. We have no detailed knowledge of the route, but there _is_
a road that way, and by no other does the plain country approach
so near to Yung-ch’ang. (See _Anderson’s Report on Expedition to
Western Yunnan_, p. 160.)
Dr. Anderson’s remarks on the present question do not in my
opinion remove the difficulties. He supposes the long descent to
be the descent into the plains of the Irawadi near Bhamo; and from
that point the land journey to Great Pagán could, he conceives,
“easily be accomplished in 15 days.” I greatly doubt the latter
assumption. By the scale I have just referred to it would take at
least 20 days. And to calculate the 2½ days with which the journey
commences from an indefinite point seems scarcely admissible. Polo
is giving us a continuous _itinerary_; it would be ruptured if he
left an indefinite distance between his last station and his “long
descent.” And if the same principle were applied to the 5 days
between Carajan (or Tali) and Vochan (Yung-ch’ang), the result
would be nonsense.
[Illustration: Temple of Gaudapalén (in the city of Mien), erected
_circa_ A.D. 1160.]
[_Mien-tien_, to which is devoted ch. vii. of the Chinese work
_Sze-i-kwan-k’ao_, appears to have included much more than Burma
proper. (See the passage _supra_, pp. 70–71, quoted by Devéria from
the _Yuen-shi lei pien_ regarding _Kien-tou_ and _Kin-Chi_.)—H. C.]
The hypothesis that I have suggested would suit better with the
traveller’s representation of the country traversed as wild and
uninhabited. In a journey to Great Pagán the most populous and
fertile part of Burma would be passed through.
[Baber writes (p. 180): “The generally received theory that
‘the great descent which leads towards the Kingdom of Mien,’ on
which ‘you ride for two days and a half continually downhill,’
was the route from Yung-ch’ang to T’eng-Yueh, must be at once
abandoned. Marco was, no doubt, speaking from hearsay, or rather,
from a recollection of hearsay, as it does not appear that he
possessed any notes; but there is good reason for supposing that
he had personally visited Yung-ch’ang. Weary of the interminable
mountain-paths, and encumbered with much baggage—for a magnate of
Marco’s court influence could never, in the East, have travelled
without a considerable state—impeded, in addition, by a certain
quantity of merchandise, for he was ‘discreet and prudent in
every way,’ he would have listened longingly to the report of an
easy ride of two and a half days downhill, and would never have
forgotten it. That such a route exists I am well satisfied. Where
is it? The stream which drains the Yung-ch’ang plain communicates
with the Salwen by a river called the ‘Nan-tien,’ not to be
confounded with the ‘Nan-ting,’ about 45 miles south of that city,
a fair journey of two and a half days. Knowing, as we now do, that
it must descend some 3500 feet in that distance, does it not seem
reasonable to suppose that the valley of this rivulet is the route
alluded to? The great battle on the Yung-ch’ang plain, moreover,
was fought only a few years before Marco’s visit, and seeing that
the king and his host of elephants in all probability entered the
valley from the south, travellers to Burma would naturally have
quitted it by the same route.
“But again, our mediæval Herodotus reports that ‘the country is
wild and hard of access, full of great woods and mountains which
’tis impossible to pass, the air is so impure and unwholesome; and
any foreigners attempting it would die for certain.’
“This is exactly and literally the description given us of the
district in which we crossed the Salwen.
“To insist on the theory of the descent by this route is to make
the traveller ride downhill, ‘over mountains it is impossible to
pass.’
“The fifteen days’ subsequent journey described by Marco need not
present much difficulty. The distance from the junction of the
Nan-tien with the Salwen to the capital of Burma (Pagán) would
be something over 300 miles; fifteen days seems a fair estimate
for the distance, seeing that a great part of the journey would
doubtless be by boat.”
Regarding this last paragraph, Captain Gill says (II. 345): “An
objection may be raised that no such route as this is known to
exist; but it must be remembered that the Burmese capital changes
its position every now and then, and it is obvious that the trade
routes would be directed to the capital, and would change with it.
Altogether, with the knowledge at present available, this certainly
seems the most satisfactory interpretation of the old traveller’s
story.”—H. C.]
CHAPTER LIV.
CONCERNING THE CITY OF MIEN, AND THE TWO TOWERS THAT ARE THEREIN,
ONE OF GOLD AND THE OTHER OF SILVER.
And when you have travelled those 15 days through such a difficult
country as I have described, in which travellers have to carry
provisions for the road because there are no inhabitants, then you
arrive at the capital city of this Province of Mien, and it also is
called AMIEN, and is a very great and noble city.{1} The people are
Idolaters and have a peculiar language, and are subject to the Great
Kaan.
And in this city there is a thing so rich and rare that I must tell you
about it. You see there was in former days a rich and puissant king in
this city, and when he was about to die he commanded that by his tomb
they should erect two towers [one at either end], one of gold and the
other of silver, in such fashion as I shall tell you. The towers are
built of fine stone; and then one of them has been covered with gold
a good finger in thickness, so that the tower looks as if it were all
of solid gold; and the other is covered with silver in like manner so
that it seems to be all of solid silver. Each tower is a good ten paces
in height and of breadth in proportion. The upper part of these towers
is round, and girt all about with bells, the top of the gold tower
with gilded bells and the silver tower with silvered bells, insomuch
that whenever the wind blows among these bells they tinkle. [The tomb
likewise was plated partly with gold, and partly with silver.] The King
caused these towers to be erected to commemorate his magnificence and
for the good of his soul; and really they do form one of the finest
sights in the world; so exquisitely finished are they, so splendid
and costly. And when they are lighted up by the sun they shine most
brilliantly and are visible from a vast distance.
Now you must know that the Great Kaan conquered the country in this
fashion.
You see at the Court of the Great Kaan there was a great number of
gleemen and jugglers; and he said to them one day that he wanted them
to go and conquer the aforesaid province of Mien, and that he would
give them a good Captain to lead them and other good aid. And they
replied that they would be delighted. So the Emperor caused them to
be fitted out with all that an army requires, and gave them a Captain
and a body of men-at-arms to help them; and so they set out, and
marched until they came to the country and province of Mien. And they
did conquer the whole of it! And when they found in the city the two
towers of gold and silver of which I have been telling you, they were
greatly astonished, and sent word thereof to the Great Kaan, asking
what he would have them do with the two towers, seeing what a great
quantity of wealth there was upon them. And the Great Kaan, being well
aware that the King had caused these towers to be made for the good
of his soul, and to preserve his memory after his death, said that he
would not have them injured, but would have them left precisely as
they were. And that was no wonder either, for you must know that no
Tartar in the world will ever, if he can help it, lay hand on anything
appertaining to the dead.{2}
[Illustration: THE CITY OF MIEN
WITH THE GOLD AND SILVER TOWERS]
They have in this province numbers of elephants and wild oxen;{3} also
beautiful stags and deer and roe, and other kinds of large game in
plenty.
Now having told you about the province of Mien, I will tell you about
another province which is called Bangala, as you shall hear presently.
NOTE 1.—The name of the city appears as _Amien_ both in Pauthier’s
text here, and in the G. Text in the preceding chapter. In the Bern
MS. it is _Aamien_. Perhaps some form like _Amien_ was that used by
the Mongols and Persians. I fancy it may be traced in the _Arman_
or _Uman_ of Rashiduddin, probably corrupt readings (in _Elliot_ I.
72).
NOTE 2.—M. Pauthier’s extracts are here again very valuable. We
gather from them that the first Mongol communication with the
King of Mien or Burma took place in 1271, when the Commandant
of Tali-fu sent a deputation to that sovereign to demand an
acknowledgment of the supremacy of the Emperor. This was followed
by various negotiations and acts of offence on both sides, which
led to the campaign of 1277, already spoken of. For a few years no
further events appear to be recorded, but in 1282, in consequence
of a report from Násruddin of the ease with which Mien could be
conquered, an invasion was ordered under a Prince of the Blood
called Siangtaur [called _Siam-ghu-talh_, by Visdelou.—H. C.]. This
was probably _Singtur_, great-grandson of one of the brothers of
Chinghiz, who a few years later took part in the insurrection of
Nayan. (See _D’Ohsson_, II. 461.) The army started from Yun-nan fu,
then called Chung-khing (and the _Yachi_ of Polo) in the autumn of
1283. We are told that the army made use of boats to descend the
River _Oho_ to the fortified city of Kiangtheu (see _supra_, note
3, ch. lii.), which they took and sacked; and as the King still
refused to submit, they then advanced to the “primitive capital,”
_Taikung_, which they captured. Here Pauthier’s details stop. (Pp.
405, 416; see also _D’Ohsson_, II. 444 [and _Visdelou_].)
[Illustration: The Palace of the King of Mien in modern times.]
It is curious to compare these narratives with that from the
Burmese Royal Annals given by Colonel Burney, and again by Sir
A. Phayre in the _J. A. S. B._ (IV. 401, and XXXVII. Pt. I. p.
101.) Those annals afford no mention of transactions with the
Mongols previous to 1281. In that year they relate that a mission
of ten nobles and 1000 horse came from the Emperor to demand gold
and silver vessels as symbols of homage on the ground of an old
precedent. The envoys conducted themselves disrespectfully (the
tradition was that they refused to take off their boots, an old
grievance at the Burmese court), and the King put them all to
death. The Emperor of course was very wroth, and sent an army of
6,000,000 of horse and 20,000,000 of foot (!) to invade Burma.
The Burmese generals had their _point d’appui_ at the city of
_Nga-tshaung-gyan_, apparently somewhere near the mouth of the
Bhamó River, and after a protracted resistance on that river, they
were obliged to retire. They took up a new point of defence on the
Hill of Malé, which they had fortified. Here a decisive battle was
fought, and the Burmese were entirely routed. The King, on hearing
of their retreat from Bhamó, at first took measures for fortifying
his capital Pagán, and destroyed 6000 temples of various sizes to
furnish material. But after all he lost heart, and embarking with
his treasure and establishments on the Irawadi, fled down that
river to Bassein in the Delta. The Chinese continued the pursuit
long past Pagán till they reached the place now called _Tarokmau_
or “Chinese Point,” 30 miles below Prome. Here they were forced
by want of provisions to return. The Burmese Annals place the
abandonment of Pagán by the King in 1284, a most satisfactory
synchronism with the Chinese record. It is a notable point in
Burmese history, for it marked the fall of an ancient Dynasty
which was speedily followed by its extinction, and the abandonment
of the capital. The King is known in the Burmese Annals as
_Tarok-pyé-Meng_, “The King who fled from the _Tarok_.”[1]
In Dr. Mason’s abstract of the Pegu Chronicle we find the notable
statement with reference to this period that “the Emperor of China,
having subjugated Pagán, his troops with the Burmese entered Pegu
and invested several cities.”
We see that the Chinese Annals, as quoted, mention only the
“capitale primitive” _Taikung_, which I have little doubt Pauthier
is right in identifying with _Tagaung_, traditionally the most
ancient royal city of Burma, and the remains of which stand side
by side with those of _Old_ Pagán, a later but still very ancient
capital, on the east bank of the Irawadi, in about lat. 23° 28′.
The Chinese extracts give no idea of the temporary completeness
of the conquest, nor do they mention Great Pagán (lat. 21°
13′), a city whose vast remains I have endeavoured partially to
describe.[2] Sir Arthur Phayre, from a careful perusal of the
Burmese Chronicle, assures me that there can be no doubt that
_this_ was at the time in question the Burmese Royal Residence,
and the city alluded to in the Burmese narrative. M. Pauthier is
mistaken in supposing that Tarok-Mau, the turning-point of the
Chinese Invasion, lay north of this city: he has not unnaturally
confounded it with Tarok-_Myo_ or “China-Town,” a district not far
below Ava. Moreover Malé, the position of the decisive victory of
the Chinese, is itself much to the south of Tagaung (about 22° 55′).
Both Pagán and Malé are mentioned in a remarkable Chinese notice
extracted in _Amyot’s Mémoires_ (XIV. 292): “Mien-Tien ... had
five chief towns, of which the first was _Kiangtheu_ (_supra_, pp.
105, 111), the second _Taikung_, the third _Malai_, the fourth
Ngan-cheng-kwé (? perhaps the _Nga-tshaung gyan_ of the Burmese
Annals), the fifth PUKAN MIEN-WANG (Pagán of the Mien King?).
The Yuen carried war into this country, particularly during the
reign of Shun-Ti, the last Mongol Emperor [1333–1368], who, after
subjugating it, erected at Pukan Mien-Wang a tribunal styled
_Hwen-wei-she-sé_, the authority of which extended over Pang-ya
and all its dependencies.” This is evidently founded on actual
documents, for Panya or Pengya, otherwise styled Vijáyapúra, was
the capital of Burma during part of the 14th century, between the
decay of Pagán and the building of Ava. But none of the translated
extracts from the Burmese Chronicle afford corroboration. From
Sangermano’s abstract, however, we learn that the King of Panya
from 1323 to 1343 was the _son of a daughter of the Emperor of
China_ (p. 42). I may also refer to Pemberton’s abstract of the
Chronicle of the Shan State of Pong in the Upper Irawadi valley,
which relates that about the middle of the 14th century the Chinese
invaded Pong and took Maung Maorong, the capital.[3] The Shan King
and his son fled to the King of Burma for protection, but _the
Burmese surrendered them_ and they were carried to China. (_Report
on E. Frontier of Bengal_, p. 112.)
I see no sufficient evidence as to whether Marco himself visited
the “city of Mien.” I think it is quite clear that his account
of the _conquest_ is from the merest hearsay, not to say gossip.
Of the absurd story of the jugglers we find no suggestion in the
Chinese extracts. We learn from them that Násruddin had represented
the conquest of Mien as a very easy task, and Kúblái may have in
jest asked his gleemen if they would undertake it. The haziness of
Polo’s account of the conquest contrasts strongly with his graphic
description of the rout of the elephants at Vochan. Of the latter
he heard the particulars on the spot (I conceive) shortly after the
event; whilst the conquest took place some years later than his
mission to that frontier. His description of the gold and silver
pagodas with their canopies of tinkling bells (the Burmese _Htí_),
certainly looks like a sketch from the life;[4] and it is quite
possible that some negotiations between 1277 and 1281 may have
given him the opportunity of visiting Burma, though he may not have
reached the capital. Indeed he would in that case surely have given
a distincter account of so important a city, the aspect of which in
its glory we have attempted to realize in the plate of “the city of
Mien.”
It is worthy of note that the unfortunate King then reigning
in Pagán, had in 1274 finished a magnificent Pagoda called
_Mengala-dzedi (Mangala Chaitya)_ respecting which ominous
prophecies had been diffused. In this pagoda were deposited,
besides holy relics, golden images of the Disciples of Buddha,
golden models of the holy places, golden images of the King’s
fifty-one predecessors in Pagán, and of the King and his Family.
It is easy to suspect a connection of this with Marco’s story. “It
is possible that the King’s ashes may have been intended to be
buried near those relics, though such is not now the custom; and
Marco appears to have confounded the custom of depositing relics
of Buddha and ancient holy men in pagodas with the _supposed_
custom of the burial of the dead. Still, even now, monuments are
occasionally erected over the dead in Burma, although the practice
is considered a vain folly. I have known a miniature pagoda with
a _hti_ complete, erected over the ashes of a favourite disciple
by a _P’hungyi_ or Buddhist monk.” The latter practice is common
in China. (_Notes by Sir A. Phayre; J. A. S. B._ IV. _u.s._, also
V. 164, VI. 251; _Mason’s Burmah_, 2nd ed. p. 26; _Milne’s Life in
China_, pp. 288, 450.)
NOTE 3.—The Gaur—_Bos Gaurus_, or _B. (Bibos) Cavifrons_ of
Hodgson—exists in certain forests of the Burmese territory; and,
in the south at least, a wild ox nearer the domestic species,
_Bos Sondaicus_. Mr. Gouger, in his book _The Prisoner in Burma_,
describes the rare spectacle which he once enjoyed in the
Tenasserim forests of a herd of wild cows at graze. He speaks of
them as small and elegant, without hump, and of a light reddish dun
colour (pp. 326–327).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] This is the name now applied in Burma to the Chinese. Sir A. Phayre
supposes it to be _Túrk_, in which case its use probably began at
this time.
[2] In the Narrative of Phayre’s Mission, ch. ii.
[3] Dr. Anderson has here hastily assumed a discrepancy of sixty years
between the chronology of the Shan document and that of the Chinese
Annals. But this is merely because he arbitrarily identifies the
Chinese invasion here recorded with that of Kúblái in the preceding
century. (See _Anderson’s Western Yunnan_, p. 8.) We see in the
quotation above from Amyot that the Chinese Annals also contain an
obscure indication of the later invasion.
[4] Compare the old Chinese Pilgrims Hwui Seng and Seng Yun, in their
admiration of a vast pagoda erected by the great King Kanishka in
Gandhára (at Peshawur in fact): “At sunrise the gilded disks of the
vane are lit up with dazzling glory, whilst the gentle breeze of
morning causes the precious bells to tinkle with a pleasing sound.”
(_Beal_, p. 204.)
CHAPTER LV.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF BANGALA.
Bangala is a Province towards the south, which up to the year 1290,
when the aforesaid Messer Marco Polo was still at the Court of the
Great Kaan, had not yet been conquered; but his armies had gone
thither to make the conquest. You must know that this province has a
peculiar language, and that the people are wretched Idolaters. They are
tolerably close to India. There are numbers of eunuchs there, insomuch
that all the Barons who keep them get them from that Province.{1}
The people have oxen as tall as elephants, but not so big.{2} They
live on flesh and milk and rice. They grow cotton, in which they drive
a great trade, and also spices such as spikenard, galingale, ginger,
sugar, and many other sorts. And the people of India also come thither
in search of the eunuchs that I mentioned, and of slaves, male and
female, of which there are great numbers, taken from other provinces
with which those of the country are at war; and these eunuchs and
slaves are sold to the Indian and other merchants who carry them thence
for sale about the world.
There is nothing more to mention about this country, so we will quit
it, and I will tell you of another province called Caugigu.
NOTE 1.—I do not think it probable that Marco even touched at any
port of Bengal on that mission to the Indian Seas of which we hear
in the prologue; but he certainly never reached it from the Yun-nan
side, and he had, as we shall presently see (_infra_, ch. lix. note
6), a wrong notion as to its position. Indeed, if he had visited it
at all, he would have been aware that it was essentially a part of
India, whilst in fact he evidently regarded it as an _Indo-Chinese_
region, like Zardandan, Mien, and Caugigu.
There is no notice, I believe, in any history, Indian or Chinese,
of an attempt by Kúblái to conquer Bengal. The only such attempt
by the Mongols that we hear of is one mentioned by Firishta, as
made by way of Cathay and Tibet, during the reign of Aláuddin
Masa’úd, king of Delhi, in 1244, and stated to have been defeated
by the local officers in Bengal. But Mr. Edward Thomas tells me
he has most distinctly ascertained that this statement, which has
misled every historian “from Badauni and Firishtah to Briggs and
Elphinstone, is founded purely on an erroneous reading” (and see a
note in Mr. Thomas’s _Pathan Kings of Dehli_, p. 121).
The date 1290 in the text would fix the period of Polo’s final
departure from Peking, if the dates were not so generally corrupt.
The subject of the last part of this paragraph, recurred to in the
next, has been misunderstood and corrupted in Pauthier’s text, and
partially in Ramusio’s. These make the _escuillés_ or _escoilliez_
(vide _Ducange_ in v. _Escodatus_, and _Raynouard, Lex. Rom._
VI. 11) into _scholars_ and what not. But on comparison of the
passages in those two editions with the Geographic Text one cannot
doubt the correct reading. As to the fact that Bengal had an evil
notoriety for this traffic, especially the province of Silhet, see
the _Ayeen Akbery_, II. 9–11, _Barbosa’s _chapter on Bengal, and
_De Barros_ (_Ramusio_ I. 316 and 391).
On the cheapness of slaves in Bengal, see _Ibn Batuta_, IV.
211–212. He says people from Persia used to call Bengal _Dúzakh
pur-i ni’amat_, “a hell crammed with good things,” an appellation
perhaps provoked by the official style often applied to it of
_Jannat-ul-balád_ or “Paradise of countries.”
Professor H. Blochmann, who is, in admirable essays, redeeming
the long neglect of the history and archæology of Bengal Proper
by our own countrymen, says that one of the earliest passages, in
which the name _Bangálah_ occurs, is in a poem of Hafiz, sent from
Shiraz to Sultan Ghiássuddín, who reigned in Bengal from 1367 to
1373. Its occurrence in our text, however, shows that the name
was in use among the Mahomedan foreigners (from whom Polo derived
his nomenclature) nearly a century earlier. And in fact it occurs
(though corruptly in some MSS.) in the history of Rashiduddin, our
author’s contemporary. (See _Elliot_, I. p. 72.)
NOTE 2.—“Big as elephants” is only a _façon de parler_, but Marsden
quotes modern exaggerations as to the height of the _Arna_ or
wild buffalo, more specific and extravagant. The unimpeachable
authority of Mr. Hodgson tells us that the Arna in the Nepal Tarai
sometimes does reach a height of 6 ft. 6 in. at the shoulder, with
a length of 10 ft. 6 in. (excluding tail), and horns of 6 ft. 6 in.
(_J. A. S. B._, XVI. 710.) Marco, however, seems to be speaking
of _domestic_ cattle. Some of the breeds of Upper India are very
tall and noble animals, far surpassing in height any European oxen
known to me; but in modern times these are rarely seen in Bengal,
where the cattle are poor and stunted. The _Aín Akbari_, however,
speaks of Sharífábád in Bengal, which appears to have corresponded
to modern Bardwán, as producing very beautiful white oxen, of
great size, and capable of carrying a load of 15 _mans_, which at
Prinsep’s estimate of Akbar’s _man_ would be about 600 lbs.
CHAPTER LVI.
DISCOURSES OF THE PROVINCE OF CAUGIGU.
Caugigu is a province towards the east, which has a king.{1} The people
are Idolaters, and have a language of their own. They have made their
submission to the Great Kaan, and send him tribute every year. And let
me tell you their king is so given to luxury that he hath at the least
300 wives; for whenever he hears of any beautiful woman in the land, he
takes and marries her.
They find in this country a good deal of gold, and they also have great
abundance of spices. But they are such a long way from the sea that
the products are of little value, and thus their price is low. They
have elephants in great numbers, and other cattle of sundry kinds, and
plenty of game. They live on flesh and milk and rice, and have wine
made of rice and good spices. The whole of the people, or nearly so,
have their skin marked with the needle in patterns representing lions,
dragons, birds, and what not, done in such a way that it can never be
obliterated. This work they cause to be wrought over face and neck
and chest, arms and hands, and belly, and, in short, the whole body;
and they look on it as a token of elegance, so that those who have
the largest amount of this embroidery are regarded with the greatest
admiration.
NOTE 1.—No province mentioned by Marco has given rise to wider and
wilder conjectures than this, _Cangigu_ as it has been generally
printed.
M. Pauthier, who sees in it Laos, or rather one of the states of
Laos called in the Chinese histories _Papesifu_, seems to have
formed the most probable opinion hitherto propounded by any editor
of Polo. I have no doubt that Laos or some part of that region
is meant to be _described_, and that Pauthier is right regarding
the general direction of the course here taken as being through
the regions east of Burma, in a north-easterly direction up into
Kwei-chau. But we shall be able to review the geography of this
tract better, as a whole, at a point more advanced. I shall then
speak of the name CAUGIGU, and why I prefer this reading of it.
I do not believe, for reasons which will also appear further on,
that Polo is now following a route which he had traced in person,
unless it be in the latter part of it.
M. Pauthier, from certain indications in a Chinese work, fixes on
Chiangmai or Kiang-mai, the Zimmé of the Burmese (in about latitude
18° 48′ and long. 99° 30′) as the capital of the Papesifu and of
the Caugigu of our text. It can scarcely however be the latter,
unless we throw over entirely all the intervals stated in Polo’s
itinerary; and M. Garnier informs me that he has evidence that the
capital of the Papesifu at this time was _Muang-Yong_, a little to
the south-east of Kiang-Tung, where he has seen its ruins.[1] That
the people called by the Chinese Papesifu were of the great race of
Laotians, Sháns, or _Thai_, is very certain, from the vocabulary of
their language published by Klaproth.
[Illustration: Script _Pa-pe_.]
Pauthier’s Chinese authority gives a puerile interpretation of
_Papesifu_ as signifying “the kingdom of the 800 wives,” and says
it was called so because the Prince maintained that establishment.
This may be an indication that there were popular stories about
the numerous wives of the King of Laos, such as Polo had heard;
but the interpretation is doubtless rubbish, like most of the
so-called etymologies of proper names applied by the Chinese to
foreign regions. At best these seem to be merely a kind of _Memoria
Technica_, and often probably bear no more relation to the name
in its real meaning than Swift’s _All-eggs-under-the-grate_ bears
to Alexander Magnus. How such “etymologies” arise is obvious
from the nature of the Chinese system of writing. If we also had
to express proper names by combining monosyllabic words already
existing in English, we should in fact be obliged to write the name
of the Macedonian hero much as Swift travestied it. As an example
we may give the Chinese name of Java, _Kwawa_, which signifies
“gourd-sound,” and was given to that Island, we are told, because
the voice of its inhabitants is very like that of a dry gourd
rolled upon the ground! It is usually stated that Tungking was
called _Kiao-chi_, meaning “crossed-toes,” because the people often
exhibit that malformation (which is a fact), but we may be certain
that the syllables were originally a phonetic representation of an
indigenous name which has no such meaning. As another example, less
ridiculous but not more true, _Chin-tan_, representing the Indian
name of China, _Chínasthána_, is explained to mean “Eastern-Dawn”
(_Aurore Orientale_). (_Amyot_, XIV. 101; _Klapr. Mém._ III. 268.)
The states of Laos are shut out from the sea in the manner
indicated; they abound in domestic elephants to an extraordinary
extent; and the people do tattoo themselves in various degrees,
most of all (as M. Garnier tells me) about Kiang Hung. The _style_
of tattooing which the text describes is quite that of the Burmese,
in speaking of whom Polo has omitted to mention the custom: “Every
male Burman is tattooed in his boyhood from the middle to his
knees; in fact he has a pair of breeches tattooed on him. The
pattern is a fanciful medley of animals and arabesques, but it is
scarcely distinguishable, save as a general tint, except on a fair
skin.” (_Mission to Ava_, 151.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Indeed documents in Klaproth’s _Asia Polyglotta_ show that the
_Papé_ state was also called _Muang-Yong_ (pp. 364–365). I observe
that the river running to the east of Pu-eul and Ssemao (Puer and
Esmok) is called _Papien_-Kiang, the name of which is perhaps a
memorial of the Papé.
[The old Laocian kingdom of _Xieng-maï_ [Kiang-mai], called
_Muong-Yong_ by the Pa-y, was inhabited by the _Pa-pe Si-fu_ or
Bát-bá T’úc-phu; the inhabitants called themselves Thaï-niai or
great Thaï. (_Devéria, Frontière_, p. 100.) Ch. ix. of the Chinese
work _Sze-i-kwan-kao_ is devoted to Xieng-maï (_Pa-pe_), which
includes the subdivisions of Laos, Xieng Hung [Kiang Hung] and
Muong-Ken. (_Devéria, Mél. de Harlez_, p. 97.)—H. C.]
CHAPTER LVII.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF ANIN.
Anin is a Province towards the east, the people of which are subject to
the Great Kaan, and are Idolaters. They live by cattle and tillage, and
have a peculiar language. The women wear on the legs and arms bracelets
of gold and silver of great value, and the men wear such as are even
yet more costly. They have plenty of horses which they sell in great
numbers to the Indians, making a great profit thereby. And they have
also vast herds of buffaloes and oxen, having excellent pastures for
these. They have likewise all the necessaries of life in abundance.{1}
Now you must know that between Anin and Caugigu, which we have left
behind us, there is a distance of [25] days’ journey;{2} and from
Caugigu to Bangala, the third province in our rear, is 30 days’
journey. We shall now leave Anin and proceed to another province which
is some 8 days’ journey further, always going eastward.
NOTE 1.—Ramusio, the printed text of the Soc. de Géographie, and
most editions have _Amu_; Pauthier reads _Aniu_, and considers the
name to represent Tungking or Annam, called also _Nan-yué_. The
latter word he supposes to be converted into _Anyuë_, _Aniu_. And
accordingly he carries the traveller to the capital of Tungking.
Leaving the name for the present, according to the scheme of the
route as I shall try to explain it below, I should seek for Amu
or Aniu or _Anin_ in the extreme south-east of Yun-nan. A part of
this region was for the first time traversed by the officers of the
French expedition up the Mekong, who in 1867 visited Sheu-ping,
Lin-ngan and the upper valley of the River of Tungking on their
way to Yun-nan-fu. To my question whether the description in the
text, of Aniu or Anin and its fine pastures, applied to the tract
just indicated, Lieut. Garnier replied on the whole favourably
(see further on), proceeding: “The population about Sheu-ping is
excessively mixt. On market days at that town one sees a gathering
of wild people in great number and variety, and whose costumes
are highly picturesque, as well as often very rich. There are the
_Pa-is_, who are also found again higher up, the _Ho-nhi_, the
_Khato_, the _Lopé_, the _Shentseu_. These tribes appear to be
allied in part to the Laotians, in part to the Kakhyens.... The
wilder races about Sheuping are remarkably handsome, and you see
there types of women exhibiting an extraordinary regularity of
feature, and at the same time a complexion surprisingly _white_.
The Chinese look quite an inferior race beside them.... I may add
that all these tribes, especially the Ho-nhi and the Pa-ï, wear
large amounts of silver ornament; great collars of silver round the
neck, as well as on the legs and arms.”
Though the _whiteness_ of the people of Anin is not noticed by
Polo, the distinctive manner in which he speaks in the next chapter
of the _dark_ complexion of the tribes described therein seems to
indicate the probable omission of the opposite trait here.
The prominent position assigned in M. Garnier’s remarks to a race
called _Ho-nhi_ first suggested to me that the reading of the text
might be ANIN instead of _Aniu_. And as a matter of fact this
seems to my eyes to be clearly the reading of the Paris _Livre
des Merveilles_ (Pauthier’s MS. B), while the Paris No. 5631
(Pauthier’s A) has _Auin_, and what may be either _Aniu_ or _Anin_.
_Anyn_ is also found in the Latin Brandenburg MS. of Pipino’s
version collated by Andrew Müller, to which, however, we cannot
ascribe much weight. But the two words are so nearly identical
in mediæval writing, and so little likely to be discriminated by
scribes who had nothing to guide their discrimination, that one
need not hesitate to adopt that which is supported by argument.
In reference to the suggested identity of _Anin_ and _Ho-nhi_, M.
Garnier writes again: “All that Polo has said regarding the country
of Aniu, though not containing anything _very_ characteristic, may
apply perfectly to the different indigenous tribes, at present
subject to the Chinese, which are dispersed over the country from
Talan to Sheuping and Lin-ngan. These tribes bearing the names
(given above) relate that they in other days formed an independent
state, to which they give the name of _Muang Shung_. Where this
Muang was situated there is no knowing. These tribes have _langage
par euls_, as Marco Polo says, and silver ornaments are worn by
them to this day in extraordinary profusion; more, however, by
the women than the men. They have plenty of horses, buffaloes and
oxen, and of sheep as well. It was the first locality in which the
latter were seen. The plateau of Lin-ngan affords pasture-grounds
which are exceptionally good for that part of the world.
[Illustration: Ho-nhi and other Tribes in the Department of
Lin-ngan in S. Yun-nan (supposed to be the Anin country of Marco
Polo). (From Garnier’s Work.)]
“Beyond Lin-ngan we find the Ho-nhi, properly so called, no longer.
But ought one to lay much stress on mere names which have undergone
so many changes, and of which so many have been borne in succession
by all those places and peoples?... I will content myself with
reminding you that the town of _Homi-cheu_ near Lin-ngan in the
days of the Yuen bore the name of _Ngo-ning_.”
Notwithstanding M. Garnier’s caution, I am strongly inclined to
believe that ANIN represents either HO-NHI or NGO-NING, if indeed
these names be not identical. For on reference to Biot I see that
the first syllable of the modern name of the town which M. Garnier
writes HO_mí_, is expressed by the same character as the first
syllable of NGO_ning_.
[The Wo-nhi are also called Ngo-ni, Kan-ni, Ho-ni, Lou-mi, No-pi,
Ko-ni and Wa-heh; they descend from the southern barbarians called
Ho-nhi. At the time of the kingdom of Nan-Chao, the Ho-nhi, called
In-yuen, tribes were a dependence of the Kiang (Xieng) of Wei-yuen
(Prefecture of P’u-erh). They are now to be found in the Yunnanese
prefectures of Lin-ngan, King-tung, Chen-yuen, Yuen-kiang and
Yun-nan. (See _Devéria_, p. 135.)—H. C.]
We give one of M. Garnier’s woodcuts representing some of the races
in this vicinity. Their dress, as he notices, has, in some cases,
a curious resemblance to costumes of Switzerland, or of Brittany,
popular at fancy balls.[1] Coloured figures of some of these races
will be found in the Atlas to Garnier’s work; see especially Plate
35.
NOTE 2.—All the French MSS. and other texts except Ramusio’s read
15. We adopt Ramusio’s reading, 25, for reasons which will appear
below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] There is a little uncertainty in the adjustment of names and
figures of some of these tribes, between the illustrations and
the incidental notices in Lieutenant Garnier’s work. But all the
figures in the present cut certainly belong to the tract to which
we point as Anin; and the two middle figures answer best to what is
said of the _Ho-nhi_.
CHAPTER LVIII.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF COLOMAN.
Coloman is a province towards the east, the people of which are
Idolaters and have a peculiar language, and are subject to the Great
Kaan. They are a [tall and] very handsome people, though in complexion
brown rather than white, and are good soldiers.{1} They have a good
many towns, and a vast number of villages, among great mountains, and
in strong positions.{2}
When any of them die, the bodies are burnt, and then they take the
bones and put them in little chests. These are carried high up the
mountains, and placed in great caverns, where they are hung up in such
wise that neither man nor beast can come at them.
A good deal of gold is found in the country, and for petty traffic
they use porcelain shells such as I have told you of before. All these
provinces that I have been speaking of, to wit Bangala and Caugigu
and Anin, employ for currency porcelain shells and gold. There are
merchants in this country who are very rich and dispose of large
quantities of goods. The people live on flesh and rice and milk, and
brew their wine from rice and excellent spices.
NOTE 1.—The only MSS. that afford the reading _Coloman_ or
_Choloman_ instead of _Toloman_ or _Tholoman_, are the Bern MS.,
which has _Coloman_ in the initial word of the chapter, Paris
MS. 5649 (Pauthier’s C) which has _Coloman_ in the Table of
Chapters, but not in the text, the Bodleian, and the Brandenburg
MS. quoted in the last note. These variations in themselves have
little weight. But the confusion between _c_ and _t_ in mediæval
MSS., when dealing with strange names, is so constant that I have
ventured to make the correction, in strong conviction that it is
the right reading. M. Pauthier indeed, after speaking of tribes
called _Lo_ on the south-west of China, adds, “on les nommait
_To-lo-man_ (‘les nombreux Barbares Lo’).” Were this latter
statement founded on actual evidence we might retain that form
which is the usual reading. But I apprehend from the manner in
which M. Pauthier produces it, without corroborative quotation,
that he is rather hazarding a conjecture than speaking with
authority. Be that as it may, it is impossible that Polo’s Toloman
or Coloman should have been in the south of Kwangsi, where Pauthier
locates it.
On the other hand, we find tribes of both _Kolo_ and _Kihlau_
Barbarians (_i.e._ _Mán_, whence KOLO-MÁN or _Kihlau-mán_) very
numerous on the frontier of Kweichau. (See _Bridgman’s transl.
of Tract on Meautsze_, pp. 265, 269, 270, 272, 273, 274, 275,
278, 279, 280.) Among these the _Kolo_, described as No. 38 in
that Tract, appear to me from various particulars to be the most
probable representatives of the Coloman of Polo, notwithstanding
the sentence with which the description opens: “_Kolo_ originally
called _Luluh_; the modern designation _Kolo_ is incorrect.”[1]
They are at present found in the prefecture of Tating (one of the
departments of Kweichau towards the Yun-nan side). “They are _tall,
of a dark complexion_, with sunken eyes, aquiline nose, wear long
whiskers, and have the beard shaved off above the mouth. They pay
great deference to demons, and on that account are sometimes called
‘Dragons of Lo.’... At the present time these Kolo are divided
into 48 clans, the elders of which are called Chieftains (lit.
‘Head-and-Eyes’) and are of nine grades.... The men bind their hair
into a tuft with blue cloth and make it fast on the forehead like a
horn. Their upper dresses are short, with large sleeves, and their
lower garments are fine blue. When one of the chieftains dies, all
that were under him are assembled together clad in armour and on
horseback. Having dressed his corpse in silk and woollen robes,
they burn it in the open country; then, invoking the departed
spirit, they inter the ashes. Their attachment to him as their
sole master is such that nothing can drive or tempt them from their
allegiance. Their large bows, long spears, and sharp swords, are
strong and well-wrought. They train excellent horses, love archery
and hunting; and so expert are they in tactics that _their soldiers
rank as the best among all the uncivilized tribes_. There is this
proverb: ‘The Lo Dragons of Shwui-si rap the head and strike the
tail,’ which is intended to indicate their celerity in defence.”
(_Bridgman_, pp. 272–273.)
The character _Lo_, here applied in the Chinese Tract to these
people, is the same as that in the name of the Kwangsi _Lo_ of M.
Pauthier.
I append a cut (opposite page) from the drawing representing these
Kolo-man in the original work from which Bridgman translated, and
which is in the possession of Dr. Lockhart.
[I believe we must read _To-lo-man_. _Man_, barbarian, _T’u-lao_ or
_Shan-tzŭ_ (mountaineers) who live in the Yunnanese prefectures of
Lin-ngan, Cheng-kiang, etc. T’u-la-Man or T’u-la barbarians of the
Mongol Annals. (_Yuen-shi lei-pien_, quoted by Devéria, p. 115.)—H.
C.]
NOTE 2.—Magaillans, speaking of the semi-independent tribes of
Kwei-chau and Kwang-si, says: “Their towns are usually so girt by
high mountains and scarped rocks that it seems as if nature had
taken a pleasure in fortifying them” (p. 43). (See cut at p. 131.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] On the other hand, M. Garnier writes: “I do not know any name at
all like _Kolo_, except _Lolo_, the generic name given by the
Chinese to the wild tribes of Yun-nan.” Does not this look as if
_Kolo_ were really the old name, _Luluh_ or Lolo the later?
CHAPTER LIX.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CUIJU.
Cuiju is a province towards the East.{1} After leaving Coloman you
travel along a river for 12 days, meeting with a good number of towns
and villages, but nothing worthy of particular mention. After you have
travelled those twelve days along the river you come to a great and
noble city which is called FUNGUL.
The people are Idolaters and subject to the Great Kaan, and live by
trade and handicrafts. You must know they manufacture stuffs of the
bark of certain trees which form very fine summer clothing.{2} They
are good soldiers, and have paper-money. For you must understand that
henceforward we are in the countries where the Great Kaan’s paper-money
is current.
[Illustration: The Koloman, after a Chinese drawing.
“=Coloman est une provence vers levant.... Il sunt mult belles jens
et ne sunt mie bien blances mès brunz. Il sunt bien homes d’armes
...=”]
The country swarms with lions to that degree that no man can venture to
sleep outside his house at night.{3} Moreover, when you travel on that
river, and come to a halt at night, unless you keep a good way from the
bank the lions will spring on the boat and snatch one of the crew and
make off with him and devour him. And but for a certain help that the
inhabitants enjoy, no one could venture to travel in that province,
because of the multitude of those lions, and because of their strength
and ferocity.
But you see they have in this province a large breed of dogs, so fierce
and bold that two of them together will attack a lion.{4} So every man
who goes a journey takes with him a couple of those dogs, and when
a lion appears they have at him with the greatest boldness, and the
lion turns on them, but can’t touch them for they are very deft at
eschewing his blows. So they follow him, perpetually giving tongue, and
watching their chance to give him a bite in the rump or in the thigh,
or wherever they may. The lion makes no reprisal except now and then
to turn fiercely on them, and then indeed were he to catch the dogs
it would be all over with them, but they take good care that he shall
not. So, to escape the dogs’ din, the lion makes off, and gets into the
wood, where mayhap he stands at bay against a tree to have his rear
protected from their annoyance. And when the travellers see the lion
in this plight they take to their bows, for they are capital archers,
and shoot their arrows at him till he falls dead. And ’tis thus that
travellers in those parts do deliver themselves from those lions.
They have a good deal of silk and other products which are carried up
and down, by the river of which we spoke, into various quarters.{5}
You travel along the river for twelve days more, finding a good
many towns all along, and the people always Idolaters, and subject
to the Great Kaan, with paper-money current, and living by trade
and handicrafts. There are also plenty of fighting men. And after
travelling those twelve days you arrive at the city of Sindafu of
which we spoke in this book some time ago.{6}
From Sindafu you set out again and travel some 70 days through the
provinces and cities and towns which we have already visited, and all
which have been already particularly spoken of in our Book. At the end
of those 70 days you come to Juju where we were before.{7}
From Juju you set out again and travel four days towards the south,
finding many towns and villages. The people are great traders and
craftsmen, are all Idolaters, and use the paper-money of the Great Kaan
their Sovereign. At the end of those four days you come to the city
of Cacanfu belonging to the province of Cathay, and of it I shall now
speak.
NOTE 1.—In spite of difficulties which beset the subject (see Note
6 below) the view of Pauthier, suggested doubtingly by Marsden,
that the Cuiju of the text is KWEI-CHAU, seems the most probable
one. As the latter observes, the reappearance of paper money
shows that we have got back into a province of China Proper.
Such, Yun-nan, recently conquered from a Shan prince, could not
be considered. But, according to the best view we can form, the
traveller could only have passed through the extreme west of the
province of Kwei-chau.
The name of _Fungul_, if that be a true reading, is suggestive
of _Phungan_, which under the Mongols was the head of a district
called PHUNGAN-LU. It was founded by that dynasty, and was regarded
as an important position for the command of the three provinces
Kwei-chau, Kwang-si, and Yun-nan. (_Biot_, p. 168; _Martini_, p.
137.) But we shall explain presently the serious difficulties that
beset the interpretation of the itinerary as it stands.
NOTE 2.—Several Chinese plants afford a fibre from the bark, and
some of these are manufactured into what we call _grass-cloths_.
The light smooth textures so called are termed by the Chinese
_Hiapu_ or “summer cloths.” Kwei-chau produces such. But perhaps
that specially intended is a species of hemp (_Urtica Nivea?_)
of which M. Perny of the R. C. Missions says, in his notes
on Kwei-chau: “It affords a texture which may be compared to
_batiste_. This has the notable property of keeping so cool that
many people cannot wear it even in the hot weather. Generally it
is used only for summer clothing.” (_Dict. des Tissus_, VII. 404;
_Chin. Repos._ XVIII. 217 and 529; _Ann. de la Prop. de la Foi_,
XXXI. 137.)
NOTE 3.—Tigers of course are meant. (See _supra_, vol. i. p. 399.)
M. Perny speaks of tigers in the mountainous parts of Kwei-chau.
(_Op. cit._ 139.)
NOTE 4.—These great dogs were noticed by Lieutenant (now General)
Macleod, in his journey to Kiang Hung on the great River Mekong, as
accompanying the caravans of Chinese traders on their way to the
Siamese territory. (See _Macleod’s Journal_, p. 66.)
NOTE 5.—The trade in wild silk (_i.e._ from the oak-leaf silkworm)
is in truth an important branch of commerce in Kwei-chau. But the
chief seat of this is at Tsuni-fu, and I do not think that Polo’s
route can be sought so far to the eastward. (_Ann. de la Prop._
XXXI. 136; _Richthofen_, Letter VII. 81.)
NOTE 6.—We have now got back to Sindafu, _i.e._ Ch’êng-tu fu in
Sze-ch’wan, and are better able to review the geography of the
track we have been following. I do not find it possible to solve
all its difficulties.
The different provinces treated of in the chapters from lv. to lix.
are strung by Marco upon an easterly, or, as we must interpret,
_north-easterly_ line of travel, real or hypothetical. Their names
and intervals are as follows: (1) Bangala; whence 30 marches to
(2) Caugigu; 25 marches to (3) Anin; 8 marches to (4) Toloman or
Coloman; 12 days in Cuiju along a river to the city of (5) Fungul,
Sinugul (or what not); 12 days further, on or along the same river,
to (6) Ch’êng-tu fu. Total from Bangala to Ch’êng-tu fu 87 days.
