The Travels of Marco Polo Volume I Part 97

"When Kublai approached his 70th year," says Wa.s.saf, "he desired to raise his eldest son Chimkin to the position of his representative and declared successor, during his own lifetime; so he took counsel with the chiefs, in view to giving the Prince a share of his authority and a place on the Imperial Throne. The chiefs, who are the Pillars of Majesty and Props of the Empire, represented that His Majesty's proposal to invest his Son, during his own lifetime, with Imperial authority, was not in accordance with the precedents and Inst.i.tutes (_Yasa_) of the World-conquering Padshah Chinghiz Khan; but still they would consent to execute a solemn doc.u.ment, securing the Kaanship to Chimkin, and pledging themselves to lifelong obedience and allegiance to him. It was, however, the Divine Fiat that the intended successor should predecease him who bestowed the nomination.... The dignitaries of the Empire then united their voices in favour of TEIMUR, the son of Chimkin."

Teimur, according to the same authority, was the third son of Chimkin; but the eldest, Kambala, _squinted_; the second, Tarmah (properly _Tarmabala_ for _Dharmaphala_, a Buddhist Sanskrit name) was rickety in const.i.tution; and on the death of the old Kaan (1294) Teimur was unanimously named to the Throne, after some opposition from Kambala, which was put down by the decided bearing of the great soldier Bayan. (_Schmidt_, p. 399; _De Mailla_, IX. 424; _Gaubil_, 203; _Wa.s.saf_, 46.)

[The Rev. W. S. Ament (_Marco Polo in Cambaluc_, p. 106), makes the following remarks regarding this young prince (Chimkin): "The historians give good reasons for their regard for Chen Chin. He had from early years exhibited great promise and had shown great proficiency in the military art, in government, history, mathematics, and the Chinese cla.s.sics. He was well acquainted with the condition and numbers of the inhabitants of Mongolia and China, and with the topography and commerce of the Empire (Howorth). He was much beloved by all, except by some of his father's own ministers, whose lives were anything but exemplary. That Kublai had full confidence in his son is shown by the fact that he put the collecting of taxes in his hands. The native historians represent him as economical in the use of money and wise in the choice of companions. He carefully watched the officers in his charge, and would tolerate no extortion of the people. After droughts, famines or floods, he would enquire into the condition of the people and liberally supply their needs, thus starting them in life again. Polo ascribes all these virtues to the Khan himself.

Doubtless he possessed them in greater or less degree, but father and son were one in all these benevolent enterprises."--H. C.]

NOTE 2.--The Chinese Annals, according to Pauthier and Gaubil, give only _ten_ sons to Kublai, at least by his legitimate wives; Hammer's Table gives _twelve_. It is very probable that xxii. was an early clerical error in the texts of Polo for xii. _Dodeci_ indeed occurs in one MS. (No. 37 of our Appendix F), though not one of much weight.

Of these legitimate sons Polo mentions, in different parts of his work, five by name. The following is the list from Hammer and D'Ohsson, with the Chinese forms from Pauthier in parentheses. The seven whose names are in capitals had the t.i.tle of _w.a.n.g_ or "King" of particular territories, as M. Pauthier has shown from the Chinese Annals, thus confirming Marco's accuracy on that point.

I. Jurji or Dorje (Torchi). II. CHIMKIN or CHINGKIM (Yu Tsung, King of Yen, i.e. Old Peking). III. MANGALAI (Mankola, "King of the Pacified West"), mentioned by Polo (infra, ch. xli.) as King of Kenjanfu or Shensi.

IV. NUMUGAN (Numukan, "Pacifying King of the North"), mentioned by Polo (Bk. IV. ch. ii.) as with King George joint leader of the Kaan's army against Kaidu. V. Kuridai (not in Chinese List). VI. HUKAJI (Hukochi, "King of Yunnan"), mentioned by Polo (infra, ch. xlix.) as King of Carajan. VII. AGHRUKJI or UKURUJI (Gaoluchi, "King of Siping" or Tibet).

VIII. Abaji (Gaiyachi?). IX. KUKJU or GEUKJU (Khokhochu, "King of Ning" or Tangut). X. Kutuktemur (Hutulu Temurh). XI. TUKAN (Thohoan, "King of Chinnan"). His command lay on the Tungking frontier, where he came to great grief in 1288, in consequence of which he was disgraced. (See _Cathay_, p. 272.) XII. Temkan (not in Chinese List). Gaubil's Chinese List omits _Hutulu Temurh_, and introduces a prince called _Gantanpouhoa_ as 4th son.

