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| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
370 T'IARCO POLO BOOK II.
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where now the T'ai-ho lien, the principal hall of the palace, is situated." (Bretschneider, Peking, 28, note.)
The Ch'ue kelig 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.—II. C.]
NOTE g. —" As all that one sees of these palaces is varnished in those colours, when you catch a distant view of them at sunrise, as I have done many a time, you would think them all made of, or at least covered with, pure gold enamelled in azure and green, so that the spectacle is at once majestic and charming." (Magaillans, p. 353.)
NOTE I0.—[This is the Ling yu or " Divine Park," to the east of the Wan-sui shan, in which rare birds and beasts are kept. Before the Emperor goes to Shang-tu, the officers are accustomed to be entertained at this place." (Ch'ue keng lu, quoted by Bretschneider, 36.)—H. C.]
NOTE 11.—" On the west side, where the space is amplest, there is a lake very full of fish. It is in the form of a fiddle, and is an Italian mile and a quarter in length. It is crossed at the narrowest part, which corresponds to gates in the walls, by a handsome bridge, the extremities of which are adorned by two triumphal arches of three openings each. . . . The lake is surrounded by palaces and pleasure houses, built partly in the water and partly on shore, and charming boats are provided on it for the use of the Emperor when he chooses to go a-fishing or to take an airing." (Ibid. 282-283.) The marble bridge, as it now exists, consists of nine arches, and is 600 feet long. (Rennie's Peking, IL 57.)
Ramusio specifies another lake in the city, fed by the same stream before it enters the palace, and used by the public for watering cattle.
[" The lake which Marco Polo saw is the same as the T'ai-yi cli'i of our days. It has, however, changed a little in its form. This lake and also its name T'ai yi ch'i date from the twelfth century, at which time an Emperor of the Kin first gave orders to collect together the water of some springs in the hills, where now the summer palaces stand, and to conduct it to a place north of his capital, where pleasure gardens were laid out. The river which enters the lake and issues from it exists still, under its ancient name Kin-shui." (Bretschneider, Peking, 34.)—H. C.]
NOTE 12.—The expression here is in the Geog. Text, " Roze de l'atur," and in Pauthier's "de rose et de l' astir." L'ose Minerale, in the terminology of the alchemists, was a red powder produced in the sublimation of gold and mercury, but I can find no elucidation of the term Rose of Azure. The Crusca Italian has in the same place Terra dello Azzurro. Having ventured to refer the question to the high authority of Mr. C. W. King, he expresses the opinion that Roze here stands for Roche, and that probably the term Roche de l'azur may have been used loosely for blue-stone, i.e. carbonate of copper, which would assume a green colour through moisture. He adds : " Nero, according to Pliny, actually used clir ysocolla, the siliceous carbonate of copper, in powder, for strewing the circus, to give the course the colour of his favourite faction, the prasine (or green). There may be some analogy between this device and that of Kúblái Khan." This parallel is a very happy one.
NOTE 13.—Friar Odoric gives a description, short, but closely agreeing in substance with that in the Text, of the Palace, the Park, the Lake, and the Green Mount.
A green mount, answering to the description, and about 16o feet in height, stands immediately in rear of the palace buildings. It is called by the Chinese King-Shan, " Court Mountain," Wan-su-Shan, " Ten Thousand Year Mount," and Mei-Shan, " Coal Mount," the last from the material of which it is traditionally said to be composed (as a provision of fuel in case of siege). * Whether this is Kúblái's Green Mount
* Some years ago, in Calcutta, I learned that a large store of charcoal existed under the soil of Fort William, deposited there, I believe, in the early days of that fortress.
[" The Jihia says that the name of Mei shan (Coal hill) was given to it from the stock of coal buried at its foot, as a provision in case of siege." (Breischneider, Peking, 38.)—H. C.]
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