I have said that the line of travel is real _or hypothetical_, for
no doubt a large part of it was only founded on hearsay. We last
left our traveller at Mien, or on the frontier of Yun-nan and Mien.
_Bangala_ is reached _per saltum_ with no indication of interval,
and its position is entirely misapprehended. Marco conceives of
it, not as in India, but as being, like Mien, a province _on the
confines_ of India, as being under the same king as Mien, as lying
to the south of that kingdom, and as being at the (south) western
extremity of a great traverse line which runs (north) east into
Kwei-chau and Sze-ch’wan. All these conditions point consistently
to one locality; that, however, is not Bengal but _Pegu_. On the
other hand, the circumstances of manners and products, so far as
they go, _do_ belong to Bengal. I conceive that Polo’s information
regarding these was derived from persons who had really visited
Bengal by sea, but that he had confounded what he so heard of the
Delta of the Ganges with what he heard on the Yun-nan frontier of
the Delta of the Irawadi. It is just the same kind of error that is
made about those great Eastern Rivers by Fra Mauro in his Map. And
possibly the name of Pegu (in Burmese _Bagóh_) may have contributed
to his error, as well as the probable fact that the Kings of
Burma did at this time _claim_ to be Kings of Bengal, whilst they
actually _were_ Kings of Pegu.
_Caugigu_.—We have seen reason to agree with M. Pauthier that
the description of this region points to Laos, though we cannot
with him assign it to Kiang-mai. Even if it be identical with the
Papesifu of the Chinese, we have seen that the centre of that
state may be placed at Muang Yong not far from the Mekong; whilst
I believe that the limits of Caugigu must be drawn much nearer the
Chinese and Tungking territory, so as to embrace Kiang Hung, and
probably the _Papien_ River. (See note at p. 117.)
As regards the name, it is _possible_ that it may represent
some specific name of the Upper Laos territory. But I am
inclined to believe that we are dealing with a case of erroneous
geographical perspective like that of Bangala; and that whilst the
_circumstances_ belong to Upper Laos, the _name_, read as I read
it, _Caugigu_ (or Cavgigu), is no other than the _Ḳafchikúe_ of
Rashiduddin, the name applied by him to Tungking, and representing
the KIAOCHI-KWÊ of the Chinese. D’Anville’s Atlas brings Kiaochi
up to the Mekong in immediate contact with Che-li or Kiang Hung. I
had come to the conclusion that Caugigu was _probably_ the correct
reading before I was aware that it is an _actual_ reading of the
Geog. Text more than once, of Pauthier’s A more than once, of
Pauthier’s C _at least_ once and possibly twice, and of the Bern
MS.; all which I have ascertained from personal examination of
those manuscripts.[1]
_Anin_ or _Aniu_.—I have already pointed out that I seek this
in the territory about Lin-ngan and Homi. In relation to this
M. Garnier writes: “In starting from Muang Yong, or even if you
prefer it, from Xieng Hung (Kiang Hung of our maps), ... it would
be physically impossible in 25 days to get beyond the arc which I
have laid down on your map (viz. extending a few miles north-east
of Homi). There are scarcely any roads in those mountains, and
easy lines of communication begin only _after_ you have got to the
Lin-ngan territory. In Marco Polo’s days things were certainly not
better, but the reverse. All that has been done of consequence in
the way of roads, posts, and organisation in the part of Yun-nan
between Lin-ngan and Xieng Hung, dates in some degree from the
Yuen, but in a far greater degree from K’ang-hi.” Hence, even with
the Ramusian reading of the itinerary, we cannot place _Anin_ much
beyond the position indicated already.
[Illustration: Script _thaï_ of Xieng-hung.]
_Koloman_.—We have seen that the position of this region is
probably near the western frontier of Kwei-chau. Adhering to
_Homi_ as the representative of Anin, and to the 8 days’ journey
of the text, the most probable position of Koloman would be about
_Lo-ping_, which lies about 100 English miles in a straight line
north-east from Homi. The first character of the name here is again
the same as the _Lo_ of the Kolo tribes.
Beyond this point the difficulties of devising an interpretation,
consistent at once with facts and with the text as it stands,
become insuperable.
The narrative demands that from Koloman we should reach _Fungul_, a
great and noble city, by travelling 12 days along a river, and that
Fungul should be within twelve days’ journey of Ch’êng-tu fu, along
the same river, or at least along rivers connected with it.
In advancing from the south-west guided by the data afforded by
the texts, we have not been able to carry the position of Fungul
(_Sinugul_, or what not of G. T. and other MSS.) further north than
Phungan. But it is impossible that Ch’êng-tu fu should have been
reached in 12 days from this point. Nor is it possible that a new
post in a secluded position, like Phungan, could have merited to be
described as “a great and noble city.”
Baron v. Richthofen has favoured me with a note in which he shows
that in reality the only place answering the more essential
conditions of Fungul is Siu-chau fu at the union of the two
great branches of the Yang-tzŭ, viz. the Kin-sha Kiang, and the
Min-Kiang from Ch’êng-tu fu. (1) The distance from Siu-chau to
Ch’êng-tu by land travelling is just about 12 days, and the road
is along a river. (2) In approaching “Fungul” from the south Polo
met with a good many towns and villages. This would be the case
along either of the navigable rivers that join the Yang-tzŭ below
Siu-chau (or along that which joins above Siu-chau, mentioned
further on). (3) The large trade in silk up and down the river is a
characteristic that could only apply to the Yang-tzŭ.
These reasons are very strong, though some little doubt must
subsist until we can explain the name (Fungul, or Sinugul) as
applicable to Siu-chau.[2] And assuming Siu-chau to be the city we
must needs carry the position of _Coloman_ considerably further
north than Lo-ping, and must presume the interval between _Anin_
and _Coloman_ to be greatly understated, through clerical or other
error. With these assumptions we should place Polo’s Coloman in the
vicinity of Wei-ning, one of the localities of Kolo tribes.
From a position near Wei-ning it would be quite possible to reach
Siu-chau in 12 days, making use of the facilities afforded by one
or other of the partially navigable rivers to which allusion has
just been made.
[Illustration: Iron Suspension Bridge at Lowatong. (From Garnier.)]
“That one,” says M. Garnier in a letter, “which enters the Kiang
a little above Siu-chau fu, the River of _Lowa-tong_, which was
descended by our party, has a branch to the eastward which is
navigable up to about the latitude of Chao-tong. Is not this
probably Marco Polo’s route? It is to this day a line much
frequented, and one on which great works have been executed; among
others two iron suspension bridges, works truly gigantic for the
country in which we find them.”
An extract from a Chinese Itinerary of this route, which M. Garnier
has since communicated to me, shows that at a point 4 days from
Wei-ning the traveller may embark and continue his voyage to any
point on the great Kiang.
We are obliged, indeed, to give up the attempt to keep to a line of
communicating rivers throughout the whole 24 days. Nor do I see how
it is possible to adhere to that condition literally without taking
more material liberties with the text.
[Illustration: MARCO POLO’S ITINERARIES Nᵒ. V.
Indo Chinese Regions (Book II, Chapˢ. 44–59)]
My theory of Polo’s actual journey would be that he returned from
Yun-nan fu to Ch’êng-tu fu through some part of the province of
Kwei-chau, perhaps only its western extremity, but that he spoke of
Caugigu, and probably of Anin, as he did of Bangala, from report
only. And, in recapitulation, I would identify provisionally the
localities spoken of in this difficult itinerary as follows:
_Caugigu_ with Kiang Hung; _Anin_ with Homi; _Coloman_ with the
country about Wei-ning in Western Kwei-chau; _Fungul_ or Sinugul
with Siu-chau.
[This itinerary is difficult, as Sir Henry Yule says. It takes
Marco Polo 24 days to go from Coloman or Toloman to Ch’êng-tu. The
land route is 22 days from Yun-nan fu to Swi-fu, _viâ_ Tung-ch’wan
and Chao-t’ung. (_J. China B. R. A. S._ XXVIII. 74–75.) From the
Toloman province, which I place about Lin-ngan and Cheng-kiang,
south of Yun-nan fu, Polo must have passed a second time through
this city, which is indeed at the end of all the routes of this
part of South-Western China. He might go back to Sze-ch’wan by the
western route, _viâ_ Tung-ch’wan and Chao-t’ung to Swi-fu, or, by
the eastern, easier and shorter route by Siuen-wei chau, crossing
a corner of the Kwei-chau province (Wei-ning), and passing by
Yun-ning hien to the Kiang; this is the route followed by Mr. A.
Hosie in 1883 and by Mr. F. S. A. Bourne in 1885, and with great
likelihood by Marco Polo; he may have taken the Yun-ning River to
the district city of Na-ch’i hien, which lies on the right bank
both of this river and of the Kiang; the Kiang up to Swi-fu and
thence to Ch’êng-tu. I do not attempt to explain the difficulty
about Fungul.
I fully agree with Sir H. Yule when he says that Polo spoke of
Caugigu and of Bangala, probably of Anin, from report only.
However, I believe that Caugigu is the _Kiao-Chi kwé_ of the
Chinese, that Ani_n_ must be read Ani_u_, that Aniu is but
a transcription of _Nan-yué_, that both Nan-yué and Kiao-Chi
represent Northern Annam, _i.e._ the portion of Annam which we call
Tung-king. Regarding the tattooed inhabitants of Caugigu, let it be
remembered that tattooing existed in Annam till it was prohibited
by the Chinese during the occupation of Tung-king at the beginning
of the 15th century.—H. C.]
NOTE 7.—Here the traveller gets back to the road-bifurcation near
Juju, _i.e._ Chochau (_ante_ p. 11), and thence commences to travel
southward.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] A passing suggestion of the identity of Kafchi Kué and Caugigu is
made by D’Ohsson, and I formerly objected. (See _Cathay_, p. 272.)
[2] Cuiju might be read _Ciuju_—representing _Siuchau_, but the
difficulty about Fungul would remain.
[Illustration: Fortified Villages on Western frontier of Kweichau.
(From Garnier.)
“=Chastiaus ont-il grant quantité en grandismes montagnes et
fortres.=”]
BOOK II.—_Continued_.
PART III.—JOURNEY SOUTHWARD THROUGH EASTERN PROVINCES
OF CATHAY AND MANZI.
CHAPTER LX.
CONCERNING THE CITIES OF CACANFU AND OF CHANGLU.
Cacanfu is a noble city. The people are Idolaters and burn their dead;
they have paper-money, and live by trade and handicrafts. For they
have plenty of silk from which they weave stuffs of silk and gold, and
sendals in large quantities. [There are also certain Christians at this
place, who have a church.] And the city is at the head of an important
territory containing numerous towns and villages. [A great river
passes through it, on which much merchandise is carried to the city of
Cambaluc, for by many channels and canals it is connected therewith.{1}]
We will now set forth again, and travel three days towards the south,
and then we come to a town called CHANGLU. This is another great city
belonging to the Great Kaan, and to the province of Cathay. The people
have paper-money, and are Idolaters and burn their dead. And you must
know they make salt in great quantities at this place; I will tell you
how ’tis done.{2}
A kind of earth is found there which is exceedingly salt. This they
dig up and pile in great heaps. Upon these heaps they pour water in
quantities till it runs out at the bottom; and then they take up this
water and boil it well in great iron cauldrons, and as it cools it
deposits a fine white salt in very small grains. This salt they then
carry about for sale to many neighbouring districts, and get great
profit thereby.
There is nothing else worth mentioning, so let us go forward five days’
journey, and we shall come to a city called Chinangli.
NOTE 1.—In the greater part of the journey which occupies the
remainder of Book II., Pauthier is a chief authority, owing
to his industrious Chinese reading and citation. Most of his
identifications seem well founded, though sometimes we shall be
constrained to dissent from them widely. A considerable number have
been anticipated by former editors, but even in such cases he is
often able to bring forward new grounds.
CACANFU is HO-KIEN FU in Pe Chih-li, 52 miles in a direct line
south by east of Chochau. It was the head of one of the _Lu_ or
circuits into which the Mongols divided China. (_Pauthier_.)
NOTE 2.—Marsden and Murray have identified Changlu with T’SANG-CHAU
in Pe Chih-li, about 30 miles east by south of Ho-kien fu. This
seems substantially right, but Pauthier shows that there was an old
town actually called CH’ANGLU, separated from T’sang-chau only by
the great canal. [Ch’ang-lu was the name of T’sang-chau under the
T’ang and the Kin. (See _Playfair, Dict._, p. 34.)—H. C.]
The manner of obtaining salt, described in the text, is
substantially the same as one described by Duhalde, and by one of
the missionaries, as being employed near the mouth of the Yang-tzŭ
kiang. There is a town of the third order some miles south-east
of T’sang-chau, called _Yen-shan_ or “salt-hill,” and, according
to Pauthier, T’sang-chau is the mart for salt produced there.
(_Duhalde_ in _Astley_, IV. 310; _Lettres Edif._ XI. 267 _seqq._;
_Biot._ p. 283.)
Polo here introduces a remark about the practice of burning the
dead, which, with the notice of the idolatry of the people, and
their use of paper-money, constitutes a formula which he repeats
all through the Chinese provinces with wearisome iteration. It is,
in fact, his definition of the Chinese people, for whom he seems to
lack a comprehensive name.
A great change seems to have come over Chinese custom, since the
Middle Ages, in regard to the disposal of the dead. Cremation
is now entirely disused, except in two cases; one, that of the
obsequies of a Buddhist priest, and the other that in which the
coffin instead of being buried has been exposed in the fields, and
in the lapse of time has become decayed. But it is impossible to
reject the evidence that it was a common practice in Polo’s age.
He repeats the assertion that it was _the_ custom at every stage
of his journey through Eastern China; though perhaps his taking
absolutely no notice of the practice of burial is an instance of
that imperfect knowledge of strictly Chinese peculiarities which
has been elsewhere ascribed to him. It is the case, however, that
the author of the Book of the Estate of the Great Kaan (_circa_
1330) also speaks of cremation as the usual Chinese practice,
and that Ibn Batuta says positively: “The Chinese are infidels
and idolaters, and they burn their dead after the manner of the
Hindus.” This is all the more curious, because the Arab _Relations_
of the 9th century say distinctly that the Chinese bury their dead,
though they often kept the body long (as they do still) before
burial; and there is no mistaking the description which Conti (15th
century) gives of the Chinese mode of sepulture. Mendoza, in the
16th century, alludes to no disposal of the dead except by burial,
but Semedo in the early part of the 17th says that bodies were
occasionally burnt, especially in Sze-ch’wan.
I am greatly indebted to the kindness of an eminent Chinese
scholar, Mr. W. F. Mayers, of Her Majesty’s Legation at Peking,
who, in a letter, dated Peking, 18th September, 1874, sends me the
following memorandum on the subject:—
“_Colonel Yule’s Marco Polo_, II. 97 [First Edition], _Burning of
the Dead_.
“On this subject compare the article entitled _Huo Tsang_, or
‘Cremation Burials,’ in Bk. XV of the _Jih Che Luh_, or ‘Daily
Jottings,’ a great collection of miscellaneous notes on classical,
historical, and antiquarian subjects, by Ku Yen-wu, a celebrated
author of the 17th century. The article is as follows:—
“‘The practice of burning the dead flourished (or flourishes) most
extensively in Kiang-nan, and was in vogue already in the period
of the Sung Dynasty. According to the history of the Sung Dynasty,
in the 27th year of the reign Shao-hing (A.D. 1157), the practice
was animadverted upon by a public official.’ Here follows a long
extract, in which the burning of the dead is reprehended, and it is
stated that cemeteries were set apart by Government on behalf of
the poorer classes.
“In A.D. 1261, Hwang Chên, governor of the district of Wu, in a
memorial praying that the erection of cremation furnaces might
thenceforth be prohibited, dwelt upon the impropriety of burning
the remains of the deceased, for whose obsequies a multitude of
observances were prescribed by the religious rites. He further
exposed the fallacy of the excuse alleged for the practice, to wit,
that burning the dead was a fulfilment of the precepts of Buddha,
and accused the priests of a certain monastery of converting into a
source of illicit gain the practice of cremation.”
[As an illustration of the cremation of a Buddhist priest, I note
the following passage from an article published in the _North-China
Herald_, 20th May, 1887, p. 556, on Kwei Hua Ch’eng, Mongolia:
“Several Lamas are on visiting terms with me and they are very
friendly. There are seven large and eight small Lamaseries, in care
of from ten to two hundred Lamas. The principal Lamas at death
are cremated. A short time ago, a friendly Lama took me to see a
cremation. The furnace was roughly made of mud bricks, with four
fire-holes at the base, with an opening in which to place the body.
The whole was about 6 feet high, and about 5 feet in circumference.
Greased fuel was arranged within and covered with glazed foreign
calico, on which were written some Tibetan characters. A tent was
erected and mats arranged for the Lamas. About 11.30 A.M. a scarlet
covered bier appeared in sight carried by thirty-two beggars. A box
2 feet square and 2½ feet high was taken out and placed near the
furnace. The Lamas arrived and attired themselves in gorgeous robes
and sat cross-legged. During the preparations to chant, some butter
was being melted in a corner of the tent. A screen of calico was
drawn round the furnace in which the cremator placed the body, and
filled up the opening. Then a dozen Lamas began chanting the burial
litany in Tibetan in deep bass voices. Then the head priest blessed
the torches and when the fires were lit he blessed a fan to fan the
flames, and lastly some melted butter, which was poured in at the
top to make the whole blaze. This was frequently repeated. When
fairly ablaze, a few pieces of Tibetan grass were thrown in at the
top. After three days the whole cooled, and a priest with one gold
and one silver chopstick collects the bones, which are placed in a
bag for burial. If the bones are white it is a sign that his sin is
purged, if black that perfection has not been attained.”—H. C.]
And it is very worthy of note that the Chinese envoy to Chinla
(Kamboja) in 1295, an individual who may have personally known
Marco Polo, in speaking of the custom prevalent there of exposing
the dead, adds: “There are some, however, who burn their dead.
_These are all descendants of Chinese immigrants._”
[Professor J. J. M. de Groot remarks that “being of religious
origin, cremation is mostly denoted in China by clerical terms,
expressive of the metamorphosis the funeral pyre is intended to
effect, viz. ‘transformation of man’; ‘transformation of the body’;
‘metamorphosis by fire.’ Without the clerical sphere it bears no
such high-sounding names, being simply called ‘incineration of
corpses.’ A term of illogical composition, and nevertheless very
common in the books, is ‘fire burial.’” It appears that during the
Sung Dynasty cremation was especially common in the provinces of
Shan-si, Cheh-kiang, and Kiang-su. During the Mongol Dynasty, the
instances of cremation which are mentioned in Chinese books are,
relatively speaking, numerous. Professor de Groot says also that
“there exists evidence that during the Mongol domination cremation
also throve in Fuhkien.” (_Religious System of China_, vol. iii.
pp. 1391, 1409, 1410.)—H. C.]
(_Doolittle_, 190; _Deguignes_, I. 69; _Cathay_, pp. 247, 479;
_Reinaud_, I. 56; _India in the XVth Century_, p. 23; _Semedo_, p.
95; _Rém. Mél. Asiat._ I. 128.)
CHAPTER LXI.
CONCERNING THE CITY OF CHINANGLI, AND THAT OF TADINFU, AND THE
REBELLION OF LITAN.
Chinangli is a city of Cathay as you go south, and it belongs to the
Great Kaan; the people are Idolaters, and have paper-money. There runs
through the city a great and wide river, on which a large traffic in
silk goods and spices and other costly merchandize passes up and down.
When you travel south from Chinangli for five days, you meet everywhere
with fine towns and villages, the people of which are all Idolaters,
and burn their dead, and are subject to the Great Kaan, and have
paper-money, and live by trade and handicrafts, and have all the
necessaries of life in great abundance. But there is nothing particular
to mention on the way till you come, at the end of those five days, to
TADINFU.{1}
This, you must know, is a very great city, and in old times was the
seat of a great kingdom; but the Great Kaan conquered it by force
of arms. Nevertheless it is still the noblest city in all those
provinces. There are very great merchants here, who trade on a great
scale, and the abundance of silk is something marvellous. They have,
moreover, most charming gardens abounding with fruit of large size.
The city of Tadinfu hath also under its rule eleven imperial cities
of great importance, all of which enjoy a large and profitable trade,
owing to that immense produce of silk.{2}
Now, you must know, that in the year of Christ, 1273, the Great Kaan
had sent a certain Baron called LIYTAN SANGON,{3} with some 80,000
horse, to this province and city, to garrison them. And after the said
captain had tarried there a while, he formed a disloyal and traitorous
plot, and stirred up the great men of the province to rebel against the
Great Kaan. And so they did; for they broke into revolt against their
sovereign lord, and refused all obedience to him, and made this Liytan,
whom their sovereign had sent thither for their protection, to be the
chief of their revolt.
When the Great Kaan heard thereof he straightway despatched two of his
Barons, one of whom was called AGUIL and the other MONGOTAY;{4} giving
them 100,000 horse and a great force of infantry. But the affair was a
serious one, for the Barons were met by the rebel Liytan with all those
whom he had collected from the province, mustering more than 100,000
horse and a large force of foot. Nevertheless in the battle Liytan and
his party were utterly routed, and the two Barons whom the Emperor
had sent won the victory. When the news came to the Great Kaan he was
right well pleased, and ordered that all the chiefs who had rebelled,
or excited others to rebel, should be put to a cruel death, but that
those of lower rank should receive a pardon. And so it was done. The
two Barons had all the leaders of the enterprise put to a cruel death,
and all those of lower rank were pardoned. And thenceforward they
conducted themselves with loyalty towards their lord.{5}
Now having told you all about this affair, let us have done with it,
and I will tell you of another place that you come to in going south,
which is called SINJU-MATU.
NOTE 1.—There seems to be no solution to the difficulties attaching
to the account of these two cities (Chinangli and Tadinfu) except
that the two have been confounded, either by a lapse of memory on
the traveller’s part or by a misunderstanding on that of Rusticiano.
The position and name of CHINANGLI point, as Pauthier has shown,
to T’SI-NAN FU, the chief city of Shan-tung. The second city is
called in the G. Text and Pauthier’s MSS. _Candinfu_, _Condinfu_,
and _Cundinfu_, names which it has not been found possible to
elucidate. But adopting the reading _Tadinfu_ of some of the old
printed editions (supported by the _Tudinfu_ of Ramusio and the
_Tandifu_ of the Riccardian MS.), Pauthier shows that the city now
called _Yen-chau_ bore under the Kin the name of TAI-TING FU, which
may fairly thus be recognised. [Under the Sung Dynasty Yen-chau was
named T’ai-ning and Lung-k’ing. (_Playfair’s Dict._ p. 388.)—H. C.]
It was not, however, Yen-chau, but _T’si-nan fu_, which was “the
noblest city in all those provinces,” and had been “in old times
the seat of a kingdom,” as well as recently the scene of the
episode of Litan’s rebellion. T’si-nan fu lies in a direct line
86 miles south of T’sang-chau (_Changlu_), near the banks of the
Ta-t’sing ho, a large river which communicates with the great canal
near T’si-ning chau, and which was, no doubt, of greater importance
in Polo’s time than in the last six centuries. For up nearly to
the origin of the Mongol power it appears to have been one of the
main discharges of the Hwang-Ho. The recent changes in that river
have again brought its main stream into the same channel, and the
“New Yellow River” passes three or four miles to the north of the
city. T’si-nan fu has frequently of late been visited by European
travellers, who report it as still a place of importance, with much
life and bustle, numerous book-shops, several fine temples, two
mosques, and all the furniture of a provincial capital. It has also
a Roman Catholic Cathedral of Gothic architecture. (_Williamson_,
I. 102.)
[Tsi-nan “is a populous and rich city; and by means of the river
(Ta Tsing ho, Great Clear River) carries on an extensive commerce.
The soil is fertile, and produces grain and fruits in abundance.
Silk of an excellent quality is manufactured, and commands a high
price. The lakes and rivers are well stored with fish.” (_Chin.
Rep._ XI. p. 562.)—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—The Chinese Annals, more than 2000 years B.C., speak of
silk as an article of tribute from Shan-tung; and evidently it
was one of the provinces most noted in the Middle Ages for that
article. Compare the quotation in note on next chapter from Friar
Odoric. Yet the older modern accounts speak only of the _wild_
silk of Shan-tung. Mr. Williamson, however, points out that there
is an extensive produce from the genuine mulberry silkworm, and
anticipates a very important trade in Shan-tung silk. Silk fabrics
are also largely produced, and some of extraordinary quality.
(_Williamson_, I. 112, 131.)
The expressions of Padre Martini, in speaking of the wild silk of
Shan-tung, strongly remind one of the talk of the ancients about
the origin of silk, and suggest the possibility that this may not
have been mere groundless fancy: “Non in globum aut ovum ductum,
sed in longissimum filum paulatim ex ore emissum, albi coloris,
quæ arbustis dumisque, adhærentia, atque a vento huc illucque
agitata colliguntur,” etc. Compare this with Pliny’s “Seres lanitia
silvarum nobiles, perfusam aqua depectentes frondium caniciem,” or
Claudian’s “Stamine, quod molli tondent de stipite Seres, Frondea
lanigeræ carpentes vellera silvæ; Et longum tenues tractus producit
in aurum.”
NOTE 3.—The title _Sangon_ is, as Pauthier points out, the Chinese
_Tsiang-kiun_, a “general of division,” [or better “Military
Governor”.—H. C.] John Bell calls an officer, bearing the
same title, “Merin _Sanguin_.” I suspect _T’siang-kiun_ is the
_Jang-Jang_ of Baber.
NOTE 4.—AGUL was the name of a distant cousin of Kúblái, who was
the father of Nayan (_supra_, ch. ii. and Genealogy of the House of
Chinghiz in Appendix A). MANGKUTAI, under Kúblái, held the command
of the third Hazara (Thousand) of the right wing, in which he had
succeeded his father Jedi Noyan. He was greatly distinguished in
the invasion of South China under Bayan. (_Erdmann’s Temudschin_,
pp. 220, 455; _Gaubil_, p. 160.)
NOTE 5.—LITAN, a Chinese of high military position and reputation
under the Mongols, in the early part of Kúblái’s reign, commanded
the troops in Shan-tung and the conquered parts of Kiang-nan.
In the beginning of 1262 he carried out a design that he had
entertained since Kúblái’s accession, declared for the Sung
Emperor, to whom he gave up several important places, put
detached Mongol garrisons to the sword, and fortified T’si-nan
and T’sing-chau. Kúblái despatched Prince Apiché and the General
Ssetienché against him. Litan, after some partial success, was
beaten and driven into T’si-nan, which the Mongols immediately
invested. After a blockade of four months, the garrison was reduced
to extremities. Litan, in despair, put his women to death and threw
himself into a lake adjoining the city; but he was taken out alive
and executed. T’sing-chau then surrendered. (_Gaubil_, 139–140; _De
Mailla_, IX. 298 _seqq._; _D’Ohsson_, II. 381.)
Pauthier gives greater detail from the Chinese Annals, which
confirm the amnesty granted to all but the chiefs of the rebellion.
The date in the text is wrong or corrupt, as is generally the case.
CHAPTER LXII.
CONCERNING THE NOBLE CITY OF SINJUMATU.
On leaving Tadinfu you travel three days towards the south, always
finding numbers of noble and populous towns and villages flourishing
with trade and manufactures. There is also abundance of game in the
country, and everything in profusion.
When you have travelled those three days you come to the noble city of
SINJUMATU, a rich and fine place, with great trade and manufactures.
The people are Idolaters and subjects of the Great Kaan, and have
paper-money, and they have a river which I can assure you brings them
great gain, and I will tell you about it.
You see the river in question flows from the South to this city of
Sinjumatu. And the people of the city have divided this larger river
in two, making one half of it flow east and the other half flow west;
that is to say, the one branch flows towards Manzi and the other
towards Cathay. And it is a fact that the number of vessels at this
city is what no one would believe without seeing them. The quantity
of merchandize also which these vessels transport to Manzi and Cathay
is something marvellous; and then they return loaded with other
merchandize, so that the amount of goods borne to and fro on those two
rivers is quite astonishing.{1}
NOTE 1.—Friar Odoric, proceeding by water northward to Cambaluc
about 1324–1325, says: “As I travelled by that river towards the
east, and passed many towns and cities, I came to a certain city
which is called SUNZUMATU, which hath a greater plenty of silk than
perhaps any place on earth, for when silk is at the dearest you
can still have 40 lbs. for less than eight groats. There is in the
place likewise great store of merchandise,” etc. When commenting
on Odoric, I was inclined to identify this city with Lin-t’sing
chau, but its position with respect to the two last cities in
Polo’s itinerary renders this inadmissible; and Murray and Pauthier
seem to be right in identifying it with T’SI-NING CHAU. The affix
_Matu_ (_Ma-t’eu_, a jetty, a place of river trade) might easily
attach itself to the name of such a great depôt of commerce on the
canal as Marco here describes, though no Chinese authority has
been produced for its being so styled. The only objection to the
identification with T’si-ning chau is the difficulty of making 3
days’ journey of the short distance between Yen-chau and that city.
Polo, according to the route supposed, comes first upon the
artificial part of the Great Canal here. The rivers _Wen_ and
_Sse_ (from near Yen-chau) flowing from the side of Shan-tung, and
striking the canal line at right angles near T’si-ning chau, have
been thence diverted north-west and south-east, so as to form the
canal; the point of their original confluence at Nan-wang forming,
apparently, the summit level of the canal. There is a little
confusion in Polo’s account, owing to his describing the river as
coming from the _south_, which, according to his orientation, would
be the side towards Honan. In this respect his words would apply
more accurately to the _Wei_ River at Lin-t’sing (see _Biot_ in _J.
As._ sér. III. tom. xiv. 194, and _J. N. C. B. R. A. S._, 1866, p.
11; also the map with ch. lxiv.) [Father Gandar (_Canal Impérial_,
p. 22, note) says that the remark of Marco Polo: “The river flows
from the south to this city of Sinjumatu,” cannot be applied to
the _Wen-ho_ nor to the _Sse-ho_, which are rivers of little
importance and running from the east, whilst the _Wei-ho_, coming
from the south-east, waters Lin-ts’ing, and answers well to our
traveller’s text.—H. C.] Duhalde calls T’si-ning chau “one of the
most considerable cities of the empire”; and Nieuhoff speaks of its
large trade and population. [Sir John F. Davis writes that Tsi-ning
chau is a town of considerable dimensions.... “The _ma-tow_, or
platforms, before the principal boats had ornamental gateways over
them.... The canal seems to render this an opulent and flourishing
place, to judge by the gilded and carved shops, temples, and public
offices, along the eastern banks.” (_Sketches of China_, I. pp.
255–257.)—H. C.]
CHAPTER LXIII.
CONCERNING THE CITIES OF LINJU AND PIJU.
On leaving the city of Sinju-matu you travel for eight days towards the
south, always coming to great and rich towns and villages flourishing
with trade and manufactures. The people are all subjects of the Great
Kaan, use paper-money, and burn their dead. At the end of those eight
days you come to the city of LINJU, in the province of the same name of
which it is the capital. It is a rich and noble city, and the men are
good soldiers, natheless they carry on great trade and manufactures.
There is great abundance of game in both beasts and birds, and all the
necessaries of life are in profusion. The place stands on the river of
which I told you above. And they have here great numbers of vessels,
even greater than those of which I spoke before, and these transport a
great amount of costly merchandize{1}.
So, quitting this province and city of Linju, you travel three days
more towards the south, constantly finding numbers of rich towns
and villages. These still belong to Cathay; and the people are all
Idolaters, burning their dead, and using paper-money, that I mean of
their Lord the Great Kaan, whose subjects they are. This is the finest
country for game, whether in beasts or birds, that is anywhere to be
found, and all the necessaries of life are in profusion.
At the end of those three days you find the city of PIJU, a great,
rich, and noble city, with large trade and manufactures, and a great
production of silk. This city stands at the entrance to the great
province of Manzi, and there reside at it a great number of merchants
who despatch carts from this place loaded with great quantities of
goods to the different towns of Manzi. The city brings in a great
revenue to the Great Kaan.{2}
NOTE 1.—Murray suggests that Lingiu is a place which appears in
D’Anville’s Map of Shan-tung as _Lintching-y_, and in Arrowsmith’s
Map of China (also in those of Berghaus and Keith Johnston) as
_Lingchinghien_. The position assigned to it, however, on the west
bank of the canal, nearly under the 35th degree of latitude, would
agree fairly with Polo’s data. [_Lin-ch’ing, Lin-tsing_, lat. 37°
03′, _Playfair’s Dict._ No. 4276; _Biot_, p. 107.—H. C.]
In any case, I imagine Lingiu (of which, perhaps, _Lingin_ may
be the correct reading) to be the _Lenzin_ of Odoric, which he
reached in travelling by water from the south, before arriving at
Sinjumatu. (_Cathay_, p. 125.)
NOTE 2.—There can be no doubt that this is PEI-CHAU on the east
bank of the canal. The abundance of game about here is noticed by
Nieuhoff (in _Astley_, III. 417). [See _D. Gandar, Canal Impérial_,
1894.—H. C.]
CHAPTER LXIV.
CONCERNING THE CITY OF SIJU, AND THE GREAT RIVER CARAMORAN.
When you leave Piju you travel towards the south for two days, through
beautiful districts abounding in everything, and in which you find
quantities of all kinds of game. At the end of those two days you reach
the city of SIJU, a great, rich, and noble city, flourishing with
trade and manufactures. The people are Idolaters, burn their dead, use
paper-money, and are subjects of the Great Kaan. They possess extensive
and fertile plains producing abundance of wheat and other grain.{1} But
there is nothing else to mention, so let us proceed and tell you of the
countries further on.
On leaving Siju you ride south for three days, constantly falling
in with fine towns and villages and hamlets and farms, with their
cultivated lands. There is plenty of wheat and other corn, and of game
also; and the people are all Idolaters and subjects of the Great Kaan.
At the end of those three days you reach the great river CARAMORAN,
which flows hither from Prester John’s country. It is a great river,
and more than a mile in width, and so deep that great ships can
navigate it. It abounds in fish, and very big ones too. You must know
that in this river there are some 15,000 vessels, all belonging to
the Great Kaan, and kept to transport his troops to the Indian Isles
whenever there may be occasion; for the sea is only one day distant
from the place we are speaking of. And each of these vessels, taking
one with another, will require 20 mariners, and will carry 15 horses
with the men belonging to them, and their provisions, arms, and
equipments.{2}
Hither and thither, on either bank of the river, stands a town; the one
facing the other. The one is called COIGANJU and the other CAIJU; the
former is a large place, and the latter a little one. And when you pass
this river you enter the great province of MANZI. So now I must tell
you how this province of Manzi was conquered by the Great Kaan.{3}
NOTE 1.—SIJU can scarcely be other than Su-t’sien (_Sootsin_ of
Keith Johnston’s map) as Murray and Pauthier have said. The latter
states that one of the old names of the place was _Si-chau_, which
corresponds to that given by Marco. Biot does not give this name.
The town stands on the flat alluvial of the Hwang-Ho, and is
approached by high embanked roads. (_Astley_, III. 524–525.)
[Sir J. F. Davis writes: “From _Sootsien Hien_ to the point of
junction with the Yellow River, a length of about fifty miles, that
great stream and the canal run nearly parallel with each other,
at an average distance of four or five miles, and sometimes much
nearer.” (_Sketches of China_, I. p. 265.)—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—We have again arrived on the banks of the Hwang-Ho, which
was crossed higher up on our traveller’s route to Karájang.
No accounts, since China became known to modern Europe, attribute
to the Hwang-Ho the great utility for navigation which Polo here
and elsewhere ascribes to it. Indeed, we are told that its current
is so rapid that its navigation is scarcely practicable, and the
only traffic of the kind that we hear of is a transport of coal
in Shan-si for a certain distance down stream. This rapidity
also, bringing down vast quantities of soil, has so raised the
bed that in recent times the tide has not entered the river, as
it probably did in our traveller’s time, when, as it would appear
from his account, seagoing craft used to ascend to the ferry north
of Hwai-ngan fu, or thereabouts. Another indication of change is
his statement that the passage just mentioned was only one day’s
journey from the sea, whereas it is now about 50 miles in a direct
line. But the river has of late years undergone changes much more
material.
[Illustration: Sketch Map, exhibiting the VARIATIONS of the TWO
GREAT RIVERS OF CHINA Within the Period of History.]
In the remotest times of which the Chinese have any record, the
Hwang-Ho discharged its waters into the Gulf of Chih-li, by two
branches, the most northerly of which appears to have followed
the present course of the Pei-ho below Tien-tsing. In the time of
the Shang Dynasty (ending B.C. 1078) a branch more southerly than
either of the above flowed towards T’si-ning, and combined with the
_T’si_ River, which flowed by T’si-nan fu, the same in fact that
was till recently called the Ta-t’sing. In the time of Confucius
we first hear of a branch being thrown off south-east towards the
Hwai, flowing north of Hwai-ngan, in fact towards the embouchure
which our maps still display as that of the Hwang-Ho. But, about
the 3rd and 4th centuries of our era, the river discharged
exclusively by the T’si; and up to the Mongol age, or nearly so,
the mass of the waters of this great river continued to flow into
the Gulf of Chih-li. They then changed their course bodily towards
the Hwai, and followed that general direction to the sea; this they
had adopted before the time of our traveller, and they retained
it till a very recent period. The mass of Shan-tung thus forms a
mountainous island rising out of the vast alluvium of the Hwang-Ho,
whose discharge into the sea has alternated between the north and
the south of that mountainous tract. (_See Map opposite_.)
During the reign of the last Mongol emperor, a project was adopted
for restoring the Hwang-Ho to its former channel, discharging into
the Gulf of Chih-li; and discontents connected with this scheme
promoted the movement for the expulsion of the dynasty (1368).
A river whose regimen was liable to such vast changes was
necessarily a constant source of danger, insomuch that the Emperor
Kia-K’ing in his will speaks of it as having been “from the
remotest ages China’s sorrow.” Some idea of the enormous works
maintained for the control of the river may be obtained from the
following description of their character on the north bank, some
distance to the west of Kai-fung fu:
“In a village, apparently bounded by an earthen wall as large as
that of the Tartar city of Peking, was reached the first of the
outworks erected to resist the Hwang-Ho, and on arriving at the top
that river and the gigantic earthworks rendered necessary by its
outbreaks burst on the view. On a level with the spot on which I
was standing stretched a series of embankments, each one about 70
feet high, and of breadth sufficient for four railway trucks to run
abreast on them. The mode of their arrangement was on this wise:
one long bank ran parallel to the direction of the stream; half a
mile distant from it ran a similar one; these two embankments were
then connected by another series exactly similar in size, height,
and breadth, and running at right angles to them right down to the
edge of the water.”
In 1851, the Hwang-Ho burst its northern embankment nearly 30 miles
east of Kai-fung fu; the floods of the two following years enlarged
the breach; and in 1853 the river, after six centuries, resumed
the ancient direction of its discharge into the Gulf of Chih-li.
Soon after leaving its late channel, it at present spreads,
without defined banks, over the very low lands of South-Western
Shan-tung, till it reaches the Great Canal, and then enters the
Ta-t’sing channel, passing north of T’si-nan to the sea. The old
channel crossed by Polo in the present journey is quite deserted.
The greater part of the bed is there cultivated; it is dotted with
numerous villages; and the vast trading town of Tsing-kiang pu
was in 1868 extending so rapidly from the southern bank that a
traveller in that year says he expected that in two years it would
reach the northern bank.
The same change has destroyed the Grand Canal as a navigable
channel for many miles south of Lin-t’sing chau. (_J. R. G. S._
XXVIII. 294–295; _Escayrac de Lauture, Mém. sur la Chine; Cathay_,
p. 125; _Reports of Journeys in China_, etc. [by Consuls Alabaster,
Oxenham, etc., Parl. Blue Book], 1869, pp. 4–5, 14; _Mr. Elias_ in
_J. R. G. S._ XL. p. 1 _seqq._)
[Since the exploration of the Hwang-Ho in 1868 by Mr. Ney Elias and
by Mr. H. G. Hollingworth, an inspection of this river was made in
1889 and a report published in 1891 by the Dutch Engineers J. G. W.
Fijnje van Salverda, Captain P. G. van Schermbeek and A. Visser,
for the improvement of the Yellow River.—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—Coiganju will be noticed below. _Caiju_ does not seem to be
traceable, having probably been carried away by the changes in the
river. But it would seem to have been at the mouth of the canal on
the north side of the Hwang-Ho, and the name is the same as that
given below (ch. lxxii.) to the town (_Kwachau_) occupying the
corresponding position on the Kiang.
“Khatai,” says Rashiduddin, “is bounded on one side by the country
of Máchín, which the Chinese call MANZI.... In the Indian language
Southern China is called Mahá-chín, _i.e._ ‘Great China,’ and
hence we derive the word _Machin_. The Mongols call the same
country _Nangiass_. It is separated from Khatai by the river called
KARAMORAN, which comes from the mountains of Tibet and Kashmir, and
which is never fordable. The capital of this kingdom is the city of
_Khingsai_, which is forty days’ journey from Khanbalik.” (_Quat.
Rashid._, xci.–xciii.)
MANZI (or Mangi) is a name used for Southern China, or more
properly for the territory which constituted the dominion of the
Sung Dynasty at the time when the Mongols conquered Cathay or
Northern China from the Kin, not only by Marco, but by Odoric and
John Marignolli, as well as by the Persian writers, who, however,
more commonly call it _Máchín_. I imagine that some confusion
between the two words led to the appropriation of the latter name,
also to _Southern_ China. The term _Man-tzŭ_ or _Man-tze_ signifies
“Barbarians” (“Sons of Barbarians”), and was applied, it is said,
by the Northern Chinese to their neighbours on the south, whose
civilisation was of later date.[1] The name is now specifically
applied to a wild race on the banks of the Upper Kiang. But it
retains its mediæval application in Manchuria, where _Mantszi_ is
the name given to the Chinese immigrants, and in that use is said
to date from the time of Kúblái. (_Palladius_ in _J. R. G. S._ vol.
xlii. p. 154.) And Mr. Moule has found the word, apparently used in
Marco’s exact sense, in a Chinese extract of the period, contained
in the topography of the famous Lake of Hang-chau (_infra_, ch.
lxxvi.–lxxvii.)
Though both Polo and Rashiduddin call the Karamoran the boundary
between Cathay and Manzi, it was not so for any great distance.
Ho-nan belonged essentially to Cathay.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Magaillans says the Southerns, in return, called the Northerns
_Pe-tai_, “Fools of the North”!
CHAPTER LXV.
HOW THE GREAT KAAN CONQUERED THE PROVINCE OF MANZI.
You must know that there was a King and Sovereign lord of the great
territory of Manzi who was styled FACFUR, so great and puissant a
prince, that for vastness of wealth and number of subjects and extent
of dominion, there was hardly a greater in all the earth except the
Great Kaan himself.{1} But the people of his land were anything rather
than warriors; all their delight was in women, and nought but women;
and so it was above all with the King himself, for he took thought of
nothing else but women, unless it were of charity to the poor.
In all his dominion there were no horses; nor were the people ever
inured to battle or arms, or military service of any kind. Yet the
province of Manzi is very strong by nature, and all the cities are
encompassed by sheets of water of great depth, and more than an
arblast-shot in width; so that the country never would have been lost,
had the people but been soldiers. But that is just what they were not;
so lost it was.{2}
Now it came to pass, in the year of Christ’s incarnation, 1268, that
the Great Kaan, the same that now reigneth, despatched thither a Baron
of his whose name was BAYAN CHINCSAN, which is as much as to say “Bayan
Hundred Eyes.” And you must know that the King of Manzi had found in
his horoscope that he never should lose his Kingdom except through
a man that had an hundred eyes; so he held himself assured in his
position, for he could not believe that any man in existence could have
an hundred eyes. There, however, he deluded himself, in his ignorance
of the name of Bayan.{3}
This Bayan had an immense force of horse and foot entrusted to him by
the Great Kaan, and with these he entered Manzi, and he had also a
great number of boats to carry both horse and food when need should
be. And when he, with all his host, entered the territory of Manzi and
arrived at this city of COIGANJU—whither we now are got, and of which
we shall speak presently—he summoned the people thereof to surrender
to the Great Kaan; but this they flatly refused. On this Bayan went on
to another city, with the same result, and then still went forward;
acting thus because he was aware that the Great Kaan was despatching
another great host to follow him up.{4}
What shall I say then? He advanced to five cities in succession, but
got possession of none of them; for he did not wish to engage in
besieging them and they would not give themselves up. But when he came
to the sixth city he took that by storm, and so with a second, and a
third, and a fourth, until he had taken twelve cities in succession.
