But there has also been a land route east of Lake Wei-shan; in this land route, about 70 li south-east of the hsien of T'êng, was situated a 07, tik I,R Lin-ch'êng-i, or « Post-relay of Lin-ch'êng »; it is the «Lintching-y» of D'ANVILLE'S map, proposed by MURRAY as the original of Polo's «Lingiu ». YULE ( Y, II, 141) approves of it, and says that Polo's « Lingiu », probably for « Lingin », must in any case be the « Lenzin » which Odoric passes before reaching « Suçumato », but at the same time identifies it with the hsien (promoted to a chou during the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties) of V,i, j 1 Lin-ch'ing, at the junction of the Wei-ho and the Grand Canal ( Y, II, 141; YI, II, 212-214; RR, 425, agree with YULE). This is of course contradictory. Moreover, Polo's itinerary places « Lingiu » at eight days' journey to the south of « Singiu matu » (= Chi-ning), while Lin-ch'ing is far to the north-northwest of Chi-ning. Finally, Lin-ch'ing gained importance only after the hydrographie works of the Hui-t'ung-ho, undertaken in 1289, had been completed (cf. YS, 64, 10 a); there is little likelihood that Polo had time to know of its future fortunes. The case of Odoric is more puzzling. Phonetically and chronologically, Lin-ch'ing might come into consideration for his « Lenzin », but as Odoric reaches « Lenzin » from the south before going to « Suçumato », we must either admit a serious error in his account, or separate his «Suçumato» from Polo's «Singiu matu », and look for a «Suçu-
mato » far to the north-east of Lin-ch'ing (cf. for instance the * 15 DA So-chia ma-t'ou, « Port of
the So family », which is named in YS, 64, 6 b, and which would have then sounded *Sogamatu to foreign ears). But it seems hardly possible not to see in Odoric's « Lenzin » and «Suçumato» the same places as Polo's « Lingiu » and « Singiu matu ».
Excluding in any event Lin-ch'ing as the original of Polo's « Lingiu », I think that we must also leave Lin-ch'êng out of account. It is only in FG that Polo is supposed to say that he « rode » (« chevaucha ») during his journey towards Yang-chou and Hang-chou, and FG is a rifacimento in Court French, without much authority; it speaks of « riding » even for the portion of the route which is expressly stated in the Yung-lo ta-tien to be covered by water relays. Nevertheless, and even without relying on FG, I think it very likely that Polo rode from « Singiu matu » to « Lingiu ». But the postal relay of the land route at Lin-ch'êng is a creation of the Manchu dynasty, just as the garrison (chên) of the same name. Above all, Lin-ch'êng has never been a port, as was the case for Polo's « Lingiu » (and for Odoric's « Lenzin »), nor has it ever been of enough importance to give its name to the « province », as Polo says of « Lingiu ».
If we take into account all the data of Polo's text and the geographical conditions of the country, the only acceptable solution is that « Lingiu » is T; `, Iii Hsü-chou; I agree on that point with CHARIGNON (Ch, III, 21-23; also Hsü-chou in Bi, 444). Whatever route Polo may have followed east or west of Lake Wei-shan (and I think he passed west of the lake), his eight days' journey to the south (in fact to the south-east of all necessity) would bring him to Hsti-chou, then an important river port connected by a canal with the Huang-ho. On the completion of the hydrographic works in 1324, the Huang-ho itself was diverted to Hsü-chou and retained that new course until 1853. This would be a justification of Odoric, if his «Lenzin» be identical with Polo's « Lingiu », when he says that it is a great port on the « Caramoran » (= Huang-ho). He would not have confused the Huang-ho with the Grand Canal, as has been assumed by his commentators.
One point remains without a solution, and that is the name. All important Mss. agree in beginning it with an 1, and it would be a desperate solution to propose the reading « Ciugiu » for « Lingiu »
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