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| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2 |
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Citation Information
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4
CHAP. XLII. THE PROVINCE OF CUNCUN
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the Ming (137o). (Roc1'Izill, Land of the Lammas, Journey; Grenard, II. p. 457)-H. C.] Martini ; Cathay, 148, 269 ; Palis de la Croix, III. 218 ; li ussian paper on the Dzrngen, see sup-a, vol. i. p. 291 ; LVilliamson's North China, u. s. ; Richtlzofen's Letters, and MS. Notes.)
NOTE 4.—iJIanJalai, Kúblái's third son, who governed the provinces of Shen-si and Sze-ch'wan, with the title of Wang or king (supra ch. ix. note 2), died in 1280, a circumstance which limits the date of Polo's journey to the west. It seems unlikely that Marco should have remained ten years ignorant of his death, yet he seems to speak of him as still governing.
[With reference to the translation of the oldest of the Chinese-Mongol inscriptions known hitherto (1283) in the name of Ananda, King of Ngan-si, Professor Devéria (Notes d'Épigraphie Mongolo-Chinoise, p. 9) writes : " In 1264, the Emperor Kúbláï created in this region [Shen si] the department of Ngan-si chau, occupied by ten hordes of Si-fan (foreigners from the west). All this country became in 1272, the apanage of the Imperial Prince Mangala ; this prince, third son of Kúbláï, had been invested with the title of King of Ngan-si, a territory which included King-chao fu (modern Si-ngan fu). His government extended hence over Ho-si (west of the Yellow River), the T'u-po (Tibetans), and Sze-ch'wan. The following year (1273) Mangala received from Kúbláï a second investiture, this of the Kingdom of Tsin, which added to his domain part of Kan-Suh ; he established his royal residence at K'ia-ch'eng (modern Ku-yuan) in the Liu-p'an shan, while King-chao remained the centre of the command he exercised over the Mongol garrisons. In 1277 this prince took part in military operations in the north ; he died in 1280 (17th year Che Yuan), leaving his principality of Ngan-si to his eldest son Ananda, and this of Tsin to his second son Ngan-tan Bu-hoa. Kúbláï, immediately after the death of his son Mangala, suppressed administrative autonomy in Ngan-si." ( Yuan-shi lei pien).—H. C.]
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CHAPTER XLII.
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CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CUNCUN, WHICH IS RIGHT WEARISOME TO TRAVEL THROUGH.
ON leaving the Palace of Mangalai, you travel westward
for three days, finding a succession of cities and boroughs
and beautiful plains, inhabited by people who live by
trade and industry, and have great plenty of silk. At
the end of those three days, you reach the great mountains
and valleys which belong to the province of CUNCUN.1
There are towns and villages in the land, and the people
live by tilling the earth, and by hunting in the great
woods ; for the region abounds in forests, wherein are
many wild beasts, such as lions, bears, lynxes, bucks and
ANN./ •~/n
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