And when he had taken all these he advanced straight against the
capital city of the kingdom, which was called KINSAY, and which was the
residence of the King and Queen.
And when the King beheld Bayan coming with all his host, he was in
great dismay, as one unused to see such sights. So he and a great
company of his people got on board a thousand ships and fled to the
islands of the Ocean Sea, whilst the Queen who remained behind in the
city took all measures in her power for its defence, like a valiant
lady.
Now it came to pass that the Queen asked what was the name of the
captain of the host, and they told her that it was Bayan Hundred-Eyes.
So when she wist that he was styled Hundred-Eyes, she called to mind
how their astrologers had foretold that a man of an hundred eyes should
strip them of the kingdom.{5} Wherefore she gave herself up to Bayan,
and surrendered to him the whole kingdom and all the other cities and
fortresses, so that no resistance was made. And in sooth this was a
goodly conquest, for there was no realm on earth half so wealthy.{6}
The amount that the King used to expend was perfectly marvellous; and
as an example I will tell you somewhat of his liberal acts.
In those provinces they are wont to expose their new-born babes; I
speak of the poor, who have not the means of bringing them up. But
the King used to have all those foundlings taken charge of, and had
note made of the signs and planets under which each was born, and then
put them out to nurse about the country. And when any rich man was
childless he would go to the King and obtain from him as many of these
children as he desired. Or, when the children grew up, the King would
make up marriages among them, and provide for the couples from his own
purse. In this manner he used to provide for some 20,000 boys and girls
every year.{7}
I will tell you another thing this King used to do. If he was taking a
ride through the city and chanced to see a house that was very small
and poor standing among other houses that were fine and large, he
would ask why it was so, and they would tell him it belonged to a poor
man who had not the means to enlarge it. Then the King would himself
supply the means. And thus it came to pass that in all the capital of
the kingdom of Manzi, Kinsay by name, you should not see any but fine
houses.
This King used to be waited on by more than a thousand young gentlemen
and ladies, all clothed in the richest fashion. And he ruled his realm
with such justice that no malefactors were to be found therein. The
city in fact was so secure that no man closed his doors at night,
not even in houses and shops that were full of all sorts of rich
merchandize. No one could do justice in the telling to the great riches
of that country, and to the good disposition of the people. Now that I
have told you about the kingdom, I will go back to the Queen.
You must know that she was conducted to the Great Kaan, who gave her
an honourable reception, and caused her to be served with all state,
like a great lady as she was. But as for the King her husband, he never
more did quit the isles of the sea to which he had fled, but died
there. So leave we him and his wife and all their concerns, and let us
return to our story, and go on regularly with our account of the great
province of Manzi and of the manners and customs of its people. And, to
begin at the beginning, we must go back to the city of Coiganju, from
which we digressed to tell you about the conquest of Manzi.
NOTE 1.—_Faghfúr_ or _Baghbúr_ was a title applied by old Persian
and Arabic writers to the Emperor of China, much in the way that we
used to speak of the _Great Mogul_, and our fathers of the _Sophy_.
It is, as Neumann points out, an old Persian translation of the
Chinese title _Tien-tzŭ_, “Son of Heaven”; _Bagh-Púr_ = “The Son
of the Divinity,” as Sapor or _Sháh-Púr_ = “The Son of the King.”
_Faghfur_ seems to have been used as a proper name in Turkestan.
(See _Baber_, 423.)
There is a word, _Takfúr_, applied similarly by the Mahomedans to
the Greek emperors of both Byzantium and Trebizond (and also to the
Kings of Cilician Armenia), which was perhaps adopted as a jingling
match to the former term; Faghfur, the great infidel king in the
East; Takfur, the great infidel king in the West. Defrémery says
this is Armenian, _Tagavor_, “a king.” (_I. B._, II. 393, 427.)
[“The last of the Sung Emperors (1276) ‘Facfur’ (_i.e._ the Arabic
for _Tien Tzŭ_) was freed by Kúblái from the (ancient Kotan)
indignity of surrendering with a rope round his neck, leading a
sheep, and he received the title of Duke. In 1288 he went to Tibet
to study Buddhism, and in 1296 he and his mother, Ts’iuen T’aï How,
became a bonze and a nun, and were allowed to hold 360 _k’ing_ (say
5000 acres) of land free of taxes under the then existing laws.”
(_E. H. Parker, China Review_, February, March 1901, p. 195.)—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—Nevertheless the history of the conquest shows instances
of extraordinary courage and self-devotion on the part of Chinese
officers, especially in the defence of fortresses—virtues often
shown in like degree, under like circumstances, by the same class,
in the modern history of China.
NOTE 3.—Bayan (signifying “great” or “noble”) is a name of very
old renown among the Nomad nations, for we find it as that of the
Khagan of the Avars in the 6th century. The present BAYAN, Kúblái’s
most famous lieutenant, was of princely birth, in the Mongol
tribe called Barin. In his youth he served in the West of Asia
under Hulaku. According to Rashiduddin, about 1265 he was sent to
Cathay with certain ambassadors of the Kaan’s who were returning
thither. He was received with great distinction by Kúblái, who was
greatly taken with his prepossessing appearance and ability, and a
command was assigned him. In 1273, after the capture of Siang-Yang
(_infra_, ch. lxx.) the Kaan named him to the chief command in the
prosecution of the war against the Sung Dynasty. Whilst Bayan was
in the full tide of success, Kúblái, alarmed by the ravages of
Kaidu on the Mongolian frontier, recalled him to take the command
there, but, on the general’s remonstrance, he gave way, and made
him a minister of state (CHINGSIANG). The essential part of his
task was completed by the surrender of the capital _King-szé_
(Lin-ngan, now Hang-chau) to his arms in the beginning of 1276. He
was then recalled to court, and immediately despatched to Mongolia,
where he continued in command for seventeen years, his great
business being to keep down the restless Kaidu. [“The biography of
this valiant captain is found in the _Yuen-shi_ (ch. cxxvii.). It
is quite in accordance with the biographical notices Rashid gives
of the same personage. He calls him _Bayan_.” (_Bretschneider, Med.
Res._ I. p. 271, note).]
[“The inventory, records, etc., of Kinsai, mentioned by Marco Polo,
as also the letter from the old empress, are undoubted facts:
complete stock was taken, and 5,692,656 souls were added to the
population (in the two Chêh alone). The Emperor surrendered in
person to Bayan a few days after his official surrender, which
took place on the 18th day of the 1st moon in 1276. Bayan took the
Emperor to see Kúblái.” (_E. H. Parker, China Review_, XXIV. p.
105.)—H. C.]
In 1293, enemies tried to poison the emperor’s ear against Bayan,
and they seemed to have succeeded; for Kúblái despatched his heir,
the Prince Teimur, to supersede him in the frontier command.
Bayan beat Kaidu once more, and then made over his command with
characteristic dignity. On his arrival at court, Kúblái received
him with the greatest honour, and named him chief minister of state
and commandant of his guards and the troops about Cambaluc. The
emperor died in the beginning of the next year (1294), and Bayan’s
high position enabled him to take decisive measures for preserving
order, and maintaining Kúblái’s disposition of the succession.
Bayan was raised to still higher dignities, but died at the age of
59, within less than a year of the master whom he had served so
well for 30 years (about January, 1295). After his death, according
to the peculiar Chinese fashion, he received yet further accessions
of dignity.
The language of Chinese historians in speaking of this great man
is thus rendered by De Mailla; it is a noble eulogy of a Tartar
warrior:—
“He was endowed with a lofty genius, and possessed in the highest
measure the art of handling great bodies of troops. When he marched
against the Sung, he directed the movements of 200,000 men with
as much ease and coolness as if there had been but one man under
his orders. All his officers looked up to him as a prodigy; and
having absolute trust in his capacity, they obeyed him with entire
submission. Nobody knew better how to deal with soldiers, or to
moderate their ardour when it carried them too far. He was never
seen sad except when forced to shed blood, for he was sparing even
of the blood of his enemy.... His modesty was not inferior to his
ability.... He would attribute all the honour to the conduct of
his officers, and he was ever ready to extol their smallest feats.
He merited the praises of Chinese as well as Mongols, and both
nations long regretted the loss of this great man.” De Mailla gives
a different account from Rashiduddin and Gaubil, of the manner in
which Bayan first entered the Kaan’s service. (_Gaubil_, 145, 159,
169, 179, 183, 221, 223–224; _Erdmann_, 222–223; _De Mailla_, IX.
335, 458, 461–463.)
NOTE 4.—As regards Bayan personally, and the main body under his
command, this seems to be incorrect. His advance took place from
Siang-yang along the lines of the Han River and of the Great Kiang.
Another force indeed marched direct upon Yang-chau, and therefore
probably by Hwai-ngan chau (_infra_, p. 152); and it is noted
that Bayan’s orders to the generals of this force were to spare
bloodshed. (_Gaubil_, 159; _D’Ohsson_, II. 398.)
NOTE 5.—So in our own age ran the Hindu prophecy that Bhartpúr
should never fall till there came a great alligator against it; and
when it fell to the English assault, the Brahmans found that the
name of the leader was COMBERMERE = _Kumhír-Mír_, the Crocodile
Lord!
——“Be those juggling fiends no more believed
That palter with us in a double sense;
That keep the word of promise to our ear
And break it to our hope!”
It would seem from the expression, both in Pauthier’s text and in
the G. T., as if Polo intended to say that _Chincsan_ (Cinqsan)
meant “One Hundred Eyes”; and if so we could have no stronger proof
of his ignorance of Chinese. It is _Pe-yen_, the Chinese form of
_Bayan_, that means, or rather may be punningly rendered, “One
Hundred Eyes.” Chincsan, _i.e._ _Ching-siang_, was the title of the
superior ministers of state at Khanbaligh, as we have already seen.
The title occurs pretty frequently in the Persian histories of the
Mongols, and frequently as a Mongol title in Sanang Setzen. We find
it also disguised as _Chyansam_ in a letter from certain Christian
nobles at Khanbaligh, which Wadding quotes from the Papal archives.
(See _Cathay_, pp. 314–315.)
But it is right to observe that in the Ramusian version the
mistranslation which we have noticed is not so undubitable:
“Volendo sapere come avea nome il Capitano nemico, le fu detto,
_Chinsambaian_, cioè _Cent’occhi_.”
A kind of corroboration of Marco’s story, but giving a different
form to the pun, has been found by Mr. W. F. Mayers, of the
Diplomatic Department in China, in a Chinese compilation dating
from the latter part of the 14th century. Under the heading, “_A
Kiang-nan Prophecy_,” this book states that prior to the fall of
the Sung a prediction ran through Kiang-nan: “If Kiang-nan fall, a
hundred wild geese (_Pê-yen_) will make their appearance.” This,
it is added, was not understood till the generalissimo _Peyen
Chingsiang_ made his appearance on the scene. “Punning prophecies
of this kind are so common in Chinese history, that the above is
only worth noticing in connection with Marco Polo’s story.” (_N.
and Q., China and Japan_, vol. ii. p. 162.)
But I should suppose that the Persian historian Wassáf had also
heard a bungled version of the same story, which he tells in a
pointless manner of the fortress of _Sináfúr_ (evidently a clerical
error for _Saianfu_, see below, ch. lxx.): “Payan ordered this
fortress to be assaulted. The garrison had heard how the capital
of China had fallen, and the army of Payan was drawing near. The
commandant was an experienced veteran who had tasted all the
sweets and bitters of fortune, and had borne the day’s heat and
the night’s cold; he had, as the saw goes, milked the world’s cow
dry. So he sent word to Payan: ‘In my youth’ (here we abridge
Wassáf’s rigmarole) ‘I heard my father tell that this fortress
should be taken by a man called _Payan_, and that all fencing and
trenching, fighting and smiting, would be of no avail. You need
not, therefore, bring an army hither; we give in; we surrender the
fortress and all that is therein.’ So they opened the gates and
came down.” (_Wassáf_, Hammer’s ed., p. 41).
NOTE 6.—There continues in this narrative, with a general truth
as to the course of events, a greater amount of error as to
particulars than we should have expected. The Sung Emperor Tu
Tsong, a debauched and effeminate prince, to whom Polo seems to
refer, had died in 1274, leaving young children only. Chaohien, the
second son, a boy of four years of age, was put on the throne, with
his grandmother Siechi, as regent. The approach of Bayan caused
the greatest alarm; the Sung Court made humble propositions, but
they were not listened to. The brothers of the young emperor were
sent off by sea into the southern provinces; the empress regent
was also pressed to make her escape with the young emperor, but,
after consenting, she changed her mind and would not move. The
Mongols arrived before King-szé, and the empress sent the great
seal of the empire to Bayan. He entered the city without resistance
in the third month (say April), 1276, riding at the head of his
whole staff with the standard of the general-in-chief before him.
It is remarked that he went to look at the tide in the River
Tsien Tang, which is noted for its bore. He declined to meet the
regent and her grandson, pleading that he was ignorant of the
etiquettes proper to such an interview. Before his entrance Bayan
had nominated a joint-commission of Mongol and Chinese officers
to the government of the city, and appointed a committee to take
charge of all the public documents, maps, drawings, records of
courts, and seals of all public offices, and to plant sentinels
at necessary points. The emperor, his mother, and the rest of
the Sung princes and princesses, were despatched to the Mongol
capital. A desperate attempt was made, at Kwa-chau (_infra_, ch.
lxxii.) to recapture the young emperor, but it failed. On their
arrival at Ta-tu, Kúblái’s chief queen, Jamui Khatun, treated them
with delicate consideration. This amiable lady, on being shown
the spoils that came from Lin-ngan, only wept, and said to her
husband, “So also shall it be with the Mongol empire one day!”
The eldest of the two boys who had escaped was proclaimed emperor
by his adherents at Fu-chau, in Fo-kien, but they were speedily
driven from that province (where the local histories, as Mr. G.
Phillips informs me, preserve traces of their adventures in the
Islands of Amoy Harbour), and the young emperor died on a desert
island off the Canton coast in 1278. His younger brother took his
place, but a battle, in the beginning of 1279 finally extinguished
these efforts of the expiring dynasty, and the minister jumped
with his young lord into the sea. It is curious that Rashiduddin,
with all his opportunities of knowledge, writing at least twenty
years later, was not aware of this, for he speaks of the Prince of
Manzi as still a fugitive in the forests between Zayton and Canton.
(_Gaubil; D’Ohsson; De Mailla; Cathay_, p. 272.) [See _Parker_,
_supra_, p. 148 and 149.—H. C.]
There is a curious account in the _Lettres Édifiantes_ (xxiv. 45
_seqq._) by P. Parrenin of a kind of _Pariah_ caste at Shao-hing
(see ch. lxxix. note 1), who were popularly believed to be the
descendants of the great lords of the Sung Court, condemned to that
degraded condition for obstinately resisting the Mongols. Another
notice, however, makes the degraded body rebels against the Sung.
(_Milne_, p. 218.)
NOTE 7.—There is much about the exposure of children, and about
Chinese foundling hospitals, in the _Lettres Édifiantes_,
especially in Recueil xv. 83, _seqq._ It is there stated that
frequently a person not in circumstances to _pay_ for a wife for
his son, would visit the foundling hospital to seek one. The
childless rich also would sometimes get children there to pass
off as their own; _adopted_ children being excluded from certain
valuable privileges.
Mr. Milne (_Life in China_), and again Mr. Medhurst (_Foreigner
in Far Cathay_), have discredited the great prevalence of infant
exposure in China; but since the last work was published, I have
seen the translation of a recent strong remonstrance against the
practice by a Chinese writer, which certainly implied that it was
_very_ prevalent in the writer’s own province. Unfortunately, I
have lost the reference. [See _Father G. Palatre, L’Infanticide et
l’Œuvre de la Ste. Enfance en Chine_, 1878.—H. C.]
CHAPTER LXVI.
CONCERNING THE CITY OF COIGANJU.
Coiganju is, as I have told you already, a very large city standing
at the entrance to Manzi. The people are Idolaters and burn their
dead, and are subject to the Great Kaan. They have a vast amount of
shipping, as I mentioned before in speaking of the River Caramoran.
And an immense quantity of merchandize comes hither, for the city
is the seat of government for this part of the country. Owing to its
being on the river, many cities send their produce thither to be again
thence distributed in every direction. A great amount of salt also is
made here, furnishing some forty other cities with that article, and
bringing in a large revenue to the Great Kaan.{1}
NOTE 1.—Coiganju is HWAI-NGAN CHAU, now _-Fu_, on the canal, some
miles south of the channel of the Hwang-Ho; but apparently in
Polo’s time the great river passed close to it. Indeed, the city
takes its name from the River _Hwai_, into which the Hwang-Ho sent
a branch when first seeking a discharge south of Shantung. The city
extends for about 3 miles along the canal and much below its level.
[According to Sir J. F. Davis, the situation of Hwai-ngan “is in
every respect remarkable. A part of the town was so much below the
level of the canal, that only the tops of the walls (at least 25
feet high) could be seen from our boats.... It proved to be, next
to Tien-tsin, by far the largest and most populous place we had yet
seen, the capital itself excepted.” (_Sketches of China_, I. pp.
277–278.)—H. C.]
The headquarters of the salt manufacture of Hwai-ngan is a place
called Yen-ching (“Salt-Town”), some distance to the S. of the
former city (_Pauthier_).
CHAPTER LXVII.
OF THE CITIES OF PAUKIN AND CAYU.
When you leave Coiganju you ride south-east for a day along a causeway
laid with fine stone, which you find at this entrance to Manzi. On
either hand there is a great expanse of water, so that you cannot
enter the province except along this causeway. At the end of the day’s
journey you reach the fine city of PAUKIN. The people are Idolaters,
burn their dead, are subject to the Great Kaan, and use paper-money.
They live by trade and manufactures and have great abundance of silk,
whereof they weave a great variety of fine stuffs of silk and gold. Of
all the necessaries of life there is great store.
When you leave Paukin you ride another day to the south-east, and then
you arrive at the city of CAYU. The people are Idolaters (and so
forth). They live by trade and manufactures and have great store of
all necessaries, including fish in great abundance. There is also much
game, both beast and bird, insomuch that for a Venice groat you can
have three good pheasants.{1}
NOTE 1.—Paukin is PAO-YING-Hien [a populous place, considerably
below the level of the canal (_Davis, Sketches_, I. pp. 279–280)];
Cayu is KAO-YU-chau, both cities on the east side of the canal.
At Kao-yu, the country east of the canal lies some 20 feet below
the canal level; so low indeed that the walls of the city are not
visible from the further bank of the canal. To the west is the
Kao-yu Lake, one of the expanses of water spoken of by Marco, and
which threatens great danger to the low country on the east. (See
_Alabaster’s Journey_ in _Consular Reports_ above quoted, p. 5 [and
_Gandar, Canal Impérial_, p. 17.—H. C.].)
There is a fine drawing of Pao-ying, by Alexander, in the Staunton
collection, British Museum.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
OF THE CITIES OF TIJU, TINJU, AND YANJU.
When you leave Cayu, you ride another day to the south-east through
a constant succession of villages and fields and fine farms until
you come to TIJU, which is a city of no great size but abounding in
everything. The people are Idolaters (and so forth). There is a great
amount of trade, and they have many vessels. And you must know that
on your left hand, that is towards the east, and three days’ journey
distant, is the Ocean Sea. At every place between the sea and the
city salt is made in great quantities. And there is a rich and noble
city called TINJU, at which there is produced salt enough to supply
the whole province, and I can tell you it brings the Great Kaan an
incredible revenue. The people are Idolaters and subject to the Kaan.
Let us quit this, however, and go back to Tiju.{1}
Again, leaving Tiju, you ride another day towards the south-east,
and at the end of your journey you arrive at the very great and noble
city of YANJU, which has seven-and-twenty other wealthy cities under
its administration; so that this Yanju is, you see, a city of great
importance.{2} It is the seat of one of the Great Kaan’s Twelve Barons,
for it has been chosen to be one of the Twelve _Sings_. The people
are Idolaters and use paper-money, and are subject to the Great Kaan.
And Messer Marco Polo himself, of whom this book speaks, did govern
this city for three full years, by the order of the Great Kaan.{3} The
people live by trade and manufactures, for a great amount of harness
for knights and men-at-arms is made there. And in this city and its
neighbourhood a large number of troops are stationed by the Kaan’s
orders.
There is no more to say about it. So now I will tell you about two
great provinces of Manzi which lie towards the west. And first of that
called Nanghin.
NOTE 1.—Though the text would lead us to look for _Tiju_ on the
direct line between Kao-yu and Yang-chau, and like them on the
canal bank (indeed one MS., C. of Pauthier, specifies its standing
on the same river as the cities already passed, _i.e._ on the
canal), we seem constrained to admit the general opinion that this
is TAI-CHAU, a town lying some 25 miles at least to the eastward of
the canal, but apparently connected with it by a navigable channel.
_Tinju_ or _Chinju_ (for both the G. T. and Ramusio read _Cingui_)
cannot be identified with certainty. But I should think it likely,
from Polo’s “geographical style,” that when he spoke of the sea
as three days distant he had this city in view, and that it is
probably TUNG-CHAU, near the northern shore of the estuary of
the Yang-tzŭ, which might be fairly described as three days from
Tai-chau. Mr. Kingsmill identifies it with I-chin hien, the great
port on the Kiang for the export of the Yang-chau salt. This is
possible; but I-chin lies _west_ of the canal, and though the
form _Chinju_ would really represent I-chin as then named, such a
position seems scarcely compatible with the way, vague as it is, in
which Tinju or Chinju is introduced. Moreover, we shall see that
I-chin is spoken of hereafter. (_Kingsmill_ in _N. and Q. Ch. and
Japan_, I. 53.)
NOTE 2.—Happily, there is no doubt that this is YANG-CHAU, one
of the oldest and most famous great cities of China. [Abulfeda
(_Guyard_, II. ii. 122) says that Yang-chau is the capital of the
Faghfûr of China, and that he is called Tamghâdj-khan.—H. C.] Some
five-and-thirty years after Polo’s departure from China, Friar
Odoric found at this city a House of his own Order (Franciscans),
and three Nestorian churches. The city also appears in the Catalan
Map as _Iangio_. Yang-chau suffered greatly in the T’aï-P’ing
rebellion, but its position is an “obligatory point” for commerce,
and it appears to be rapidly recovering its prosperity. It is the
headquarters of the salt manufacture, and it is also now noted for
a great manufacture of sweetmeats (See _Alabaster’s Report_, as
above, p. 6.)
[Illustration: Yang chau: the three Cities Under the Sung.]
[Through the kindness of the late Father H. Havret, S.J., of
Zi-ka-wei, I am enabled to give two plans from the Chronicles of
Yang-chau, _Yang-chau fu ché_ (ed. 1733); one bears the title: “The
Three Cities under the Sung,” and the other: “The Great City under
the Sung.” The three cities are _Pao yew cheng_, built in 1256,
_Sin Pao-cheng_ or _Kia cheng_, built after 1256, and _Tacheng_,
the “Great City,” built in 1175; in 1357, Ta cheng was rebuilt,
and in 1557 it was augmented, taking the place of the three cities;
from 553 B.C. until the 12th century, Yang-chau had no less than
five enclosures; the governor’s yamen stood where a cross is marked
in the Great City. Since Yang-chau has been laid in ruins by the
T’aï-P’ing insurgents, these plans offer now a new interest.—H. C.]
[Illustration: Yang-chau: the Great City under the Sung.]
NOTE 3.—What I have rendered “Twelve _Sings_” is in the G. T.
“douze _sajes_,” and in Pauthier’s text “_sieges_.” It seems to me
a reasonable conclusion that the original word was _Sings_ (see I.
432, _supra_); anyhow that was the proper term for the thing meant.
In his note on this chapter, Pauthier produces evidence that
Yang-chau was the seat of a _Lu_ or circuit[1] from 1277, and also
of a _Sing_ or Government-General, but only for the first year
after the conquest, viz. 1276–1277, and he seems (for his argument
is obscure) to make from this the unreasonable deduction that at
this period Kúblái placed Marco Polo—who could not be more than
twenty-three years of age, and had been but two years in Cathay—in
charge either of the general government, or of an important
district government in the most important province of the empire.
In a later note M. Pauthier speaks of 1284 as the date at which the
_Sing_ of the province of Kiang-ché was transferred from Yang-chau
to Hang-chau; this is probably to be taken as a correction of
the former citations, and it better justifies Polo’s statement.
(_Pauthier_, pp. 467, 492.)
I do not think that we are to regard Marco as having held at any
time the important post of Governor-General of Kiang-ché. The
expressions in the G. T. are: “_Meser Marc Pol meisme, celui de
cui trate ceste livre, seingneurie ceste cité por trois anz._”
Pauthier’s MS. A. appears to read: “_Et ot seigneurie, Marc Pol, en
ceste cité, trois ans._” These expressions probably point to the
government of the _Lu_ or circuit of Yang-chau, just as we find in
ch. lxxiii. another Christian, Mar Sarghis, mentioned as Governor
of Chin-kiang fu for the same term of years, that city being also
the head of a _Lu_. It is remarkable that in Pauthier’s MS. C.,
which often contains readings of peculiar value, the passage runs
(and also in the Bern MS.): “_Et si vous dy que ledit Messire Marc
Pol, cellui meisme de qui nostre livre parle_, sejourna, _en ceste
cité de Janguy_ .iii. _ans accompliz, par le commandement du Grant
Kaan_,” in which the nature of his employment is not indicated
at all (though _séjourna_ may be an error for _seigneura_). The
impression of his having been Governor-General is mainly due to the
Ramusian version, which says distinctly indeed that “_M. Marco Polo
di commissione del Gran Can n’ebbe il governo tre anni continui_
in luogo di un dei detti Baroni,” but it is very probable that
this is a gloss of the translator. I should conjecture his rule at
Yang-chau to have been between 1282, when we know he was at the
capital (vol. i. p. 422), and 1287–1288, when he must have gone on
his first expedition to the Indian Seas.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] The _Lu_ or Circuit was an administrative division under the
Mongols, intermediate between the _Sing_ and the _Fu_, or
department. There were 185 _lu_ in all China under Kúblái.
(_Pauth._ 333). [_Mr. E. L. Oxenham, Hist. Atlas Chin. Emp._,
reckons 10 provinces or _sheng_, 39 _fu_ cities, 316 _chau_, 188
_lu_, 12 military governorships.—H. C.]
CHAPTER LXIX.
CONCERNING THE CITY OF NANGHIN.
Nanghin is a very noble Province towards the west. The people are
Idolaters (and so forth) and live by trade and manufactures. They have
silk in great abundance, and they weave many fine tissues of silk and
gold. They have all sorts of corn and victuals very cheap, for the
province is a most productive one. Game also is abundant, and lions
too are found there. The merchants are great and opulent, and the
Emperor draws a large revenue from them, in the shape of duties on the
goods which they buy and sell.{1}
And now I will tell you of the very noble city of Saianfu, which well
deserves a place in our book, for there is a matter of great moment to
tell about it.
NOTE 1.—The name and direction from Yang-chau are probably
sufficient to indicate (as Pauthier has said) that this is
NGAN-KING on the Kiang, capital of the modern province of
Ngan-hwei. The more celebrated city of _Nan-king_ did not bear that
name in our traveller’s time.
Ngan-king, when recovered from the T’aï-P’ing in 1861, was the
scene of a frightful massacre by the Imperialists. They are said to
have left neither man, woman, nor child alive in the unfortunate
city. (_Blakiston_, p. 55.)
CHAPTER LXX.
CONCERNING THE VERY NOBLE CITY OF SAIANFU, AND HOW ITS
CAPTURE WAS EFFECTED.
Saianfu is a very great and noble city, and it rules over twelve
other large and rich cities, and is itself a seat of great trade and
manufacture. The people are Idolaters (and so forth). They have much
silk, from which they weave fine silken stuffs; they have also a
quantity of game, and in short the city abounds in all that it behoves
a noble city to possess.
Now you must know that this city held out against the Great Kaan for
three years after the rest of Manzi had surrendered. The Great Kaan’s
troops made incessant attempts to take it, but they could not succeed
because of the great and deep waters that were round about it, so that
they could approach from one side only, which was the north. And I tell
you they never would have taken it, but for a circumstance that I am
going to relate.
You must know that when the Great Kaan’s host had lain three years
before the city without being able to take it, they were greatly
chafed thereat. Then Messer Nicolo Polo and Messer Maffeo and Messer
Marco said: “We could find you a way of forcing the city to surrender
speedily;” whereupon those of the army replied, that they would be
right glad to know how that should be. All this talk took place in the
presence of the Great Kaan. For messengers had been despatched from
the camp to tell him that there was no taking the city by blockade,
for it continually received supplies of victual from those sides which
they were unable to invest; and the Great Kaan had sent back word that
take it they must, and find a way how. Then spoke up the two brothers
and Messer Marco the son, and said: “Great Prince, we have with us
among our followers men who are able to construct mangonels which shall
cast such great stones that the garrison will never be able to stand
them, but will surrender incontinently, as soon as the mangonels or
trebuchets shall have shot into the town.”{1}
The Kaan bade them with all his heart have such mangonels made as
speedily as possible. Now Messer Nicolo and his brother and his son
immediately caused timber to be brought, as much as they desired, and
fit for the work in hand. And they had two men among their followers,
a German and a Nestorian Christian, who were masters of that business,
and these they directed to construct two or three mangonels capable of
casting stones of 300 lbs. weight. Accordingly they made three fine
mangonels, each of which cast stones of 300 lbs. weight and more.{2}
And when they were complete and ready for use, the Emperor and the
others were greatly pleased to see them, and caused several stones to
be shot in their presence; whereat they marvelled greatly and greatly
praised the work. And the Kaan ordered that the engines should be
carried to his army which was at the leaguer of Saianfu.{3}
And when the engines were got to the camp they were forthwith set up,
to the great admiration of the Tartars. And what shall I tell you? When
the engines were set up and put in gear, a stone was shot from each of
them into the town. These took effect among the buildings, crashing
and smashing through everything with huge din and commotion. And when
the townspeople witnessed this new and strange visitation they were
so astonished and dismayed that they wist not what to do or say. They
took counsel together, but no counsel could be suggested how to escape
from these engines, for the thing seemed to them to be done by sorcery.
They declared that they were all dead men if they yielded not, so
they determined to surrender on such conditions as they could get.{4}
Wherefore they straightway sent word to the commander of the army that
they were ready to surrender on the same terms as the other cities of
the province had done, and to become the subjects of the Great Kaan;
and to this the captain of the host consented.
So the men of the city surrendered, and were received to terms; and
this all came about through the exertions of Messer Nicolo, and Messer
Maffeo, and Messer Marco; and it was no small matter. For this city and
province is one of the best that the Great Kaan possesses, and brings
him in great revenues.{5}
NOTE 1.—Pauthier’s MS. C. here says: “When the Great Kaan, and the
Barons about him, and the messengers from the camp ... heard this,
they all marvelled greatly; for I tell you that in all those parts
they know nothing of mangonels or trebuchets; and they were so far
from being accustomed to employ them in their wars that they had
never even seen them, nor knew what they were.” The MS. in question
has in this narrative several statements peculiar to itself,[1]
as indeed it has in various other passages of the book; and these
often look very like the result of revision by Polo himself. Yet
I have not introduced the words just quoted into our text, because
they are, as we shall see presently, notoriously contrary to fact.
NOTE 2.—The same MS. has here a passage which I am unable to
understand. After the words “300 lbs. and more,” it goes on: “Et
la veoit l’en voler moult loing, desquelles pierres _il en y avoit
plus de_ lx _routes qui tant montoit l’une comme l’autre_.” The Bern
has the same. [Perhaps we might read lx _en routes_, viz. on their
way.—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—I propose here to enter into some detailed explanation
regarding the military engines that were in use in the Middle
Ages.[2] None of these depended for their motive force on _torsion_
like the chief engines used in classic times. However numerous
the names applied to them, with reference to minor variations in
construction or differences in power, they may all be reduced
to two classes, viz. _great slings_ and _great crossbows_. And
this is equally true of all the three great branches of mediæval
civilisation—European, Saracenic, and Chinese. To the first class
belonged the _Trebuchet_ and _Mangonel_; to the second, the
_Winch-Arblast_ (Arbalète à Tour), _Springold_ etc.
Whatever the ancient _Balista_ may have been, the word in mediæval
Latin seems always to mean some kind of crossbow. The heavier
crossbows were wound up by various aids, such as winches, ratchets,
etc. They discharged stone shot, leaden bullets, and short,
square-shafted arrows called _quarrels_, and these with such force
we are told as to pierce a six-inch post (?). But they were worked
so slowly in the field that they were no match for the long-bow,
which shot five or six times to their once. The great machines
of this kind were made of wood, of steel, and very frequently of
horn;[3] and the bow was sometimes more than 30 feet in length.
Dufour calculates that such a machine could shoot an arrow of half
a kilogram in weight to a distance of about 860 yards.
The _Trebuchet_ consisted of a long tapering shaft or beam, pivoted
at a short distance from the butt end on a pair of strong pyramidal
trestles. At the other end of the shaft a sling was applied, one
cord of which was firmly attached by a ring, whilst the other hung
in a loop over an iron hook which formed the extremity of the
shaft. The power employed to discharge the sling was either the
strength of a number of men, applied to ropes which were attached
to the short end of the shaft or lever, or the weight of a heavy
counterpoise hung from the same, and suddenly released.
[Illustration: Mediæval Artillery Engines. Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Chinese; Figs. 6, 7, 8, Saracenic; the rest Frank.]
Supposing the latter force to be employed, the long end of the
shaft was drawn down by a windlass; the sling was laid forward in
a wooden trough provided for it, and charged with the shot. The
counterpoise was, of course, now aloft, and was so maintained by a
detent provided with a trigger. On pulling this, the counterpoise
falls and the shaft flies upwards drawing the sling. When a certain
point is reached the loop end of the sling releases itself from the
hook, and the sling flies abroad whilst the shot is projected in
its parabolic flight.[4] To secure the most favourable result the
shot should have acquired its maximum velocity, and should escape
at an angle of about 45°. The attainment of this required certain
proportions between the different dimensions of the machine and
the weight of the shot, for which, doubtless, traditional rules of
thumb existed among the mediæval engineers.
The ordinary shot consisted of stones carefully rounded. But
for these were substituted on occasion rough stones with fuses
attached,[5] pieces of red-hot iron, pots of fused metal, or casks
full of Greek fire or of foul matter to corrupt the air of the
besieged place. Thus carrion was shot into Negropont from such
engines by Mahomed II. The Cardinal Octavian, besieging Modena in
1249, slings a dead ass into the town. Froissart several times
mentions such measures, as at the siege of Thin l’Evêque on the
Scheldt in 1340, when “the besiegers by their engines flung dead
horses and other carrion into the castle to poison the garrison by
their smell.” In at least one instance the same author tells how a
living man, an unlucky messenger from the Castle of Auberoche, was
caught by the besiegers, thrust into the sling with the letters
that he bore hung round his neck, and shot into Auberoche, where
he fell dead among his horrified comrades. And Lipsius quotes
from a Spanish Chronicle the story of a virtuous youth, Pelagius,
who, by order of the Tyrant Abderramin, was shot across the
Guadalquivir, but lighted unharmed upon the rocks beyond. Ramon
de Muntaner relates how King James of Aragon, besieging Majorca
in 1228, vowed vengeance against the Saracen King because he shot
Christian prisoners into the besiegers’ camp with his trebuchets
(pp. 223–224). We have mentioned one kind of corruption propagated
by these engines; the historian Wassáf tells of another. When
the garrison of Dehli refused to open the gates to Aláuddin
Khilji after the murder of his uncle, Firúz (1296), he loaded his
mangonels with bags of gold and shot them into the fort, a measure
which put an end to the opposition.
Ibn Batuta, forty years later, describes Mahomed Tughlak as
entering Dehli accompanied by elephants carrying small _balistae_
(_ra’ádát_), from which gold and silver pieces were shot among the
crowd. And the same king, when he had given the crazy and cruel
order that the population of Dehli should evacuate the city and
depart to Deogir, 900 miles distant, having found two men skulking
behind, one of whom was paralytic and the other blind, caused the
former to be shot from a mangonel. (_I. B._ III. 395, 315.)
Some old drawings represent the shaft as discharging the shot
from a kind of spoon at its extremity, without the aid of a sling
(_e.g._ fig. 13); but it may be doubted if this was actually used,
for the sling was essential to the efficiency of the engine. The
experiments and calculations of Dufour show that without the sling,
other things remaining the same, the range of the shot would be
reduced by more than a half.
In some of these engines the counterpoise, consisting of a timber
case filled with stones, sand, or the like, was permanently
fixed to the butt-end of the shaft. This seems to have been the
_Trebuchet_ proper. In others the counterpoise hung free on a pivot
from the yard; whilst a third kind (as in fig. 17) combined both
arrangements. The first kind shot most steadily and truly; the
second with more force.
Those machines, in which the force of men pulling cords took the
place of the counterpoise, could not discharge such weighty shot,
but they could be worked more rapidly, and no doubt could be made
of lighter scantling. Mr. Hewitt points out a curious resemblance
between this kind of Trebuchet and the apparatus used on the Thames
to raise the cargo from the hold of a collier.
The Emperor Napoleon deduces from certain passages in mediæval
writers that the _Mangonel_ was similar to the Trebuchet, but
of lighter structure and power. But often certainly the term
Mangonel seems to be used generically for all machines of this
class. Marino Sanudo uses no word but _Machina_, which he appears
to employ as the Latin equivalent of _Mangonel_, whilst the machine
which he describes is a Trebuchet with moveable counterpoise. The
history of the word appears to be the following. The Greek word
μάγγανον, “a piece of witchcraft,” came to signify a juggler’s
trick, an unexpected contrivance (in modern slang “_a jim_”), and
so specially a military engine. It seems to have reached this
specific meaning by the time of Hero the Younger, who is believed
to have written in the first half of the 7th century. From the
form μαγγανικὸν the Orientals got _Manganíḳ_ and _Manjániḳ_,[6]
whilst the Franks adopted _Mangona_ and _Mangonella_. Hence the
verbs _manganare_ and _amanganare_, to batter and crush with such
engines, and eventually our verb “to mangle.” Again, when the use
of gunpowder rendered these warlike engines obsolete, perhaps their
ponderous counterweights were utilised in the peaceful arts of
the laundry, and hence gave us our substantive “the Mangle” (It.
_Mangano_)!
The Emperor Napoleon, when Prince President, caused some
interesting experiments in the matter of mediæval artillery to
be carried out at Vincennes, and a full-sized trebuchet was
constructed there. With a shaft of 33 feet 9 inches in length,
having a permanent counterweight of 3300 lbs. and a pivoted
counterweight of 6600 lbs. more, the utmost effect attained
was the discharge of an iron 24-kilo. shot to a range of 191
yards, whilst a 12½-inch shell, filled with earth, ranged to 131
yards. The machine suffered greatly at each discharge, and it
was impracticable to increase the counterpoise to 8000 kilos.,
or 17,600 lbs. as the Prince desired. It was evident that the
machine was not of sufficiently massive structure. But the
officers in charge satisfied themselves that, with practice in
such constructions and the use of very massive timber, even the
exceptional feats recorded of mediæval engineers might be realised.
Such a case is that cited by Quatremère, from an Oriental author,
of the discharge of stones weighing 400 _mans_, certainly not
less than 800 lbs., and possibly much more; or that of the Men
of Bern, who are reported, when besieging Nidau in 1388, to have
employed trebuchets which shot daily into the town upwards of 200
blocks weighing 12 cwt. apiece.[7] Stella relates that the Genoese
armament sent against Cyprus, in 1373, among other great machines
had one called _Troja_ (_Truia_?), which cast stones of 12 to 18
hundredweights; and when the Venetians were besieging the revolted
city of Zara in 1346, their Engineer, Master Francesco delle
Barche, shot into the city stones of 3000 lbs. weight.[8] In this
case the unlucky engineer was “hoist with his own petard,” for
while he stood adjusting one of his engines, it went off, and shot
him into the town.
With reference to such cases the Emperor calculates that a stone
of 3000 lbs. weight might be shot 77 yards with a counterpoise of
36,000 lbs. weight, and a shaft 65 feet long. The counterpoise,
composed of stone shot of 55 lbs. each, might be contained in a
cubical case of about 5½ feet to the side. The machine would be
preposterous, but there is nothing impossible about it. Indeed
in the Album of Villard de Honnecourt, an architect of the 13th
century, which was published at Paris in 1858, in the notes
accompanying a plan of a trebuchet (from which Professor Willis
restored the machine as it is shown in our fig. 19), the artist
remarks: “It is a great job to heave down the beam, for the
counterpoise is very heavy. For it consists of a chest full of
earth which is 2 great toises in length, 8 feet in breadth, and 12
feet in depth”! (p. 203).
Such calculations enable us to understand the enormous quantities
of material said to have been used in some of the larger mediæval
machines. Thus Abulfeda speaks of one used at the final capture of
Acre, which was entrusted to the troops of Hamath, and which formed
a load for 100 carts, of which one was in charge of the historian
himself. The romance of Richard Cœur de Lion tells how in the
King’s Fleet an entire ship was taken up by one such machine with
its gear:—
“Another schyp was laden yet
With an engyne hyghte Robinet,
(It was Richardys o mangonel)
And all the takyl that thereto fel.”
Twenty-four machines, captured from the Saracens by St. Lewis
in his first partial success on the Nile, afforded material for
stockading his whole camp. A great machine which cumbered the
Tower of St. Paul at Orléans, and was dismantled previous to the
celebrated defence against the English, furnished 26 cart-loads of
timber. (_Abulf. Ann. Muslem_, V. 95–97; _Weber_, II. 56; _Michel’s
Joinville_, App. p. 278; _Jollois, H. du Siège d’Orléans_, 1833, p.
12.)
The _number_ of such engines employed was sometimes very great. We
have seen that St. Lewis captured 24 at once, and these had been
employed in the field. Villehardouin says that the fleet which
went from Venice to the attack of Constantinople carried more than
300 perriers and mangonels, besides quantities of other engines
required for a siege (ch. xxxviii). At the siege of Acre in 1291,
just referred to, the Saracens, according to Makrizi, set 92
engines in battery against the city, whilst Abulfaraj says 300, and
a Frank account, of great and small, 666. The larger ones are said
to have shot stones of “a kantar and even more.” (_Makrizi_, III.
125; _Reinaud, Chroniques Arabes, etc._, p. 570; _De Excidio Urbis
Acconis_, in _Martène and Durand_, V. 769.)
How heavy a _mangonade_ was sometimes kept up may be understood
from the account of the operations on the Nile, already alluded
to. The King was trying to run a dam across a branch of the river,
and had protected the head of his work by “cat-castles” or towers
of timber, occupied by archers, and these again supported by
trebuchets, etc., in battery. “And,” says Jean Pierre Sarrasin, the
King’s Chamberlain, “when the Saracens saw what was going on, they
planted a great number of engines against ours, and to destroy our
towers and our causeway they shot such vast quantities of stones,
great and small, that all men stood amazed. They slung stones,
and discharged arrows, and shot quarrels from winch-arblasts, and
pelted us with Turkish darts and Greek fire, and kept up such a
harassment of every kind against our engines and our men working at
the causeway, that it was horrid either to see or to hear. Stones,
darts, arrows, quarrels, and Greek fire came down on them like
rain.”
The Emperor Napoleon observes that the direct or grazing fire of
the great arblasts may be compared to that of guns in more modern
war, whilst the mangonels represent mortar-fire. And this vertical
fire was by no means contemptible, at least against buildings of
ordinary construction. At the sieges of Thin l’Evêque in 1340,
and Auberoche in 1344, already cited, Froissart says the French
cast stones in, night and day, so as in a few days to demolish all
the roofs of the towers, and none within durst venture out of the
vaulted basement.
The Emperor’s experiments showed that these machines were capable
of surprisingly accurate direction. And the mediæval histories
present some remarkable feats of this kind. Thus, in the attack of
Mortagne by the men of Hainault and Valenciennes (1340), the latter
had an engine which was a great annoyance to the garrison; there
was a clever engineer in the garrison who set up another machine
against it, and adjusted it so well that the first shot fell
within 12 paces of the enemy’s engine, the second fell near the
box, and the third struck the shaft and split it in two.
