National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

72

BOOK II.

MARCO POLO

r

Chien-l'ou of Baber, the Caindu of Marco Polo. (1lfdanges de Harlez, p. 97.) According to Mr. E. Ii. Parker (China Review, xix. p. 69), Yueh-hsi or Yueh-sui " is the modern Kien-ch'ang Valley, the Caindu of Marco Polo, between the Yalung and Yang-tzil Rivers ; the only non-Chinese races found there now are the

Si-fan and Lolos."—H. C.]

Turning to minor particulars, the Lake of Caindu in which the pearls were found is doubtless one lying near Ning-yuan, whose beauty Richthofen heard greatly extolled, though nothing of the pearls. [Mr. Hosie writes (Three Years, 112-113) : " If the former tradition be true (the old city of Ning-yuan having given place to a large lake in the early years of the Ming Dynasty), the lake had no existence when Marco Polo passed through Caindu, and yet we find him mentioning a lake in the country in which pearls were found. Curiously enough, although I had not then read the Venetian's narrative, one of the many things told me regarding the lake was that pearls are found in it, and specimens were brought to me for inspection." The lake lies to the south-east of the present city.—H. - C.] A small lake is marked by D'Anville, close to Kiench'ang, under the name of Gechoui-tang. The large quantities of gold derived from the Kin-sha Kiang, and the abundance of musk in that vicinity, are testified to by Martini. The Lake mentioned by Polo as existing in the territory of Yachi is no doubt the Tien-chi, the Great Lake on the shore of which the city of Yun-nan stands, and from which boats make their way by canals along the walls and streets. Its circumference, according to Martini, is 500 li. The cut (p. 68), from Garnier, shows this lake as seen from a villa on its banks. [ Devéria (p. 129) quotes this passage from the Yuen-shi-lei j5ien : " Yachi, of which the U-man or Black Barbarians made their capital, is surrounded by Lake Tien-chi on three sides." Tien-chi is one of the names of Lake Kwen-ming, on the shore of which is built Yun-nan fu.—II. C.]

Returning now to the Karájang of the Mongols, or Carajan, as Polo writes it, we shall find that the latter distinguishes this great province, which formerly, he says, included seven kingdoms, into two Mongol Governments, the seat of one being at Yachi, which we have seen to be Vun-nan fu, and that of the other at a city to which he gives the name of the Province, and which we shall find to be the existing Ta-li fu. Great confusion has been created in most of the editions by a distinction in the form of the name as applied to these two governments. Thus Ramusio prints the province under Yachi as Carajan, and that under Ta-li as Carazan, whilst Marsden, following out his system for the conversion of Ramusio's orthography, makes the former Karaian and the latter Karazan. Pauthier prints Caraian all through, a fact so far valuable as showing that his texts make no distinction between the names of the two governments, but the form impedes the recognition of the old Mongol nomenclature. I have no doubt that the name all through should be read Carajan, and on this I have acted. In the iieog. Text we find the name given at the end of eh. xlvii. Caragian, in eh. xlviii. as Carajan, in eh. xlix. as Caraian, thus just reversing the distinction made by Marsden. The Crusca has CharaJ ia(n) all through.

The name then was Karcí jzng, in which the first element was the Mongol or Turki 'crrcí, " Black." For we find in another passage of Rashid the following

information :*   To the south-west of Cathay is the country called by the Chinese
Dailiu or ` Great Realm,' and by the Mongols Kara :icing, in the language of India and Kashmir'andar, and by us Kandahár. This country, which is of vast extent, is bounded on one side by Tibet and Tangut, and on others by Mongolia, Cathay, and the country of the Gold-Teeth. The King of Iarajang uses the title of Makdrd, i.e. Great King. The capital is called Yachi, and there the Council of Administration is established. Among the inhabitants of this country some are black, and others are white ; these latter are called by the Mongols Chaghán jng (` White Jang')." /mg has not been explained ; but probably it may have been a Tibetan term adopted

* See Quatrentère's Rashiduddin, pp. lxxxvi.-xcvi. My quotation is made up from two citations by Quatremère, one from his text of Rashiduddin, and the other from the History of Benaketi, which

Quatremère shows to have been drawn from Rashiduddin, whilst it contains some particulars not existing in his own text of that author.