M. Pauthier lays great stress on Polo's intimate knowledge of the Imperial affairs (p. 263) because he knew the name of the Hereditary Prince to be Teimur; this being, he says, the private name which could not be known until after the owner's death, except by those in the most confidential intimacy. The public only then discovered that, like the Irishman's dog, his real name was Turk, though he had always been called Toby! But M.

Pauthier's learning has misled him. At least the secret must have been very badly kept, for it was known in Teimur's lifetime not only to Marco, but to Rashiduddin in Persia, and to Hayton in Armenia; to say nothing of the circ.u.mstance that the name _Temur Khaghan_ is also used during that Emperor's life by Oljaitu Khan of Persia in writing to the King of France a letter which M. Pauthier himself republished and commented upon. (See his book, p. 780.)

CHAPTER X.

CONCERNING THE PALACE OF THE GREAT KAAN.

You must know that for three months of the year, to wit December, January, and February, the Great Kaan resides in the capital city of Cathay, which is called CAMBALUC, [and which is at the north-eastern extremity of the country]. In that city stands his great Palace, and now I will tell you what it is like.

It is enclosed all round by a great wall forming a square, each side of which is a mile in length; that is to say, the whole compa.s.s thereof is four miles. This you may depend on; it is also very thick, and a good ten paces in height, whitewashed and loop-holed all round.[NOTE 1] At each angle of the wall there is a very fine and rich palace in which the war-harness of the Emperor is kept, such as bows and quivers,[NOTE 2]

saddles and bridles, and bowstrings, and everything needful for an army.

Also midway between every two of these Corner Palaces there is another of the like; so that taking the whole compa.s.s of the enclosure you find eight vast Palaces stored with the Great Lord's harness of war.[NOTE 3] And you must understand that each Palace is a.s.signed to only one kind of article; thus one is stored with bows, a second with saddles, a third with bridles, and so on in succession right round.[NOTE 4]

The great wall has five gates on its southern face, the middle one being the great gate which is never opened on any occasion except when the Great Kaan himself goes forth or enters. Close on either side of this great gate is a smaller one by which all other people pa.s.s; and then towards each angle is another great gate, also open to people in general; so that on that side there are five gates in all.[NOTE 5]

Inside of this wall there is a second, enclosing a s.p.a.ce that is somewhat greater in length than in breadth. This enclosure also has eight palaces corresponding to those of the outer wall, and stored like them with the Lord's harness of war. This wall also hath five gates on the southern face, corresponding to those in the outer wall, and hath one gate on each of the other faces, as the outer wall hath also. In the middle of the second enclosure is the Lord's Great Palace, and I will tell you what it is like.[NOTE 6]

You must know that it is the greatest Palace that ever was. [Towards the north it is in contact with the outer wall, whilst towards the south there is a vacant s.p.a.ce which the Barons and the soldiers are constantly traversing.[NOTE 7] The Palace itself] hath no upper story, but is all on the ground floor, only the bas.e.m.e.nt is raised some ten palms above the surrounding soil [and this elevation is retained by a wall of marble raised to the level of the pavement, two paces in width and projecting beyond the base of the Palace so as to form a kind of terrace-walk, by which people can pa.s.s round the building, and which is exposed to view, whilst on the outer edge of the wall there is a very fine pillared bal.u.s.trade; and up to this the people are allowed to come]. The roof is very lofty, and the walls of the Palace are all covered with gold and silver. They are also adorned with representations of dragons [sculptured and gilt], beasts and birds, knights and idols, and sundry other subjects.

And on the ceiling too you see nothing but gold and silver and painting.

[On each of the four sides there is a great marble staircase leading to the top of the marble wall, and forming the approach to the Palace.]

[NOTE 8]

The Hall of the Palace is so large that it could easily dine 6000 people; and it is quite a marvel to see how many rooms there are besides. The building is altogether so vast, so rich, and so beautiful, that no man on earth could design anything superior to it. The outside of the roof also is all coloured with vermilion and yellow and green and blue and other hues, which are fixed with a varnish so fine and exquisite that they shine like crystal, and lend a resplendent l.u.s.tre to the Palace as seen for a great way round.[NOTE 9] This roof is made too with such strength and solidity that it is fit to last for ever.

[On the interior side of the Palace are large buildings with halls and chambers, where the Emperor's private property is placed, such as his treasures of gold, silver, gems, pearls, and gold plate, and in which reside the ladies and concubines. There he occupies himself at his own convenience, and no one else has access.]