Already in the first half of the 13th century, a French poet
(quoted by Weber) looks forward with disgust to the supercession of
the feats of chivalry by more mechanical methods of war:—
“Chevaliers sont esperdus,
Cil ont auques leur tens perdus;
Arbalestier et mineor
Et perrier et engigneor
Seront dorenavant plus chier.”
When Gházán Khan was about to besiege the castle of Damascus in
1300, so much importance was attached to this art that whilst his
Engineer, a man of reputation therein, was engaged in preparing
the machines, the Governor of the castle offered a reward of 1000
dinars for that personage’s head. And one of the garrison was
daring enough to enter the Mongol camp, stab the Engineer, and
carry back his head into the castle!
Marino Sanudo, about the same time, speaks of the range of these
engines with a prophetic sense of the importance of artillery in
war:—
“On this subject (length of range) the engineers and experts of the
army should employ their very sharpest wits. For if the shot of one
army, whether engine-stones or pointed projectiles, have a longer
range than the shot of the enemy, rest assured that the side whose
artillery hath the longest range will have a vast advantage in
action. Plainly, if the Christian shot can take effect on the Pagan
forces, whilst the Pagan shot cannot reach the Christian forces,
it may be safely asserted that the Christians will continually
gain ground from the enemy, or, in other words, they will win the
battle.”
The importance of these machines in war, and the efforts made
to render them more effective, went on augmenting till the
introduction of the still more “villanous saltpetre,” even then,
however, coming to no sudden halt. Several of the instances that
we have cited of machines of extraordinary power belong to a time
when the use of cannon had made some progress. The old engines were
employed by Timur; in the wars of the Hussites as late as 1422;
and, as we have seen, up to the middle of that century by Mahomed
II. They are also distinctly represented on the towers of Aden, in
the contemporary print of the escalade in 1514, reproduced in this
volume. (Bk. III. ch. xxxvi.)
(_Etudes sur le Passé et l’Avenir de l’Artillerie_, par _L. N.
Bonaparte_, etc., tom. II.; _Marinus Sanutius_, Bk. II. Pt. 4, ch.
xxi. and xxii.; _Kington’s Fred. II._, II. 488; _Froissart_, I. 69,
81, 182; _Elliot_, III. 41, etc.; Hewitt’s _Ancient Armour_, I.
350; _Pertz, Scriptores_, XVIII. 420, 751; _Q. R._ 135–7; _Weber_,
III. 103; _Hammer, Ilch._ II. 95.)
NOTE 4.—Very like this is what the Romance of Cœur de Lion tells
of the effects of Sir Fulke Doyley’s mangonels on the Saracens of
_Ebedy_:—
“Sir Fouke brought good engynes
Swylke knew but fewe Sarazynes—
* * *
A prys tour stood ovyr the Gate;
He bent his engynes and threw thereate
A great stone that harde droff,
That the Tour al to roff
* * *
And slough the folk that therinne stood;
The other fledde and wer nygh wood,
And sayde it was the devylys dent,” etc.—_Weber_, II. 172.
NOTE 5.—This chapter is one of the most perplexing in the whole
book, owing to the chronological difficulties involved.
SAIANFU is SIANG-YANG FU, which stands on the south bank of the
River Han, and with the sister city of Fan-ch’eng, on the opposite
bank, commands the junction of two important approaches to the
southern provinces, viz. that from Shen-si down the Han, and that
from Shan-si and Peking down the Pe-ho. Fan-ch’eng seems now to be
the more important place of the two.
The name given to the city by Polo is precisely that which
Siang-yang bears in Rashiduddin, and there is no room for doubt as
to its identity.
The Chinese historians relate that Kúblái was strongly advised to
make the capture of Siang-yang and Fan-ch’eng a preliminary to his
intended attack upon the Sung. The siege was undertaken in the
latter part of 1268, and the twin cities held out till the spring
[March] of 1273. Nor did Kúblái apparently prosecute any other
operations against the Sung during that long interval.
Now Polo represents that the long siege of Saianfu, instead of
being a prologue to the subjugation of Manzi, was the protracted
epilogue of that enterprise; and he also represents the fall of
the place as caused by advice and assistance rendered by his
father, his uncle, and himself, a circumstance consistent only
with the siege’s having really been such an epilogue to the war.
For, according to the narrative as it stands in all the texts, the
Polos _could not_ have reached the Court of Kúblái before the end
of 1274, _i.e._ a year and a half after the fall of Siang-yang, as
represented in the Chinese histories.
The difficulty is not removed, nor, it appears to me, abated in any
degree, by omitting the name of Marco as one of the agents in this
affair, an omission which occurs both in Pauthier’s MS. B and in
Ramusio. Pauthier suggests that the father and uncle may have given
the advice and assistance in question when on their first visit to
the Kaan, and when the siege of Siang-yang was first contemplated.
But this would be quite inconsistent with the assertion that the
place had held out three years longer than the rest of Manzi, as
well as with the idea that their aid had abridged the duration of
the siege, and, in fact, with the spirit of the whole story. It is
certainly very difficult in this case to justify Marco’s veracity,
but I am very unwilling to believe that there was no justification
in the facts.
It is a very curious circumstance that the historian Wassáf also
appears to represent Saianfu (see note 5, ch. lxv.) as holding out
after all the rest of Manzi had been conquered. Yet the Chinese
annals are systematic, minute, and consequent, and it seems
impossible to attribute to them such a misplacement of an event
which they represent as the key to the conquest of Southern China.
In comparing Marco’s story with that of the Chinese, we find the
same coincidence in prominent features, accompanying a discrepancy
in details, that we have had occasion to notice in other cases
where his narrative intersects history. The Chinese account runs as
follows:—
In 1271, after Siang-yang and Fan-ch’eng had held out already
nearly three years, an Uighúr General serving at the siege,
whose name was Alihaiya, urged the Emperor to send to the West
for engineers expert at the construction and working of machines
casting stones of 150 lbs. weight. With such aid he assured Kúblái
the place would speedily be taken. Kúblái sent to his nephew Ábáká
in Persia for such engineers, and two were accordingly sent post
to China, _Alawating_ of Mufali and his pupil Ysemain of Huli or
Hiulie (probably _Ala’uddin_ of _Miafaraḳain_ and _Ismael_ of
_Heri_ or Herat). Kúblái on their arrival gave them military rank.
They exhibited their skill before the Emperor at Tatu, and in the
latter part of 1272 they reached the camp before Siang-yang, and
set up their engines. The noise made by the machines, and the crash
of the shot as it broke through everything in its fall, caused
great alarm in the garrison. Fan-ch’eng was first taken by assault,
and some weeks later Siang-yang surrendered.
The shot used on this occasion weighed 125 Chinese pounds (if
_catties_, then equal to about 166 _lbs. avoird._), and penetrated
7 or 8 feet into the earth.
Rashiduddin also mentions the siege of Siang-yang, as we learn
from D’Ohsson. He states that as there were in China none of the
_Manjaníks_ or Mangonels called _Kumghá_, the Kaan caused a certain
engineer to be sent from Damascus or Balbek, and the three sons of
this person, Abubakr, Ibrahim, and Mahomed, with their workmen,
constructed seven great Manjaníks which were employed against
SAYANFU, a frontier fortress and bulwark of Manzi.
We thus see that three different notices of the siege of
Siang-yang, Chinese, Persian, and Venetian, all concur as to the
employment of foreign engineers from the West, but all differ as to
the individuals.
We have seen that one of the MSS. makes Polo assert that till this
event the Mongols and Chinese were totally ignorant of mangonels
and trebuchets. This, however, is quite untrue; and it is not very
easy to reconcile even the statement, implied in all versions of
the story, that mangonels of considerable power were unknown in the
far East, with other circumstances related in Mongol history.
The Persian History called _Tabaḳát-i-Násiri_ speaks of Aikah Nowin
the _Manjaníki Khás_ or Engineer-in-Chief to Chinghiz Khan, and his
corps of ten thousand _Manjaníkis_ or Mangonellers. The Chinese
histories used by Gaubil also speak of these artillery battalions
of Chinghiz. At the siege of Kai-fung fu near the Hwang-Ho, the
latest capital of the Kin Emperors, in 1232, the Mongol General,
Subutai, threw from his engines great quarters of millstones which
smashed the battlements and watch-towers on the ramparts, and
even the great timbers of houses in the city. In 1236 we find the
Chinese garrison of Chinchau (_I-chin-hien_ on the Great Kiang near
the Great Canal) repelling the Mongol attack, partly by means of
their stone shot. When Hulaku was about to march against Persia
(1253), his brother, the Great Kaan Mangku, sent to _Cathay_ to
fetch thence 1000 families of mangonellers, naphtha-shooters,
and arblasteers. Some of the crossbows used by these latter had
a range, we are told, of 2500 paces! European history bears some
similar evidence. One of the Tartar characteristics reported by a
fugitive Russian Archbishop, in Matt. Paris (p. 570 under 1244),
is: “_Machinas habent multiplices, recte et fortiter jacientes_.”
It is evident, therefore, that the Mongols and Chinese _had_
engines of war, but that they were deficient in some advantage
possessed by those of the Western nations. Rashiduddin’s expression
as to their having no _Kumghá_ mangonels, seems to be unexplained.
Is it perhaps an error for _Ḳarábughá_, the name given by the
Turks and Arabs to a kind of great mangonel? This was known also
in Europe as Carabaga, Calabra, etc. It is mentioned under the
former name by Marino Sanudo, and under the latter, with other
quaintly-named engines, by William of Tudela, as used by Simon de
Montfort the Elder against the Albigenses:—
“E dressa sos _Calabres_, et foi _Mal Vezina_
E sas autras pereiras, e _Dona_, e _Reina_;
Pessia les autz murs e la sala peirina.”[9]
(“He set up his _Calábers_, and likewise his _Ill-Neighbours_,
With many a more machine, this the _Lady_, that the _Queen_,
And breached the lofty walls, and smashed the stately Halls.”)
Now, in looking at the Chinese representations of their ancient
mangonels, which are evidently genuine, and of which I have
given some specimens (figs. I, 2, 3), I see none worked by
the counterpoise; all (and there are six or seven different
representations in the work from which these are taken) are shown
as worked by man-ropes. Hence, probably, the improvement brought
from the West was essentially the use of the counterpoised lever.
And, after I had come to this conclusion, I found it to be the view
of Captain Favé. (See _Du Feu Grégeois_, by MM. Reinaud and Favé,
p. 193.)
In Ramusio the two Polos propose to Kúblái to make “_mangani al
modo di Ponente_”; and it is worthy of note that in the campaigns
of Aláuddin Khilji and his generals in the Deccan, _circa_ 1300,
frequent mention is made of the _Western Manjaniks_ and their great
power. (See _Elliot_, III. 75, 78, etc.)
Of the kind worked by man-ropes must have been that huge mangonel
which Mahomed Ibn Kásim, the conqueror of Sind, set in battery
against the great Dagoba of Daibul, and which required 500 men to
work it. Like Simon de Montfort’s it had a tender name; it was
called “The Bride.” (_Elliot_, I. 120.)
Before quitting this subject, I will quote a curious passage from
the History of the Sung Dynasty, contributed to the work of Reinaud
and Favé by M. Stanislas Julien: “In the 9th year of the period
Hien-shun (A.D. 1273) the frontier cities had fallen into the hands
of the enemy (Tartars). The _Pao_ (or engines for shooting) of the
Hwei-Hwei (Mahomedans) were imitated, but in imitating them very
ingenious improvements were introduced, and _pao_ of a different
and very superior kind were constructed. Moreover, an extraordinary
method was invented of neutralising the effects of the enemy’s
_pao_. Ropes were made of rice-straw 4 inches thick, and 34 feet
in length. Twenty such ropes were joined, applied to the tops of
buildings, and covered with clay. In this manner the fire-arrows,
fire-_pao_, and even the pao casting stones of 100 lbs. weight,
could cause no damage to the towers or houses.” (_Ib._ 196; also
for previous parts of this note, _Visdelou_, 188; _Gaubil_, 34,
155 _seqq._ and 70; _De Mailla_, 329; _Pauthier in loco_ and
Introduction; _D’Ohsson_, II. 35, and 391; Notes by _Mr. Edward
Thomas_, F.R.S.; _Q. Rashid._, pp. 132, 136.) [See I. p. 342.]
[Captain Gill writes (_River of Golden Sand_, I. p. 148): “The word
‘P’ao’ which now means ‘cannon,’ was, it was asserted, found in old
Chinese books of a date anterior to that in which gunpowder was
first known to Europeans; hence the deduction was drawn that the
Chinese were acquainted with gunpowder before it was used in the
West. But close examination shows that in all old books the radical
of the character ‘P’ao’ means ‘stone,’ but that in modern books the
radical of the character ‘P’ao’ means ‘fire’; that the character
with the radical ‘fire’ only appears in books well known to have
been written since the introduction of gunpowder into the West; and
that the old character ‘P’ao’ in reality means ‘Balista.’”—H. C.]
[Illustration: Coin from a treasure hidden at Siang-yang during the
siege in 1268–73, lately discovered.]
[“Wheeled boats are mentioned in 1272 at the siege of Siang-yang.
Kúblái did not decide to ‘go for’ Manzi, _i.e._ the southern of
the two Chinese Empires, until 1273. Bayan did not start until
1274, appearing before Hankow in January 1275. Wuhu and Taiping
surrendered in April; then Chinkiang, Kien K’ang (Nanking), and
Ning kwoh; the final crushing blow being dealt at Hwai-chan. In
March 1276, the Manzi Emperor accepted vassaldom. Kiang-nan was
regularly administered in 1278.” (_E. H. Parker, China Review_,
xxiv. p. 105.)—H. C.]
Siang-yang has been twice visited by Mr. A. Wylie. Just before his
first visit (I believe in 1866) a discovery had been made in the
city of a quantity of treasure buried at the time of the siege. One
of the local officers gave Mr. Wylie one of the copper coins, not
indeed in itself of any great rarity, but worth engraving here on
account of its connection with the siege commemorated in the text;
and a little on the principle of Smith the Weaver’s evidence:—“The
bricks are alive at this day to testify of it; therefore deny it
not.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] And to the Bern MS. which seems to be a copy of it, as is also I
think (in substance) the Bodleian.
[2] In this note I am particularly indebted to the researches of the
Emperor Napoleon III. on this subject. (_Études sur le passé et
l’avenir de l’Artillerie_, 1851.)
[3] Thus Joinville mentions the journey of Jehan li Ermin, the king’s
artillerist, from Acre to Damascus, _pour acheter cornes et glus
pour faire arbalestres_—to buy horns and glue to make crossbows
withal (p. 134).
In the final defence of Acre (1291) we hear of balistae _bipedales_
(with a forked rest?) and other _vertiginales_ (traversing on a
pivot?) that shot 3 quarrels at once, and with such force as to
_stitch_ the Saracens to their bucklers—_cum clypeis consutos
interfecerunt_.
The crossbow, though apparently indigenous among various tribes
of Indo-China, seems to have been a new introduction in European
warfare in the 12th century. William of Brittany in a poem called
the _Philippis_, speaking of the early days of Philip Augustus,
says:—
“Francigenis nostris illis ignota diebus
Res erat omnino quid balistarius arcus,
Quid balista foret, nec habebat in agmine toto
Rex quenquam sciret armis qui talibus uti.”
—_Duchesne, Hist. Franc. Script._, V. 115.
Anna Comnena calls it Τζάγρα (which looks like Persian _charkh_),
“a barbaric bow, totally unknown to the Greeks”; and she gives a
very lengthy description of it, ending: “Such then are the facts
about the _Tzagra_, and a truly diabolical affair it is.” (_Alex._
X.—Paris ed. p. 291.)
[4] The construction is best seen in Figs. 17 and 19. Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4,
5 in the cut are from Chinese sources; Figs. 6, 7, 8 from Arabic
works; the rest from European sources.
[5] Christine de Pisan says that when keeping up a discharge by night
lighted brands should be attached to the stones in order to observe
and correct the practice. (_Livre des faits_, etc., _du sage Roy
Charles_, Pt. II. ch. xxiv.)
[6] Professor Sprenger informs me that the first mention of the
_Manjanik_ in Mahomedan history is at the siege of Táyif by Mahomed
himself, A.D. 630 (and see _Sprenger’s Mohammed_ [German], III.
330). The _Annales Marbacenses_ in _Pertz_, xvii. 172, say under
1212, speaking of wars of the Emperor Otho in Germany: “Ibi tunc
cepit haberi usus instrumenti bellici quod vulgo _tribok_ appellari
solet.”
There is a ludicrous Oriental derivation of Manjanik, from the
Persian: “_Man chi nek_!” “How good am I!” Ibn Khallikan remarks
that the word must be foreign, because the letters j and ḳ (ج and
ق) never occur together in genuine Arabic words (_Notes_ by _Mr. E.
Thomas_, F.R.S.). It may be noticed that the letters in question
occur together in another Arabic word of foreign origin used by
Polo, viz. _Játhalíḳ_.
[7] Dufour mentions that stone shot of the mediæval engines exist at
Zurich, of 20 and 22 inches diameter. The largest of these would,
however, scarcely exceed 500 lbs. in weight.
[8] _Georg. Stellae Ann._ in _Muratori_, XVII. 1105; and _Daru_, Bk.
viii. § 12.
[9] Shaw, _Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages_, vol. i. No 21.
CHAPTER LXXI.
CONCERNING THE CITY OF SINJU AND THE GREAT RIVER KIAN.
You must know that when you leave the city of Yanju, after going 15
miles south-east, you come to a city called SINJU, of no great size,
but possessing a very great amount of shipping and trade. The people
are Idolaters and subject to the Great Kaan, and use paper-money.{1}
And you must know that this city stands on the greatest river in the
world, the name of which is KIAN. It is in some places ten miles wide,
in others eight, in others six, and it is more than 100 days’ journey
in length from one end to the other. This it is that brings so much
trade to the city we are speaking of; for on the waters of that river
merchandize is perpetually coming and going, from and to the various
parts of the world, enriching the city, and bringing a great revenue to
the Great Kaan.
And I assure you this river flows so far and traverses so many
countries and cities that in good sooth there pass and repass on its
waters a great number of vessels, and more wealth and merchandize than
on all the rivers and all the seas of Christendom put together! It
seems indeed more like a Sea than a River.{2} Messer Marco Polo said
that he once beheld at that city 15,000 vessels at one time. And you
may judge, if this city, of no great size, has such a number, how many
must there be altogether, considering that on the banks of this river
there are more than sixteen provinces and more than 200 great cities,
besides towns and villages, all possessing vessels?
Messer Marco Polo aforesaid tells us that he heard from the officer
employed to collect the Great Kaan’s duties on this river that there
passed up-stream 200,000 vessels in the year, without counting those
that passed down! [Indeed as it has a course of such great length,
and receives so many other navigable rivers, it is no wonder that the
merchandize which is borne on it is of vast amount and value. And the
article in largest quantity of all is salt, which is carried by this
river and its branches to all the cities on their banks, and thence to
the other cities in the interior.{3}]
The vessels which ply on this river are decked. They have but one
mast, but they are of great burthen, for I can assure you they carry
(reckoning by our weight) from 4000 up to 12,000 cantars each.{4}
Now we will quit this matter and I will tell you of another city called
CAIJU. But first I must mention a point I had forgotten. You must know
that the vessels on this river, in going up-stream have to be tracked,
for the current is so strong that they could not make head in any other
manner. Now the tow-line, which is some 300 paces in length, is made
of nothing but cane. ’Tis in this way: they have those great canes of
which I told you before that they are some fifteen paces in length;
these they take and split from end to end [into many slender strips],
and then they twist these strips together so as to make a rope of any
length they please. And the ropes so made are stronger than if they
were made of hemp.{5}
[There are at many places on this river hills and rocky eminences
on which the idol-monasteries and other edifices are built; and you
find on its shores a constant succession of villages and inhabited
places.{6}]
NOTE 1.—The traveller’s diversion from his direct course—_sceloc_
or south-east, as he regards it—towards Fo-kien, in order to notice
Ngan-king (as we have supposed) and Siang-yang, has sadly thrown
out both the old translators and transcribers, and the modern
commentators. Though the G. Text has here “_quant l’en se part de
la cité de_ Angui,” I cannot doubt that _Iangui_ (Yanju) is the
reading intended, and that Polo here comes back to the main line of
his journey.
[Illustration: “=Sono sopraquesto fiumein molti luoghi, colline e
monticelli sassosi, sopra quali sono edificati monasteri d’Idoli, e
altre stanze....=”]
I conceive Sinju to be the city which was then called CHÊN-CHAU,
but now I-CHING HIEN,[1] and which stands on the Kiang as near as
may be 15 miles from Yang-chau. It is indeed south-west instead
of south-east, but those who have noted the style of Polo’s
orientation will not attach much importance to this. I-ching hien
is still the great port of the Yang-chau salt manufacture, for
export by the Kiang and its branches to the interior provinces. It
communicates with the Grand Canal by two branch canals. Admiral
Collinson, in 1842, remarked the great numbers of vessels lying in
the creek off I-ching. (See note 1 to ch. lxviii. above; and _J. R.
G. S._ XVII. 139.)
[“We anchored at a place near the town of _Y-ching-hien_,
distinguished by a pagoda. The most remarkable objects that struck
us here were some enormously large salt-junks of a very singular
shape, approaching to a crescent, with sterns at least thirty feet
above the water, and bows that were two-thirds of that height.
They had ‘bright sides,’ that is, were varnished over the natural
wood without painting, a very common style in China.” (_Davis,
Sketches_, II. p. 13.)—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—The river is, of course, the Great Kiang or Yang-tzŭ Kiang
(already spoken of in ch. xliv. as the _Kiansui_), which Polo was
justified in calling the greatest river in the world, whilst the
New World was yet hidden. The breadth seems to be a good deal
exaggerated, the length not at all. His expressions about it were
perhaps accompanied by a mental reference to the term _Dalai_, “The
Sea,” which the Mongols appear to have given the river. (See _Fr.
Odoric_, p. 121.) The Chinese have a popular saying, “_Haï vu ping,
Kiang vu ti_,” “Boundless is the Ocean, bottomless the Kiang!”
NOTE 3.—“The assertion that there is a greater amount of tonnage
belonging to the Chinese than to all other nations combined, does
not appear overcharged to those who have seen the swarms of boats
on their rivers, though it might not be found strictly true.”
(_Mid. Kingd._ II. 398.) Barrow’s picture of the life, traffic, and
population on the Kiang, excepting as to specific numbers, quite
bears out Marco’s account. This part of China suffered so long from
the wars of the T’ai-P’ing rebellion that to travellers it has
presented thirty years ago an aspect sadly belying its old fame.
Such havoc is not readily repaired in a few years, nor in a few
centuries, but prosperity is reviving, and European navigation is
making an important figure on the Kiang.
[From the _Returns of Trade for the Year 1900_ of the Imperial
Maritime Customs of China, we take the following figures regarding
the navigation on the Kiang. Steamers entered inwards and cleared
outwards, under General Regulations at _Chung-King_: 1; 331
tons; sailing vessels, 2681; 84,862 tons, of which Chinese, 816;
27,684 tons. At _Ichang_: 314; 231,000 tons, of which Chinese,
118; 66,944 tons; sailing vessels, all Chinese, 5139; 163,320
tons. At _Shasi_: 606; 453,818 tons, of which Chinese, 606;
453,818 tons; no sailing vessels. At _Yochow_: 650; 299,962 tons,
of which Chinese, 458; 148,112 tons; no sailing vessels; under
Inland Steam Navigation Rules, 280 Chinese vessels, 20,958 tons.
At _Hankow_: under General Regulation, Steamers, 2314; 2,101,555
tons, of which Chinese, 758; 462,424 tons; sailing vessels, 1137;
166,118 tons, of which Chinese, 1129; 163,724 tons; under Inland
Steam Navigation Rules, 1682 Chinese vessels, 31,173 tons. At
_Kiu-Kiang_: under General Regulation, Steamers, 2916; 3,393,514
tons, of which Chinese, 478; 697,468 tons; sailing vessels, 163;
29,996 tons, of which Chinese, 160; 27,797 tons; under Inland Steam
Navigation Rules, 798 Chinese vessels; 21,670 tons. At _Wu-hu_:
under General Regulation, Steamers, 3395; 3,713,172 tons, of which
Chinese, 540; 678,362 tons; sailing vessels, 356; 48,299 tons, of
which Chinese, 355; 47,848 tons; under Inland Steam Navigation
Rules, 286 Chinese vessels; 4272 tons. At _Nanking_: under General
Regulation, Steamers, 1672; 1,138,726 tons, of which Chinese, 970;
713,232 tons; sailing vessels, 290; 36,873 tons, of which Chinese,
281; 34,985 tons; under Inland Steam Navigation Rules, 30 Chinese
vessels; 810 tons. At _Chinkiang_: under General Regulation,
Steamers, 4710; 4,413,452 tons, of which Chinese, 924; 794,724
tons; sailing vessels, 1793; 294,664 tons, of which Chinese, 1771;
290,286 tons; under Inland Steam Navigation Rules, 2920; 39,346
tons, of which Chinese, 1684; 22,776 tons.—H. C.]
NOTE 4.—✛12,000 _cantars_ would be more than 500 tons, and this
is justified by the burthen of _Chinese_ vessels on the river; we
see it is more than doubled by that of some British or American
steamers thereon. In the passage referred to under Note 1, Admiral
Collinson speaks of the salt-junks at I-ching as “very remarkable,
being built nearly in the form of a crescent, the stern rising in
some of them nearly 30 feet and the prow 20, whilst the mast is 90
feet high.” These dimensions imply large capacity. Oliphant speaks
of the old rice-junks for the canal traffic as transporting 200 and
300 tons (I. 197).
NOTE 5.—The tow-line in river-boats is usually made (as here
described) of strips of bamboo twisted. Hawsers are also made of
bamboo. Ramusio, in this passage, says the boats are tracked by
horses, ten or twelve to each vessel. I do not find this mentioned
anywhere else, nor has any traveller in China that I have consulted
heard of such a thing.
NOTE 6.—Such eminences as are here alluded to are the Little Orphan
Rock, Silver Island, and the Golden Island, which is mentioned in
the following chapter. We give on the preceding page illustrations
of those three picturesque islands; the Orphan Rock at the top,
Golden Island in the middle, Silver Island below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] See _Gaubil_, p. 93, note 4; _Biot_, p. 275 [and _Playfair’s
Dict._, p. 393].
CHAPTER LXXII.
CONCERNING THE CITY OF CAIJU.
Caiju is a small city towards the south-east. The people are subject to
the Great Kaan and have paper-money. It stands upon the river before
mentioned.{1} At this place are collected great quantities of corn
and rice to be transported to the great city of Cambaluc for the use
of the Kaan’s Court; for the grain for the Court all comes from this
part of the country. You must understand that the Emperor hath caused
a water-communication to be made from this city to Cambaluc, in the
shape of a wide and deep channel dug between stream and stream, between
lake and lake, forming as it were a great river on which large vessels
can ply. And thus there is a communication all the way from this city
of Caiju to Cambaluc; so that great vessels with their loads can go
the whole way. A land road also exists, for the earth dug from those
channels has been thrown up so as to form an embanked road on either
side.{2}
Just opposite to the city of Caiju, in the middle of the River, there
stands a rocky island on which there is an idol-monastery containing
some 200 idolatrous friars, and a vast number of idols. And this Abbey
holds supremacy over a number of other idol-monasteries, just like an
archbishop’s see among Christians.{3}
Now we will leave this and cross the river, and I will tell you of a
city called Chinghianfu.
NOTE 1.—No place in Polo’s travels is better identified by his
local indications than this. It is on the Kiang; it is at the
extremity of the Great Canal from Cambaluc; it is opposite the
Golden Island and Chin-kiang fu. Hence it is KWA-CHAU, as Murray
pointed out. Marsden here misunderstands his text, and puts the
place on the south side of the Kiang.
Here Van Braam notices that there passed in the course of the day
more than fifty great rice-boats, most of which could easily carry
more than 300,000 lbs. of rice. And Mr. Alabaster, in 1868, speaks
of the canal from Yang-chau to Kwa-chau as “full of junks.”
[Sir J. F. Davis writes (_Sketches of China_, II. p. 6): “Two ...
days ... were occupied in exploring the half-deserted town of
_Kwa-chow_, whose name signifies ‘the island of gourds,’ being
completely insulated by the river and canal. We took a long walk
along the top of the walls, which were as usual of great thickness,
and afforded a broad level platform behind the parapet: the parapet
itself, about six feet high, did not in thickness exceed the length
of a brick and a half, and the embrasures were evidently not
constructed for cannon, being much too high. A very considerable
portion of the area within the walls consisted of burial-grounds
planted with cypress; and this alone was a sufficient proof of the
decayed condition of the place, as in modern or fully inhabited
cities no person can be buried within the walls. Almost every spot
bore traces of ruin, and there appeared to be but one good street
in the whole town; this, however, was full of shops, and as busy as
Chinese streets always are.”—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—Rashiduddin gives the following account of the Grand Canal
spoken of in this passage. “The river of Khanbaligh had,” he says,
“in the course of time, become so shallow as not to admit the
entrance of shipping, so that they had to discharge their cargoes
and send them up to Khanbaligh on pack-cattle. And the Chinese
engineers and men of science having reported that the vessels
from the provinces of Cathay, from Machin, and from the cities of
Khingsai and Zaitún, could no longer reach the court, the Kaan gave
them orders to dig a great canal into which the waters of the said
river, and of several others, should be introduced. This canal
extends for a distance of 40 days’ navigation from Khanbaligh to
Khingsai and Zaitún, the ports frequented by the ships that come
from India, and from the city of Machin (Canton). The canal is
provided with many sluices ... and when vessels arrive at these
sluices they are hoisted up by means of machinery, whatever be
their size, and let down on the other side into the water. The
canal has a width of more than 30 ells. Kúblái caused the sides of
the embankments to be revetted with stone, in order to prevent the
earth giving way. Along the side of the canal runs the high road
to Machin, extending for a space of 40 days’ journey, and this has
been paved throughout, so that travellers and their animals may get
along during the rainy season without sinking in the mud.... Shops,
taverns, and villages line the road on both sides, so that dwelling
succeeds dwelling without intermission throughout the whole space
of 40 days’ journey.” (_Cathay_, 259–260.)
The canal appears to have been [begun in 1289 and to have been
completed in 1292.—H. C.] though large portions were in use
earlier. Its chief object was to provide the capital with food.
Pauthier gives the statistics of the transport of rice by this
canal from 1283 to the end of Kúblái’s reign, and for some
subsequent years up to 1329. In the latter year the quantity
reached 3,522,163 _shi_ or 1,247,633 quarters. As the supplies of
rice for the capital and for the troops in the Northern Provinces
always continued to be drawn from Kiang-nan, the distress and
derangement caused by the recent rebel occupation of that province
must have been enormous. (_Pauthier_, p. 481–482; _De Mailla_, p.
439.) Polo’s account of the formation of the canal is exceedingly
accurate. Compare that given by Mr. Williamson (I. 62).
NOTE 3.—“On the Kiang, not far from the mouth, is that remarkably
beautiful little island called the ‘Golden Isle,’ surmounted by
numerous temples inhabited by the votaries of Buddha or Fo, and
very correctly described so many centuries since by Marco Polo.”
(_Davis’s Chinese_, I. 149.) The monastery, according to Pauthier,
was founded in the 3rd or 4th century, but the name _Kin-Shan_, or
“Golden Isle,” dates only from a visit of the Emperor K’ang-hi in
1684.
The monastery contained one of the most famous Buddhist libraries
in China. This was in the hands of our troops during the first
China war, and, as it was intended to remove the books, there
was no haste made in examining their contents. Meanwhile peace
came, and the library was restored. It is a pity _now_ that
the _jus belli_ had not been exercised promptly, for the whole
establishment was destroyed by the T’ai-P’ings in 1860, and, with
the exception of the Pagoda at the top of the hill, which was left
in a dilapidated state, not one stone of the buildings remained
upon another. The rock had also then ceased to be an island; and
the site of what not many years before had been a channel with four
fathoms of water separating it from the southern shore, was covered
by flourishing cabbage-gardens. (_Gützlaff_ in _J. R. A. S._ XII.
87; _Mid. Kingd._ I. 84, 86; _Oliphant’s Narrative_, II. 301; _N.
and Q. Ch. and Jap._ No. 5, p. 58.)
CHAPTER LXXIII.
OF THE CITY OF CHINGHIANFU.
Chinghianfu is a city of Manzi. The people are Idolaters and subject
to the Great Kaan, and have paper-money, and live by handicrafts and
trade. They have plenty of silk, from which they make sundry kinds of
stuffs of silk and gold. There are great and wealthy merchants in the
place; plenty of game is to be had, and of all kinds of victual.
There are in this city two churches of Nestorian Christians which
were established in the year of our Lord 1278; and I will tell you how
that happened. You see, in the year just named, the Great Kaan sent a
Baron of his whose name was MAR SARGHIS, a Nestorian Christian, to be
governor of this city for three years. And during the three years that
he abode there he caused these two Christian churches to be built, and
since then there they are. But before his time there was no church,
neither were there any Christians.{1}
[Illustration: West Gate of Chin-kiang fu in 1842.]
NOTE 1.—CHIN-KIANG FU retains its name unchanged. It is one which
became well known in the war of 1842. On its capture on the 21st
July in that year, the heroic Manchu commandant seated himself
among his records and then set fire to the building, making it his
funeral pyre. The city was totally destroyed in the T’ai-P’ing
wars, but is rapidly recovering its position as a place of native
commerce.
[Chên-kiang, “a name which may be translated ‘River Guard,’ stands
at the point where the Grand Canal is brought to a junction with
the waters of the Yang-tzŭ when the channel of the river proper
begins to expand into an extensive tidal estuary.” (_Treaty Ports
of China_, p. 421.) It was declared open to foreign trade by the
Treaty of Tien-Tsin in 1858.—H. C.]
_Mar Sarghis_ (or Dominus Sergius) appears to have been a common
name among Armenian and other Oriental Christians. As Pauthier
mentions, this very name is one of the names of Nestorian priests
inscribed in Syriac on the celebrated monument of Si-ngan fu.
[In the description of Chin-kiang quoted by the Archimandrite
Palladius (see vol. i. p. 187, note 3), a Christian monastery
or temple is mentioned: “The temple _Ta-hing-kuo-sze_ stands
in Chin-kiang fu, in the quarter called _Kia-t’ao h’eang_. It
was built in the 18th year of _Chi-yuen_ (A.D. 1281) by the
_Sub-darugachi, Sie-li-ki-sze_ (Sergius). _Liang Siang_, the
teacher in the Confucian school, wrote a commemorative inscription
for him.” From this document we see that “_Sie-mi-sze-hien_
(Samarcand) is distant from China 100,000 li (probably a mistake
for 10,000) to the north-west. It is a country where the religion
of the _Ye-li-k’o-wen_ dominates.... The founder of the religion
was called _Ma-rh Ye-li-ya_. He lived and worked miracles a
thousand five hundred years ago. _Ma Sie-li-ki-sze_ (Mar Sergius)
is a follower of him.” (_Chinese Recorder_, VI. p. 108).—H. C.]
From this second mention of _three years_ as a term of government,
we may probably gather that this was the usual period for the
tenure of such office. (_Mid. Kingd._, I. 86; _Cathay_, p. xciii.)
CHAPTER LXXIV.
OF THE CITY OF CHINGINJU AND THE SLAUGHTER OF CERTAIN
ALANS THERE.
Leaving the city of Chinghianfu and travelling three days south-east
through a constant succession of busy and thriving towns and villages,
you arrive at the great and noble city of CHINGINJU. The people are
Idolaters, use paper-money, and are subject to the Great Kaan. They
live by trade and handicrafts, and they have plenty of silk. They have
also abundance of game, and of all manner of victuals, for it is a most
productive territory.{1}
Now I must tell you of an evil deed that was done, once upon a time, by
the people of this city, and how dearly they paid for it.
You see, at the time of the conquest of the great province of Manzi,
when Bayan was in command, he sent a company of his troops, consisting
of a people called Alans, who are Christians, to take this city.{2}
They took it accordingly, and when they had made their way in, they
lighted upon some good wine. Of this they drank until they were all
drunk, and then they lay down and slept like so many swine. So when
night fell, the townspeople, seeing that they were all dead-drunk, fell
upon them and slew them all; not a man escaped.
And when Bayan heard that the townspeople had thus treacherously slain
his men, he sent another Admiral of his with a great force, and stormed
the city, and put the whole of the inhabitants to the sword; not a man
of them escaped death. And thus the whole population of that city was
exterminated.{3}
Now we will go on, and I will tell you of another city called Suju.
NOTE 1.—Both the position and the story which follows identify
this city with CHANG-CHAU. The name is written in Pauthier’s MSS.
_Chinginguy_, in the G. T. _Cingiggui_ and _Cinghingui_, in Ramusio
_Tinguigui_.
The capture of Chang-chau by Gordon’s force, 11th May 1864, was the
final achievement of that “Ever Victorious Army.”
Regarding the territory here spoken of, once so rich and densely
peopled, Mr. Medhurst says, in reference to the effects of the
T’ai-P’ing insurrection: “I can conceive of no more melancholy
sight than the acres of ground that one passes through strewn with
remains of once thriving cities, and the miles upon miles of rich
land, once carefully parcelled out into fields and gardens, but now
only growing coarse grass and brambles—the home of the pheasant,
the deer, and the wild pig.” (_Foreigner in Far Cathay_, p. 94.)
NOTE 2.—The relics of the Alans were settled on the northern skirts
of the Caucasus, where they made a stout resistance to the Mongols,
but eventually became subjects of the Khans of Sarai. The name
by which they were usually known in Asia in the Middle Ages was
_Aas_, and this name is assigned to them by Carpini, Rubruquis, and
Josafat Barbaro, as well as by Ibn Batuta. Mr. Howorth has lately
denied the identity of Alans and Aas; but he treats the question as
all one with the identity of Alans and Ossethi, which is another
matter, as may be seen in Vivien de St. Martin’s elaborate paper on
the Alans (_N. Ann. des Voyages_, 1848, tom. 3, p. 129 _seqq._).
The Alans are mentioned by the Byzantine historian, Pachymeres,
among nations whom the Mongols had assimilated to themselves and
adopted into their military service. Gaubil, without being aware
of the identity of the _Asu_ (as the name _Aas_ appears to be
expressed in the Chinese Annals), beyond the fact that they dwelt
somewhere near the Caspian, observes that this people, after they
were conquered, furnished many excellent officers to the Mongols;
and he mentions also that when the Mongol army was first equipt
for the conquest of Southern China, many officers took service
therein from among the Uighúrs, Persians, and Arabs, Kincha (people
of Kipchak), the _Asu_ and other foreign nations. We find also,
at a later period of the Mongol history (1336), letters reaching
Pope Benedict XII. from several Christian Alans holding high
office at the court of Cambaluc—one of them being a _Chingsang_ or
Minister of the First Rank, and another a _Fanchang_ or Minister
of the Second Order—in which they conveyed their urgent request
for the nomination of an Archbishop in succession to the deceased
John of Monte Corvino. John Marignolli speaks of those Alans as
“the greatest and noblest nation in the world, the fairest and
bravest of men,” and asserts that in his day there were 30,000 of
them in the Great Kaan’s service, and all, at least nominally,
Christians.[1] Rashiduddin also speaks of the Alans as Christians;
though Ibn Batuta certainly mentions the _Aas_ as Mahomedans.
We find Alans about the same time (in 1306) fighting well in
the service of the Byzantine Emperors (_Muntaner_, p. 449). All
these circumstances render Marco’s story of a corps of Christian
Alans in the army of Bayan perfectly consistent with probability.
(_Carpini_, p. 707; _Rub._, 243; _Ramusio_, II. 92; _I. B._ II.
428; _Gaubil_, 40, 147; _Cathay_, 314 _seqq._)
[Mr. Rockhill writes (_Rubruck_, p. 88, note): “The Alans or Aas
appear to be identical with the An-ts’ai or A-lan-na of the _Hou
Han shu_ (bk. 88, 9), of whom we read that ‘they led a pastoral
life N.W. of Sogdiana (K’ang-chü) in a plain bounded by great lakes
(or swamps), and in their wanderings went as far as the shores of
the Northern Ocean.’ (Ma Twan-lin, bk. 338.) _Pei-shih_ (bk. 97,
12) refers to them under the name of Su-tê and Wen-na-sha (see also
_Bretschneider, Med. Geog._, 258, _et seq._). Strabo refers to them
under the name of Aorsi, living to the north but contiguous to
the Albani, whom some authors confound with them, but whom later
Armenian historians carefully distinguish from them (_De Morgan,
Mission_, i. 232). Ptolemy speaks of this people as the ‘Scythian
Alans’ (Ἀλανοί Σκύθαι); but the first definite mention of them in
classical authors is, according to Bunbury (ii. 486), found in
Dionysius Periergetes (305), who speaks of the άλκήεντες Ἀλανοί.
(See also _De Morgan_, i. 202, and _Deguignes_, ii. 279 _et seq._)
“Ammianus Marcellinus (xxxi. 348) says, the Alans were a congeries
of tribes living E. of the Tanais (Don), and stretching far
into Asia. ‘Distributed over two continents, all these nations,
whose various names I refrain from mentioning, though separated
by immense tracts of country in which they pass their vagabond
existence, have with time been confounded under the generic
appellation of Alans.’ Ibn Alathir, at a later date, also refers to
the Alans as ‘formed of numerous nations.’ (_Dulaurier_, xiv. 455).
“Conquered by the Huns in the latter part of the fourth century,
some of the Alans moved westward, others settled on the northern
slopes of the Caucasus; though long prior to that, in A.D. 51,
they had, as allies of the Georgians, ravaged Armenia. (See _Yule,
Cathay_, 316; _Deguignes_, I., pt. ii. 277 _et seq._; and _De
Morgan_, I. 217, _et seq._)
“Mirkhond, in the _Tarikhi Wassaf_, and other Mohammedan writers
speak of the Alans _and_ As. However this may be, it is thought
that the Oss or Ossetes of the Caucasus are their modern
representatives (_Klaproth, Tabl. hist._, 180; _De Morgan_, i. 202,
231.)” _Aas_ is the transcription of _A-soo_ (_Yuen-shi_, quoted by
Devéria, _Notes d’épig._, p. 75). (See _Bretschneider, Med. Res._,
II., p. 84.)—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—The Chinese histories do not mention the story of the Alans
and their fate; but they tell how Chang-chau was first taken by the
Mongols about April 1275, and two months later recovered by the
Chinese; how Bayan, some months afterwards, attacked it in person,
meeting with a desperate resistance; finally, how the place was
stormed, and how Bayan ordered the whole of the inhabitants to be
put to the sword. Gaubil remarks that some grievous provocation
must have been given, as Bayan was far from cruel. Pauthier
gives original extracts on the subject, which are interesting.
They picture the humane and chivalrous Bayan on this occasion as
demoniacal in cruelty, sweeping together all the inhabitants of
the suburbs, forcing them to construct his works of attack, and
then butchering the whole of them, boiling down their carcasses,
and using the fat to grease his mangonels! Perhaps there is some
misunderstanding as to the _use_ of this barbarous lubricant. For
Carpini relates that the Tartars, when they cast Greek fire into
a town, shot with it human fat, for this caused the fire to rage
inextinguishably.
Cruelties, like Bayan’s on this occasion, if exceptional with him,
were common enough among the Mongols generally. Chinghiz, at an
early period in his career, after a victory, ordered seventy great
caldrons to be heated, and his prisoners to be boiled therein.
And the “evil deed” of the citizens of Chang-chau fell far short
of Mongol atrocities. Thus Hulaku, suspecting the Turkoman chief
Nasiruddin, who had just quitted his camp with 300 men, sent a
body of horse after him to cut him off. The Mongol officers told
the Turkoman they had been ordered to give him and his men a
parting feast; they made them all drunk and then cut their throats.
(_Gaubil_, 166, 167, 170; _Carpini_, 696; _Erdmann_, 262; _Quat.
Rashid._ 357.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] I must observe here that the learned Professor Bruun has raised
doubts whether these Alans of Marignolli’s could be Alans of
the Caucasus, and if they were not rather _Ohláns_, _i.e._
Mongol Princes and nobles. There are difficulties certainly
about Marignolli’s Alans; but obvious difficulties also in this
explanation.
