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| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2 |
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Citation Information
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CHAP. LXXVII. THE GkEAT CITY OF ILINSAY
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vol. I. p. 53 ; Mid. h ing d. I. 95, i o6 ; J. N. Ch. Br. R. 24. S., December, 1865,
p. 6 ; Milne, p. 295 ; Note by Mr. Moule).
[Miss E. Scidmore writes (China, p. 294) : ' ` There are only three wonders of the world in China—The Demons at Tungchow, the Thunder at Lungchow, and the Great Tide at Hangchow, the last, the greatest of all, and a living wonder to this day of ' the open door,' while its rivals are lost in myth and oblivion. . . The Great Bore charges up the narrowing river at a speed of ten and thirteen miles an hour, with a roar that can be heard for an hour before it arrives."—H. C.]
NOTE 3.—For satisfactory elucidation as to what is or may have been authentic in these statements, we shall have to wait for a correct survey of Hang-chau and its neighbourhood. We have already seen strong reason to suppose that miles have been substituted for li in the circuits assigned both to the city and to the lake, and we are yet more strongly impressed with the conviction that the same substitution has been made here in regard to the canal on the east of the city, as well as the streets and market-places spoken of in the next paragraph.
Chinese plans of Ilang-chau do show a large canal encircling the city on the east and north, i.e., on the sides away from the lake. In some of th' m this is represented like a ditch to the rampart, but in others it is more detached. And the position of the main street, with its parallel canal, does answer fairly to the account in the next paragraph, setting aside the extravagant dimensions.
The existence of the squares or market-places is alluded to by Wassáf in a passage that we shall quote below ; and the Masálah-al-Absár speaks of the main street running from end to end of the city.
On this Mr. Moule says : " I have found no certain account of market-squares, though the Fang,* of which a few still exist, and a very large number are laid down in the Sung Map, mainly grouped along the chief street, may perhaps represent them. . . . The names of some of these (Fang) and of the Sze or markets still remain."
Mr. Wylie sent Sir Henry Yule a tracing of the figures mentioned in the foot note ; it is worth while to append them, at least in diagram.
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No. I.
No. 2.
No. 3.
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No. i. Plan of a Fang or Square.
No. 2. „ „ in the South of the Imperial City of Si-ngan fu.
No. 3 Arrangement of Two-Fang Square, with four streets and 8 gates.
The Market place.
The Official Establishment.
Office for regulating Weights.
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Compare Polo's statement that in each of the squares at ILinsay, where the
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. See the mention of the 1-ning Fang at Si-ngan fu, supra, p. 28. Mr. Wylie writes that in a work on the latter city, published during the Yuen time, of which he has met with a reprint, there are figures to illustrate the division of the city into Fang, a word " which appears to indicate a certain space of ground, not an open square . . . but a block of buildings crossed by streets, and at the end of each street an open gateway." In one of the figures a first reference indicates " the market place," a second " the official establishment," a third " the office for regulating weights." These indications
seem to explain Polo's squares. (See Note 3, above.)
VOL. II.
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