IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
| |||||||||
|
| IIIF Color HighRes |
| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Citation Information
*a
.•
s.
•
.. • a•
at, s..
CHAP. LIN.
THE PROVINCE OF TENDUC
287
mounted by the ruins of the old square Mongol stronghold of Tokto, the walls of which are still in a good state of preservation.—(La Géo<; raphie, I. 1901, p. 116.)
On the other hand, it is but fair to state that Palladius (21) says : " The name of
Tendue obviously corresponds to Tien-te Kiun, a military post, the position of which Chinese geographers identify correctly with that of the modern Kuku-hoton (Ta tsing- y
t'ung chi, eh. on the Tumots of Kuku-hoton). The Tien-te Kiun post existed under
this name during the K'itan (Liao) and Kin Dynasties up to Khubilai's time (1267) ; when under the name of Fung-chow it was left only a district town in the department
of Ta-t'ung fu. The Kin kept in Tien-te Kiun a military chief, Chao-I'ao-slii, whose duty it was to keep an eye on the neighbouring tribes, and to use, if needed, military force against them. The T'ien-te Kiun district was hardly greater in extent than the modern aïmak of Tumot, into which Kuku-hoton was included since the 16th century, i.e. 370 li from north to south, and 400 li from east to west ; during the Kin it had a settled population, numbering 22,600 families."
In a footnote, Palladius refers to the geographical parts of the Liao ski, Kin shi, and Yuen ski, and adds : " M. Polo's commentators are wrong in suspecting an anachronism in his statement, or trying to find Tendue elsewhere."
We find in the Nortk-China .Herald (29th April, 1887, p. 474) the following note from the Chinese Times: " There are records that the position of this city [Kwei-hwa Ch'eng] was known to the builder of the Great Wall. From very remote times, it appears to have been a settlement of nomadic tribes. During the last moo years it has been alternately possessed by the Mongols and Chinese. About A.D. 1573, Emperor Wan-Li reclaimed it, enclosed a space within walls, and called it Kwei-hwa
Ch'êng." •
Potanin left Peking on the 13th May, 1884., for Kuku-khoto (or Kwei-hwa-Ch'eng), passing over the triple chain of mountains dividing the Plain of Peking from that on which Kuku-khoto is situate. The southernmost of these three ridges bears the Chinese name of Wu-tai-shan, " the mountain of five sacrificial altars," after the group of five peaks, the highest of which is io,000 feet above the sea, a height not exceeded by any mountain in Northern China. At its southern foot lies a valley remarkable for its Buddhist monasteries and shrines, one of which, " Shing-tung-tze," is entirely made of brass, whence its name.
" Kuku-Khoto is the depôt for the Mongolian trade with China. It contains two hundred tea-shops, five theatres, fifteen temples, and six Mongol monasteries. Among its sights are the Buddhist convent of Utassa, with its five pinnacles and bas-reliefs, the convent cf Fing-sung-si, and a temple containing a statue erected in honour of the Chinese general, Pai-jin-jung, who avenged an insult offered to the Emperor of China." (Proc. R. G. S. IX. 1887, p. 233.)—H. C.]
A passage in Rashiduddin does seem to intimate that the Kerait, the tribe of Aung Khan, alias Prester John, did occupy territory close to the borders of Cathay or Northern China ; but neither from Chinese nor from other Oriental sources has any illustration yet been produced of the existence of Aung Khan's descendants as rulers
in this territory under the Mongol emperors. There is, however, very positive
evidence to that effect supplied by other European travellers, to whom the fables prevalent in the West had made the supposed traces of Prester John a subject of strong interest.
Thus John of Alonte Corvino, afterwards Archbishop of Cambaluc or Peking, in his letter of January, 1305, from that city, speaks of Polo's King George in these terms : " A certain king of this part of the world, by name George, belonging to the sect of the Nestorian Christians, and of the illustrious lineage of that great king who was called Prester John of India, in the first year of my arrival here [circa 1295-1296] attached himself to me, and, after he had been converted by me to the verity of the Catholic faith, took the Lesser Orders, and when I celebrated mass used to attend me wearing his royal robes. Certain others of the Nestorians on this account accused him of apostacy, but he brought over a great part of his people with him to the true Catholic faith, and built a church of royal magnificence in honour of our God, of the
~
diF
~►
•
a
...
.~._
~.f • 4
.e
•
~
. 4
w
~
r• •
+ e
~ (
't.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright (C) 2003-2019 National Institute of Informatics and The Toyo Bunko. All Rights Reserved.