CHAPTER LXXV.
OF THE NOBLE CITY OF SUJU.
Suju is a very great and noble city. The people are Idolaters, subjects
of the Great Kaan, and have paper-money. They possess silk in great
quantities, from which they make gold brocade and other stuffs, and
they live by their manufactures and trade.{1}
The city is passing great, and has a circuit of some 60 miles; it hath
merchants of great wealth and an incalculable number of people. Indeed,
if the men of this city and of the rest of Manzi had but the spirit of
soldiers they would conquer the world; but they are no soldiers at all,
only accomplished traders and most skilful craftsmen. There are also in
this city many philosophers and leeches, diligent students of nature.
And you must know that in this city there are 6,000 bridges, all of
stone, and so lofty that a galley, or even two galleys at once, could
pass underneath one of them.{2}
In the mountains belonging to this city, rhubarb and ginger grow in
great abundance; insomuch that you may get some 40 pounds of excellent
fresh ginger for a Venice groat.{3} And the city has sixteen other
great trading cities under its rule. The name of the city, Suju,
signifies in our tongue, “Earth,” and that of another near it, of which
we shall speak presently, called Kinsay, signifies “Heaven;” and these
names are given because of the great splendour of the two cities.{4}
Now let us quit Suju, and go on to another which is called VUJU, one
day’s journey distant; it is a great and fine city, rife with trade and
manufactures. But as there is nothing more to say of it we shall go on
and I will tell you of another great and noble city called VUGHIN. The
people are Idolaters, &c., and possess much silk and other merchandize,
and they are expert traders and craftsmen. Let us now quit Vughin and
tell you of another city called CHANGAN, a great and rich place. The
people are Idolaters, &c., and they live by trade and manufactures.
They make great quantities of sendal of different kinds, and they have
much game in the neighbourhood. There is however nothing more to say
about the place, so we shall now proceed.{5}
NOTE 1.—SUJU is of course the celebrated city of SU-CHAU in
Kiang-nan—before the rebellion brought ruin on it, the Paris
of China. “Everything remarkable was alleged to come from it;
fine pictures, fine carved-work, fine silks, and fine ladies!”
(_Fortune_, I. 186.) When the Emperor K’ang-hi visited Su-chau, the
citizens laid the streets with carpets and silk stuffs, but the
Emperor dismounted and made his train do the like. (_Davis_, I.
186.)
[Su-chau is situated 80 miles west of Shang-hai, 12 miles east
of the Great Lake, and 40 miles south of the Kiang, in the plain
between this river and Hang-chau Bay. It was the capital of the
old kingdom of Wu which was independent from the 12th to the 4th
centuries (B.C.) inclusive; it was founded by Wu Tzŭ-sü, prime
minister of King Hoh Lü (514–496 B.C.), who removed the capital of
Wu from Mei-li (near the modern Ch’ang-chau) to the new site now
occupied by the city of Su-chau. “Suchau is built in the form of a
rectangle, and is about three and a half miles from North to South,
by two and a half in breadth, the wall being twelve or thirteen
miles in length. There are six gates.” (_Rev. H. C. Du Bose, Chin.
Rec._, xix. p. 205.) It has greatly recovered since the T’ai-P’ing
rebellion, and its recapture by General (then Major) Gordon on the
27th November 1863; Su-chau has been declared open to foreign trade
on the 26th September 1896, under the provisions of the Japanese
Treaty of 1895.
“The great trade of Soochow is silk. In the silk stores are found
about 100 varieties of satin, and 200 kinds of silks and gauzes....
The weavers are divided into two guilds, the Nankin and Suchau,
and have together about 7000 looms. Thousands of men and women are
engaged in reeling the thread.” (_Rev. H. C. Du Bose, Chin. Rec._,
xix. pp. 275–276.)—H. C.]
[Illustration: NORTH
CITY OF SUCHAU
Lit. Frauenfelder, Palermo
Reduced to ⅒ the scale from a Rubbing of a PLAN incised on MARBLE
A·D·MCCXLVII, & preserved in the GREAT TEMPLE of CONFUCIUS at
SUCHAU.]
NOTE 2.—I believe we must not bring Marco to book for the literal
accuracy of his statements as to the bridges; but all travellers
have noticed the number and elegance of the bridges of cut stone
in this part of China; see, for instance, _Van Braam_, II. 107,
119–120, 124, 126; and _Deguignes_, I. 47, who gives a particular
account of the arches. These are said to be often 50 or 60 feet in
span.
[“Within the city there are, generally speaking, six canals from
North to South, and six canals from East to West, intersecting one
another at from a quarter to half a mile. There are a hundred and
fifty or two hundred bridges at intervals of two or three hundred
yards; some of these with arches, others with stone slabs thrown
across, many of which are twenty feet in length. The canals are
from ten to fifteen feet wide and faced with stone.” (_Rev. H. C.
Du Bose, Chin. Rec._, xix., 1888, p. 207).—H. C.]
[Illustration: South-West Gate and Water-Gate of Su-chau; facsimile
on half the scale from a mediæval Map, incised on Marble, A.D.
1247.]
NOTE 3.—This statement about the abundance of rhubarb in the hills
near Su-chau is believed by the most competent authorities to be
quite erroneous. Rhubarb _is_ exported from Shang-hai, but it is
brought thither from Hankau on the Upper Kiang, and Hankau receives
it from the further west. Indeed Mr. Hanbury, in a note on the
subject, adds his disbelief also that _ginger_ is produced in
Kiang-nan. And I see in the Shang-hai trade-returns of 1865, that
there is _no_ ginger among the exports. [Green ginger is mentioned
in the Shang-hai Trade Reports for 1900 among the exports (p. 309)
to the amount of 18,756 piculs; none is mentioned at Su-chau.—H. C.]
Some one, I forget where, has suggested a confusion with Suh-chau
in Kan-suh, the great rhubarb mart, which seems possible.
[“Polo is correct in giving Tangut as the native country of Rhubarb
(_Rheum palmatum_), but no species of Rheum has hitherto been
gathered by our botanists as far south as Kiang-Su, indeed, not
even in Shan-tung.” (_Bretschneider, Hist. of Bot. Disc._, I. p.
5.)—H. C.]
NOTE 4.—The meanings ascribed by Polo to the names of Su-chau and
King-szé (Hang-chau) show plainly enough that he was ignorant of
Chinese. Odoric does not mention Su-chau, but he gives the same
explanation of Kinsay as signifying the “City of Heaven,” and
Wassáf also in his notice of the same city has an obscure passage
about Paradise and Heaven, which is not improbably a corrupted
reference to the same interpretation.[1] I suspect therefore that
it was a “Vulgar Error” of the foreign residents in China, probably
arising out of a misunderstanding of the Chinese adage quoted by
Duhalde and Davis:—
“_Shang yeu t’ien t’ang, Hia yeu_ SU HANG!”
“There’s Paradise above ’tis true,
But here below we’ve HANG and SU!”
These two neighbouring cities, in the middle of the beautiful
tea and silk districts, and with all the advantages of inland
navigation and foreign trade, combined every source of wealth and
prosperity, and were often thus coupled together by the Chinese.
Both are, I believe, now recovering from the effects of devastation
by T’ai-P’ing occupation and Imperialist recapture; but neither
probably is one-fifth of what it was.
The plan of Su-chau which we give is of high interest. It is
reduced (⅒ the scale) from a rubbing of a plan of the city incised
on marble measuring 6′ 7″ by 4′ 4″, and which has been preserved
in the Confucian Temple in Su-chau since A.D. 1247. Marco Polo’s
eyes have probably rested on this fine work, comparable to the
famous _Pianta Capitolina_. The engraving on page 183 represents
one of the gates traced from the rubbing and reduced to _half_
the scale. It is therefore an authentic representation of Chinese
fortification in or before the 13th century.[2]
[“In the southern part of Su-chau is the park, surrounded by a high
wall, which contains the group of buildings called the Confucian
Temple. This is the Dragon’s head;—the Dragon Street, running
directly North, is his body, and the Great Pagoda is his tail. In
front is a grove of cedars. To one side is the hall where thousands
of scholars go to worship at the Spring and Autumn Festivals—this
for the gentry alone, not for the unlettered populace. There is
a building used for the slaughter of animals, another containing
a map of the city engraved in stone; a third with tablets and
astronomical diagrams, and a fourth containing the Provincial
Library. On each side of the large courts are rooms where are
placed the tablets of the 500 sages. The main temple is 50 by 70
feet, and contains the tablet of Confucius and a number of gilded
boards with mottoes. It is a very imposing structure. On the stone
dais in front, a mat-shed is erected for the great sacrifices at
which the official magnates exercise their sacerdotal functions. As
a tourist beheld the sacred grounds and the aged trees, she said:
‘This is the most venerable-looking place I have seen in China.’ On
the gateway in front, the sage is called ‘The Prince of Doctrine in
times Past and Present.’” (_Rev. H. C. Du Bose, Chin. Rec._, xix.
p. 272).—H. C.]
NOTE 5.—The Geographic Text only, at least of the principal
Texts, has distinctly the _three_ cities, _Vugui, Vughin,
Ciangan_. Pauthier identifies the first and third with HU-CHAU
FU and Sung-kiang fu. In favour of Vuju’s being Hu-chau is the
fact mentioned by Wilson that the latter city is locally called
WUCHU.[3] If this be the place, the Traveller does not seem to be
following a direct and consecutive route from Su-chau to Hang-chau.
Nor is Hu-chau within a day’s journey of Su-chau. Mr. Kingsmill
observes that the only town at that distance is _Wukiang-hien_,
once of some little importance but now much reduced. WUKIANG,
however, is suggestive of VUGHIN; and, in that supposition,
Hu-chau must be considered the object of a digression from which
the Traveller returns and takes up his route to Hang-chau _viâ_
Wukiang. _Kiahing_ would then best answer to _Ciangan_, or
_Caingan_, as it is written in the following chapter of the G. T.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] See Quatremère’s _Rashid._, p. lxxxvii., and Hammer’s _Wassáf_, p.
42.
[2] I owe these valuable illustrations, as so much else, to the
unwearied kindness of Mr. A. Wylie. There were originally four
maps: (1) _The City_, (2) _The Empire_, (3) _The Heavens_, (4) no
longer known. They were drawn originally by one Hwan Kin-shan, and
presented by him to a high official in Sze-ch’wan. Wang Che-yuen,
subsequently holding office in the same province, got possession
of the maps, and had them incised at Su-chau in A.D. 1247. The
inscription bearing these particulars is partially gone, and the
date of the original drawings remains uncertain. (See _List of
Illustrations_.)
[3] _The Ever Victorious Army_, p. 395.
CHAPTER LXXVI.
DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT CITY OF KINSAY, WHICH IS THE CAPITAL
OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY OF MANZI.
When you have left the city of Changan and have travelled for three
days through a splendid country, passing a number of towns and
villages, you arrive at the most noble city of KINSAY, a name which is
as much as to say in our tongue “The City of Heaven,” as I told you
before.{1}
And since we have got thither I will enter into particulars about
its magnificence; and these are well worth the telling, for the city
is beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world. In this
we shall speak according to the written statement which the Queen of
this Realm sent to Bayan the conqueror of the country for transmission
to the Great Kaan, in order that he might be aware of the surpassing
grandeur of the city and might be moved to save it from destruction
or injury. I will tell you all the truth as it was set down in that
document. For truth it was, as the said Messer Marco Polo at a later
date was able to witness with his own eyes. And now we shall rehearse
those particulars.
First and foremost, then, the document stated the city of Kinsay to be
so great that it hath an hundred miles of compass. And there are in it
twelve thousand bridges of stone, for the most part so lofty that a
great fleet could pass beneath them. And let no man marvel that there
are so many bridges, for you see the whole city stands as it were in
the water and surrounded by water, so that a great many bridges are
required to give free passage about it. [And though the bridges be so
high the approaches are so well contrived that carts and horses do
cross them.{2}]
The document aforesaid also went on to state that there were in this
city twelve guilds of the different crafts, and that each guild had
12,000 houses in the occupation of its workmen. Each of these houses
contains at least 12 men, whilst some contain 20 and some 40,—not that
these are all masters, but inclusive of the journeymen who work under
the masters. And yet all these craftsmen had full occupation, for many
other cities of the kingdom are supplied from this city with what they
require.
The document aforesaid also stated that the number and wealth of the
merchants, and the amount of goods that passed through their hands,
was so enormous that no man could form a just estimate thereof. And
I should have told you with regard to those masters of the different
crafts who are at the head of such houses as I have mentioned, that
neither they nor their wives ever touch a piece of work with their
own hands, but live as nicely and delicately as if they were kings
and queens. The wives indeed are most dainty and angelical creatures!
Moreover it was an ordinance laid down by the King that every man
should follow his father’s business and no other, no matter if he
possessed 100,000 bezants.{3}
Inside the city there is a Lake which has a compass of some 30 miles:
and all round it are erected beautiful palaces and mansions, of the
richest and most exquisite structure that you can imagine, belonging to
the nobles of the city. There are also on its shores many abbeys and
churches of the Idolaters. In the middle of the Lake are two Islands,
on each of which stands a rich, beautiful and spacious edifice,
furnished in such style as to seem fit for the palace of an Emperor.
And when any one of the citizens desired to hold a marriage feast, or
to give any other entertainment, it used to be done at one of these
palaces. And everything would be found there ready to order, such
as silver plate, trenchers, and dishes [napkins and table-cloths],
and whatever else was needful. The King made this provision for the
gratification of his people, and the place was open to every one who
desired to give an entertainment. [Sometimes there would be at these
palaces an hundred different parties; some holding a banquet, others
celebrating a wedding; and yet all would find good accommodation in
the different apartments and pavilions, and that in so well ordered a
manner that one party was never in the way of another.{4}]
The houses of the city are provided with lofty towers of stone in which
articles of value are stored for fear of fire; for most of the houses
themselves are of timber, and fires are very frequent in the city.
The people are Idolaters; and since they were conquered by the Great
Kaan they use paper-money. [Both men and women are fair and comely,
and for the most part clothe themselves in silk, so vast is the supply
of that material, both from the whole district of Kinsay, and from the
imports by traders from other provinces.{5}] And you must know they eat
every kind of flesh, even that of dogs and other unclean beasts, which
nothing would induce a Christian to eat.
Since the Great Kaan occupied the city he has ordained that each of
the 12,000 bridges should be provided with a guard of ten men, in
case of any disturbance, or of any being so rash as to plot treason
or insurrection against him. [Each guard is provided with a hollow
instrument of wood and with a metal basin, and with a time-keeper to
enable them to know the hour of the day or night. And so when one hour
of the night is past the sentry strikes one on the wooden instrument
and on the basin, so that the whole quarter of the city is made aware
that one hour of the night is gone. At the second hour he gives two
strokes, and so on, keeping always wide awake and on the look out. In
the morning again, from the sunrise, they begin to count anew, and
strike one hour as they did in the night, and so on hour after hour.
Part of the watch patrols the quarter, to see if any light or fire is
burning after the lawful hours; if they find any they mark the door,
and in the morning the owner is summoned before the magistrates, and
unless he can plead a good excuse he is punished. Also if they find any
one going about the streets at unlawful hours they arrest him, and in
the morning they bring him before the magistrates. Likewise if in the
daytime they find any poor cripple unable to work for his livelihood,
they take him to one of the hospitals, of which there are many, founded
by the ancient kings, and endowed with great revenues.{6} Or if he be
capable of work they oblige him to take up some trade. If they see
that any house has caught fire they immediately beat upon that wooden
instrument to give the alarm, and this brings together the watchmen
from the other bridges to help to extinguish it, and to save the goods
of the merchants or others, either by removing them to the towers
above mentioned, or by putting them in boats and transporting them
to the islands in the lake. For no citizen dares leave his house at
night, or to come near the fire; only those who own the property, and
those watchmen who flock to help, of whom there shall come one or two
thousand at the least.]
Moreover, within the city there is an eminence on which stands a
Tower, and at the top of the tower is hung a slab of wood. Whenever
fire or any other alarm breaks out in the city a man who stands there
with a mallet in his hand beats upon the slab, making a noise that is
heard to a great distance. So when the blows upon this slab are heard,
everybody is aware that fire has broken out, or that there is some
other cause of alarm.
The Kaan watches this city with especial diligence because it forms
the head of all Manzi; and because he has an immense revenue from the
duties levied on the transactions of trade therein, the amount of which
is such that no one would credit it on mere hearsay.
All the streets of the city are paved with stone or brick, as indeed
are all the highways throughout Manzi, so that you ride and travel in
every direction without inconvenience. Were it not for this pavement
you could not do so, for the country is very low and flat, and after
rain ’tis deep in mire and water. [But as the Great Kaan’s couriers
could not gallop their horses over the pavement, the side of the road
is left unpaved for their convenience. The pavement of the main street
of the city also is laid out in two parallel ways of ten paces in width
on either side, leaving a space in the middle laid with fine gravel,
under which are vaulted drains which convey the rain water into the
canals; and thus the road is kept ever dry.]{7}
You must know also that the city of Kinsay has some 3000 baths, the
water of which is supplied by springs. They are hot baths, and the
people take great delight in them, frequenting them several times a
month, for they are very cleanly in their persons. They are the finest
and largest baths in the world; large enough for 100 persons to bathe
together.{8}
And the Ocean Sea comes within 25 miles of the city at a place called
GANFU, where there is a town and an excellent haven, with a vast
amount of shipping which is engaged in the traffic to and from India
and other foreign parts, exporting and importing many kinds of wares,
by which the city benefits. And a great river flows from the city of
Kinsay to that sea-haven, by which vessels can come up to the city
itself. This river extends also to other places further inland.{9}
Know also that the Great Kaan hath distributed the territory of Manzi
into nine parts, which he hath constituted into nine kingdoms. To each
of these kingdoms a king is appointed who is subordinate to the Great
Kaan, and every year renders the accounts of his kingdom to the fiscal
office at the capital.{10} This city of Kinsay is the seat of one of
these kings, who rules over 140 great and wealthy cities. For in the
whole of this vast country of Manzi there are more than 1200 great and
wealthy cities, without counting the towns and villages, which are
in great numbers. And you may receive it for certain that in each of
those 1200 cities the Great Kaan has a garrison, and that the smallest
of such garrisons musters 1000 men; whilst there are some of 10,000,
20,000 and 30,000; so that the total number of troops is something
scarcely calculable. The troops forming these garrisons are not all
Tartars. Many are from the province of Cathay, and good soldiers too.
But you must not suppose they are by any means all of them cavalry;
a very large proportion of them are foot-soldiers, according to the
special requirements of each city. And all of them belong to the army
of the Great Kaan.{11}
I repeat that everything appertaining to this city is on so vast a
scale, and the Great Kaan’s yearly revenues therefrom are so immense,
that it is not easy even to put it in writing, and it seems past belief
to one who merely hears it told. But I _will_ write it down for you.
First, however, I must mention another thing. The people of this
country have a custom, that as soon as a child is born they write
down the day and hour and the planet and sign under which its birth
has taken place; so that every one among them knows the day of his
birth. And when any one intends a journey he goes to the astrologers,
and gives the particulars of his nativity in order to learn whether
he shall have good luck or no. Sometimes they will say _no_, and in
that case the journey is put off till such day as the astrologer may
recommend. These astrologers are very skilful at their business, and
often their words come to pass, so the people have great faith in them.
They burn the bodies of the dead. And when any one dies the friends and
relations make a great mourning for the deceased, and clothe themselves
in hempen garments,{12} and follow the corpse playing on a variety
of instruments and singing hymns to their idols. And when they come
to the burning place, they take representations of things cut out of
parchment, such as caparisoned horses, male and female slaves, camels,
armour suits of cloth of gold (and money), in great quantities, and
these things they put on the fire along with the corpse, so that they
are all burnt with it. And they tell you that the dead man shall have
all these slaves and animals of which the effigies are burnt, alive in
flesh and blood, and the money in gold, at his disposal in the next
world; and that the instruments which they have caused to be played at
his funeral, and the idol hymns that have been chaunted, shall also be
produced again to welcome him in the next world; and that the idols
themselves will come to do him honour.{13}
Furthermore there exists in this city the palace of the king who
fled, him who was Emperor of Manzi, and that is the greatest palace
in the world, as I shall tell you more particularly. For you must
know its demesne hath a compass of ten miles, all enclosed with lofty
battlemented walls; and inside the walls are the finest and most
delectable gardens upon earth, and filled too with the finest fruits.
There are numerous fountains in it also, and lakes full of fish. In the
middle is the palace itself, a great and splendid building. It contains
20 great and handsome halls, one of which is more spacious than the
rest, and affords room for a vast multitude to dine. It is all painted
in gold, with many histories and representations of beasts and birds,
of knights and dames, and many marvellous things. It forms a really
magnificent spectacle, for over all the walls and all the ceiling you
see nothing but paintings in gold. And besides these halls the palace
contains 1000 large and handsome chambers, all painted in gold and
divers colours.
Moreover, I must tell you that in this city there are 160 _tomans_ of
fires, or in other words 160 _tomans_ of houses. Now I should tell
you that the _toman_ is 10,000, so that you can reckon the total
as altogether 1,600,000 houses, among which are a great number of
rich palaces. There is one church only, belonging to the Nestorian
Christians.
There is another thing I must tell you. It is the custom for every
burgess of this city, and in fact for every description of person in
it, to write over his door his own name, the name of his wife, and
those of his children, his slaves, and all the inmates of his house,
and also the number of animals that he keeps. And if any one dies in
the house then the name of that person is erased, and if any child is
born its name is added. So in this way the sovereign is able to know
exactly the population of the city. And this is the practice also
throughout all Manzi and Cathay.{14}
[Illustration: HANG-CHAU-FU with The LAKE compiled from various Chinese
Sources.
Lit. Frauenfelder, Palermo
Plan of the City of SI-NGAN-FU
Reduced from one published under the MONGOL DYNASTY
_(See Book II. Chap.XLI.)_
“la très nobilissime cité de Quinsay
sans faille la plus noble cité et la
meillor qe soit au monde.”]
And I must tell you that every hosteler who keeps an hostel for
travellers is bound to register their names and surnames, as well
as the day and month of their arrival and departure. And thus the
sovereign hath the means of knowing, whenever it pleases him, who come
and go throughout his dominions. And certes this is a wise order and a
provident.
NOTE 1.—KINSAY represents closely enough the Chinese term
_King-sze_, “capital,” which was then applied to the great city,
the proper name of which was at that time Lin-ngan and is now
HANG-CHAU, as being since 1127 the capital of the Sung Dynasty.
The same term _King-sze_ is now on Chinese maps generally used to
designate Peking. It would seem, however, that the term adhered
long as a quasi-proper name to Hang-chau; for in the Chinese Atlas,
dating from 1595, which the traveller Carletti presented to the
Magliabecchian Library, that city appears to be still marked with
this name, transcribed by Carletti as _Camse_; very near the form
_Campsay_ used by Marignolli in the 14th century.
[Illustration: The ancient Lun-ho-ta Pagoda at Hang-chau.]
NOTE 2.—✛The Ramusian version says: “Messer Marco Polo was
frequently at this city, and took great pains to learn everything
about it, writing down the whole in his notes.” The information
being originally derived from a Chinese document, there might be
some ground for supposing that 100 miles of circuit stood for
100 _li_. Yet the circuit of the modern city is stated in the
official book called _Hang-chau Fu-Chi_, or topographical history
of Hang-chau, at only 35 _li_. And the earliest record of the
wall, as built under the Sui by Yang-su (before A.D. 606), makes
its extent little more (36 _li_ and 90 paces.)[1] But the wall
was reconstructed by Ts’ien Kiao, feudal prince of the region,
during the reign of Chao Tsung, one of the last emperors of the
T’ang Dynasty (892), so as to embrace the Luh-ho-ta Pagoda, on a
high bluff over the Tsien-tang River,[2] 15 _li_ distant from the
present south gate, and had then a circuit of 70 _li_. Moreover, in
1159, after the city became the capital of the Sung emperors, some
further extension was given to it, so that, even exclusive of the
suburbs, the circuit of the city may have been not far short of 100
_li_. When the city was in its glory under the Sung, the Luh-ho-ta
Pagoda may be taken as marking the extreme S.W. Another known point
marks approximately the chief north gate of that period, at a mile
and a half or two miles beyond the present north wall. The S.E.
angle was apparently near the river bank. But, on the other hand,
the _waist_ of the city seems to have been a good deal narrower
than it now is. Old descriptions compare its form to that of a
slender-waisted drum (dice-box or hour-glass shape).
Under the Mongols the walls were allowed to decay; and in the
disturbed years that closed that dynasty (1341–1368) they were
rebuilt by an insurgent chief on a greatly reduced compass,
probably that which they still retain. Whatever may have been the
facts, and whatever the origin of the estimate, I imagine that the
ascription of 100 miles of circuit to Kinsay had become popular
among Westerns. Odoric makes the same statement. Wassáf calls it
24 parasangs, which will not be far short of the same amount.
Ibn Batuta calls the _length_ of the city three days’ journey.
Rashiduddin says the enceinte had a _diameter_ of 11 parasangs,
and that there were three post stages between the two extremities
of the city, which is probably what Ibn Batuta had heard. The
_Masálak-al-Absár_ calls it _one_ day’s journey in length, and half
a day’s journey in breadth. The enthusiastic Jesuit Martini tries
hard to justify Polo in this as in other points of his description.
We shall quote the whole of his remarks at the end of the chapters
on Kinsay.
[Dr. F. Hirth, in a paper published in the _T’oung Pao_, V. pp.
386–390 (_Ueber den Schiffsverkehr von Kinsay zu Marco Polo’s
Zeit_), has some interesting notes on the maritime trade of
Hang-chau, collected from a work in twenty books, kept at the
Berlin Royal Library, in which is to be found a description of
Hang-chau under the title of _Mêng-liang-lu_, published in 1274
by Wu Tzu-mu, himself a native of this city: there are various
classes of sea-going vessels; large boats measuring 5000 _liao_
and carrying from five to six hundred passengers; smaller boats
measuring from 2 to 1000 _liao_ and carrying from two to three
hundred passengers; there are small fast boats called _tsuan-fêng_,
“wind breaker,” with six or eight oarsmen, which can carry easily
100 passengers, and are generally used for fishing; sampans are not
taken into account. To start for foreign countries one must embark
at Ts’wan-chau, and then go to the sea of Ts’i-chau (Paracels),
through the Tai-hsü pass; coming back he must look to Kwen-lun
(Pulo Condor).—H. C.]
The 12,000 bridges have been much carped at, and modern accounts
of Hang-chau (desperately meagre as they are) do not speak of
its bridges as notable. “There is, indeed,” says Mr. Kingsmill,
speaking of changes in the hydrography about Hang-chau, “no trace
in the city of the magnificent canals and bridges described by
Marco Polo.” The number was no doubt in this case also a mere
popular saw, and Friar Odoric repeats it. The sober and veracious
John Marignolli, alluding apparently to their statements, and
perhaps to others which have not reached us, says: “When authors
tell of its ten thousand noble bridges of stone, adorned with
sculptures and statues of armed princes, it passes the belief of
one who has not been there, and yet peradventure these authors tell
us no lie.” Wassáf speaks of 360 bridges only, but they make up in
size what they lack in number, for they cross canals as big as the
Tigris! Marsden aptly quotes in reference to this point excessively
loose and discrepant statements from modern authors as to the
number of bridges in Venice. The great _height_ of the arches of
the canal bridges in this part of China is especially noticed by
travellers. Barrow, quoted by Marsden, says: “Some have the piers
of such an extraordinary height that the largest vessels of 200
tons sail under them without striking their masts.”
[Illustration: Plan of the Imperial City of Hangchow in the 13th
Century. (From the Notes of the Right Rev. G. E. Moule.)
1–17, Gates; 18, _Ta-nuy_; 19, _Woo-Foo_; 20, _T’aï Miao_; 21,
_Fung-hwang shan_; 22, _Shĭh fŭh she_; 23, _Fan t’ien she_; 24,
_Koo-shing Kwo she_.]
Mr. Moule has added up the lists of bridges in the whole department
(or _Fu_) and found them to amount to 848, and many of these even
are now unknown, their approximate sites being given from ancient
topographies. The number _represented_ in a large modern map of the
city, which I owe to Mr. Moule’s kindness, is 111.
NOTE 3.—Though Rubruquis (p. 292) says much the same thing,
there is little trace of such an ordinance in modern China. Père
Parrenin observes: “As to the hereditary perpetuation of trades,
it has never existed in China. On the contrary, very few Chinese
will learn the trade of their fathers; and it is only necessity
that ever constrains them to do so.” (_Lett. Edif._ XXIV. 40.)
Mr. Moule remarks, however, that P. Parrenin is a little too
absolute. Certain trades do run in families, even of the free
classes of Chinese, not to mention the disfranchised boatmen,
barbers, chair-coolies, etc. But, except in the latter cases, there
is no compulsion, though the Sacred Edict goes to encourage the
perpetuation of the family calling.
NOTE 4.—This sheet of water is the celebrated SI-HU, or “Western
Lake,” the fame of which had reached Abulfeda, and which has
raised the enthusiasm even of modern travellers, such as Barrow
and Van Braam. The latter speaks of _three_ islands (and this the
Chinese maps confirm), on each of which were several villas, and
of causeways across the lake, paved and bordered with trees, and
provided with numerous bridges for the passage of boats. Barrow
gives a bright description of the lake, with its thousands of gay,
gilt, and painted pleasure boats, its margins studded with light
and fanciful buildings, its gardens of choice flowering shrubs, its
monuments, and beautiful variety of scenery. None surpasses that of
Martini, whom it is always pleasant to quote, but here he is too
lengthy. The most recent description that I have met with is that
of Mr. C. Gardner, and it is as enthusiastic as any. It concludes:
“Even to us foreigners ... the spot is one of peculiar attraction,
but to the Chinese it is as a paradise.” The Emperor K’ien Lung had
erected a palace on one of the islands in the lake; it was ruined
by the T’ai-P’ings. Many of the constructions about the lake date
from the flourishing days of the T’ang Dynasty, the 7th and 8th
centuries.
Polo’s ascription of a circumference of 30 miles to the lake,
corroborates the supposition that in the compass of the city a
confusion had been made between miles and _li_, for Semedo gives
the circuit of the lake really as 30 _li_. Probably the document to
which Marco refers at the beginning of the chapter was seen by him
in a Persian translation, in which _li_ had been rendered by _míl_.
A Persian work of the same age, quoted by Quatremère (the _Nuzhát
al-Ḳulúb_), gives the circuit of the lake as six parasangs, or some
24 miles, a statement which probably had a like origin.
Polo says the lake was _within_ the city. This might be merely a
loose way of speaking, but it may on the other hand be a further
indication of the former existence of an extensive outer wall. The
Persian author just quoted also speaks of the lake as within the
city. (_Barrow’s Autobiog._, p. 104; _V. Braam_, II. 154; _Gardner_
in _Proc. of the R. Geog. Soc._, vol. xiii. p. 178; _Q. Rashid_,
p. lxxxviii.) Mr. Moule states that popular oral tradition does
enclose the lake within the walls, but he can find no trace of this
in the Topographies.
Elsewhere Mr. Moule says: “Of the luxury of the (Sung) period, and
its devotion to pleasure, evidence occurs everywhere. Hang-chow
went at the time by the nickname of the melting-pot for money.
The use, at houses of entertainment, of _linen and silver plate_
appears somewhat out of keeping in a Chinese picture. I cannot
vouch for the linen, but here is the plate.... ‘The most famous
Tea-houses of the day were the _Pa-seen_ (“8 genii”), the “Pure
Delight,” the “Pearl,” the “House of the Pwan Family,” and the
“Two and Two” and “Three and Three” houses (perhaps rather “Double
honours” and “Treble honours”). In these places they always set
out bouquets of fresh flowers, according to the season.... At
the counter were sold “Precious thunder Tea,” Tea of fritters
and onions, or else Pickle broth; and in hot weather wine of
snow bubbles and apricot blossom, or other kinds of refrigerating
liquor. _Saucers, ladles, and bowls were all of pure, silver_!’
(_Si-Hu-Chi_.)”
[Illustration: Plan of the Metropolitan City of Hangchow in the
13th Century. (From the Notes of the Right Rev. G. E. Moule.)
1–17, Gates; 18, _Ta-nuy_, Central Palace; 19, _Woo-Foo_, The Five
Courts; 20, _T’aï Miao_, The Imperial Temple; 21, _Fung-hwang
shan_, Phœnix Hill; 22, _Shĭh fŭh she_, Monastery of the Sacred
Fruit; 25–30, Gates; 31, _T’ien tsung yen tsang_, T’ien tsung Salt
Depot; 2, _T’ien tsung tsew koo_, T’ien tsung Wine Store; 33,
_Chang she_, The Chang Monastery; 34, _Foo che_, Prefecture; _Foo
hio_, Prefectural Confucian Temple.]
NOTE 5.—This is still the case: “The people of Hang-chow dress
gaily, and are remarkable among the Chinese for their dandyism.
All, except the lowest labourers and coolies, strutted about in
dresses composed of silk, satin, and crape.... ‘Indeed’ (said the
Chinese servants) ‘one can never tell a rich man in Hang-chow, for
it is just possible that all he possesses in the world is on his
back.’” (_Fortune_, II. 20.) “The silk manufactures of Hang-chau
are said to give employment to 60,000 persons within the city
walls, and Hu-chau, Kia-hing, and the surrounding villages, are
reputed to employ 100,000 more.” (_Ningpo Trade Report_, January
1869, comm. by Mr. N. B. Dennys.) The store-towers, as a precaution
in case of fire, are still common both in China and Japan.
NOTE 6.—Mr. Gardner found in this very city, in 1868, a large
collection of cottages covering several acres, which were
“erected, after the taking of the city from the rebels, by a
Chinese charitable society for the refuge of the blind, sick, and
infirm.” This asylum sheltered 200 blind men with their families,
amounting to 800 souls; basket-making and such work was provided
for them; there were also 1200 other inmates, aged and infirm; and
doctors were maintained to look after them. “None are allowed to
be absolutely idle, but all help towards their own sustenance.”
(_Proc. R. G. Soc._ XIII. 176–177.) Mr. Moule, whilst abating
somewhat from the colouring of this description, admits the
establishment to be a considerable charitable effort. It existed
before the rebellion, as I see in the book of Mr. Milne, who gives
interesting details on such Chinese charities. (_Life in China_,
pp. 46 _seqq._)
NOTE 7.—The paved roads of Manzi are by no means extinct yet. Thus,
Mr. Fortune, starting from Chang-shan (see below, ch. lxxix.) in
the direction of the Black-Tea mountains, says: “The road on which
we were travelling was well paved with granite, about 12 feet in
width, and perfectly free from weeds.” (II. 148). Garnier, Sladen,
and Richthofen speak of well-paved roads in Yun-Nan and Sze-ch’wan.
The Topography quoted by Mr. Moule says that in the year 1272
the Governor renewed the pavement of the Imperial road (or Main
Street), “after which nine cars might move abreast over a way
perfectly smooth, and straight as an arrow.” In the Mongol time the
people were allowed to encroach on this grand street.
NOTE 8.—There is a curious discrepancy in the account of these
baths. Pauthier’s text does not say whether they are hot baths
or cold. The latter sentence, beginning, “They are hot baths”
(_estuves_), is from the G. Text. And Ramusio’s account is quite
different: “There are numerous baths of cold water, provided with
plenty of attendants, male and female, to assist the visitors of
the two sexes in the bath. For the people are used from their
childhood to bathe in cold water at all seasons, and they reckon
it a very wholesome custom. But in the bath-houses they have also
certain chambers furnished with hot water, for foreigners who are
unaccustomed to cold bathing, and cannot bear it. The people are
used to bathe daily, and do not eat without having done so.” This
is in contradiction with the notorious Chinese horror of cold water
for any purpose.
A note from Mr. C. Gardner says: “There are numerous public baths
at Hang-chau, as at every Chinese city I have ever been in. In my
experience natives always take _hot_ baths. But only the poorer
classes go to the public baths; the tradespeople and middle classes
are generally supplied by the bath-houses with hot water at a
moderate charge.”
NOTE 9.—The estuary of the Ts’ien T’ang, or river of Hang-chau,
has undergone great changes since Polo’s day. The sea now comes up
much nearer the city; and the upper part of the Bay of Hang-chau is
believed to cover what was once the site of the port and town of
KANP’U, the Ganpu of the text. A modern representative of the name
still subsists, a walled town, and one of the depôts for the salt
which is so extensively manufactured on this coast; but the present
port of Hang-chau, and till recently the sole seat of Chinese
trade with Japan, is at _Chapu_, some 20 miles further seaward.
It is supposed by Klaproth that KANP’U was the port frequented by
the early Arab voyagers, and of which they speak under the name of
_Khánfú_, confounding in their details Hang-chau itself with the
port. Neumann dissents from this, maintaining that the Khanfu of
the Arabs was certainly Canton. Abulfeda, however, states expressly
that Khanfu was known in his day as _Khansá_ (_i.e._ Kinsay),
and he speaks of its lake of fresh water called _Sikhu_ (Si-hu).
[Abulfeda has in fact two Khânqû (Khanfû): Khansâ with the lake
which is Kinsay, and one Khanfû which is probably Canton. (See
_Guyard’s transl._, II., ii., 122–124.)—H. C.] There seems to be an
indication in Chinese records that a southern branch of the Great
Kiang once entered the sea at Kanp’u; the closing of it is assigned
to the 7th century, or a little later.
[Dr. F. Hirth writes (_Jour. Roy. As. Soc._, 1896, pp. 68–69): “For
centuries Canton must have been the only channel through which
foreign trade was permitted; for it is not before the year 999 that
we read of the appointment of Inspectors of Trade at Hang-chou
and Ming-chou. The latter name is identified with Ning-po.” Dr.
Hirth adds in a note: “This is in my opinion the principal reason
why the port of _Khanfu_, mentioned by the earliest Muhammadan
travellers, or authors (Soleiman, Abu Zeid, and Maçoudi), cannot
be identified with Hang-chou. The report of Soleiman, who first
speaks of _Khanfu_, was written in 851, and in those days Canton
was apparently the only port open to foreign trade. Marco Polo’s
_Ganfu_ is a different port altogether, viz. _Kan-fu_, or _Kan-pu_,
near Hang-chou, and should not be confounded with _Khanfu_.”—H. C.]
The changes of the Great Kiang do not seem to have attracted
so much attention among the Chinese as those of the dangerous
Hwang-Ho, nor does their history seem to have been so carefully
recorded. But a paper of great interest on the subject was
published by Mr. Edkins, in the _Journal of the North China Branch
of the R. A. S._ for September 1860 [pp. 77–84], which I know only
by an abstract given by the late Comte d’Escayrac de Lauture. From
this it would seem that about the time of our era the Yang-tzŭ
Kiang had three great mouths. The most southerly of these was the
Che-Kiang, which is said to have given its name to the Province
still so called, of which Hang-chau is the capital. This branch
quitted the present channel at Chi-chau, passed by Ning-Kwé and
Kwang-té, communicating with the southern end of a great group
of lakes which occupied the position of the T’ai-Hu, and so by
Shih-men and T’ang-si into the sea not far from Shao-hing. The
second branch quitted the main channel at Wu-hu, passed by I-hing
(or I-shin) communicating with the northern end of the T’ai-Hu
(passed apparently by Su-chau), and then bifurcated, one arm
entering the sea at Wu-sung, and the other at Kanp’u. The third,
or northerly branch is that which forms the present channel of the
Great Kiang. These branches are represented hypothetically on the
sketch-map attached to ch. lxiv. _supra_.
(_Kingsmill_, u.s. p. 53; _Chin. Repos._ III. 118; _Middle
Kingdom_, I. 95–106; _Bürck._ p. 483; _Cathay_, p. cxciii.; _J.
N. Ch. Br. R. A. S._, December 1865, p. 3 _seqq._; _Escayrac de
Lauture, Mém. sur la Chine, H. du Sol_, p. 114.)
NOTE 10.—Pauthier’s text has: “_Chascun Roy fait chascun an le
compte de son royaume aux comptes du grant siège_,” where I suspect
the last word is again a mistake for _sing_ or _scieng_. (See
_supra_, Bk. II. ch. xxv., note 1.) It is interesting to find
Polo applying the term _king_ to the viceroys who ruled the great
provinces; Ibn Batuta uses a corresponding expression, _sultán_.
It is not easy to make out the nine kingdoms or great provinces
into which Polo considered Manzi to be divided. Perhaps his _nine_
is after all merely a traditional number, for the “Nine Provinces”
was an ancient synonym for China proper, just as _Nau-Khanda_,
with like meaning, was an ancient name of India. (See _Cathay_, p.
cxxxix. _note_; and _Reinaud, Inde_, p. 116.) But I observe that
on the portage road between Chang-shan and Yuh-shan (_infra_, p.
222) there are stone pillars inscribed “Highway (from Che-kiang) to
Eight Provinces,” thus indicating Nine. (_Milne_, p. 319.)
NOTE 11.—We have in Ramusio: “The men levied in the province of
Manzi are not placed in garrison in their own cities, but sent to
others at least 20 days’ journey from their homes; and there they
serve for four or five years, after which they are relieved. This
applies both to the Cathayans and to those of Manzi.
“The great bulk of the revenue of the cities, which enters the
exchequer of the Great Kaan, is expended in maintaining these
garrisons. And if perchance any city rebel (as you often find
that under a kind of madness or intoxication they rise and murder
their governors), as soon as it is known, the adjoining cities
despatch such large forces from their garrisons that the rebellion
is entirely crushed. For it would be too long an affair if troops
from Cathay had to be waited for, involving perhaps a delay of two
months.”
NOTE 12.—“The sons of the dead, wearing hempen clothes as badges of
mourning, kneel down,” etc. (_Doolittle_, p. 138.)
NOTE 13.—These practices have been noticed, _supra_, Bk. I. ch. xl.
NOTE 14.—This custom has come down to modern times. In Pauthier’s
_Chine Moderne_, we find extracts from the statutes of the reigning
dynasty and the comments thereon, of which a passage runs thus: “To
determine the exact population of each province the governor and
the lieutenant-governor cause certain persons who are nominated
as _Pao-kia_, or Tithing-Men, in all the places under their
jurisdiction, to add up the figures inscribed on the wooden tickets
attached to the doors of houses, and exhibiting the number of the
inmates” (p. 167).
Friar Odoric calls the number of fires 89 _tomans_; but says 10 or
12 households would unite to have one fire only!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] In the first edition, my best authority on this matter was a
lecture on the city by the late Rev. D. D. Green, an American
Missionary at Ningpo, which is printed in the November and
December numbers for 1869 of the (Fuchau) _Chinese Recorder and
Missionary Journal_. In the present (second) edition I have on
this, and other points embraced in this and the following chapters,
benefited largely by the remarks of the Right Rev. G. E. Moule
of the Ch. Mission. Soc., now residing at Hang-chau. These are
partly contained in a paper (_Notes on Colonel Yule’s Edition of
Marco Polo’s ‘Quinsay’_) read before the North China Branch of
the R. A. Soc. at Shang-hai in December 1873 [published in New
Series, No. IX. of the _Journal N. C. B. R. A. Soc._], of which
a proof has been most kindly sent to me by Mr. Moule, and partly
in a special communication, both forwarded through Mr. A. Wylie.
[See also _Notes on Hangchow Past and Present_, a paper read in
1889 by Bishop G. E. Moule at a Meeting of the Hangchau Missionary
Association, at whose request it was compiled, and subsequently
printed for private circulation.—H. C.]
[2] The building of the present Luh-ho-ta (“Six Harmonies Tower”),
after repeated destructions by fire, is recorded on a fine tablet
of the Sung period, still standing (_Moule_).
CHAPTER LXXVII.
