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| 0611 |
Notes on Marco Polo : vol.1 |
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mentions 500 pieces of kimḫā, of the sort manufactured at Zāitūn, which had been sent to the
sultan of Delhi by the Chinese Emperor (iv, 1). In 1441, 'Abdu-'r-Razzāq saw the king of
Bisnagar dressed in «satin of Zāitūn» (aṭlas-i zāitūni), his feet resting on a cushion of the same
material (cf. Y, II, 241-242; HEYD, Hist. du commerce, II, 701-702; YULE, Hobson-Jobson², 797).
Both YULE and HEYD were convinced that our word «satin» was derived from zāitūni. This is
accepted by BLOCH, Dict. étymol. II, 255, for the French word (but «zatoui» must be a mis-
reading for «zatoni», and «Tsia-Toung» is a monstrous perversion of the modern pronunciation of
Ch'üan-chou). Although SKEAT and HATZFELD upheld the etymology of Engl. and French
«satin» with Lat. seta, I do not doubt that YULE and HEYD were right. Forms like aceytuni in a
Spanish document, zatony in a French inventory of 1352, setuni in Clavijo, etc., leave almost no
room for doubt. But it may be that the final form of Ital. setino, Engl. and French satin is
partly due to a contamination of Lat. seta. The German word for satin, Atlas, is of course the
Arabic word aṭlas, the literal meaning of which is «close-shaven», Ital. raso (on aṭlas, cf. the long
and important note of QUATREMÈRE, Hist. des Sultans Mamlouks, II, I, 69-70); zetani raso occurs
in an Italian text of the 15th cent. Already in Clavijo, setuni is not solely used with its original
meaning of «satin of Zāitūn», but is also applied to the satin made in Persia.
PHILLIPS tried to establish that the manufacture of silk was much more developed in Chang-
chou than in Ch'üan-chou (JNCB, XXIII [1889], 28-30; TP, 1895, 451-452). It seems to be a fact
that at the end of the 19th cent., silk-weaving was thriving in Chang-chou, but perhaps owing to
the accidental enthusiasm of an official (cf. ARNAIZ, in TP, 1911, 689). In point of fact, the
mulberry-tree grows very well in both districts, though no better than it does farther to the north.
In the first half of the 8th cent., silk taffeta was sent as «tribute» to the Court by Fu-chou and
Chien-chou, but not by Ch'üan-chou or Chang-chou (cf. Yüan-ho chün-hsien t'u-chih, 29, 12 a,
14 a, 15 a, 16 a). Moreover, foreigners were not likely to burden themselves with excessive
nomenclature. Satin manufactured at Ch'üan-chou, at Chang-chou, and also in other parts of
Fu-chien would go by the name of «Zaitunese», because they were sent abroad from Zāitūn.
As a matter of fact, I have a suspicion that much of the «Zaitunese» silk material was brocade
manufactured at Chien-ning (see «Camut» and «Quenlinfu»).
The name Zāitūn disappears at the dawn of modern times. How it ever found its way at
the end of the 16th cent. into BOTERO's Relazione universale, to be located between Canton
and «Liampo» (= Ningpo), is as mysterious to-day as when YULE wrote his note in Y, II, 239.
In the Āīn-i Akbari of 1595, the mention of Zāitūn is merely literary and artificial. There was
current in the 16th cent., however, a term which recalled the greater days of Zāitūn's past : the
first period of the south-western monsoon was then known as mavsin-i Zāitūni, «the Zāitūn
monsoon» (cf. Fe, 486).
Before leaving the question of the name «Zaiton», I wish to add something on another
name given to the place by Abū-'l-Fidā († 1331). Abū-'l-Fidā said that, according to a traveller
who had recently come from China, خانفو Ḫānfū (to be read خانفو Ḫānfū) was then called خنساء
Ḫansā, and شنجو Šānjū Zāitūn (transl. REINAUD and GUYARD, II, II, 122, 123). In a note,
GUYARD remarks that Abū-'l-Fidā mentions two «Ḫānqū», but that in both cases it must be
Ḫansā, Polo's «Quinsai». As to Šānjū (which GUYARD read Šinjū), YULE (Y, II, 237), HIRTH
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609
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621
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631
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