国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

« sun » (cf. Cordier, Odoric de Pordenone, 28), nor even, as far at least as the name is concerned,
on Houtum-Schindler's assertion (JRAS, 1909, 157), quoted by Cordier in Y, III, 31, that
Polo's « Arbre Sol » or « Arbre Seul » stands for the Persian diraḫt-i sol, « the sol tree », the cypress
of Zoroaster (« sol » is said by Houtum-Schindler to be one of the many dialectal forms of ج
sārve, « cypress », but seems to be attested only in Kurdish, very far from Ḫorasān). Not only
did Pauthier blunder on the form of the name used by Polo, but also on the Arabic equivalents
he proposed for it, as has been shown by Yule. Pauthier agreed, however, with the conclusion
which was reached by Mardsen from Polo's description, and with which all subsequent commen-
tators and even Houtum-Schindler have correctly concurred: Polo's «Lone Tree» can be only an
Oriental Plane or čīnār, Platanus orientalis (on Pers. čānār or čīnār > Ar. šinār, cf. Yule's Hobson-
Jobson², 187). One of Pauthier's additional reasons must, nevertheless, be dismissed. The
texts in Court French say that the « bark » (escorche) of the tree was green on one side and white
on the other; Pauthier insisted that this was the correct reading, and it was retained after him
by Yule (Y, I, 127) and Charignon (Ch, I, 70). But, instead of « bark », the other, and more
authoritative texts, including F and Z, give « leaves », which has been duly adopted by Benedetto
and Moule.
Polo's Lone Tree must have been a lofty Oriental Plane of imposing appearance, and probably
a sacred tree. Pauthier thought he could identify it. In the Ta-Ch'ing i-t'ung chih, 420, 1 b,
mention is made of a « lone tree », which stood at the source of the 烏 魯 O-lü River and could
spread its shade over 200 horsemen; in 1757, it was said to be several thousands of years old; the
Qasaq (the Mongolian form of Qazaq) held it in great veneration and abstained from pronouncing
its name. This name was known, however; it was *Ölü-yin (or *Örü-yin) yaḥča-modo, «the Lone
Tree of the *Ölü (or *Örü) »; this is the pseudo-« Ohin Kok djamoto » in Imbault-Huart's Docum.
sur l'Asie Centrale, 116. Pauthier maintained that the O-lü River was the « Ori », coming down
from the Hindu-kuš and flowing near Kunduz in Badaḫšān; the Lone Tree at its source would be
Polo's Lone Tree; Cordier (Odoric de Pordenone, 26) felt inclined to agree with Pauthier. But
this is nonsense. Kunduz is to the east of Balkh, and Polo's Lone Tree was in Ḫorasān, or at least
still in Persia, which, according to Polo, did not extend to the east of Balkh. Moreover, Pauthier's
location of the tree of the Qasaq is untenable. His « Ori », which I do not know, is either the river
of Kunduz itself, or a stream near it. But the O-lü, whether it be *Ölü or *Örü, is expressly stated
(loc. cit., 420, 2 a) to have lain in the north-western territory of the Qasaq of the Right, i. e. of the
West, and must be looked for among the streams of the region of Akmolinsk, or of Omsk, if not
even of the Ural. All that can be retained of the text adduced by Pauthier is one more case of
a sacred « Lone Tree »; although located in a region which commonly spoke Turkish, it came to
the knowledge of the Chinese in the 18th cent. under a Mongolian name, yaḥča modo being exactly
the same term which is recorded, south-east of Peking, in Polo's « Caccia-modun » (q. v.). Such
sacred trees are revered to-day by Mohammedan Persians and Turks (cf. Khanikoff's quotation
in Y, I, 138-139), but were just as much by Mongols, in the Middle Ages, and have left traces in
Mongol history. When, in 1303, Ghazan went through Nihāvand and Čamčal (a Mongolian name,
meaning « pass », « defile ») to Bisutūn, he passed near a tree where he had sought refuge seven
years before in an hour of great danger, and he made of it a place of pilgrimage. Whereupon,
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