[FURTHER PARTICULARS CONCERNING THE GREAT CITY OF KINSAY.{1}]
[The position of the city is such that it has on one side a lake of
fresh and exquisitely clear water (already spoken of), and on the other
a very large river. The waters of the latter fill a number of canals of
all sizes which run through the different quarters of the city, carry
away all impurities, and then enter the Lake; whence they issue again
and flow to the Ocean, thus producing a most excellent atmosphere. By
means of these channels, as well as by the streets, you can go all
about the city. Both streets and canals are so wide and spacious that
carts on the one and boats on the other can readily pass to and fro,
conveying necessary supplies to the inhabitants.{2}
At the opposite side the city is shut in by a channel, perhaps 40
miles in length, very wide, and full of water derived from the river
aforesaid, which was made by the ancient kings of the country in order
to relieve the river when flooding its banks. This serves also as a
defence to the city, and the earth dug from it has been thrown inwards,
forming a kind of mound enclosing the city.{3}
In this part are the ten principal markets, though besides these there
are a vast number of others in the different parts of the town. The
former are all squares of half a mile to the side, and along their
front passes the main street, which is 40 paces in width, and runs
straight from end to end of the city, crossing many bridges of easy
and commodious approach. At every four miles of its length comes one
of those great squares of 2 miles (as we have mentioned) in compass.
So also parallel to this great street, but at the back of the market
places, there runs a very large canal, on the bank of which towards
the squares are built great houses of stone, in which the merchants
from India and other foreign parts store their wares, to be handy for
the markets. In each of the squares is held a market three days in
the week, frequented by 40,000 or 50,000 persons, who bring thither
for sale every possible necessary of life, so that there is always an
ample supply of every kind of meat and game, as of roebuck, red-deer,
fallow-deer, hares, rabbits, partridges, pheasants, francolins, quails,
fowls, capons, and of ducks and geese an infinite quantity; for so many
are bred on the Lake that for a Venice groat of silver you can have a
couple of geese and two couple of ducks. Then there are the shambles
where the larger animals are slaughtered, such as calves, beeves, kids,
and lambs, the flesh of which is eaten by the rich and the great
dignitaries.{4}
Those markets make a daily display of every kind of vegetables and
fruits; and among the latter there are in particular certain pears of
enormous size, weighing as much as ten pounds apiece, and the pulp of
which is white and fragrant like a confection; besides peaches in their
season both yellow and white, of every delicate flavour.{5}
Neither grapes nor wine are produced there, but very good raisins are
brought from abroad, and wine likewise. The natives, however, do not
much care about wine, being used to that kind of their own made from
rice and spices. From the Ocean Sea also come daily supplies of fish in
great quantity, brought 25 miles up the river, and there is also great
store of fish from the lake, which is the constant resort of fishermen,
who have no other business. Their fish is of sundry kinds, changing
with the season; and, owing to the impurities of the city which pass
into the lake, it is remarkably fat and savoury. Any one who should
see the supply of fish in the market would suppose it impossible that
such a quantity could ever be sold; and yet in a few hours the whole
shall be cleared away; so great is the number of inhabitants who are
accustomed to delicate living. Indeed they eat fish and flesh at the
same meal.
All the ten market places are encompassed by lofty houses, and below
these are shops where all sorts of crafts are carried on, and all sorts
of wares are on sale, including spices and jewels and pearls. Some of
these shops are entirely devoted to the sale of wine made from rice
and spices, which is constantly made fresh and fresh, and is sold very
cheap.
Certain of the streets are occupied by the women of the town, who are
in such a number that I dare not say what it is. They are found not
only in the vicinity of the market places, where usually a quarter
is assigned to them, but all over the city. They exhibit themselves
splendidly attired and abundantly perfumed, in finely garnished houses,
with trains of waiting-women. These women are extremely accomplished
in all the arts of allurement, and readily adapt their conversation
to all sorts of persons, insomuch that strangers who have once tasted
their attractions seem to get bewitched, and are so taken with their
blandishments and their fascinating ways that they never can get these
out of their heads. Hence it comes to pass that when they return home
they say they have been to Kinsay or the City of Heaven, and their only
desire is to get back thither as soon as possible.{6}
Other streets are occupied by the Physicians, and by the Astrologers,
who are also teachers of reading and writing; and an infinity of other
professions have their places round about those squares. In each of the
squares there are two great palaces facing one another, in which are
established the officers appointed by the King to decide differences
arising between merchants, or other inhabitants of the quarter. It
is the daily duty of these officers to see that the guards are at
their posts on the neighbouring bridges, and to punish them at their
discretion if they are absent.
All along the main street that we have spoken of, as running from end
to end of the city, both sides are lined with houses and great palaces
and the gardens pertaining to them, whilst in the intervals are the
houses of tradesmen engaged in their different crafts. The crowd of
people that you meet here at all hours, passing this way and that
on their different errands, is so vast that no one would believe it
possible that victuals enough could be provided for their consumption,
unless they should see how, on every market-day, all those squares are
thronged and crammed with purchasers, and with the traders who have
brought in stores of provisions by land or water; and everything they
bring in is disposed of.
To give you an example of the vast consumption in this city let us
take the article of _pepper_; and that will enable you in some measure
to estimate what must be the quantity of victual, such as meat, wine,
groceries, which have to be provided for the general consumption. Now
Messer Marco heard it stated by one of the Great Kaan’s officers of
customs that the quantity of pepper introduced daily for consumption
into the city of Kinsay amounted to 43 loads, each load being equal to
223 lbs.{7}
The houses of the citizens are well built and elaborately finished; and
the delight they take in decoration, in painting and in architecture,
leads them to spend in this way sums of money that would astonish you.
The natives of the city are men of peaceful character, both from
education and from the example of their kings, whose disposition was
the same. They know nothing of handling arms, and keep none in their
houses. You hear of no feuds or noisy quarrels or dissensions of
any kind among them. Both in their commercial dealings and in their
manufactures they are thoroughly honest and truthful, and there is such
a degree of good will and neighbourly attachment among both men and
women that you would take the people who live in the same street to be
all one family.{8}
And this familiar intimacy is free from all jealousy or suspicion of
the conduct of their women. These they treat with the greatest respect,
and a man who should presume to make loose proposals to a married woman
would be regarded as an infamous rascal. They also treat the foreigners
who visit them for the sake of trade with great cordiality, and
entertain them in the most winning manner, affording them every help
and advice on their business. But on the other hand they hate to see
soldiers, and not least those of the Great Kaan’s garrisons, regarding
them as the cause of their having lost their native kings and lords.
On the Lake of which we have spoken there are numbers of boats and
barges of all sizes for parties of pleasure. These will hold 10, 15,
20, or more persons, and are from 15 to 20 paces in length, with flat
bottoms and ample breadth of beam, so that they always keep their
trim. Any one who desires to go a-pleasuring with the women, or with a
party of his own sex, hires one of these barges, which are always to
be found completely furnished with tables and chairs and all the other
apparatus for a feast. The roof forms a level deck, on which the crew
stand, and pole the boat along whithersoever may be desired, for the
Lake is not more than 2 paces in depth. The inside of this roof and
the rest of the interior is covered with ornamental painting in gay
colours, with windows all round that can be shut or opened, so that the
party at table can enjoy all the beauty and variety of the prospects
on both sides as they pass along. And truly a trip on this Lake is a
much more charming recreation than can be enjoyed on land. For on the
one side lies the city in its entire length, so that the spectators
in the barges, from the distance at which they stand, take in the
whole prospect in its full beauty and grandeur, with its numberless
palaces, temples, monasteries, and gardens, full of lofty trees,
sloping to the shore. And the Lake is never without a number of other
such boats, laden with pleasure parties; for it is the great delight
of the citizens here, after they have disposed of the day’s business,
to pass the afternoon in enjoyment with the ladies of their families,
or perhaps with others less reputable, either in these barges or in
driving about the city in carriages.{9}
Of these latter we must also say something, for they afford one mode
of recreation to the citizens in going about the town, as the boats
afford another in going about the Lake. In the main street of the city
you meet an infinite succession of these carriages passing to and fro.
They are long covered vehicles, fitted with curtains and cushions,
and affording room for six persons; and they are in constant request
for ladies and gentlemen going on parties of pleasure. In these they
drive to certain gardens, where they are entertained by the owners in
pavilions erected on purpose, and there they divert themselves the
livelong day, with their ladies, returning home in the evening in those
same carriages.{10}
(FURTHER PARTICULARS OF THE PALACE OF THE KING FACFUR.)
The whole enclosure of the Palace was divided into three parts. The
middle one was entered by a very lofty gate, on each side of which
there stood on the ground-level vast pavilions, the roofs of which were
sustained by columns painted and wrought in gold and the finest azure.
Opposite the gate stood the chief Pavilion, larger than the rest, and
painted in like style, with gilded columns, and a ceiling wrought in
splendid gilded sculpture, whilst the walls were artfully painted with
the stories of departed kings.
On certain days, sacred to his gods, the King Facfur[1] used to hold
a great court and give a feast to his chief lords, dignitaries, and
rich manufacturers of the city of Kinsay. On such occasions those
pavilions used to give ample accommodation for 10,000 persons sitting
at table. This court lasted for ten or twelve days, and exhibited an
astonishing and incredible spectacle in the magnificence of the guests,
all clothed in silk and gold, with a profusion of precious stones; for
they tried to outdo each other in the splendour and richness of their
appointments. Behind this great Pavilion that faced the great gate,
there was a wall with a passage in it shutting off the inner part of
the Palace. On entering this you found another great edifice in the
form of a cloister surrounded by a portico with columns, from which
opened a variety of apartments for the King and the Queen, adorned
like the outer walls with such elaborate work as we have mentioned.
From the cloister again you passed into a covered corridor, six paces
in width, of great length, and extending to the margin of the lake. On
either side of this corridor were ten courts, in the form of oblong
cloisters surrounded by colonnades; and in each cloister or court were
fifty chambers with gardens to each. In these chambers were quartered
one thousand young ladies in the service of the King. The King would
sometimes go with the Queen and some of these maidens to take his
diversion on the Lake, or to visit the Idol-temples, in boats all
canopied with silk.
The other two parts of the enclosure were distributed in groves, and
lakes, and charming gardens planted with fruit-trees, and preserves for
all sorts of animals, such as roe, red-deer, fallow-deer, hares, and
rabbits. Here the King used to take his pleasure in company with those
damsels of his; some in carriages, some on horseback, whilst no man was
permitted to enter. Sometimes the King would set the girls a-coursing
after the game with dogs, and when they were tired they would hie to
the groves that overhung the lakes, and leaving their clothes there
they would come forth naked and enter the water and swim about hither
and thither, whilst it was the King’s delight to watch them; and then
all would return home. Sometimes the King would have his dinner carried
to those groves, which were dense with lofty trees, and there would be
waited on by those young ladies. And thus he passed his life in this
constant dalliance with women, without so much as knowing what _arms_
meant! And the result of all this cowardice and effeminacy was that he
lost his dominion to the Great Kaan in that base and shameful way that
you have heard.{11}
All this account was given me by a very rich merchant of Kinsay when
I was in that city. He was a very old man, and had been in familiar
intimacy with the King Facfur, and knew the whole history of his life;
and having seen the Palace in its glory was pleased to be my guide
over it. As it is occupied by the King appointed by the Great Kaan,
the first pavilions are still maintained as they used to be, but the
apartments of the ladies are all gone to ruin and can only just be
traced. So also the wall that enclosed the groves and gardens is fallen
down, and neither trees nor animals are there any longer.{12}]
NOTE 1.—I have, after some consideration, followed the example
of Mr. H. Murray, in his edition of _Marco Polo_, in collecting
together in a separate chapter a number of additional particulars
concerning the Great City, which are only found in Ramusio. Such
of these as could be interpolated in the text of the older form of
the narrative have been introduced between brackets in the last
chapter. Here I bring together those particulars which could not be
so interpolated without taking liberties with one or both texts.
The picture in Ramusio, taken as a whole, is so much more
brilliant, interesting, and complete than in the older texts, that
I thought of substituting it entirely for the other. But so much
doubt and difficulty hangs over _some_ passages of the Ramusian
version that I could not satisfy myself of the propriety of this,
though I feel that the dismemberment inflicted on that version is
also objectionable.
NOTE 2.—The tides in the Hang-chau estuary are now so furious,
entering in the form of a bore, and running sometimes, by Admiral
Collinson’s measurement, 11½ knots, that it has been necessary to
close by weirs the communication which formerly existed between
the River Tsien-tang on the one side and the Lake Si-hu and
internal waters of the district on the other. Thus all cargoes are
passed through the small city canal in barges, and are subject to
transhipment at the river-bank, and at the great canal terminus
outside the north gate, respectively. Mr. Kingsmill, to whose
notices I am indebted for part of this information, is, however,
mistaken in supposing that in Polo’s time the tide stopped some
20 miles below the city. We have seen (note 6, ch. lxv. _supra_)
that the tide in the river before Kinsay was the object which first
attracted the attention of Bayan, after his triumphant entrance
into the city. The tides reach Fuyang, 20 miles higher. (_N. and
Q., China and Japan_, vol. I. p. 53; _Mid. Kingd._ I. 95, 106; _J.
N. Ch. Br. R. A. S._, December, 1865, p. 6; _Milne_, p. 295; _Note_
by _Mr. Moule_).
[Miss E. Scidmore writes (_China_, p. 294): “There are only
three wonders of the world in China—The Demons at Tungchow, the
Thunder at Lungchow, and the Great Tide at Hangchow, the last,
the greatest of all, and a living wonder to this day of ‘the open
door,’ while its rivals are lost in myth and oblivion.... The Great
Bore charges up the narrowing river at a speed of ten and thirteen
miles an hour, with a roar that can be heard for an hour before it
arrives.”—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—For satisfactory elucidation as to what is or may have been
authentic in these statements, we shall have to wait for a correct
survey of Hang-chau and its neighbourhood. We have already seen
strong reason to suppose that _miles_ have been substituted for
_li_ in the circuits assigned both to the city and to the lake, and
we are yet more strongly impressed with the conviction that the
same substitution has been made here in regard to the canal on the
east of the city, as well as the streets and market-places spoken
of in the next paragraph.
Chinese plans of Hang-chau do show a large canal encircling the
city on the east and north, _i.e._, on the sides away from the
lake. In some of them this is represented like a ditch to the
rampart, but in others it is more detached. And the position of
the main street, with its parallel canal, does answer fairly to
the account in the next paragraph, setting aside the extravagant
dimensions.
The existence of the squares or market-places is alluded to
by Wassáf in a passage that we shall quote below; and the
_Masálak-al-Absár_ speaks of the main street running from end to
end of the city.
On this Mr. Moule says: “I have found no certain account of
market-squares, though the _Fang_,[2] of which a few still exist,
and a very large number are laid down in the Sung Map, mainly
grouped along the chief street, may perhaps represent them.... The
names of some of these (_Fang_) and of the _Sze_ or markets still
remain.”
Mr. Wylie sent Sir Henry Yule a tracing of the figures mentioned
in the footnote; it is worth while to append them, at least in
_diagram_.
No. 1. No 2. No 3.
++ ++
++ ╔═══╦═════╦═══╗
╔═══╦═══╗ ╔═══════════╗ ║ ║ _a_ ║ ║
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╠═══╬═════╬═══╣
+╠═══╬═══╣+ +╠═══════════╣+ ║ ║ _b_ ║ ║
+║ ║ ║+ +║ ║+ ╠═══╬═════╬═══╣
╚═══╩═══╝ ╚═══════════╝ ║ ║ _c_ ║ ║
++ ╚═══╩═════╩═══╝
++ ++
No. 1. Plan of a _Fang_ or Square.
No. 2. „ „ in the South of the Imperial City of
Si-ngan fu.
No. 3. Arrangement of Two-Fang Square, with four streets and 8
gates.
_a_. The Market place.
_b_. The Official Establishment.
_c_. Office for regulating Weights.
Compare Polo’s statement that in each of the squares at Kinsay,
where the markets were held, there were two great Palaces facing
one another, in which were established the officers who decided
differences between merchants, etc.
The double lines represent streets, and the ‡ are gates.
NOTE 4.—There is no mention of _pork_, the characteristic animal
food of China, and the only one specified by Friar Odoric in his
account of the same city. Probably Mark may have got a little
_Saracenized_ among the Mahomedans at the Kaan’s Court, and doubted
if ’twere good manners to mention it. It is perhaps a relic of the
same feeling, gendered by Saracen rule, that in Sicily pigs are
called _i neri_.
“The larger game, red-deer and fallow-deer, is now never seen
for sale. Hog-deer, wild-swine, pheasants, water-fowl, and every
description of ‘vermin’ and small birds, are exposed for sale, not
now in markets, but at the retail wine shops. Wild-cats, racoons,
otters, badgers, kites, owls, etc., etc., festoon the shop fronts
along with game.” (_Moule_.)
NOTE 5.—Van Braam, in passing through Shan-tung Province, speaks of
very large pears. “The colour is a beautiful golden yellow. Before
it is pared the pear is somewhat hard, but in eating it the juice
flows, the pulp melts, and the taste is pleasant enough.” Williams
says these Shan-tung pears are largely exported, but he is not so
complimentary to them as Polo: “The pears are large and juicy,
sometimes weighing 8 or 10 pounds, but remarkably tasteless and
coarse.” (_V. Braam_, II. 33–34; _Mid. Kingd._, I. 78 and II. 44).
In the beginning of 1867 I saw pears in Covent Garden Market which
I should guess to have weighed 7 or 8 lbs. each. They were priced
at 18 guineas a dozen!
[“Large pears are nowadays produced in Shan-tung and Manchuria,
but they are rather tasteless and coarse. I am inclined to suppose
that Polo’s large pears were Chinese quinces, _Cydonia chinensis_,
Thouin, this fruit being of enormous size, sometimes one foot
long, and very fragrant. The Chinese use it for sweet-meats.”
(_Bretschneider, Hist. of Bot. Disc._ I. p. 2.)—H. C.]
As regards the “yellow and white” peaches, Marsden supposes the
former to be apricots. Two kinds of peach, correctly so described,
are indeed common in Sicily, where I write;—and both are, in their
raw state, equally good food for _i neri_! But I see Mr. Moule also
identifies the yellow peach with “the _hwang-mei_ or clingstone
apricot,” as he knows no yellow peach in China.
NOTE 6.—“_E non veggono mai l’ora che di nuovo possano
ritornarvi;_” a curious Italian idiom. (See _Vocab. It. Univ._ sub.
v. “_vedere_”.)
NOTE 7.—It would seem that the habits of the Chinese in reference
to the use of pepper and such spices have changed. Besides this
passage, implying that their consumption of pepper was large,
Marco tells us below (ch. lxxxii.) that for one shipload of pepper
carried to Alexandria for the consumption of Christendom, a hundred
went to Zayton in Manzi. At the present day, according to Williams,
the Chinese use little spice; pepper chiefly as a febrifuge in
the shape of _pepper-tea_, and that even less than they did some
years ago. (See p. 239, _infra_, and _Mid. Kingd._, II. 46, 408.)
On this, however, Mr. Moule observes: “Pepper is not so completely
relegated to the doctors. A month or two ago, passing a portable
cookshop in the city, I heard a girl-purchaser cry to the cook, ‘Be
sure you put in _pepper and leeks!_’”
NOTE 8.—Marsden, after referring to the ingenious frauds commonly
related of Chinese traders, observes: “In the long continued
intercourse that has subsisted between the agents of the European
companies and the more eminent of the Chinese merchants ...
complaints on the ground of commercial unfairness have been
extremely rare, and on the contrary, their transactions have been
marked with the most perfect good faith and mutual confidence.”
Mr. Consul Medhurst bears similar strong testimony to the upright
dealings of Chinese merchants. His remark that, as a rule, he has
found that the Chinese deteriorate by intimacy with foreigners
is worthy of notice;[3] it is a remark capable of application
wherever the East and West come into habitual contact. Favourable
opinions among the nations on their frontiers of Chinese dealing,
as expressed to Wood and Burnes in Turkestan, and to Macleod and
Richardson in Laos, have been quoted by me elsewhere in reference
to the old classical reputation of the Seres for integrity. Indeed,
Marco’s whole account of the people here might pass for an expanded
paraphrase of the Latin commonplaces regarding the Seres. Mr.
Milne, a missionary for many years in China, stands up manfully
against the wholesale disparagement or Chinese character (p. 401).
NOTE 9.—Semedo and Martini, in the 17th century, give a very
similar account of the Lake Si-hu, the parties of pleasure
frequenting it, and their gay barges. (_Semedo_, pp. 20–21; _Mart._
p. 9.) But here is a Chinese picture of the very thing described
by Marco, under the Sung Dynasty: “When Yaou Shunming was Prefect
of Hangchow, there was an old woman, who said she was formerly a
singing-girl, and in the service of Tung-p’o Seen-sheng.[4] She
related that her master, whenever he found a leisure day in spring,
would invite friends to take their pleasure on the lake. They used
to take an early meal on some agreeable spot, and, the repast over,
a chief was chosen for the company of each barge, who called a
number of dancing-girls to follow them to any place they chose. As
the day waned a gong sounded to assemble all once more at ‘Lake
Prospect Chambers,’ or at the ‘Bamboo Pavilion,’ or some place of
the kind, where they amused themselves to the top of their bent,
and then, at the first or second drum, before the evening market
dispersed, returned home by candle-light. In the city, gentlemen
and ladies assembled in crowds, lining the way to see the return of
the thousand Knights. It must have been a brave spectacle of that
time.” (_Moule_, from the _Si-hu-Chi_, or “Topography of the West
Lake.”) It is evident, from what Mr. Moule says, that this book
abounds in interesting illustration of these two chapters of Polo.
Barges with paddle-wheels are alluded to.
NOTE 10.—Public carriages are still used in the great cities of
the north, such as Peking. Possibly this is a revival. At one time
carriages appear to have been much more general in China than they
were afterwards, or are now. Semedo says they were abandoned in
China just about the time that they were adopted in Europe, viz. in
the 16th century. And this disuse seems to have been either cause
or effect of the neglect of the roads, of which so high an account
is given in old times. (_Semedo; N. and Q. Ch. and Jap._ I. 94.)
Deguignes describes the public carriages of Peking, as “shaped like
a palankin, but of a longer form, with a rounded top, lined outside
and in with coarse blue cloth, and provided with black cushions”
(I. 372). This corresponds with our author’s description, and with
a drawing by Alexander among his published sketches. The present
Peking cab is evidently the same vehicle, but smaller.
NOTE 11.—The character of the King of Manzi here given corresponds
to that which the Chinese histories assign to the Emperor Tu-Tsong,
in whose time Kúblái commenced his enterprise against Southern
China, but who died two years before the fall of the capital. He
is described as given up to wine and women, and indifferent to all
public business, which he committed to unworthy ministers. The
following words, quoted by Mr. Moule from the _Hang-Chau Fu-Chi_,
are like an echo of Marco’s: “In those days the dynasty was holding
on to a mere corner of the realm, hardly able to defend even
that; and nevertheless all, high and low, devoted themselves to
dress and ornament, to music and dancing on the lake and amongst
the hills, with no idea of sympathy for the country.” A garden
called Tseu-king (“of many prospects”) near the Tsing-po Gate, and
a monastery west of the lake, near the Lingin, are mentioned as
pleasure haunts of the Sung Kings.
NOTE 12.—The statement that the palace of Kingszé was occupied
by the Great Kaan’s lieutenant seems to be inconsistent with the
notice in De Mailla that Kúblái made it over to the Buddhist
priests. Perhaps _Kúblái’s_ name is a mistake; for one of Mr.
Moule’s books (_Jin-ho-hien-chi_) says that under _the last_ Mongol
Emperor five convents were built on the area of the palace.
Mr. H. Murray argues, from this closing passage especially,
that Marco never could have been the author of the Ramusian
interpolations; but with this I cannot agree. Did this passage
stand alone we might doubt if it were Marco’s; but the
interpolations must be considered as a whole. Many of them bear to
my mind clear evidence of being his own, and I do not see that the
present one _may_ not be his. The picture conveyed of the ruined
walls and half-obliterated buildings does, it is true, give the
impression of a long interval between their abandonment and the
traveller’s visit, whilst the whole interval between the capture of
the city and Polo’s departure from China was not more than fifteen
or sixteen years. But this is too vague a basis for theorising.
Mr. Moule has ascertained by maps of the Sung period, and by a
variety of notices in the Topographies, that the palace lay to the
south and south-east of the present city, and included a large part
of the fine hills called _Fung-hwang Shan_ or Phœnix Mount,[5] and
other names, whilst its southern gate opened near the Ts’ien-T’ang
River. Its north gate is supposed to have been the Fung Shan Gate
of the present city, and the chief street thus formed the avenue to
the palace.
[Illustration: Stone _Chwang_, or Umbrella Column, on site of
“Brahma’s Temple,” Hang-chau.]
By the kindness of Messrs. Moule and Wylie, I am able to give a
copy of the Sung Map of the Palace (for origin of which see list
of illustrations). I should note that the orientation is different
from that of the map of the city already given. This map elucidates
Polo’s account of the palace in a highly interesting manner.
[Father H. Havret has given in p. 21 of _Variétés Sinologiques_,
No. 19, a complete study of the inscription of a _chwang_, nearly
similar to the one given here, which is erected near Ch’êng-tu.—H. C.]
Before quitting KINSAY, the description of which forms the most
striking feature in Polo’s account of China, it is worth while to
quote other notices from authors of nearly the same age. However
exaggerated some of these may be, there can be little doubt that it
was the greatest city then existing in the world.
_Friar Odoric_ (in China about 1324–1327):—“Departing thence I
came unto the city of CANSAY, a name which signifieth the ‘City of
Heaven.’ And ’tis the greatest city in the whole world, so great
indeed that I should scarcely venture to tell of it, but that I
have met at Venice people in plenty who have been there. It is a
good hundred miles in compass, and there is not in it a span of
ground which is not well peopled. And many a tenement is there
which shall have 10 or 12 households comprised in it. And there
be also great suburbs which contain a greater population than
even the city itself.... This city is situated upon lagoons of
standing water, with canals like the city of Venice. And it hath
more than 12,000 bridges, on each of which are stationed guards,
guarding the city on behalf of the Great Kaan. And at the side
of this city there flows a river near which it is built, like
Ferrara by the Po, for it is longer than it is broad,” and so on,
relating how his host took him to see a great monastery of the
idolaters, where there was a garden full of grottoes, and therein
many animals of divers kinds, which they believed to be inhabited
by the souls of gentlemen. “But if any one should desire to tell
all the vastness and great marvels of this city, a good quire of
stationery would not hold the matter, I trow. For ’tis the greatest
and noblest city, and the finest for merchandize that the whole
world containeth.” (_Cathay_, 113 _seqq._)
[Illustration: South Part of KING-SZÉ with the SUNG PALACE, from
a Chinese reprint of a Plan dated circa A.D. 1270.
Lit. Frauenfelder, Palermo]
_The Archbishop of Soltania_ (_circa_ 1330):—“And so vast is the
number of people that the soldiers alone who are posted to keep
ward in the city of Cambalec are 40,000 men by sure tale. And in
the city of CASSAY there be yet more, for its people is greater in
number, seeing that it is a city of very great trade. And to this
city all the traders of the country come to trade; and greatly it
aboundeth in all manner of merchandize.” (_Ib._ 244–245.)
_John Marignolli_ (in China 1342–1347):—“Now Manzi is a country
which has countless cities and nations included in it, past all
belief to one who has not seen them.... And among the rest is that
most famous city of CAMPSAY, the finest, the biggest, the richest,
the most populous, and altogether the most marvellous city, the
city of the greatest wealth and luxury, of the most splendid
buildings (especially idol-temples, in some of which there are 1000
and 2000 monks dwelling together), that exists now upon the face
of the earth, or mayhap that ever did exist.” (_Ib._ p. 354.) He
also speaks, like Odoric, of the “cloister at Campsay, in that most
famous monastery where they keep so many monstrous animals, which
they believe to be the souls of the departed” (384). Perhaps this
monastery may yet be identified. Odoric calls it _Thebe_. [See _A.
Vissière, Bul. Soc. Géog. Com._, 1901, pp. 112–113.—H. C.]
Turning now to Asiatic writers, we begin with _Wassáf_ (A.D. 1300):—
“KHANZAI is the greatest city of the cities of Chín,
“‘_Stretching like Paradise through the breadth of Heaven._’
“Its shape is oblong, and the measurement of its perimeter is
about 24 parasangs. Its streets are paved with burnt brick and
with stone. The public edifices and the houses are built of wood,
and adorned with a profusion of paintings of exquisite elegance.
Between one end of the city and the other there are three _Yams_
(post-stations) established. The length of the chief streets is
three parasangs, and the city contains 64 quadrangles corresponding
to one another in structure, and with parallel ranges of columns.
The salt excise brings in daily 700 _balish_ in paper-money.
The number of craftsmen is so great that 32,000 are employed at
the dyer’s art alone; from that fact you may estimate the rest.
There are in the city 70 _tomans_ of soldiers and 70 _tomans_ of
_rayats_, whose number is registered in the books of the Dewán.
There are 700 churches (_Kalísíá_) resembling fortresses, and every
one of them overflowing with presbyters without faith, and monks
without religion, besides other officials, wardens, servants of the
idols, and this, that, and the other, to tell the names of which
would surpass number and space. All these are exempt from taxes
of every kind. Four _tomans_ of the garrison constitute the night
patrol.... Amid the city there are 360 bridges erected over canals
ample as the Tigris, which are ramifications of the great river of
Chín; and different kinds of vessels and ferry-boats, adapted to
every class, ply upon the waters in such numbers as to pass all
powers of enumeration.... The concourse of all kinds of foreigners
from the four quarters of the world, such as the calls of trade
and travel bring together in a kingdom like this, may easily be
conceived.” (_Revised on Hammer’s Translation_, pp. 42–43.)
The Persian work _Nuzhát-al-Ḳulúb_:—“KHINZAI is the capital of the
country of Máchín. If one may believe what some travellers say,
there exists no greater city on the face of the earth; but anyhow,
all agree that it is the greatest in all the countries in the East.
Inside the place is a lake which has a circuit of six parasangs,
and all round which houses are built.... The population is so
numerous that the watchmen are some 10,000 in number.” (_Quat.
Rash._ p. lxxxviii.)
The Arabic work _Masálak-al-Absár_:—“Two routes lead from Khanbalik
to KHINSÁ, one by land, the other by water; and either way takes 40
days. The city of Khinsá extends a whole day’s journey in length
and half a day’s journey in breadth. In the middle of it is a
street which runs right from one end to the other. The streets and
squares are all paved; the houses are five-storied (?), and are
built with planks nailed together,” etc. (_Ibid._)
_Ibn Batuta_:—“We arrived at the city of KHANSÁ.... This city is
the greatest I have ever seen on the surface of the earth. It is
three days’ journey in length, so that a traveller passing through
the city has to make his marches and his halts!... It is subdivided
into six towns, each of which has a separate enclosure, while one
great wall surrounds the whole,” etc. (_Cathay_, p. 496 _seqq._)
Let us conclude with a writer of a later age, the worthy Jesuit
Martin Martini, the author of the admirable _Atlas Sinensis_,
one whose honourable zeal to maintain Polo’s veracity, of which
he was one of the first intelligent advocates, is apt, it must
be confessed, a little to colour his own spectacles:—“That the
cosmographers of Europe may no longer make such ridiculous errors
as to the QUINSAI of Marco Polo, I will here give you the very
place. [He then explains the name.] ... And to come to the point;
this is the very city that hath those bridges so lofty and so
numberless, both within the walls and in the suburbs; nor will
they fall much short of the 10,000 which the Venetian alleges,
if you count also the triumphal arches among the bridges, as he
might easily do because of their analogous structure, just as he
calls tigers _lions_; ... or if you will, he may have meant to
include not merely the bridges in the city and suburbs, but in the
whole of the dependent territory. In that case indeed the number
which Europeans find it so hard to believe might well be set
still higher, so vast is everywhere the number of bridges and of
triumphal arches. Another point in confirmation is that lake which
he mentions of 40 Italian miles in circuit. This exists under the
name of _Si-hu_; it is not, indeed, as the book says, inside the
walls, but lies in contact with them for a long distance on the
west and south-west, and a number of canals drawn from it _do_
enter the city. Moreover, the shores of the lake on every side are
so thickly studded with temples, monasteries, palaces, museums,
and private houses, that you would suppose yourself to be passing
through the midst of a great city rather than a country scene.
Quays of cut stone are built along the banks, affording a spacious
promenade; and causeways cross the lake itself, furnished with
lofty bridges, to allow of the passage of boats; and thus you can
readily walk all about the lake on this side and on that. ’Tis no
wonder that Polo considered it to be part of the city. This, too,
is the very city that hath within the walls, near the south side,
a hill called _Ching-hoang_ [6] on which stands that tower with
the watchmen, on which there is a clepsydra to measure the hours,
and where each hour is announced by the exhibition of a placard,
with gilt letters of a foot and a half in height. This is the very
city the streets of which are paved with squared stones: the city
which lies in a swampy situation, and is intersected by a number
of navigable canals; this, in short, is the city from which the
emperor escaped to seaward by the great river Ts’ien-T’ang, the
breadth of which exceeds a German mile, flowing on the south of the
city, exactly corresponding to the river described by the Venetian
at Quinsai, and flowing eastward to the sea, which it enters
precisely at the distance which he mentions. I will add that the
compass of the city will be 100 Italian miles and more, if you
include its vast suburbs, which run out on every side an enormous
distance; insomuch that you may walk for 50 Chinese _li_ in a
straight line from north to south, the whole way through crowded
blocks of houses, and without encountering a spot that is not full
of dwellings and full of people; whilst from east to west you can
do very nearly the same thing.” (_Atlas Sinensis_, p. 99.)
And so we quit what Mr. Moule appropriately calls “Marco’s famous
rhapsody of the Manzi capital”; perhaps the most striking section
of the whole book, as manifestly the subject was that which had
made the strongest impression on the narrator.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] _Fanfur_, in Ramusio.
[2] See the mention of the _I-ning Fang_ at Si-ngan fu, _supra_, p.
28. Mr. Wylie writes that in a work on the latter city, published
during the Yuen time, of which he has met with a reprint, there are
figures to illustrate the division of the city into _Fang_, a word
“which appears to indicate a certain space of ground, not an open
square ... but a block of buildings crossed by streets, and at the
end of each street an open gateway.” In one of the figures a first
reference indicates “the market place,” a second “the official
establishment,” a third “the office for regulating weights.” These
indications seem to explain Polo’s squares. (See Note 3, above.)
[3] _Foreigner in Far Cathay_, pp. 158, 176.
[4] A famous poet and scholar of the 11th century.
[5] Mr. Wylie, after ascending this hill with Mr. Moule, writes: “It
is about two miles from the south gate to the top, by a rather
steep road. On the top is a remarkably level plot of ground, with
a cluster of rocks in one place. On the face of these rocks are a
great many inscriptions, but so obliterated by age and weather that
only a few characters can be decyphered. A stone road leads up from
the city gate, and another one, very steep, down to the lake. This
is the only vestige remaining of the old palace grounds. There is
no doubt about this being really a relic of the palace.... You will
see on the map, just inside the walls of the Imperial city, the
Temple of Brahma. There are still two stone columns standing with
curious Buddhist inscriptions.... Although the temple is entirely
gone, these columns retain the name and mark the place. They date
from the 6th century, and there are few structures earlier in
China.” One is engraved above, after a sketch by Mr. Moule.
[6] See the plan of the city with last chapter.
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
TREATING OF THE GREAT YEARLY REVENUE THAT THE GREAT KAAN HATH
FROM KINSAY.
Now I will tell you about the great revenue which the Great Kaan
draweth every year from the said city of Kinsay and its territory,
forming a ninth part of the whole country of Manzi.
First there is the salt, which brings in a great revenue. For it
produces every year, in round numbers, fourscore _tomans_ of gold; and
the _toman_ is worth 70,000 _saggi_ of gold, so that the total value
of the fourscore tomans will be five millions and six hundred thousand
_saggi_ of gold, each saggio being worth more than a gold florin or
ducat; in sooth, a vast sum of money! [This province, you see, adjoins
the ocean, on the shores of which are many lagoons or salt marshes, in
which the sea-water dries up during the summer time; and thence they
extract such a quantity of salt as suffices for the supply of five of
the kingdoms of Manzi besides this one.]
Having told you of the revenue from salt, I will now tell you of that
which accrues to the Great Kaan from the duties on merchandize and
other matters.
You must know that in this city and its dependencies they make great
quantities of sugar, as indeed they do in the other eight divisions
of this country; so that I believe the whole of the rest of the world
together does not produce such a quantity, at least, if that be true
which many people have told me; and the sugar alone again produces
an enormous revenue.—However, I will not repeat the duties on every
article separately, but tell you how they go in the lump. Well,
all spicery pays three and a third per cent. on the value; and all
merchandize likewise pays three and a third per cent. [But sea-borne
goods from India and other distant countries pay ten per cent.] The
rice-wine also makes a great return, and coals, of which there is a
great quantity; and so do the twelve guilds of craftsmen that I told
you of, with their 12,000 stations apiece, for every article they make
pays duty. And the silk which is produced in such abundance makes an
immense return. But why should I make a long story of it? The silk, you
must know, pays ten per cent., and many other articles also pay ten per
cent.
And you must know that Messer Marco Polo, who relates all this, was
several times sent by the Great Kaan to inspect the amount of his
customs and revenue from this ninth part of Manzi,{1} and he found it
to be, exclusive of the salt revenue which we have mentioned already,
210 _tomans_ of gold, equivalent to 14,700,000 _saggi_ of gold; one of
the most enormous revenues that ever was heard of. And if the sovereign
has such a revenue from one-ninth part of the country, you may judge
what he must have from the whole of it! However, to speak the truth,
this part is the greatest and most productive; and because of the
great revenue that the Great Kaan derives from it, it is his favourite
province, and he takes all the more care to watch it well, and to keep
the people contented.{2}
Now we will quit this city and speak of others.
NOTE 1.—Pauthier’s text seems to be the only one which says that
Marco was sent by the Great Kaan. The G. Text says merely: “_Si qe
jeo March Pol qe plusor foies hoï faire le conte de la rende de
tous cestes couses_,”—“had several times heard the calculations
made.”
NOTE 2.—_Toman_ is 10,000. And the first question that occurs in
considering the statements of this chapter is as to the unit of
these tomans, as intended by Polo. I believe it to have been the
_tael_ (or Chinese ounce) of gold.
We do not know that the Chinese ever made monetary calculations
in gold. But the usual unit of the revenue accounts appears from
Pauthier’s extracts to have been the _ting_, _i.e._ a money of
account equal to ten taels of silver, and we know (_supra_, ch. l.
note 4) that this was in those days the exact equivalent of one
tael of gold.
The equation in our text is 10,000 _x_ = 70,000 saggi of gold,
giving _x_, or the unit sought, = 7 _saggi_. But in both Ramusio
on the one hand, and in the Geog. Latin and Crusca Italian texts
on the other hand, the equivalent of the toman is 80,000 _saggi_;
though it is true that neither with one valuation nor the other
are the calculations consistent in any of the texts, except
Ramusio’s.[1] This consistency does not give any greater weight
to Ramusio’s reading, because we know that version to have been
_edited_, and corrected when the editor thought it necessary: but
I adopt his valuation, because we shall find other grounds for
preferring it. The unit of the _toman_ then is = 8 _saggi_.
The Venice saggio was one-sixth of a Venice ounce. The Venice mark
of 8 ounces I find stated to contain 3681 grains troy;[2] hence the
_saggio_ = 76 grains. But I imagine the term to be used by Polo
here and in other Oriental computations, to express the Arabic
_misḳál_, the real weight of which, according to Mr. Maskelyne, is
74 grains troy. The _misḳál_ of gold was, as Polo says, something
more than a ducat or sequin, indeed, weight for weight, it was to a
ducat nearly as 1·4:1.
Eight _saggi_ or _misḳáls_ would be 592 grains troy. The tael is
580, and the approximation is as near as we can reasonably expect
from a calculation in such terms.
Taking the silver tael at 6_s._ 7_d._, the gold tael, or rather
the _ting_, would be = 3_l._ 5_s._ 10_d._; the _toman_ =
32,916_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._; and the whole salt revenue (80 tomans)
= 2,633,333_l._; the revenue from other sources (210 tomans) =
6,912,500_l._; total revenue from Kinsay and its province (290
tomans) = 9,545,833_l._ A sufficiently startling statement, and
quite enough to account for the sobriquet of Marco Milioni.
Pauthier, in reference to this chapter, brings forward a number of
extracts regarding Mongol finance from the official history of that
dynasty. The extracts are extremely interesting in themselves, but
I cannot find in them that confirmation of Marco’s accuracy which
M. Pauthier sees.
First as to the salt revenue of Kiang-Ché, or the province of
Kinsay. The facts given by Pauthier amount to these: that in
1277, the year in which the Mongol salt department was organised,
the manufacture of salt amounted to 92,148 _yin_, or 22,115,520
_kilos._; in 1286 it had reached 450,000 _yin_, or 108,000,000
_kilos._; in 1289 it fell off by 100,000 _yin_.
The price was, in 1277, 18 _liang_ or taels, in _chao_ or
paper-money of the years 1260–64 (see vol. i. p. 426); in 1282 it
was raised to 22 taels; in 1284 a permanent and reduced price was
fixed, the amount of which is not stated.
M. Pauthier assumes as a mean 400,000 _yin_, at 18 taels, which
will give 7,200,000 _taels_; or, at 6_s._ 7_d._ to the tael,
2,370,000_l._ But this amount being in _chao_ or paper-currency,
which at its highest valuation was worth only 50 per cent. of the
nominal value of the notes, we must _halve_ the sum, giving the
salt revenue on Pauthier’s assumptions = 1,185,000_l._
Pauthier has also endeavoured to present a table of the whole
revenue of Kiang-Ché under the Mongols, amounting to 12,955,710
paper _taels_, or 2,132,294_l._, _including_ the salt revenue. This
would leave only 947,294_l._ for the other sources of revenue,
but the fact is that several of these are left blank, and among
others one so important as the sea-customs. However, even making
the extravagant supposition that the sea-customs and other omitted
items were equal in amount to the whole of the other sources of
revenue, salt included, the total would be only 4,264,585_l._
Marco’s amount, as he gives it, is, I think, unquestionably a
huge exaggeration, though I do not suppose an intentional one. In
spite of his professed rendering of the amounts in gold, I have
little doubt that his tomans really represent paper-currency,
and that to get a valuation in gold, his total has to be divided
_at the very least_ by two. We may then compare his total of 290
tomans of paper _ting_ with Pauthier’s 130 tomans of paper _ting_,
excluding sea-customs and some other items. No nearer comparison is
practicable; and besides the sources of doubt already indicated, it
remains uncertain what in either calculation are the limits of the
province intended. For the bounds of Kiang-Ché seem to have varied
greatly, sometimes including and sometimes excluding Fo-kien.
I may observe that Rashiduddin reports, on the authority of the
Mongol minister Pulad Chingsang, that the whole of Manzi brought in
a revenue of “900 tomans.” This Quatremère renders “nine million
pieces of gold,” presumably meaning dinars. It is unfortunate
that there should be uncertainty here again as to the unit. If
it were the _dinar_ the whole revenue of Manzi would be about
5,850,000_l._, whereas if the unit were, as in the case of Polo’s
toman, the _ting_, the revenue would be nearly 30,000,000 sterling!
It does appear that in China a toman of some denomination of money
near the dinar was known in account. For Friar Odoric states the
revenue of Yang-chau in _tomans_ of _Balish_, the latter unit
being, as he explains, a sum in paper-currency equivalent to a
florin and a half (or something more than a dinar); perhaps,
however, only the _liang_ or tael (see vol. i. pp. 426–7).
It is this calculation of the Kinsay revenue which Marco is
supposed to be expounding to his fellow-prisoner on the title-page
of this volume. [See _P. Hoang, Commerce Public du Sel_, Shanghai,
1898, Liang-tché-yen, pp. 6–7.—H. C.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Pauthier’s MSS. A and B are hopelessly corrupt here. His MS. C
agrees with the Geog. Text in making the toman = 70,000 saggi, but
210 tomans = 15,700,000, instead of 14,700,000. The Crusca and
Latin have 80,000 saggi in the first place, but 15,700,000 in the
second. Ramusio alone has 80,000 in the first place, and 16,800,000
in the second.
[2] _Eng. Cyclop., “Weights and Measures.”_
CHAPTER LXXIX.
OF THE CITY OF TANPIJU AND OTHERS.
When you leave Kinsay and travel a day’s journey to the south-east,
through a plenteous region, passing a succession of dwellings and
charming gardens, you reach the city of TANPIJU, a great, rich, and
fine city, under Kinsay. The people are subject to the Kaan, and
have paper-money, and are Idolaters, and burn their dead in the way
described before. They live by trade and manufactures and handicrafts,
and have all necessaries in great plenty and cheapness.{1}
But there is no more to be said about it, so we proceed, and I will
tell you of another city called VUJU at three days’ distance from
Tanpiju. The people are Idolaters, &c., and the city is under Kinsay.
