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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

380. VUGIU   873

60 li to Hang-chou. On these same itineraries, cf. the diaries of 1276 and 1308 in TP, 1915, 394395, 418-419.

Polo's itinerary does not give here all the distances from one place to another, and so it has

been possible to suppose that some of the places were out of the way. The different views on this point can be seen in Pa, 490-491; Y, II, 184-185; TP, 1915, 411, 419; Ch, III, 73-74. I shall not enter into a detailed discussion here, the less so as I have no positive proofs to proffer; but I feel, like YULE, that Chia-hsing (Kia-hing) must be one of the places named. Consequently, I propose

to read *Vughian =   Wu-chiang, instead of Vugiu; *Caghin = Chia-hsing, instead of Vughin;
as to Ciangan, it is difficult not to see in it the chên of Ch'ang-an on the Canal, some 50 li N. of Shih-mên. But then there must be something wrong in the « three » days mentioned between Ciangan and Hang-chou; either « three » is an error for « one » (cf. MOULE, I, 326, n. 1), or the starting place for the « three » days' journey must be « *Caghin » = Chia-hsing.

If Ciangan be Ch'ang-an, it is likely that Polo, in so far as he had some feeling for the components of the name, divided it into cian gan rather than ciang + an; but CHARIGNON, since we have examples of both (see « Cianglu » and « Coigangiu »), is too positive about it.

[This was written before Vol. I appeared and was not revised : but PELLIOT had attached to it

a note which I sent him about the readings of LT and Z (cf. Vol. I, 366). These readings make it easy to identify Ciangan with Ch'ang-an, but do not help with Vugiu and Vughin. PELLIOT's drastic emendations, based on his own and YULE'S sound instinct, receive no support from the Mss., though it is true that Vuquian (rather than Vughian, Wu-chiang) need only drop the -an to become

Vuqui, Vugui, Vugiu. Caghin for Vughin is more difficult. For it is not, and was not, necessary

or, I think, usual to call at Chia-hsing, which is named in only one of the four itineraries of the Mongol period given from the Ching-shih ta-tien above or in TP, 1915, and once in those of 1623. Wuchiang is barely 10 miles south of Su-chou; 12-15 miles farther south again the Grand Canal bends S. E. towards Chia-hsing, while the more direct water way continues S. or SSW. to rejoin the Canal near ;j r9 Shih-mên wan. But we must not be sure that Polo went by water. The only Mss. (FG and VB) which give any indication say that he rode (chevauchent), and it is quite gratuitous to regard this as interpolation. Travellers on horse-back would be likely to take the post-road for the sake of the official lodgings at night, of which unfortunately there does not seem to have been

one at Ciangan; but house-boats would stop at any convenient place. And it must not be forgotten that it is a region where navigable canals are more numerous than roads and lanes are in England, with villages or market towns every few miles. The descriptions of all three places are conventional and perfunctory with no particular detail to guide us.

A table of six itineraries (1, 3, 4 official; 2, 5, 6 private) follows :

1   2   3   4   5   6

1276   1308   1320   1320   1623   1623

(TP 1915)   (TP 1915)   (see above)   (see above)   (TP 1915)   (TP 1915)

Water   Water   Water   Road   Water   Water