Between the two walls of the enclosure which I have described, there are fine parks and beautiful trees bearing a variety of fruits. There are beasts also of sundry kinds, such as white stags and fallow deer, gazelles and roebucks, and fine squirrels of various sorts, with numbers also of the animal that gives the musk, and all manner of other beautiful creatures,[NOTE 10] insomuch that the whole place is full of them, and no spot remains void except where there is traffic of people going and coming. [The parks are covered with abundant gra.s.s; and the roads through them being all paved and raised two cubits above the surface, they never become muddy, nor does the rain lodge on them, but flows off into the meadows, quickening the soil and producing that abundance of herbage.]

From that corner of the enclosure which is towards the north-west there extends a fine Lake, containing foison of fish of different kinds which the Emperor hath caused to be put in there, so that whenever he desires any he can have them at his pleasure. A river enters this lake and issues from it, but there is a grating of iron or bra.s.s put up so that the fish cannot escape in that way.[NOTE 11]

Moreover on the north side of the Palace, about a bow-shot off, there is a hill which has been made by art [from the earth dug out of the lake]; it is a good hundred paces in height and a mile in compa.s.s. This hill is entirely covered with trees that never lose their leaves, but remain ever green. And I a.s.sure you that wherever a beautiful tree may exist, and the Emperor gets news of it, he sends for it and has it transported bodily with all its roots and the earth attached to them, and planted on that hill of his. No matter how big the tree may be, he gets it carried by his elephants; and in this way he has got together the most beautiful collection of trees in all the world. And he has also caused the whole hill to be covered with the ore of azure,[NOTE 12] which is very green.

And thus not only are the trees all green, but the hill itself is all green likewise; and there is nothing to be seen on it that is not green; and hence it is called the GREEN MOUNT; and in good sooth 'tis named well.[NOTE 13]

On the top of the hill again there is a fine big palace which is all green inside and out; and thus the hill, and the trees, and the palace form together a charming spectacle; and it is marvellous to see their uniformity of colour! Everybody who sees them is delighted. And the Great Kaan had caused this beautiful prospect to be formed for the comfort and solace and delectation of his heart.

You must know that beside the Palace (that we have been describing), i.e.

the Great Palace, the Emperor has caused another to be built just like his own in every respect, and this he hath done for his son when he shall reign and be Emperor after him.[NOTE 14] Hence it is made just in the same fashion and of the same size, so that everything can be carried on in the same manner after his own death. [It stands on the other side of the lake from the Great Kaan's Palace, and there is a bridge crossing the water from one to the other.][NOTE 15] The Prince in question holds now a Seal of Empire, but not with such complete authority as the Great Kaan, who remains supreme as long as he lives.

Now I am going to tell you of the chief city of Cathay, in which these Palaces stand; and why it was built, and how.

NOTE 1.--[According to the _Ch'ue keng lu_, translated by Bretschneider, 25, "the wall surrounding the palace ... is constructed of bricks, and is 35 _ch'i_ in height. The construction was begun in A.D. 1271, on the 17th of the 8th month, between three and five o'clock in the afternoon, and finished next year on the 15th of the 3rd month."--H. C.]

NOTE 2.--_Tarcasci_ (G. T.) This word is worthy of note as the proper form of what has become in modern French _carquois_. The former is a transcript of the Persian _Tarkash_; the latter appears to be merely a corruption of it, arising perhaps clerically from the constant confusion of _c_ and _t_ in MSS. (See _Defremery_, quoted by Pauthier, _in loco._) [Old French _tarquais_ (13th century), Hatzfeldt and Darmesteter's _Dict._ gives; "Coivres orent ceinz et tarchais." (WACE, _Rou_, III., 7698; 12th century).]

NOTE 3.--["It seems to me [Dr. Bretschneider] that Polo took the towers, mentioned by the Chinese author, in the angles of the galleries and of the Kung-ch'eng for palaces; for further on he states, that 'over each gate [of Cambaluc] there is a great and handsome palace.' I have little doubt that over the gates of Cambaluc, stood lofty buildings similar to those over the gates of modern Peking. These tower-like buildings are called _lou_ by the Chinese. It may be very likely, that at the time of Marco Polo, the war harness of the Khan was stored in these towers of the palace wall. The author of the _Ch'ue keng lu_, who wrote more than fifty years later, a.s.signs to it another place." (_Bretschneider, Peking_, 32.) --H.C.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: IDEAL PLAN of the ANCIENT PALACES of the MONGOL EMPERORS AT KHANBALIGH according to Dr. Bretschneider]

NOTE 4.--The stores are now outside the walls of the "Prohibited City,"

corresponding to Polo's Palace-Wall, but within the walls of the "Imperial City." (_Middle Kingdom_, I. 61.) See the cut at p. 376.