They live by trade and manufactures.
Travelling through a succession of towns and villages that look like
one continuous city, two days further on to the south-east, you find
the great and fine city of GHIUJU which is under Kinsay. The people
are Idolaters, &c. They have plenty of silk, and live by trade and
handicrafts, and have all things necessary in abundance. At this city
you find the largest and longest canes that are in all Manzi; they are
full four palms in girth and 15 paces in length.{2}
When you have left Ghiuju you travel four days S.E. through a beautiful
country, in which towns and villages are very numerous. There is
abundance of game both in beasts and birds; and there are very large
and fierce lions. After those four days you come to the great and fine
city of CHANGSHAN. It is situated upon a hill which divides the River,
so that the one portion flows up country and the other down.[1] It is
still under the government of Kinsay.
I should tell you that in all the country of Manzi they have no
sheep, though they have beeves and kine, goats and kids and swine in
abundance. The people are Idolaters here, &c.
When you leave Changshan you travel three days through a very fine
country with many towns and villages, traders and craftsmen, and
abounding in game of all kinds, and arrive at the city of CUJU. The
people are Idolaters, &c., and live by trade and manufactures. It is a
fine, noble, and rich city, and is the last of the government of Kinsay
in this direction.{3} The other kingdom which we now enter, called
Fuju, is also one of the nine great divisions of Manzi as Kinsay is.
NOTE 1.—The traveller’s route proceeds from Kinsay or Hang-chau
southward to the mountains of Fo-kien, ascending the valley of
the Ts’ien T’ang, commonly called by Europeans the Green River.
The general line, directed as we shall see upon Kien-ning fu in
Fo-kien, is clear enough, but some of the details are very obscure,
owing partly to vague indications and partly to the excessive
uncertainty in the reading of some of the proper names.
No name resembling Tanpiju (G. T., _Tanpigui_; Pauthier, _Tacpiguy,
Carpiguy, Capiguy_; Ram., _Tapinzu_) belongs, so far as has yet
been shown, to any considerable town in the position indicated.[2]
Both Pauthier and Mr. Kingsmill identify the place with Shao-hing
fu, a large and busy town, compared by Fortune, as regards
population, to Shang-hai. Shao-hing is across the broad river, and
somewhat further down than Hang-chau: it is out of the traveller’s
general direction; and it seems unnatural that he should commence
his journey by passing this wide river, and yet not mention it.
For these reasons I formerly rejected Shao-hing, and looked rather
to Fu-yang as the representative of Tanpiju. But my opinion is
shaken when I find both Mr. Elias and Baron Richthofen decidedly
opposed to Fu-yang, and the latter altogether in favour of
Shao-hing. “The journey through a plenteous region, passing a
succession of dwellings and charming gardens; the epithets ‘great,
rich, and fine city’; the ‘trade, manufactures, and handicrafts,’
and the ‘necessaries in great plenty and cheapness,’ appear to
apply rather to the populous plain and the large city of ancient
fame, than to the small Fu-yang hien ... shut in by a spur from
the hills, which would hardly have allowed it in former days to
have been a great city.” (_Note by Baron R._) The after route, as
elucidated by the same authority, points with even more force to
Shao-hing.
[Mr. G. Phillips has made a special study of the route from Kinsay
to Zaytun in the _T’oung Pao_, I. p. 218 _seq._ (_The Identity of
Marco Polo’s Zaitun with Changchau_). He says (p. 222): “Leaving
Hangchau by boat for Fuhkien, the first place of importance is
Fuyang, at 100 _li_ from Hangchau. This name does not in any way
resemble Polo’s Ta Pin Zu, but I think it can be no other.” Mr.
Phillips writes (pp. 221–222) that by the route he describes, he
“intends to follow the highway which has been used by travellers
for centuries, and the greater part of which is by water.” He adds:
“I may mention that the boats used on this route can be luxuriously
fitted up, and the traveller can go in them all the way from
Hangchau to Chinghu, the head of the navigation of the Ts’ien-t’ang
River. At this Chinghu, they disembark and hire coolies and
chairs to take them and their luggage across the Sien-hia pass
to Puching in Fuhkien. This route is described by Fortune in an
opposite direction, in his _Wanderings in China_, vol. ii. p. 139.
I am inclined to think that Polo followed this route, as the one
given by Yule, by way of Shao-hing and Kin-hua by land, would be
unnecessarily tedious for the ladies Polo was escorting, and there
was no necessity to take it; more especially as there was a direct
water route to the point for which they were making. I further
incline to this route, as I can find no city at all fitting in with
Yenchau, Ramusio’s Gengiu, along the route given by Yule.”
In my paper on the Catalan Map (Paris, 1895) I gave the following
itinerary: Kinsay (Hang-chau), Tanpiju (Shao-hing fu), Vuju
(Kin-hwa fu), Ghiuju (K’iu-chau fu), Chan-shan (Sui-chang hien),
Cuju (Ch’u-chau), Ke-lin-fu (Kien-ning fu), Unken (Hu-kwan), Fuju
(Fu-chau), Zayton (Kayten, Hai-t’au), Zayton (Ts’iuen-chau), Tyunju
(Tek-hwa).
Regarding the burning of the dead, Mr. Phillips (_T’oung Pao_, VI.
p. 454) quotes the following passage from a notice by M. Jaubert.
“The town of Zaitun is situated half a day’s journey inland from
the sea. At the place where the ships anchor, the water is fresh.
The people drink this water and also that of the wells. Zaitun is
30 days’ journey from Khanbaligh. The inhabitants of this town burn
their dead either with Sandal, or Brazil wood, according to their
means; they then throw the ashes into the river.” Mr. Phillips
adds: “The custom of burning the dead is a long established one in
Fuh-Kien, and does not find much favour among the upper classes. It
exists even to this day in the central parts of the province. The
time for cremation is generally at the time of the Tsing-Ming. At
the commencement of the present dynasty the custom of burning the
dead appears to have been pretty general in the Fuchow Prefecture;
it was looked upon with disfavour by many, and the gentry
petitioned the Authorities that proclamations forbidding it should
be issued. It was thought unfilial for children to cremate their
parents; and the practice of gathering up the bones of a partially
cremated person and thrusting them into a jar, euphoniously called
a Golden Jar, but which was really an earthen one, was much
commented on, as, if the jar was too small to contain all the
bones, they were broken up and put in, and many pieces got thrown
aside. In the Changchow neighbourhood, with which we have here most
to do, it was a universal custom in 1126 to burn the dead, and was
in existence for many centuries after.” (See note, _supra_, II. p.
134.)
Captain Gill, speaking of the country near the Great Wall, writes
(I. p. 61): [“The Chinese] consider mutton very poor food, and the
butchers’ shops are always kept by Mongols. In these, however, both
beef and mutton can be bought for 3_d._ or 4_d._ a lb., while pork,
which is considered by the Chinese as the greatest delicacy, sells
for double the price.”—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—Che-kiang produces bamboos more abundantly than any
province of Eastern China. Dr. Medhurst mentions meeting, on the
waters near Hang-chau, with numerous rafts of bamboos, one of which
was one-third of a mile in length. (_Glance at Int. of China_, p.
53.)
NOTE 3.—Assuming Tanpiju to be Shao-hing, the remaining places as
far as the Fo-kien Frontier run thus:—
3 days to Vuju (P. _Vugui_, G. T. _Vugui, Vuigui_, Ram. _Uguiu_).
2 „ to Ghiuju (P. _Guiguy_, G. T. _Ghingui, Ghengui, Chengui_,
Ram. _Gengui_).
4 „ to Changshan (P. _Ciancian_, G. T. _Cianscian_, Ram.
_Zengian_).
3 „ to Cuju or Chuju (P. _Cinguy_, G. T. _Cugui_, Ram. _Gieza_).
First as regards _Changshan_, which, with the notable circumstances
about the waters there, constitutes the key to the route, I extract
the following remarks from a note which Mr. Fortune has kindly sent
me: “When we get to _Changshan_ the proof as to the route is _very
strong_. This is undoubtedly my _Chang-shan_. The town is near the
head of the Green River (the Ts’ien T’ang) which flows in a N.E.
direction and falls into the Bay of Hang-chau. At Chang-shan the
stream is no longer navigable even for small boats. Travellers
going west or south-west walk or are carried in sedan-chairs
across country in a westerly direction for about 30 miles to a
town named Yuh-shan. Here there is a river which flows westward
(‘the other half goes down’), taking the traveller rapidly in that
direction, and passing _en route_ the towns of Kwansinfu, Hokow
or Hokeu, and onward to the Poyang Lake.” From the careful study
of Mr. Fortune’s published narrative I had already arrived at the
conclusion that this was the correct explanation of the remarkable
expressions about the division of the waters, which are closely
analogous to those used by the traveller in ch. lxii. of this book
when speaking of the watershed of the Great Canal at Sinjumatu.
Paraphrased the words might run: “At Chang-shan you reach high
ground, which interrupts the continuity of the River; from one side
of this ridge it flows up country towards the north, from the other
it flows down towards the south.” The expression “The River” will
be elucidated in note 4 to ch. lxxxii. below.
This route by the Ts’ien T’ang and the Chang-shan portage, which
turns the danger involved in the navigation of the Yang-tzŭ and
the Poyang Lake, was formerly a thoroughfare to the south much
followed; though now almost abandoned through one of the indirect
results (as Baron Richthofen points out) of steam navigation.
The portage from Chang-shan to Yuh-shan was passed by the English
and Dutch embassies in the end of last century, on their journeys
from Hang-chau to Canton, and by Mr. Fortune on his way from Ningpo
to the Bohea country of Fo-kien. It is probable that Polo on some
occasion made the ascent of the Ts’ien T’ang by water, and that
this leads him to notice the interruption of the navigation.
[Mr. Phillips writes (_T. Pao_, I. p. 222): “From Fuyang the next
point reached is Tunglu, also another 100 _li_ distant. Polo
calls this city Ugim, a name bearing no resemblance to Tunglu,
but this name and Ta Pin Zu are so corrupted in all editions that
they defy conjecture. One hundred _li_ further up the river from
Tunglu, we come to Yenchau, in which I think we have Polo’s Gengiu
of Ramusio’s text. Yule’s text calls this city Ghiuju, possibly
an error in transcription for Ghinju; Yenchau in ancient Chinese
would, according to Williams, be pronounced Ngam, Ngin, and
Ngienchau, all of which are sufficiently near Polo’s Gengiu. The
next city reached is Lan Ki Hien or Lan Chi Hsien, famous for its
hams, dates, and all the good things of this life, according to the
Chinese. In this city I recognise Polo’s Zen Gi An of Ramusio. Does
its description justify me in my identification? ‘The city of “Zen
gi an,”’ says Ramusio, ‘is built upon a hill that stands isolated
in the river, which latter, by dividing itself into two branches,
appears to embrace it. These streams take opposite directions:
one of them pursuing its course to the south-east and the other
to the north-west.’ Fortune, in his _Wanderings in China_ (vol.
ii. p. 139), calls Lan-Khi, Nan-Che-hien, and says: ‘It is built
on the banks of the river, and has a picturesque hill behind it.’
Milne, who also visited it, mentions it in his _Life in China_ (p.
258), and says: ‘At the southern end of the suburbs of Lan-Ki the
river divides into two branches, the one to the left on south-east
leading direct to Kinhua.’ Milne’s description of the place is
almost identical with Polo’s, when speaking of the division of the
river. There are in Fuchau several Lan-Khi shopkeepers, who deal in
hams, dates, etc., and these men tell me the city from the river
has the appearance of being built on a hill, but the houses on
the hill are chiefly temples. I would divide the name as follows,
Zen gi an; the last syllable _an_ most probably represents the
modern Hien, meaning District city, which in ancient Chinese was
pronounced _Han_, softened by the Italians into _an_. Lan-Khi was a
Hien in Polo’s day.”—H. C.]
Kin-hwa fu, as Pauthier has observed, bore at this time the name
of WU-CHAU, which Polo would certainly write _Vugiu_. And between
Shao-hing and Kin-hwa there exists, as Baron Richthofen has pointed
out, a line of depression which affords an easy connection between
Shao-hing and Lan-ki hien or Kin-hwa fu. This line is much used by
travellers, and forms just 3 short stages. Hence Kin-hwa, a fine
city destroyed by the T’ai-P’ings, is satisfactorily identified
with _Vugiu_.
The journey from Vugui to Ghiuju is said to be through a succession
of towns and villages, looking like a continuous city. Fortune,
whose journey occurred before the T’ai-P’ing devastations, speaks
of the approach to Kiu-chau as a vast and beautiful garden. And Mr.
Milne’s map of this route shows an incomparable density of towns
in the Ts’ien T’ang valley from Yen-chau up to Kiu-chau. _Ghiuju_
then will be KIU-CHAU. But between Kiu-chau and Chang-shan it is
impossible to make four days: barely possible to make two. My map
(_Itineraries_, No. VI.), based on D’Anville and Fortune, makes the
_direct_ distance 24 miles; Milne’s map barely 18; whilst from his
book we deduce the distance travelled by water to be about 30. On
the whole, it seems probable that there is a mistake in the figure
here.
[Illustration: Marco Polo’s route from Kinsai to ZAITUN,
illustrating Mr. G. Phillips’ theory.]
From the head of the great Che-kiang valley I find two roads
across the mountains into Fo-kien described.
One leads from _Kiang-shan_ (not Chang-shan) by a town called
Ching-hu, and then, nearly due south, across the mountains to
Pu-ch’eng in Upper Fo-kien. This is specified by Martini (p. 113):
it seems to have been followed by the Dutch Envoy, Van Hoorn, in
1665 (see _Astley_, III. 463), and it was travelled by Fortune on
his return _from_ the Bohea country to Ningpo. (II. 247, 271.)
The other route follows the portage spoken of above from
_Chang-shan_ to Yuh-shan, and descends the river on that side to
_Hokeu_, whence it strikes south-east across the mountains to
Tsung-ngan-hien in Fo-kien. This route was followed by Fortune on
his way _to_ the Bohea country.
Both from Pu-ch’eng on the former route, and from near Tsung-ngan
on the latter, the waters are navigable down to Kien-ning fu and so
to Fu-chau.
Mr. Fortune judges the first to have been Polo’s route. There
does not, however, seem to be on this route any place that can
be identified with his Cuju or Chuju. Ching-hu seems to be
insignificant, and the name has no resemblance. On the other route
followed by Mr. Fortune himself from that side we have Kwansin fu,
_Hokeu_, Yen-shan, and (last town passed on that side) _Chuchu_.
The latter, as to both name and position, is quite satisfactory,
but it is described as a small poor town. _Hokeu_ would be
represented in Polo’s spelling as Caghiu or Cughiu. It is now a
place of great population and importance as the entrepôt of the
Black Tea Trade, but, like many important commercial cities in
the interior, not being even a _hien_, it has no place either in
Duhalde or in Biot, and I cannot learn its age.
It is no objection to this line that Polo speaks of Cuju or Chuju
as the last city of the government of Kinsay, whilst the towns just
named are in Kiang-si. For _Kiang-Ché_, the province of Kinsay,
then included the eastern part of Kiang-si. (See _Cathay_, p. 270.)
[Mr. Phillips writes (_T. Pao_, I. 223–224): “Eighty-five _li_
beyond Lan-ki hien is Lung-yin, a place not mentioned by Polo, and
another ninety-five _li_ still further on is Chüchau or Keuchau,
which is, I think, the Gie-za of Ramusio, and the Cuju of Yule’s
version. Polo describes it as the last city of the government of
Kinsai (Che-kiang) in this direction. It is the last Prefectural
city, but ninety _li_ beyond Chü-chau, on the road to Pu-chêng,
is Kiang-shan, a district city which is the last one in this
direction. Twenty _li_ from Kiang-shan is Ching-hu, the head of
the navigation of the T’sien-T’ang river. Here one hires chairs
and coolies for the journey over the Sien-hia Pass to Pu-chêng,
a distance of 215 _li_. From Pu-chêng, Fu-chau can be reached by
water in 4 or 5 days. The distance is 780 _li_.”—H. C.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] “_Est sus un mont que parte le Flum, que le une moitié ala en sus e
l’autre moitié en jus_” (G. T.).
[2] One of the _Hien_, forming the special districts of Hang-Chau
itself, now called _Tsien-tang_, was formerly called
_Tang-wei-tang_. But it embraces the _eastern_ part of the
district, and can, I think, have nothing to do with _Tanpiju_. (See
_Biot_, p. 257, and _Chin. Repos._ for February, 1842, p. 109.)
CHAPTER LXXX.
CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF FUJU.
On leaving Cuju, which is the last city of the kingdom of Kinsay, you
enter the kingdom of FUJU, and travel six days in a south-easterly
direction through a country of mountains and valleys, in which are
a number of towns and villages with great plenty of victuals and
abundance of game. Lions, great and strong, are also very numerous.
The country produces ginger and galingale in immense quantities,
insomuch that for a Venice groat you may buy fourscore pounds of good
fine-flavoured ginger. They have also a kind of fruit resembling
saffron, and which serves the purpose of saffron just as well.{1}
And you must know the people eat all manner of unclean things, even the
flesh of a man, provided he has not died a natural death. So they look
out for the bodies of those that have been put to death and eat their
flesh, which they consider excellent.{2}
Those who go to war in those parts do as I am going to tell you. They
shave the hair off the forehead and cause it to be painted in blue like
the blade of a glaive. They all go afoot except the chief; they carry
spears and swords, and are the most savage people in the world, for
they go about constantly killing people, whose blood they drink, and
then devour the bodies.{3}
Now I will quit this and speak of other matters. You must know then
that after going three days out of the six that I told you of you come
to the city of KELINFU, a very great and noble city, belonging to the
Great Kaan. This city hath three stone bridges which are among the
finest and best in the world. They are a mile long and some nine paces
in width, and they are all decorated with rich marble columns. Indeed
they are such fine and marvellous works that to build any one of them
must have cost a treasure.{4}
The people live by trade and manufactures, and have great store of silk
[which they weave into various stuffs], and of ginger and galingale.
{5} [They also make much cotton cloth of dyed thread, which is sent
all over Manzi.] Their women are particularly beautiful. And there
is a strange thing there which I needs must tell you. You must know
they have a kind of fowls which have no feathers, but hair only, like
a cat’s fur.{6} They are black all over; they lay eggs just like our
fowls, and are very good to eat.
In the other three days of the six that I have mentioned above{7}, you
continue to meet with many towns and villages, with traders, and goods
for sale, and craftsmen. The people have much silk, and are Idolaters,
and subject to the Great Kaan. There is plenty of game of all kinds,
and there are great and fierce lions which attack travellers. In the
last of those three days’ journey, when you have gone 15 miles you find
a city called UNKEN, where there is an immense quantity of sugar made.
From this city the Great Kaan gets all the sugar for the use of his
Court, a quantity worth a great amount of money. [And before this city
came under the Great Kaan these people knew not how to make fine sugar;
they only used to boil and skim the juice, which when cold left a black
paste. But after they came under the Great Kaan some men of Babylonia
who happened to be at the Court proceeded to this city and taught the
people to refine the sugar with the ashes of certain trees.{8}]
There is no more to say of the place, so now we shall speak of the
splendour of Fuju. When you have gone 15 miles from the city of Unken,
you come to this noble city which is the capital of the kingdom. So we
will now tell you what we know of it.
NOTE 1.—The vague description does not suggest the root _turmeric_
with which Marsden and Pauthier identify this “fruit like saffron.”
It is probably one of the species of _Gardenia_, the fruits of
which are used by the Chinese for their colouring properties.
Their splendid yellow colour “is due to a body named crocine
which appears to be identical with the polychroite of saffron.”
(_Hanbury’s Notes on Chinese Mat. Medica_, pp. 21–22.) For this
identification, I am indebted to Dr. Flückiger of Bern. [“Colonel
Yule concludes that the fruit of a _Gardenia_, which yields a
yellow colour, is meant. But Polo’s vague description might just
as well agree with the Bastard Saffron, _Carthamus tinctorius_,
a plant introduced into China from Western Asia in the 2nd
century B.C., and since then much cultivated in that country.”
(_Bretschneider, Hist. of Bot. Disc._ I. p. 4.)—H. C.]
[Illustration: Scene in the Bohea Mountains, on Polo’s route
between Kiang-si and Fo-kien. (From Fortune.)
“=Adonc entre l’en en roiaume de Fugiu, et ici comance. Et ala siz
jornée por montangnes e por valés....=”]
NOTE 2.—See vol. i. p. 312.
NOTE 3.—These particulars as to a race of painted or tattooed
caterans accused of cannibalism apparently apply to some aboriginal
tribe which still maintained its ground in the mountains between
Fo-kien and Che-kiang or Kiang-si. Davis, alluding to the Upper
part of the Province of Canton, says: “The Chinese History speaks
of the aborigines of this wild region under the name of _Mân_
(Barbarians), who within a comparatively recent period were subdued
and incorporated into the Middle Nation. Many persons have remarked
a decidedly Malay cast in the features of the natives of this
province; and it is highly probable that the Canton and Fo-kien
people were originally the same race as the tribes which still
remain unreclaimed on the east side of Formosa.”[1] (_Supply. Vol._
p. 260.) Indeed Martini tells us that even in the 17th century this
very range of mountains, farther to the south, in the Ting-chau
department of Fo-kien, contained a race of uncivilised people,
who were enabled by the inaccessible character of the country to
maintain their independence of the Chinese Government (p. 114; see
also _Semedo_, p. 19).
[“Colonel Yule’s ‘pariah caste’ of Shao-ling, who, he says,
rebelled against either the Sung or the Yüan, are evidently the
_tomin_ of Ningpo and _zikas_ of Wênchow. Colonel Yule’s ‘some
aboriginal tribe between Fo-kien and Che-kiang’ are probably the
_zikas_ of Wênchow and the _siapo_ of Fu-kien described by recent
travellers. The _zikas_ are locally called dogs’ heads, which
illustrates Colonel Yule’s allophylian theories.” (_Parker, China
Review_, XIV. p. 359.) Cf. _A Visit to the “Dog-Headed Barbarians”
or Hill People, near Fu-chow, by Rev. F. Ohlinger, Chinese
Recorder_, July, 1886, pp. 265–268.—H. C.]
NOTE 4.—Padre Martini long ago pointed out that this _Quelinfu_ is
KIEN-NING FU, on the upper part of the Min River, an important city
of Fo-kien. In the Fo-kien dialect he notices that _l_ is often
substituted for _n_, a well-known instance of which is _Liampoo_,
the name applied by F. M. Pinto and the old Portuguese to _Ningpo_.
[Mr. Phillips writes (_T. Pao_, I. p. 224): “From Puchêng to
Kien-Ning-Foo the distance is 290 _li_, all down stream. I
consider this to have been the route followed by Polo. His calling
Kien-Ning-Foo, Que-lin-fu, is quite correct, as far as the Ling
is concerned, the people of the city and of the whole southern
province pronounce Ning, Ling. The Ramusian version gives very full
particulars regarding the manufactures of Kien-Ning-Foo, which
are not found in the other texts; for example, silk is said in
this version to be woven into various stuffs, and further: ‘They
also make much cotton cloth of dyed thread which is sent all over
Manzi.’ All this is quite true. Much silk was formerly and is still
woven in Kien-Ning, and the manufacture of cotton cloth with dyed
threads is very common. Such stuff is called Hung Lu Kin ‘red and
green cloth.’ Cotton cloth, made with dyed thread, is also very
common in our day in many other cities in Fuh-Kien.”—H. C.]
In Ramusio the bridges are only “each more than 100 paces long and
8 paces wide.” In Pauthier’s text _each_ is a mile long, and 20
feet wide. I translate from the G. T.
Martini describes _one_ beautiful bridge at Kien-ning fu: the piers
of cut stone, the superstructure of timber, roofed in and lined
with houses on each side (pp. 112–113). If this was over the Min
it would seem not to survive. A recent journal says: “The river is
crossed by a bridge of boats, the remains of a stone bridge being
visible just above water.” (_Chinese Recorder_ (Foochow), August,
1870, p. 65.)
NOTE 5.—_Galanga_ or Galangal is an aromatic root belonging to
a class of drugs once much more used than now. It exists of two
kinds: 1. _Great_ or _Java Galangal_, the root of the _Alpinia
Galanga_. This is rarely imported and hardly used in Europe in
modern times, but is still found in the Indian bazaars. 2. _Lesser_
or _China Galangal_ is imported into London from Canton, and
is still sold by druggists in England. Its botanical origin is
unknown. It is produced in Shan-si, Fo-kien, and Kwang-tung, and is
called by the Chinese _Liang Kiang_ or “Mild Ginger.”
[“According to the Chinese authors the province of Sze-ch’wan
and Han-chung (Southern Shen-si) were in ancient times famed for
their Ginger. Ginger is still exported in large quantities from
Han k’ou. It is known also to be grown largely in the southern
provinces.—Galingale is the Lesser or Chinese Galanga of commerce,
_Alpinia officinarum_ Hance.” (_Bretschneider, Hist. of Bot. Disc._
I. p. 2. See _Heyd, Com. Levant_, II. 616–618.)—H. C.]
Galangal was much used as a spice in the Middle Ages. In a syrup
for a capon, _temp._ Rich. II., we find ground-ginger, cloves,
cinnamon and _galingale_. “Galingale” appears also as a growth in
old English gardens, but this is believed to have been _Cyperus
Longus_, the tubers of which were substituted for the real article
under the name of English Galingale.
The name appears to be a modification of the Arabic _Kulíjan_,
Pers. _Kholinján_, and these from the Sanskrit _Kulanjana_. (_Mr.
Hanbury; China Comm.-Guide_, 120; _Eng. Cycl.; Garcia_, f. 63;
_Wright_, p. 352.)
NOTE 6.—The cat in question is no doubt the fleecy Persian. These
fowls,—but white,—are mentioned by Odoric at Fu-chau; and Mr.
G. Phillips in a MS. note says that they are still abundant in
Fo-kien, where he has often seen them; all that he saw or heard
of were _white_. The Chinese call them “velvet-hair fowls.” I
believe they are well known to poultry-fanciers in Europe. [_Gallus
Lanatus_, Temm. See note, p. 286, of my edition of Odoric.—H. C.]
NOTE 7.—The _times_ assigned in this chapter as we have given them,
after the G. Text, appear very short; but I have followed that
text because it is perfectly consistent and clear. Starting from
the last city of Kinsay government, the traveller goes six days
south-east; _three_ out of those six days bring him to Kelinfu;
he goes on the other three days and at the 15th mile of the 3rd
day reaches Unken; 15 miles further bring him to Fuju. This is
interesting as showing that Polo reckoned his day at 30 miles.
In Pauthier’s text again we find: “_Sachiez que quand on est alé_
six journées, après ces trois que je vous ay dit,” not having
mentioned _trois_ at all “_on treuve la cité de Quelifu_.” And on
leaving Quelinfu: “_Sachiez que_ es autres trois journées oultre
et plus xv. milles _treuve l’en une cité qui a nom Vuguen_.” This
seems to mean from Cugui to Kelinfu six days, and thence to Vuguen
(or Unken) three and a half days more. But evidently there has
been bungling in the transcript, for the _es autre trois journées_
belongs to the same conception of the distance as that in the G.
T. Pauthier’s text does not say how far it is from Unken to Fuju.
Ramusio makes six days to Kelinfu, three days more to Unguem, and
then 15 miles more to Fuju (which he has erroneously as _Cãgiu_
here, though previously given right, _Fugiu_).
The latter scheme looks probable certainly, but the times in the G.
T. are quite admissible, if we suppose that water conveyance was
adopted where possible.
For assuming that _Cugiu_ was Fortune’s Chuchu at the western
base of the Bohea mountains (see note 3, ch. lxxix.), and that
the traveller reached Tsun-ngan-hien, in two marches, I see that
from Tsin-tsun, near Tsun-ngan-hien, Fortune says he could have
reached Fu-chau in four days by boat. Again Martini, speaking of
the skill with which the Fo-kien boatmen navigate the rocky rapids
of the upper waters, says that even from _Pu-ch’eng_ the descent
to the capital could be made in three days. So the thing is quite
possible, and the G. Text may be quite correct. (See _Fortune_,
II. 171–183 and 210; _Mart._ 110.) A party which recently made the
journey seem to have been six days from _Hokeu_ to the Wu-e-shan
and then five and a half days by water (but in stormy weather) to
Fu-chau. (_Chinese Recorder_, as above.)
NOTE 8.—Pauthier supposes Unken, or _Vuguen_ as he reads it, to be
_Hukwan_, one of the _hiens_ under the immediate administration
of Fu-chau city. This cannot be, according to the lucid reading
of the G. T., making Unken 15 miles from the chief city. The only
place which the maps show about that position is _Min-ts’ing hien_.
And the Dutch mission of 1664–1665 names this as “_Binkin_, by some
called Min-sing.” (_Astley_, III. 461.)
[Mr. Phillips writes (_T. Pao_, I. 224–225): “Going down stream
from Kien-Ning, we arrive first at Yen-Ping on the Min Main River.
Eighty-seven _li_ further down is the mouth of the Yiu-Ki River,
up which stream, at a distance of eighty _li_, is Yiu-Ki city,
where travellers disembark for the land journey to Yung-chun and
Chinchew. This route is the highway from the town of Yiu-Ki to the
seaport of Chinchew. This I consider to have been Polo’s route,
and Ramusio’s Unguen I believe to be Yung-chun, locally known as
Eng-chun or Ung-chun, a name greatly resembling Polo’s Unguen.
I look upon this mere resemblance of name as of small moment in
comparison with the weighty and important statement, that ‘this
place is remarkable for a great manufacture of sugar.’ Going south
from the Min River towards Chinchew, this is the first district
in which sugar-cane is seen growing in any quantity. Between
Kien-Ning-Foo and Fuchau I do not know of any place remarkable
for the _great_ manufacture of sugar. Pauthier makes How-Kuan do
service for Unken or Unguen, but this is inadmissible, as there is
no such place as How-Kuan; it is simply one of the divisions of
the city of Fuchau, which is divided into two districts, viz. the
Min-Hien and the How-Kuan-Hien. A small quantity of sugar-cane is,
I admit, grown in the How-Kuan division of Fuchau-foo, but it is
not extensively made into sugar. The cane grown there is usually
cut into short pieces for chewing and hawked about the streets for
sale. The nearest point to Foochow where sugar is made in any great
quantity is Yung-Foo, a place quite out of Polo’s route. The great
sugar manufacturing districts of Fuh-Kien are Hing-hwa, Yung-chun,
Chinchew, and Chang-chau.”—H. C.]
The _Babylonia_ of the passage from Ramusio is Cairo,—Babylon of
Egypt, the sugar of which was very famous in the Middle Ages.
_Zucchero di Bambellonia_ is repeatedly named in Pegolotti’s
Handbook (210, 311, 362, etc.).
The passage as it stands represents the Chinese as not knowing even
how to get sugar in the granular form: but perhaps the fact was
that they did not know how to _refine_ it. Local Chinese histories
acknowledge that the people of Fo-kien did not know how to make
fine sugar, till, in the time of the Mongols, certain men from
the West taught the art.[2] It is a curious illustration of the
passage that in India coarse sugar is commonly called _Chíní_,
“the produce of China,” and sugar candy or fine sugar _Misri_, the
produce of Cairo (_Babylonia_) or Egypt. Nevertheless, fine _Misri_
has long been exported from Fo-kien to India, and down to 1862 went
direct from Amoy. It is now, Mr. Phillips states, sent to India
by steamers _viâ_ Hong-Kong. I see it stated, in a late Report by
Mr. Consul Medhurst, that the sugar at this day commonly sold and
consumed throughout China is excessively coarse and repulsive in
appearance. (See _Academy_, February, 1874, p. 229.) [We note from
the _Returns of Trade for 1900_, of the Chinese Customs, p. 467,
that during that year 1900, the following quantities of sugar were
exported from Amoy: _Brown_, 89,116 _piculs_, value 204,969 Hk.
taels; _white_, 3,708 _piculs_, 20,024 Hk. taels; _candy_, 53,504
_piculs_, 304,970 Hk. taels.—H. C.]
[Dr. Bretschneider (_Hist. of Bot. Disc._ I. p. 2) remarks that
“the sugar cane although not indigenous in China, was known to the
Chinese in the 2nd century B.C. It is largely cultivated in the
Southern provinces.”—H. C.]
The fierce lions are, as usual, tigers. These are numerous in this
province, and tradition points to the diversion of many roads,
owing to their being infested by tigers. Tiger cubs are often
offered for sale in Amoy.[3]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] “It is not improbable that there is some admixture of aboriginal
blood in the actual population (of Fuh-Kien), but if so, it cannot
be much. The _surnames_ in this province are the same as those in
Central and North China.... The language also is pure Chinese;
actually much nearer the ancient form of Chinese than the modern
Mandarin dialect. There are indeed many words in the vernacular for
which no corresponding character has been found in the literary
style: but careful investigation is gradually diminishing the
number.” (_Note by Rev. Dr. C. Douglas_.)
[2] _Note_ by _Mr. C. Phillips_. I omit a corroborative quotation about
sugar from the Turkish Geography, copied from Klaproth in the
former edition; because the author, Hajji Khalfa, used European
sources; and I have no doubt the passage was derived indirectly
from Marco Polo.
[3] _Note_ by _Mr. G. Phillips_.
CHAPTER LXXXI.
CONCERNING THE GREATNESS OF THE CITY OF FUJU.
Now this city of Fuju is the key of the kingdom which is called CHONKA,
and which is one of the nine great divisions of Manzi.{1} The city is
a seat of great trade and great manufactures. The people are Idolaters
and subject to the Great Kaan. And a large garrison is maintained there
by that prince to keep the kingdom in peace and subjection. For the
city is one which is apt to revolt on very slight provocation.
There flows through the middle of this city a great river, which is
about a mile in width, and many ships are built at the city which
are launched upon this river. Enormous quantities of sugar are made
there, and there is a great traffic in pearls and precious stones. For
many ships of India come to these parts bringing many merchants who
traffic about the Isles of the Indies. For this city is, as I must
tell you, in the vicinity of the Ocean Port of ZAYTON,{2} which is
greatly frequented by the ships of India with their cargoes of various
merchandize; and from Zayton ships come this way right up to the city
of Fuju by the river I have told you of; and ’tis in this way that the
precious wares of India come hither.{3}
The city is really a very fine one and kept in good order, and all
necessaries of life are there to be had in great abundance and
cheapness.
NOTE 1.—The name here applied to Fo-kien by Polo is variously
written as _Choncha, Chonka, Concha, Chouka_. It has not been
satisfactorily explained. Klaproth and Neumann refer it to
_Kiang-Ché_, of which Fo-kien at one time of the Mongol rule formed
a part. This is the more improbable as Polo expressly distinguishes
this province or kingdom from that which was under Kinsay, viz.
Kiang-Ché. Pauthier supposes the word to represent _Kien-Kwé_, “the
Kingdom of Kien,” because in the 8th century this territory had
formed a principality of which the seat was at _Kien-chau_, now
Kien-ning fu. This is not satisfactory either, for no evidence is
adduced that the name continued in use.
One might suppose that _Choncha_ represented _T’swan-chau_, the
Chinese name of the city of Zayton, or rather of the department
attached to it, written by the French _Thsiuan-tchéou_, but by
Medhurst _Chwanchew_, were it not that Polo’s practice of writing
the term _tchéu_ or _chau_ by _giu_ is so nearly invariable, and
that the soft _ch_ is almost always expressed in the old texts by
the Italian _ci_ (though the Venetian does use the soft _ch_).[1]
It is again impossible not to be struck with the resemblance of
_Chonka_ to “CHUNG-KWÉ” “the Middle Kingdom,” though I can suggest
no ground for the application of such a title specially to Fo-kien,
except a possible misapprehension. _Chonkwé_ occurs in the Persian
_Historia Cathaica_ published by Müller, but is there specially
applied to _North China_. (See _Quat. Rashid._, p. lxxxvi.)
The city of course is FU-CHAU. It was visited also by Friar Odoric,
who calls it _Fuzo_, and it appears in duplicate on the Catalan Map
as _Fugio_ and as _Fozo_.
I used the preceding words, “the city of course is Fu-chau,” in the
first edition. Since then Mr. G. Phillips, of the consular staff
in Fo-kien, has tried to prove that Polo’s Fuju is not Fu-chau
(_Foochow_ is his spelling), but T’swan-chau. This view is bound up
with another regarding the identity of Zayton, which will involve
lengthy notice under next chapter; and both views have met with an
able advocate in the Rev. Dr. C. Douglas, of Amoy.[2] I do not in
the least accept these views about Fuju.
In considering the objections made to Fu-chau, it must never be
forgotten that, according to the spelling usual with Polo or his
scribe, Fuju is not merely “a name with a great resemblance in
sound to Foochow” (as Mr. Phillips has it); it _is_ Mr. Phillips’s
word Foochow, just as absolutely as my word Fu-chau is his word
Foochow. (See remarks almost at the end of the Introductory Essay.)
And what has to be proved against me in this matter is, that when
Polo _speaks_ of Fu-chau he does not _mean_ Fu-chau. It must also
be observed that the distances as given by Polo (three days from
Quelinfu to Fuju, five days from Fuju to Zayton) do correspond well
with my interpretations, and do _not_ correspond with the other.
These are very strong fences of my position, and it demands strong
arguments to level them. The adverse arguments (in brief) are these:
(1.) That Fu-chau was not the capital of Fo-kien (“_chief dou
reigne_”).
(2.) That the River of Fu-chau does not flow through the middle of
the city (“_por le mi de cest cité_”), nor even under the walls.
(3.) That Fu-chau was not frequented by foreign trade till
centuries afterwards.
The first objection will be more conveniently answered under next
chapter.
As regards the second, the fact urged is true. But even now a
straggling street extends to the river, ending in a large suburb
on its banks, and a famous bridge there crosses the river to the
south side where now the foreign settlements are. There _may_ have
been suburbs on that side to justify the _por le mi_, or these
words may have been a slip; for the Traveller begins the next
chapter—“When you quit Fuju (to go south) you _cross the river_.”[3]
Touching the question of foreign commerce, I do not see that Mr.
Phillips’s negative evidence would be sufficient to establish
his point. But, in fact, the words of the Geog. Text (_i.e._ the
original dictation), which we have followed, do not (as I now see)
necessarily involve any foreign trade at Fu-chau, the impression
of which has been derived mainly from Ramusio’s text. They appear
to imply no more than that, through the vicinity of Zayton, there
was a great influx of Indian wares, which were brought on from the
great port by vessels (it may be local junks) ascending the river
Min.[4]
[Illustration: Scene on the Min River, below Fu-chau. (From
Fortune.)
“=E sachiés che por le mi de ceste cité vait un grant flun qe bien
est large un mil, et en ceste cité se font maintes nés lesquelz
najent por cel flum.=”]
[Mr. Phillips gives the following itinerary after Unguen: Kangiu =
Chinchew = Chuan-chiu or Ts’wan-chiu. He writes (_T. Pao_, I. p.
227): “When you leave the city of Chinchew for Changchau, which
lies in a south-westerly, not a south-easterly direction, you cross
the river by a handsome bridge, and travelling for five days by way
of Tung-an, locally Tang-oa, you arrive at Changchau. Along this
route in many parts, more especially in that part lying between
Tang-oa and Changchau, very large camphor-trees are met with. I
have frequently travelled over this road. The road from Fuchau to
Chinchew, which also takes five days to travel over, is bleak and
barren, lying chiefly along the sea-coast, and in winter a most
uncomfortable journey. But few trees are met with; a banyan here
and there, but no camphor-trees along this route; but there is one
extremely interesting feature on it that would strike the most
unobservant traveller, viz.: the Loyang bridge, one of the wonders
of China.” Had Polo travelled by this route, he would certainly
have mentioned it. Pauthier remarks upon Polo’s silence in this
matter: “It is surprising,” says he, “that Marco Polo makes no
mention of it.”—H. C.]
NOTE 2.—The G. T. reads _Caiton_, presumably for Çaiton or Zayton.
In Pauthier’s text, in the following chapter, the name of Zayton is
written _Çaiton_ and _Çayton_, and the name of that port appears
in the same form in the Letter of its Bishop, Andrew of Perugia,
quoted in note 2, ch. lxxxii. Pauthier, however, in _this_ place
reads _Kayteu_, which he develops into a port at the mouth of the
River Min.[5]
NOTE 3.—The Min, the River of Fu-chau, “varies much in width and
depth. Near its mouth, and at some other parts, it is not less than
a mile in width, elsewhere deep and rapid.” It is navigable for
ships of large size 20 miles from the mouth, and for good-sized
junks thence to the great bridge. The scenery is very fine, and is
compared to that of the Hudson. (_Fortune_, I. 281; _Chin. Repos._
XVI. 483.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Dr. Medhurst calls the proper name of the city, as distinct from
the _Fu_, _Chinkang_ (_Dict. of the Hok-keen dialect_). Dr. Douglas
has suggested _Chinkang_, and _T’swan-kok_, _i.e._ “Kingdom of
T’swan” (chau), as possible explanations of _Chonka_.
[2] Mr. Phillips’s views were issued first in the _Chinese Recorder_
(published by Missionaries at Fu-Chau) in 1870, and afterwards
sent to the R. Geo. Soc., in whose Journal for 1874 they appeared,
with remarks in reply more detailed than I can introduce here. Dr.
Douglas’s notes were received after this sheet was in proof, and it
will be seen that they modify to a certain extent my views about
Zayton, though not about Fu-chau. His notes, which do more justice
to the question than Mr. Phillips’s, should find a place with the
other papers in the Geog. Society’s Journal.
[3] There is a capital lithograph of Fu-chau in _Fortune’s Three
Years’ Wanderings_ (1847), in which the city shows as on a river,
and Fortune always so speaks of it; _e.g._ (p. 369): “The river
runs through the suburbs.” I do not know what is the worth of the
old engravings in Montanus. A view of Fu-chau in one of these
(reproduced in _Astley_, iv. 33) shows a broad creek from the river
penetrating to the heart of the city.
[4] The words of the G. T. are these: “_Il hi se fait grant mercandies
de perles e d’autres pieres presiose, e ce est por ce que les nés
de Yndie hi vienent maintes con maint merchaant qe usent en les
ysles de Endie, et encore voz di que ceste ville est prés au port
de Caiton en la mer Osiane; et illuec vienent maintes nés de Indie
con maintes mercandies, e puis de cest part vienent les nés por le
grant flum qe je voz ai dit desoure jusque à la cité de Fugui, et
en ceste mainere hi vienent chieres cousse de Indie._”
[5] It is odd enough that Martini (though M. Pauthier apparently was
not aware of it) does show a fort called _Haiteu_ at the mouth of
the Min; but I believe this to be merely an accidental coincidence.
The various readings must be looked at together; that of the G.
T. which I have followed is clear in itself and accounts for the
others.
CHAPTER LXXXII.
OF THE CITY AND GREAT HAVEN OF ZAYTON.
Now when you quit Fuju and cross the River, you travel for five days
south-east through a fine country, meeting with a constant succession
of flourishing cities, towns, and villages, rich in every product. You
travel by mountains and valleys and plains, and in some places by great
forests in which are many of the trees which give Camphor.{1} There
is plenty of game on the road, both of bird and beast. The people are
all traders and craftsmen, subjects of the Great Kaan, and under the
government of Fuju. When you have accomplished those five days’ journey
you arrive at the very great and noble city of ZAYTON, which is also
subject to Fuju.
At this city you must know is the Haven of Zayton, frequented by all
the ships of India, which bring thither spicery and all other kinds
of costly wares. It is the port also that is frequented by all the
merchants of Manzi, for hither is imported the most astonishing
quantity of goods and of precious stones and pearls, and from this
they are distributed all over Manzi.{2} And I assure you that for one
shipload of pepper that goes to Alexandria or elsewhere, destined for
Christendom, there come a hundred such, aye and more too, to this haven
of Zayton; for it is one of the two greatest havens in the world for
commerce.{3}
The Great Kaan derives a very large revenue from the duties paid in
this city and haven; for you must know that on all the merchandize
imported, including precious stones and pearls, he levies a duty of ten
per cent., or in other words takes tithe of everything. Then again the
ship’s charge for freight on small wares is 30 per cent., on pepper 44
per cent., and on lignaloes, sandalwood, and other bulky goods 40 per
cent., so that between freight and the Kaan’s duties the merchant has
to pay a good half the value of his investment [though on the other
half he makes such a profit that he is always glad to come back with a
new supply of merchandize]. But you may well believe from what I have
said that the Kaan hath a vast revenue from this city.
