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| Notes on Marco Polo : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
122 94. CAICIU
CHARIGNON as far as to identify it with Hai-chou, some two or three days' journey north of the crossing (Ch, III, 27; cf. also TP, 1915, 415). But the case seems fairly simple.
The itinerary of the Yung-lo ta-tien which I have translated under « Lingiu » shows, going
south, as the last station before Huai-an, a place called A [:j Ta-Ch'ing-k'ou. The
commissioners of 1276, coming from the south, left Huai-an and crossed the river at r i7 q
Ch'ing-ho-k'ou, after which they soon reached if, (û]' [_j Hsiao-Ch'ing-ho-k'ou (TP, 1915, 397).
These names have many counterparts in different parts of China, and I am not going to try and trace their history here. But the main element in them is the common Ho-k'ou, «Mouth of the River », so frequent in Chinese toponymy. It seems clear that the Ta-Ch'ing-k'ou or Ch'ing-ho-k'ou was locally called simply Ho-k'ou, «Mouth of the River», and it is this name which Polo heard. F has «Caigiu », FA « Caguy », Z « Quaçu ». We have in the various readings an example of the mischief done by the oft-recurring -giu=thou. Polo must have written or dictated « Cacu «; -cu would be a regular transcription of k'ou, and ca- is the normal transcription in Polo of ho, «river », as for instance in the name of « Cacanfu » Ho-chien-fu.
94. CAICIU (cc. 107-110)
| cacianfu F caiciu F, L caicui FA caicuy FAt caituy, chaituy TA' cangiasu, zafu (?) VB | cantuy, chantuy TA' catay FA, FAr cayafu Fr cayanfu Ft caycui FBt caycuy FB, FBr, P | caytui LT chaichui VA chaychiu VL chugiun V ciaciu Lr thaigin R |
In Polo's account, « Caiciu » lies between « Pianfu » and « Cacionfu », which are certainly P'ing-yang-fu and Ho-chung-fu (the modern P'u-chou-fu) respectively. The readings of the name are at great variance (unfortunately there is no corresponding passage in Z) and the narrative is not countenanced by real historical data. So we can only rely upon the general trend of the itinerary to determine what place is meant. According to Polo, « Caiciu » lay two days west of P'ing-yang-fu ; the Huang-ho was reached after a further twenty miles to the west, and having crossed the Huang-ho another two days' journey to the west brought the traveller to P'u-chou-fu.
For « Caiciu », MARSDEN thought of Uf. JIB Chieh-chou in Shan-hsi, north-east of P'u-chou-fu. We should expect Polo to pronounce this name « Caigiu », which could easily produce the various readings of the mss. But Polo says that « Caiciu » lay west of P'ing-yang-fu, while Chieh-chou is south-south-west of it ; moreover for Chieh-chou the distance from the Huang-ho, as given by
Polo, is too short. YULE ( Y, II, 25-27) then suggested Jqj Chi-chou, which is due west of
P'ing-yang-fu and only a few miles east of the Huang-ho; having reached the Huang-ho, Polo would either travel down by boat to P'u-chou-fu, or follow the west bank of the river to a point opposite P'u-chou-fu.
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