NOTE 5.--The two gates near the corners apparently do not exist in the Palace now. "On the south side there are three gates to the Palace, both in the inner and the outer walls. The middle one is absolutely reserved for the entrance or exit of the Emperor; all other people pa.s.s in and out by the gate to the right or left of it." (_Trigautius_, Bk. I. ch. vii.) This custom is not in China peculiar to Royalty. In private houses it is usual to have three doors leading from the court to the guestrooms, and there is a great exercise of politeness in reference to these; the guest after much pressing is prevailed on to enter the middle door, whilst the host enters by the side. (See _Deguignes, Voyages_, I. 262.) [See also _H.

Cordier's Hist. des Relat. de la Chine_, III. ch. x. _Audience Imperiale_.]

["It seems Polo took the three gateways in the middle gate (_Ta-ming men_) for three gates, and thus speaks of five gates instead of three in the southern wall." (_Bretschneider, Peking_, 27, note.)--H. C.]

NOTE 6.--Ramusio's version here diverges from the old MSS. It makes the inner enclosure a mile square; and the second (the city of Taidu) six miles square, as here, but adds, at a mile interval, a third of eight miles square. Now it is remarkable that Mr. A. Wylie, in a letter dated 4th December 1873, speaking of a recent visit to Peking, says: "I found from various inquiries that there are several remains of a very much larger city wall, inclosing the present city; but time would not allow me to follow up the traces."

Pauthier's text (which I have corrected by the G. T.), after describing the _outer inclosure_ to be a _mile every way_, says that the inner inclosure lay at _an interval of a mile within it!_

[Dr. Bretschneider observes "that in the ancient Chinese works, three concentric inclosures are mentioned in connection with the palace. The innermost inclosed the _Ta-nei_, the middle inclosure, called _Kung-ch'eng_ or _Huang-ch'eng_, answering to the wall surrounding the present prohibited city, and was about 6 _li_ in circuit. Besides this there was an outer wall (a rampart apparently) 20 _li_ in circuit, answering to the wall of the present imperial city (which now has 18 _li_ in circuit)." The _Huang-ch'eng_ of the Yuen was measured by imperial order, and found to be 7 _li_ in circuit; the wall of the Mongol palace was 6 _li_ in circuit, according to the _Ch'ue keng lu_. (_Bretschneider, Peking_, 24.)--Marco Polo's mile could be approximately estimated = 2.77 Chinese _li_. (Ibid. 24, note.) The common Chinese _li_ = 360 _pu_, or 180 chang, or 1800 _ch'i_ (feet); 1 _li_ = 1894 English feet or 575 metres; at least according to the old Venice measures quoted in _Yule's Marco Polo_, II., one pace = 5 feet. Besides the common _li_, the Chinese have another _li_, used for measuring fields, which has only 240 _pu_ or 1200 _ch'i_.

This is the _li_ spoken of in the _Ch'ue keng lu_. (Ibid. 13, note.)--H.

C.]

NOTE 7.--["Near the southern face of the wall are barracks for the Life Guards." (_Ch'ue keng lu_, translated by Bretschneider, 25.)--H. C.]

NOTE 8.--This description of palace (see opposite cut), an elevated bas.e.m.e.nt of masonry with a superstructure of timber (in general carved and gilded), is still found in Burma, Siam, and Java, as well as in China. If we had any trace of the palaces of the ancient Asokas and Vikramadityas of India, we should probably find that they were of the same character. It seems to be one of those things that belonged to some ancient Panasiatic fashion, as the palaces of Nineveh were of a somewhat similar construction.

In the Audience Halls of the Moguls at Delhi and Agra we can trace the ancient form, though the superstructure has there become an arcade of marble instead of a pavilion on timber columns.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Palace at Khan-baligh. (From the _Livre des Merveilles_.)]

["The _Ta-ming tien_ (Hall of great brightness) is without doubt what Marco Polo calls 'the Lord's Great Palace.'... He states, that it 'hath no upper story'; and indeed, the palace buildings which the Chinese call _tien_ are always of one story. Polo speaks also of a 'very fine pillared bal.u.s.trade' (the _chu lang_, pillared verandah, of the Chinese author).

Marco Polo states that the bas.e.m.e.nt of the great palace 'is raised some ten palms above the surrounding soil.' We find in the _Ku kung i lu_: 'The bas.e.m.e.nt of the Ta-ming tien is raised about 10 _ch'i_ above the soil.'

There can also be no doubt that the Ta-ming tien stood at about the same place where now the _T'ai-ho tien_, the princ.i.p.al hall of the palace, is situated." (_Bretschneider, Peking_, 28, note.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Winter Palace at Peking.]

The _Ch'ue keng lu_, translated by Bretschneider, 25, contains long articles devoted to the description of the palace of the Mongols and the adjacent palace grounds. They are too long to be reproduced here.--H. C.]