There is a great abundance here of all provision for every necessity
of man’s life. [It is a charming country, and the people are very
quiet, and fond of an easy life. Many come hither from Upper India to
have their bodies painted with the needle in the way we have elsewhere
described, there being many adepts at this craft in the city.{4}]
Let me tell you also that in this province there is a town called
TYUNJU, where they make vessels of porcelain of all sizes, the finest
that can be imagined. They make it nowhere but in that city, and thence
it is exported all over the world. Here it is abundant and very cheap,
insomuch that for a Venice groat you can buy three dishes so fine that
you could not imagine better.{5}
I should tell you that in this city (_i.e._ of Zayton) they have a
peculiar language. [For you must know that throughout all Manzi they
employ one speech and one kind of writing only, but yet there are
local differences of dialect, as you might say of Genoese, Milanese,
Florentines, and Neapolitans, who though they speak different dialects
can understand one another.{6}]
And I assure you that the Great Kaan has as large customs and revenues
from this kingdom of Chonka as from Kinsay, aye and more too.{7}
We have now spoken of but three out of the nine kingdoms of Manzi, to
wit Yanju and Kinsay and Fuju. We could tell you about the other six,
but it would be too long a business; so we will say no more about them.
And now you have heard all the truth about Cathay and Manzi and many
other countries, as has been set down in this Book; the customs of the
people and the various objects of commerce, the beasts and birds, the
gold and silver and precious stones, and many other matters have been
rehearsed to you. But our Book as yet does not contain nearly all that
we purpose to put therein. For we have still to tell you all about the
people of India and the notable things of that country, which are well
worth the describing, for they are marvellous indeed. What we shall
tell is all true, and without any lies. And we shall set down all the
particulars in writing just as Messer Marco Polo related them. And he
well knew the facts, for he remained so long in India, and enquired so
diligently into the manners and peculiarities of the nations, that I
can assure you there never was a single man before who learned so much
and beheld so much as he did.
NOTE 1.—The _Laurus_ (or _Cinnamomum_) _Camphora_, a large timber
tree, grows abundantly in Fo-kien. A description of the manner in
which camphor is produced at a very low cost, by sublimation from
the chopped twigs, etc., will be found in the _Lettres Edifiantes_,
XXIV. 19 _seqq._; and more briefly in _Hedde_ by _Rondot_, p. 35.
Fo-kien alone has been known to send to Canton in one year 4000
_piculs_ (of 133⅓ lbs. each), but the average is 2500 to 3000
(_ib._).
NOTE 2.—When Marco says Zayton is one of the _two_ greatest
commercial ports in the world, I know not if he has another haven
in his eye, or is only using an idiom of the age. For in like
manner Friar Odoric calls Java “the _second best_ of all Islands
that exist”; and Kansan (or Shen-si) the “_second best_ province in
the world, and the best populated.” But apart from any such idiom,
Ibn Batuta pronounces Zayton to be the greatest haven in the world.
Martini relates that when one of the Emperors wanted to make war on
Japan, the Province of Fo-kien offered to bridge the interval with
their vessels!
ZAYTON, as Martini and Deguignes conjectured, is T’SWAN-CHAU FU, or
CHWAN-CHAU FU (written by French scholars _Thsiouan-tchéou-fou_),
often called in our charts, etc., _Chinchew_, a famous seaport of
Fo-kien about 100 miles in a straight line S.W. by S. of Fu-chau.
Klaproth supposes that the name by which it was known to the
Arabs and other Westerns was corrupted from an old Chinese name
of the city, given in the Imperial Geography, viz. TSEU-T’UNG.[1]
_Zaitún_ commended itself to Arabian ears, being the Arabic for
an olive-tree (whence Jerusalem is called _Zaitúniyah_); but the
corruption (if such it be) must be of very old date, as the city
appears to have received its present name in the 7th or 8th century.
Abulfeda, whose Geography was terminated in 1321, had heard the
real name of Zayton: “_Shanju_” he calls it, “known in our time as
Zaitún”; and again: “Zaitún, _i.e._ Shanju, is a haven of China,
and, according to the accounts of merchants who have travelled to
those parts, is a city of mark. It is situated on a marine estuary
which ships enter from the China Sea. The estuary extends fifteen
miles, and there is a river at the head of it. According to some
who have seen the place, the tide flows. It is half a day from the
sea, and the channel by which ships come up from the sea is of
fresh water. It is smaller in size than Hamath, and has the remains
of a wall which was destroyed by the Tartars. The people drink
water from the channel, and also from wells.”
Friar Odoric (in China, _circa_ 1323–1327, who travelled apparently
by land from Chin-kalán, _i.e._ Canton) says: “Passing through many
cities and towns, I came to a certain noble city which is called
Zayton, where we Friars Minor have two Houses.... In this city is
great plenty of all things that are needful for human subsistence.
For example, you can get three pounds and eight ounces of sugar
for less than half a groat. The city is twice as great as Bologna,
and in it are many monasteries of devotees, idol-worshippers every
man of them. In one of those monasteries which I visited there
were 3000 monks.... The place is one of the best in the world....
Thence I passed eastward to a certain city called Fuzo.... The
city is a mighty fine one, and standeth upon the sea.” Andrew of
Perugia, another Franciscan, was Bishop of Zayton from 1322, having
resided there from 1318. In 1326 he writes a letter home, in which
he speaks of the place as “a great city on the shores of the Ocean
Sea, which is called in the Persian tongue _Cayton_ (Çayton); and
in this city a rich Armenian lady did build a large and fine enough
church, which was erected into a cathedral by the Archbishop,”
and so on. He speaks incidentally of the Genoese merchants
frequenting it. John Marignolli, who was there about 1347, calls
it “a wondrous fine sea-port, and a city of incredible size, where
our Minor Friars have three very fine churches; ... and they have
a bath also, and a _fondaco_ which serves as a depôt for all the
merchants.” Ibn Batuta about the same time says: “The first city
that I reached after crossing the sea was ZAITÚN.... It is a great
city, superb indeed; and in it they make damasks of velvet as well
as those of satin (_Kimkhá_ and _Atlás_), which are called from the
name of the city _Zatúníah_; they are superior to the stuffs of
Khansá and Khánbálik. The harbour of Zaitún is one of the greatest
in the world—I am wrong; it is _the_ greatest! I have seen there
about an hundred first-class junks together; as for small ones,
they were past counting. The harbour is formed by an estuary which
runs inland from the sea until it joins the Great River.”
[Mr. Geo. Phillips finds a strong argument in favour of Changchau
being Zayton in this passage of Ibn Batuta. He says (_Jour. China
Br. R. A. Soc._ 1888, 28–29): “Changchow in the Middle Ages was
the seat of a great silk manufacture, and the production of its
looms, such as gauzes, satins and velvets, were said to exceed in
beauty those of Soochow and Hangchow. According to the _Fuhkien
Gazetteer_, silk goods under the name of Kinki, and porcelain were,
at the end of the Sung Dynasty, ordered to be taken abroad and to
be bartered against foreign wares, treasure having been prohibited
to leave the country. In this Kinki I think we may recognise the
Kimkha of IBN BATUTA. I incline to this fact, as the characters
Kinki are pronounced in the Amoy and Changchow dialects Khimkhi
and Kimkhia. Anxious to learn if the manufacture of these silk
goods still existed in Changchow, I communicated with the Rev.
Dr. TALMAGE of Amoy, who, through the Rev. Mr. Ross of the London
Mission, gave me the information that Kinki was formerly somewhat
extensively manufactured at Changchow, although at present it
was only made by one shop in that city. IBN BATUTA tells us that
the King of China had sent to the Sultan, five hundred pieces of
Kamkha, of which one hundred were made in the city of Zaitún. This
form of present appears to have been continued by the Emperors of
the Ming Dynasty, for we learn that the Emperor Yunglo gave to
the Envoy of the Sultan of Quilon, presents of Kinki and Shalo,
that is to say, brocaded silks and gauzes. Since writing the
above, I found that Dr. HIRTH suggests that the characters Kinhua,
meaning literally gold flower in the sense of silk embroidery,
possibly represent the mediæval Khimka. I incline rather to my own
suggestion. In the _Pei-wen-yun-fu_ these characters Kien-ki are
frequently met in combination, meaning a silk texture, such as
brocade or tapestry. Curtains made of this texture are mentioned
in Chinese books, as early as the commencement of the Christian
era.”—H. C.]
Rashiduddin, in enumerating the Sings or great provincial
governments of the empire, has the following: “7th FUCHÚ.—This
is a city of Manzi. The Sing was formerly located at ZAITÚN,
but afterwards established here, where it still remains. Zaitún
is a great shipping-port, and the commandant there is Boháuddin
Ḳandári.” Pauthier’s Chinese extracts show us that the seat of the
_Sing_ was, in 1281, at T’swan-chau, but was then transferred to
Fu-chau. In 1282 it was removed back to T’swan-chau, and in 1283
recalled to Fu-chau. That is to say, what the Persian writer tells
us of Fújú and Zayton, the Chinese Annalists tell us of Fu-chau and
T’swan-chau. Therefore Fuju and Zayton were respectively Fu-chau
and T’swan-chau.
[In the _Yuen-shi_ (ch. 94), _Shi po_, Maritime trade regulations,
it “is stated, among other things, that in 1277, a superintendency
of foreign trade was established in Ts’uän-chou. Another
superintendency was established for the three ports of K’ing-yüan
(the present Ning-po), Shang-hai, and Gan-p’u. These three ports
depended on the province of Fu-kien, the capital of which was
Ts’üan-chou. Farther on, the ports of Hang-chou and Fu-chou are
also mentioned in connection with foreign trade. Chang-chou (in
Fu-kien, near Amoy) is only once spoken of there. We meet further
the names of Wen-chou and Kuang-chou as seaports for foreign
trade in the Mongol time. But Ts’üan-chou in this article on the
sea-trade seems to be considered as the most important of the
seaports, and it is repeatedly referred to. I have, therefore,
no doubt that the port of Zayton of Western mediæval travellers
can only be identified with Ts’uän-chou, not with Chang-chou....
There are many other reasons found in Chinese works in favour of
this view. Gan-p’u of the _Yuen-shi_ is the seaport Ganfu of Marco
Polo.” (_Bretschneider, Med. Res._ I. pp. 186–187.)
In his paper on _Changchow, the Capital of Fuhkien in Mongol
Times_, printed in the _Jour. China B. R. A. Soc._ 1888, pp. 22–30,
Mr. Geo. Phillips from Chinese works has shown that the Port of
Chang-chau did, in Mongol times, alternate with Chinchew and
Fu-chau as the capital of Fuh-kien.—H. C.]
Further, Zayton was, as we see from this chapter, and from the
2nd and 5th of Bk. III., in that age the great focus and harbour
of communication with India and the Islands. From Zayton sailed
Kúblái’s ill-fated expedition against Japan. From Zayton Marco
Polo seems to have sailed on his return to the West, as did John
Marignolli some half century later. At Zayton Ibn Batuta first
landed in China, and from it he sailed on his return.
All that we find quoted from Chinese records regarding
_T’swan-chau_ corresponds to these Western statements regarding
_Zayton_. For centuries T’swan-chau was the seat of the Customs
Department of Fo-kien, nor was this finally removed till 1473.
In all the historical notices of the arrival of ships and
missions from India and the Indian Islands during the reign of
Kúblái, T’swan-chau, and T’swan-chau almost alone, is the port of
debarkation; in the notices of Indian regions in the annals of the
same reign it is from T’swan-chau that the distances are estimated;
it was from T’swan-chau that the expeditions against Japan and Java
were mainly fitted out. (See quotations by Pauthier, pp. 559, 570,
604, 653, 603, 643; _Gaubil_, 205, 217; _Deguignes_, III. 169, 175,
180, 187; _Chinese Recorder_ (Foochow), 1870, pp. 45 _seqq._)
When the Portuguese, in the 16th century, recovered China to
European knowledge, Zayton was no longer the great haven of foreign
trade; but yet the old name was not extinct among the mariners of
Western Asia. Giovanni d’Empoli, in 1515, writing about China from
Cochin, says: “Ships carry spices thither from these parts. Every
year there go thither from Sumatra 60,000 cantars of pepper, and
15,000 or 20,000 from Cochin and Malabar, worth 15 to 20 ducats a
cantar; besides ginger (?), mace, nutmegs, incense, aloes, velvet,
European goldwire, coral, woollens, etc. The Grand Can is the King
of China, and he dwells at ZEITON.” Giovanni hoped to get to Zeiton
before he died.[2]
The port of T’swan-chau is generally called in our modern charts
_Chinchew_. Now _Chincheo_ is the name given by the old Portuguese
navigators to the coast of Fo-kien, as well as to the port which
they frequented there, and till recently I supposed this to be
T’swan-chau. But Mr. Phillips, in his paper alluded to at p.
232, asserted that by _Chincheo_ modern Spaniards and Portuguese
designated (not T’swan-chau but) _Chang-chau_, a great city 60
miles W.S.W. of T’swan-chau, on a river entering Amoy Harbour. On
turning, with this hint, to the old maps of the 17th century, I
found that their Chincheo is really Chang-chau. But Mr. Phillips
also maintains that Chang-chau, or rather its port, a place
formerly called Gehkong and now Haiteng, is _Zayton_. Mr. Phillips
does not adduce any precise evidence to show that this place was
known as a port in Mongol times, far less that it was known as
the most famous haven in the world; nor was I able to attach great
weight to the arguments which he adduced. But his thesis, or a
modification of it, has been taken up and maintained with more
force, as already intimated, by the Rev. Dr. Douglas.
The latter makes a strong point in the magnificent character of
Amoy Harbour, which really is one of the grandest havens in the
world, and thus answers better to the emphatic language of Polo,
and of Ibn Batuta, than the river of T’swan-chau. All the rivers of
Fo-kien, as I learn from Dr. Douglas himself, are rapidly silting
up; and it is probable that the river of Chinchew presented, in
the 13th and 14th centuries, a far more impressive aspect as a
commercial basin than it does now. But still it must have been
far below Amoy Harbour in magnitude, depth, and accessibility.
I have before recognised this, but saw no way to reconcile the
proposed deduction with the positive historical facts already
stated, which absolutely (to my mind) identify the Zayton of Polo
and Rashiduddin with the Chinese city and port of T’swan-chau.
Dr. Douglas, however, points out that the whole northern shore
of Amoy Harbour, with the Islands of Amoy and Quemoy, are within
the Fu or Department of T’swan-chau; and the latter name would,
in Chinese parlance, apply equally to the city and to any part of
the department. He cites among other analogous cases the Treaty
Port Neuchwang (in Liao-tong). That city really lies 20 miles up
the Liao River, but the name of Neuchwang is habitually applied by
foreigners to Ying-tzŭ, which is the actual port. Even now much
of the trade of T’swan-chau merchants is carried on through Amoy,
either by junks touching, or by using the shorter sea-passage to
’An-hai, which was once a port of great trade, and is only 20
miles from T’swan-chau.[3] With such a haven as Amoy Harbour close
by, it is improbable that Kúblái’s vast armaments would have made
_rendezvous_ in the comparatively inconvenient port of T’swan-chau.
Probably then the two were spoken of as one. In all this I
recognise strong likelihood, and nothing inconsistent with recorded
facts, or with Polo’s concise statements. It is even possible that
(as Dr. Douglas thinks) Polo’s words intimate a distinction between
Zayton the City and Zayton the Ocean Port; but for me Zayton the
city, in Polo’s chapters, remains still T’swan-chau. Dr. Douglas,
however, seems disposed to regard it as _Chang-chau_.
The chief arguments urged for this last identity are: (1.) Ibn
Batuta’s representation of his having embarked at Zayton “on
the river,” _i.e._ on the internal navigation system of China,
first for Sin-kalán (Canton), and afterwards for Kinsay. This
could not, it is urged, be T’swan-chau, the river of which has no
communication with the internal navigation, whereas the river at
Chang-chau has such communication, constantly made use of in both
directions (interrupted only by brief portages); (2.) Martini’s
mention of the finding various Catholic remains, such as crosses
and images of the Virgin, at Chang-chau, in the early part of the
17th century, indicating that city as the probable site of the
Franciscan establishments.
[I remember that the argument brought forward by Mr. Phillips in
favour of Changchow which most forcibly struck Sir H. Yule, was
the finding of various Christian remains at this place, and Mr.
Phillips wrote (_Jour. China Br. R. A. Soc._ 1888, 27–28): “We
learn from the history of the Franciscan missions that two churches
were built in Zaitun, one in the city and the other in a forest not
far from the town. MARTINI makes mention of relics being found in
the city of Changchow, and also of a missal which he tried in vain
to purchase from its owner, who gave as a reason for not parting
with it, that it had been in his family for several generations.
According to the history of the Spanish Dominicans in China, ruins
of churches were used in rebuilding the city walls, many of the
stones having crosses cut on them.” Another singular discovery
relating to these missions, is one mentioned by Father VITTORIO
RICCI, which would seem to point distinctly to the remains of the
Franciscan church built by ANDRÉ DE PÉROUSE outside the city of
Zaitun: “The heathen of Changchow,” says RICCI, “found buried in a
neighbouring hill called Saysou another cross of a most beautiful
form cut out of a single block of stone, which I had the pleasure
of placing in my church in that city. The heathen were alike
ignorant of the time when it was made and how it came to be buried
there.”—H. C.]
[Illustration: SKETCH MAP of the GREAT PORTS OF FOKIEN to
illustrate the Identity of Marco Polo’s ZAYTON.]
Whether the application by foreigners of the term Zayton, may, by
some possible change in trade arrangements in the quarter-century
after Polo’s departure from China, have undergone a transfer, is
a question which it would be vain to answer positively without
further evidence. But as regards Polo’s Zayton, I continue in
the belief that this was T’swan-chau _and its haven_, with the
admission that this haven may probably have embraced that great
basin called Amoy Harbour, or part of it.[4]
[Besides the two papers I have already mentioned, the late Mr.
Phillips has published, since the last edition of Marco Polo, in
the _T’oung-Pao_, VI. and VII.: _Two Mediæval Fuh-kien Trading
Ports: Chüan-chow and Chang-chow_. He has certainly given many
proofs of the importance of Chang-chau at the time of the Mongol
Dynasty, and one might well hesitate (I know it was also the
feeling of Sir Henry Yule at the end of his life) between this
city and T’swan-chau, but the weak point of his controversy is his
theory about Fu-chau. However, Mr. George Phillips, who died in
1896, gathered much valuable material, of which we have made use;
it is only fair to pay this tribute to the memory of this learned
consul.—H. C.]
Martini (_circa_ 1650) describes T’swan-chau as delightfully
situated on a promontory between two branches of the estuary which
forms the harbour, and these so deep that the largest ships could
come up to the walls on either side. A great suburb, Loyang, lay
beyond the northern water, connected with the city by the most
celebrated bridge in China. Collinson’s Chart in some points below
the town gives only 1¼ fathom for the present depth, but Dr.
Douglas tells me he has even now occasionally seen large junks come
close to the city.
Chinchew, though now occasionally visited by missionaries and
others, is not a Treaty port, and we have not a great deal of
information about its modern state. It is the head-quarters of the
_T’i-tuh_, or general commanding the troops in Fo-kien. The walls
have a circuit of 7 or 8 miles, but embracing much vacant ground.
The chief exports now are tea and sugar, which are largely grown
in the vicinity, tobacco, china-ware, nankeens, etc. There are
still to be seen (as I learn from Mr. Phillips) the ruins of a fine
mosque, said to have been founded by the Arab traders who resorted
thither. The English Presbyterian Church Mission has had a chapel
in the city for about ten years.
Zayton, we have seen from Ibn Batuta’s report, was famed for
rich satins called _Zaitúníah_. I have suggested in another
work (_Cathay_, p. 486) that this may be the origin of our word
_Satin_, through the _Zettani_ of mediæval Italian (or _Aceytuni_
of mediæval Spanish). And I am more strongly disposed to support
this, seeing that Francisque-Michel, in considering the origin of
_Satin_, hesitates between _Satalin_ from Satalia in Asia Minor
and _Soudanin_ from the Soudan or Sultan; neither half so probable
as _Zaituni_. I may add that in a French list of charges of 1352
we find the intermediate form _Zatony_. _Satin_ in the modern form
occurs in Chaucer:—
“In Surrie whilom dwelt a compagnie
Of chapmen rich, and therto sad and trewe,
That widë where senten their spicerie,
Clothes of gold, and _satins_ riche of hewe.”
—_Man of Lawe’s Tale_, st. 6.
[Hatzfeld (_Dict._) derives _satin_ from the Italian _setino_; and
_setino_ from SETA, pig’s hair, and gives the following example:
“Deux aunes et un quartier de satin vremeil,” in _Caffiaux,
Abattis de maisons à Gommegnies_, p. 17, 14th century. The
Portuguese have _setim_. But I willingly accept Sir Henry Yule’s
suggestion that the origin of the word is Zayton; cf. _zeitun_
زيتون olive.
“The King [of Bijánagar] ... was clothed in a robe of _zaitún_
satin.” (_Elliot_, IV. p. 113, who adds in a note _zaitún_:
Olive-coloured?) And again (_Ibid._ p. 120): “Before the throne
there was placed a cushion of _zaitúni_ satin, round which three
rows of the most exquisite pearls were sewn.”—H. C.]
(_Recherches_, etc., II. 229 _seqq._; _Martini_, _circa_ p. 110;
_Klaproth, Mém._ II. 209–210; _Cathay_, cxciii. 268, 223, 355, 486;
_Empoli_ in _Append._ vol. iii. 87 to _Archivio Storico Italiano;
Douet d’Arcq._ p. 342; _Galv., Discoveries of the World_, Hak.
Soc. p. 129; Marsden, 1st ed. p. 372; _Appendix to Trade Report of
Amoy_, for 1868 and 1900. [_Heyd, Com. Levant_, II. 701–702.])
NOTE 3.—We have referred in a former note (ch. lxxvii. note 7) to
an apparent change in regard to the Chinese consumption of pepper,
which is now said to be trifling. We shall see in the first chapter
of Bk. III. that Polo estimates the tonnage of Chinese junks by
the number of baskets of pepper they carried, and we have seen in
last note the large estimate by Giov. d’Empoli of the quantity that
went to China in 1515. Galvano also, speaking of the adventure of
Fernão Perez d’Andrade to China in 1517, says that he took in at
Pacem a cargo of pepper, “as being the chief article of trade that
is valued in China.” And it is evident from what Marsden says in
his _History of Sumatra_, that in the last century some tangible
quantity was still sent to China. The export from the Company’s
plantations in Sumatra averaged 1200 tons, of which the greater
part came to Europe, _the rest_ went to China.
[Couto says also: “Os portos principaes do Reyno da Sunda são
Banta, Aché, Xacatara, por outro nome Caravão, aos quaes vam
todos os annos mui perto de vinte sommas, que são embarcações do
Chincheo, huma das Provincias maritimas da China, a carregar de
pimenta, porque dá este Reyno todos os annos oito mil bares della,
que são trinta mil quintaes.” (_Decada_ IV. Liv. III. Cap. I. 167.)]
NOTE 4.—These tattooing artists were probably employed mainly
by mariners frequenting the port. We do not know if the Malays
practised tattooing before their conversion to Islam. But most
Indo-Chinese races tattoo, and the Japanese still “have the greater
part of the body and limbs scrolled over with bright-blue dragons,
and lions, and tigers, and figures of men and women tattooed into
their skins with the most artistic and elaborate ornamentation.”
(_Alcock_, I. 191.) Probably the Arab sailors also indulged in the
same kind of decoration. It is common among the Arab women now, and
Della Valle speaks of it as in his time so much in vogue among both
sexes through Egypt, Arabia, and Babylonia, that _he_ had not been
able to escape. (I. 395.)
NOTE 5.—The divergence in Ramusio’s version is here very notable:
“The River which enters the Port of Zayton is great and wide,
running with great velocity, and is a branch of that which flows
by the city of Kinsay. And at the place where it quits the main
channel is the city of Tingui, of which all that is to be said is
that there they make porcelain basins and dishes. The manner of
making porcelain was thus related to him. They excavate a certain
kind of earth, as it were from a mine, and this they heap into
great piles, and then leave it undisturbed and exposed to wind,
rain, and sun for 30 or 40 years. In this space of time the earth
becomes sufficiently refined for the manufacture of porcelain; they
then colour it at their discretion, and bake it in a furnace. Those
who excavate the clay do so always therefore for their sons and
grandsons. The articles are so cheap in that city that you get 8
bowls for a Venice groat.”
Ibn Batuta speaks of porcelain as manufactured at Zayton; indeed he
says positively (and wrongly): “Porcelain is made nowhere in China
except in the cities of Zaitun and Sinkalan” (Canton). A good
deal of China ware in modern times _is_ made in Fo-kien and Canton
provinces, and it is still an article of export from T’swan-chau
and Amoy; but it is only of a very ordinary kind. Pakwiha, between
Amoy and Chang-chau, is mentioned in the _Chinese Commercial
Guide_ (p. 114) as now the place where the coarse blue ware, so
largely exported to India, etc., is largely manufactured; and
Phillips mentions Tung-’an (about half-way between T’swan-chau and
Chang-chau) as a great seat of this manufacture.
Looking, however, to the Ramusian interpolations, which do not
indicate a locality necessarily near Zayton, or even in Fo-kien, it
is possible that Murray is right in supposing the place intended
_in these_ to be really _King-tê chên_ in Kiang-si, the great seat
of the manufacture of genuine porcelain, or rather its chief mart
JAU-CHAU FU on the P’o-yang Lake.
The geographical indication of this city of porcelain, as at the
place where a branch of the River of Kinsay flows off towards
Zayton, points to a notion prevalent in the Middle Ages as to the
interdivergence of rivers in general, and especially of Chinese
rivers. This notion will be found well embodied in the Catalan Map,
and something like it in the maps of the Chinese themselves;[5] it
is a ruling idea with Ibn Batuta, who, as we have seen (in note 2),
speaks of the River of Zayton as connected in the interior with
“the Great River,” and who travels by this waterway accordingly
from Zayton to Kinsay, taking no notice of the mountains of
Fo-kien. So also (_supra_, p. 175) Rashiduddin had been led to
suppose that the Great Canal extended to Zayton. With apparently
the same idea of one Great River of China with many ramifications,
Abulfeda places most of the great cities of China upon “The River.”
The “Great River of China,” with its branches to Kinsay, is alluded
to in a like spirit by Wassáf (_supra_, p. 213). Polo has already
indicated the same idea (p. 219).
Assuming this as the notion involved in the passage from Ramusio,
the position of _Jau-chau_ might be fairly described as that of
Tingui is therein, standing as it does on the P’o-yang Lake, from
which there is such a ramification of internal navigation, _e.g._
to Kinsay or Hang-chau fu directly by Kwansin, the Chang-shan
portage already referred to (_supra_, p. 222), and the Ts’ien T’ang
(and this is the Kinsay River line to which I imagine Polo here to
refer), or circuitously by the Yang-tzŭ and Great Canal; to Canton
by the portage of the Meiling Pass; and to the cities of Fo-kien
either by the Kwansin River or by Kian-chan fu, further south, with
a portage in each case across the Fo-kien mountains. None of our
maps give any idea of the extent of internal navigation in China.
(See _Klaproth, Mém_. vol. iii.)
The story of the life-long period during which the porcelain clay
was exposed to temper long held its ground, and probably was only
dispelled by the publication of the details of the King-tê chên
manufacture by Père d’Entrecolles in the _Lettres Edifiantes_.
NOTE 6.—The meagre statement in the French texts shows merely
that Polo had heard of the Fo-kien dialect. The addition from
Ramusio shows further that he was aware of the unity of the written
character throughout China, but gives no indication of knowledge
of its peculiar principles, nor of the extent of difference in the
spoken dialects. Even different districts of Fo-kien, according to
Martini, use dialects so different that they understand each other
with difficulty (108).
[Mendoza already said: “It is an admirable thing to consider how
that in that kingdome they doo speake manie languages, the one
differing from the other: yet generallie in writing they doo
understand one the other, and in speaking not.” (_Parke’s Transl._
p. 93.)]
Professor Kidd, speaking of his instructors in the Mandarin and
Fo-kien dialects respectively, says: “The teachers in both cases
read the same books, composed in the same style, and attached
precisely the same ideas to the written symbols, but could not
understand each other in conversation.” Moreover, besides these
sounds attaching to the Chinese characters when read in the dialect
of Fo-kien, thus discrepant from the sounds used in reading the
same characters in the Mandarin dialect, yet _another_ class of
sounds is used to express the same ideas in the Fo-kien dialect
when it is used colloquially and without reference to written
symbols! (_Kidd’s China_, etc., pp. 21–23.)
The term _Fokien dialect_ in the preceding passage is ambiguous,
as will be seen from the following remarks, which have been
derived from the Preface and Appendices to the Rev. Dr. Douglas’s
Dictionary of the Spoken Language of Amoy,[6] and which throw a
distinct light on the subject of this note:—
“The vernacular or spoken language of Amoy is not a mere colloquial
dialect or _patois_, it is a _distinct language_—one of the many
and widely differing spoken languages which divide among them
the soil of China. For these spoken languages are not _dialects_
of one language, but cognate languages, bearing to each other a
relation similar to that between Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac, or
between English, Dutch, German, and Danish. The so-called ‘_written
language_’ is indeed uniform throughout the whole country, but that
is rather a _notation_ than a language. And this written language,
as read aloud from books, is not _spoken_ in any place whatever,
under any form of pronunciation. The most learned men never employ
it as a means of ordinary oral communication even among themselves.
It is, in fact, a _dead language_, related to the various spoken
languages of China, somewhat as Latin is to the languages of
Southern Europe.
“Again: Dialects, properly speaking, of the Amoy vernacular
language are found (_e.g._) in the neighbouring districts of
Changchew, Chinchew, and Tungan, and the language with its
subordinate dialects is believed to be spoken by 8 or 10 millions
of people. Of the other languages of China the most nearly related
to the Amoy is the vernacular of Chau-chau-fu, often called ‘the
Swatow dialect,’ from the only treaty-port in that region. The
ancestors of the people speaking it emigrated many years ago from
Fuh-kien, and are still distinguished there by the appellation
_Hok-ló_, _i.e._ people from Hok-kien (or Fuh-kien). This language
differs from the Amoy, much as Dutch differs from German, or
Portuguese from Spanish.
“In the Island of Hai-nan (Hái-lâm), again (setting aside the
central aborigines), a language is spoken which differs from Amoy
more than that of Swatow, but is more nearly related to these two
than to any other of the languages of China.
“In Fuh-chau fu we have another language which is largely spoken
in the centre and north of Fuh-kien. This has many points of
resemblance to the Amoy, but is quite unintelligible to the Amoy
people, with the exception of an occasional word or phrase.
“Hing-hwa fu (Heng-hoà), between Fuh-chau and Chinchew, has also a
language of its own, though containing only two _Hien_ districts.
It is alleged to be unintelligible both at Amoy and at Fuhchau.
“To the other languages of China that of Amoy is less closely
related; yet all evidently spring from one common stock. But that
common stock is _not_ the modern Mandarin dialect, but the ancient
form of the Chinese language as spoken some 3000 years ago. The
so-called _Mandarin_, far from being the original form, is usually
more changed than any. It is in the ancient form of the language
(naturally) that the relation of Chinese to other languages can
best be traced; and as the Amoy vernacular, which very generally
retains the final consonants in their original shape, has been one
of the chief sources from which the ancient form of Chinese has
been recovered, the study of that vernacular is of considerable
importance.”
NOTE 7.—This is inconsistent with his former statements as to the
supreme wealth of Kinsay. But with Marco the subject in hand is
always _pro magnifico_.
Ramusio says that the Traveller will now “begin to speak of the
territories, cities, and provinces of the Greater, Lesser, and
Middle India, in which regions he was when in the service of the
Great Kaan, being sent thither on divers matters of business. And
then again when he returned to the same quarter with the queen of
King Argon, and with his father and uncle, on his way back to his
native land. So he will relate the strange things that he saw in
those Indies, not omitting others which he heard related by persons
of reputation and worthy of credit, and things that were pointed
out to him on the maps of manners of the Indies aforesaid.”
[Illustration: The Kaan’s Fleet leaving the Port of Zayton.]
[Illustration: Marco Polo’s Itineraries Nᵒ. VI. (Book II, Chapters
67–82) Journey through Manzi _Polo’s names thus_ Kinsay]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Dr. C. Douglas objects to this derivation of _Zayton_, that
the place was never called _Tseut’ung_ absolutely, but
_T’seu-t’ung-ching_, “city of prickly T’ung-trees”; and this not as
a name, but as a polite literary epithet, somewhat like “City of
Palaces” applied to Calcutta.
[2] Giovanni did not get to Zayton; but two years later he got to
Canton with Fernão Perez, was sent ashore as Factor, and a few days
after died of fever. (De Barros, III. II. viii.) The way in which
Botero, a compiler in the latter part of the 16th century, speaks
of Zayton as between Canton and Liampo (Ningpo), and exporting
immense quantities of porcelain, salt and sugar, looks as if he
had before him modern information as to the place. He likewise
observes, “All the moderns note the port of Zaiton between Canton
and Liampo.” Yet I know no other modern allusion except Giovanni
d’Empoli’s; and that was printed only a few years ago. (_Botero,
Relazione Universale_, pp. 97, 228.)
[3] Martini says of Ganhai (’An-Hai or Ngan-Hai), “Ingens hic mercium
ac Sinensium navium copia est ... ex his (’Anhai and Amoy) in totam
Indiam merces avehuntur.”
[4] Dr. Douglas assures me that the cut at p. 245 is an _excellent_
view of the entrance to the S. channel of the _Chang-chau
River_, though I derived it from a professed view of the mouth
of the _Chinchew River_. I find he is quite right; see _List of
Illustrations_.
[5] In a modern Chinese geographical work abstracted by Mr. Laidlay, we
are told that the great river of _Tsim-lo_, or Siam, “penetrates to
a branch of the Hwang-Ho.” (_J. A. S. B._ XVII. Pt. I. 157.)
[6] CHINESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY _of the Vernacular or Spoken language of
Amoy, with the principal variations of the Chang-chew and Chin-chew
Dialects_; _by the_ Rev. Carstairs Douglas, M.A., LL.D., Glasg.,
Missionary of the Presb. Church in England. (Trübner, 1873.) I must
note that I have not access to the book itself, but condense these
remarks from extracts and abstracts made by a friend at my request.
BOOK THIRD.
JAPAN, THE ARCHIPELAGO, SOUTHERN INDIA, AND THE COASTS
AND ISLANDS OF THE INDIAN SEA
[Illustration: The Kaan’s Fleet passing through the Indian Archipelago.
“=Fist aparoiller xiv. nés, lesquels avoit chascune iv. arbres, et
maintes foies aloient à xii. voiles ... et najérent bién iii. mois,
tant k’il vindrent a vne Ysle qui es ver midi ...=”]
BOOK III.
CHAPTER I.
OF THE MERCHANT SHIPS OF MANZI THAT SAIL UPON THE INDIAN SEAS.
Having finished our discourse concerning those countries wherewith our
Book hath been occupied thus far, we are now about to enter on the
subject of INDIA, and to tell you of all the wonders thereof.
And first let us speak of the ships in which merchants go to and fro
amongst the Isles of India.
These ships, you must know, are of fir timber.{1} They have but one
deck, though each of them contains some 50 or 60 cabins, wherein
the merchants abide greatly at their ease, every man having one to
himself. The ship hath but one rudder, but it hath four masts; and
sometimes they have two additional masts, which they ship and unship at
pleasure.{2}
[Moreover the larger of their vessels have some thirteen compartments
or severances in the interior, made with planking strongly framed, in
case mayhap the ship should spring a leak, either by running on a rock
or by the blow of a hungry whale (as shall betide ofttimes, for when
the ship in her course by night sends a ripple back alongside of the
whale, the creature seeing the foam fancies there is something to eat
afloat, and makes a rush forward, whereby it often shall stave in
some part of the ship). In such case the water that enters the leak
flows to the bilge, which is always kept clear; and the mariners having
ascertained where the damage is, empty the cargo from that compartment
into those adjoining, for the planking is so well fitted that the water
cannot pass from one compartment to another. They then stop the leak
and replace the lading.{3}]
The fastenings are all of good iron nails and the sides are double, one
plank laid over the other, and caulked outside and in. The planks are
not pitched, for those people do not have any pitch, but they daub the
sides with another matter, deemed by them far better than pitch; it
is this. You see they take some lime and some chopped hemp, and these
they knead together with a certain wood-oil; and when the three are
thoroughly amalgamated, they hold like any glue. And with this mixture
they do paint their ships.{4}
Each of their great ships requires at least 200 mariners [some of them
300]. They are indeed of great size, for one ship shall carry 5000 or
6000 baskets of pepper [and they used formerly to be larger than they
are now]. And aboard these ships, you must know, when there is no wind
they use sweeps, and these sweeps are so big that to pull them requires
four mariners to each.{5} Every great ship has certain large barks or
tenders attached to it; these are large enough to carry 1000 baskets of
pepper, and carry 50 or 60 mariners apiece [some of them 80 or 100],
and they are likewise moved by oars; they assist the great ship by
towing her, at such times as her sweeps are in use [or even when she
is under sail, if the wind be somewhat on the beam; not if the wind be
astern, for then the sails of the big ship would take the wind out of
those of the tenders, and she would run them down]. Each ship has two
[or three] of these barks, but one is bigger than the others. There
are also some ten [small] boats for the service of each great ship, to
lay out the anchors, catch fish, bring supplies aboard, and the like.
When the ship is under sail she carries these boats slung to her sides.
And the large tenders have their boats in like manner.
When the ship has been a year in work and they wish to repair her,
they nail on a third plank over the first two, and caulk and pay it
well; and when another repair is wanted they nail on yet another plank,
and so on year by year as it is required. Howbeit, they do this only
for a certain number of years, and till there are six thicknesses of
planking. When a ship has come to have six planks on her sides, one
over the other, they take her no more on the high seas, but make use
of her for coasting as long as she will last, and then they break her
up.{6}
Now that I have told you about the ships which sail upon the Ocean Sea
and among the Isles of India, let us proceed to speak of the various
wonders of India; but first and foremost I must tell you about a number
of Islands that there are in that part of the Ocean Sea where we now
are, I mean the Islands lying to the eastward. So let us begin with an
Island which is called Chipangu.
NOTE 1.—Pine [_Pinus sinensis_] is [still] the staple timber for
ship-building both at Canton and in Fo-kien. There is a very large
export of it from Fu-chau, and even the chief fuel at that city
is from a kind of fir. Several varieties of pine-wood are also
brought down the rivers for sale at Canton. (_N. and Q._, _China
and Japan_, I. 170; _Fortune_, I. 286; _Doolittle_.)
NOTE 2.—Note the _one rudder_ again. (_Supra_, Bk. I. ch. xix.
note 3.) One of the shifting masts was probably a bowsprit, which,
according to Lecomte, the Chinese occasionally use, very slight,
and planted on the larboard bow.
NOTE 3.—The system of water-tight compartments, for the description
of which we have to thank Ramusio’s text, in our own time
introduced into European construction, is still maintained by the
Chinese, not only in sea-going junks, but in the larger river
craft. (See _Mid. Kingd._ II. 25; _Blakiston_, 88; _Deguignes_, I.
204–206.)
NOTE 4.—This still remains quite correct, hemp, old nets, and the
fibre of a certain creeper being used for oakum. The _wood-oil_ is
derived from a tree called _Tong-shu_, I do not know if identical
with the wood-oil trees of Arakan and Pegu (_Dipterocarpus laevis_).
[“What goes under the name of ‘wood-oil’ to-day in China is the
poisonous oil obtained from the nuts of _Elæococca verrucosa_. It
is much used for painting and caulking ships.” (_Bretschneider,
Hist. of Bot. Disc._ I. p. 4.)—H. C.]
NOTE 5.—The junks that visit Singapore still use these sweeps. (_J.
Ind. Arch._ II. 607.) Ibn Batuta puts a much larger number of men
to each. It will be seen from his account below that great ropes
were attached to the oars to pull by, the bulk of timber being too
large to grasp; as in the old French galleys wooden _manettes_ or
grips, were attached to the oar for the same purpose.
NOTE 6.—The Chinese sea-going vessels of those days were apparently
larger than was at all common in European navigation. Marco here
speaks of 200 (or in Ramusio up to 300) mariners, a large crew
indeed for a merchant vessel, but not so great as is implied in
Odoric’s statement, that the ship in which he went from India to
China had 700 souls on board. The numbers carried by Chinese junks
are occasionally still enormous. “In February, 1822, Captain Pearl,
of the English ship _Indiana_, coming through Caspar Straits,
fell in with the cargo and crew of a wrecked junk, and saved 198
persons out of 1600, with whom she had left Amoy, whom he landed
at Pontianak. This humane act cost him 11,000_l._” (Quoted by
_Williams_ from _Chin. Rep._ VI. 149.)
The following are some other mediæval accounts of the China
shipping, all unanimous as to the main facts.
_Friar Jordanus_:—“The vessels which they navigate to Cathay be
very big, and have upon the ship’s hull more than one hundred
cabins, and with a fair wind they carry ten sails, and they are
very bulky, being made of three thicknesses of plank, so that the
first thickness is as in our great ships, the second crosswise, the
third again longwise. In sooth, ’tis a very strong affair!” (55.)
_Nicolo Conti_:—“They build some ships much larger than ours,
capable of containing 2000 butts (_vegetes_), with five masts and
five sails. The lower part is constructed with triple planking,
in order to withstand the force of the tempests to which they are
exposed. And the ships are divided into compartments, so formed
that if one part be shattered the rest remains in good order, and
enables the vessel to complete its voyage.”
_Ibn Batuta_:—“Chinese ships only are used in navigating the sea
of China.... There are three classes of these: (1) the Large,
which are called _Jonúk_ (sing. _Junk_); (2) the Middling, which
are called _Zao_; and (3) the Small, called _Kakam_. Each of the
greater ships has from twelve sails down to three. These are made
of bamboo laths woven into a kind of mat; they are never lowered,
and they are braced this way and that as the wind may blow. When
these vessels anchor the sails are allowed to fly loose. Each ship
has a crew of 1000 men, viz. 600 mariners and 400 soldiers, among
whom are archers, target-men, and cross-bow men to shoot naphtha.
Each large vessel is attended by three others, which are called
respectively ‘The Half,’ ‘The Third,’ and ‘The Quarter.’ These
vessels are built only at Zayton, in China, and at Sínkalán or
Sín-ul-Sín (_i.e._ Canton). This is the way they are built. They
construct two walls of timber, which they connect by very thick
slabs of wood, clenching all fast this way and that with huge
spikes, each of which is three cubits in length. When the two walls
have been united by these slabs they apply the bottom planking,
and then launch the hull before completing the construction. The
timbers projecting from the sides towards the water serve the crew
for going down to wash and for other needs. And to these projecting
timbers are attached the oars, which are like masts in size, and
need from 10 to 15 men[1] to ply each of them. There are about 20
of these great oars, and the rowers at each oar stand in two ranks
facing one another. The oars are provided with two strong cords or
cables; each rank pulls at one of these and then lets go, whilst
the other rank pulls on the opposite cable. These rowers have a
pleasant chaunt at their work usually, singing Lá’ la! Lá’ la![2]
The three tenders which we have mentioned above also use oars, and
tow the great ships when required.
“On each ship four decks are constructed; and there are cabins and
public rooms for the merchants. Some of these cabins are provided
with closets and other conveniences, and they have keys so that
their tenants can lock them, and carry with them their wives or
concubines. The crew in some of the cabins have their children,
and they sow kitchen herbs, ginger, etc., in wooden buckets. The
captain is a very great Don; and when he lands, the archers and
negro-slaves march before him with javelins, swords, drums, horns,
and trumpets.” (IV. pp. 91 _seqq._ and 247 _seqq._ combined.)
Comparing this very interesting description with Polo’s, we see
that they agree in all essentials except size and the number of
decks. It is not unlikely that the revival of the trade with India,
which Kúblái stimulated, may have in its development under his
successors led to the revival also of the larger ships of former
times to which Marco alludes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Or even 30 (p. 248).
[2] Corresponding to the “Hevelow and rumbelow” of the Christian
oarsmen. (See _Cœur de Lion_ in _Weber_, II. 99.)