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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

But there has also been a land route east of Lake Wei-shan; in this land route, about 70 li south-east
of the hsien of T'êng, was situated a 臨 城 驛 Lin-ch'êng-i, or «Post-relay of Lin-ch'êng»; it is the
«Lintching-y» of d'ANVILLE's map, proposed by MURRAY as the original of Polo's «Lingiu». YULE
(Y, II, 141) approves of it, and says that Polo's «Lingiu», probably for «Lingin», must in any case
be the «Lenzin» which Odoric passes before reaching «Suçumato», but at the same time identifies
it with the hsien (promoted to a chou during the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties) of 臨清 Lin-ch'ing,
at the junction of the Wei-ho and the Grand Canal (Y, II, 141; Y¹, II, 212-214; RR, 425, agree with
YULE). This is of course contradictory. Moreover, Polo's itinerary places «Lingiu» at eight days'
journey to the south of «Singiu matu» (= Chi-ning), while Lin-ch'ing is far to the north-north-
west of Chi-ning. Finally, Lin-ch'ing gained importance only after the hydrographic works of the
Hui-t'ung-ho, undertaken in 1289, had been completed (cf. YS, 64, 10 a); there is little likelihood
that Polo had time to know of its future fortunes. The case of Odoric is more puzzling. Phone-
tically and chronologically, Lin-ch'ing might come into consideration for his «Lenzin», but as Odo-
ric reaches «Lenzin» from the south before going to «Suçumato», we must either admit a serious
error in his account, or separate his «Suçumato» from Polo's «Singiu matu», and look for a «Suçu-
mato» far to the north-east of Lin-ch'ing (cf. for instance the 索家馬頭 So-chia ma-t'ou, «Port of
the So family», which is named in YS, 64, 6 b, and which would have then sounded *Sogamatu to
foreign ears). But it seems hardly possible not to see in Odoric's «Lenzin» and «Suçumato» the same
places as Polo's «Lingiu» and «Singiu matu».

Excluding in any event Lin-ch'ing as the original of Polo's «Lingiu», I think that we must
also leave Lin-ch'êng out of account. It is only in FG that Polo is supposed to say that he «rode»
(«chevaucha») during his journey towards Yang-chou, and FG is a rifacimento in
Court French, without much authority; it speaks of «riding» even for the portion of the route which is
expressly stated in the Yung-lo ta-tien to be covered by water relays. Nevertheless, and even
without relying on FG, I think it very likely that Polo rode from «Singiu matu» to «Lingiu». But
the postal relay of the land route at Lin-ch'êng is a creation of the Manchu dynasty, just as the gar-
rison (chên) of the same name. Above all, Lin-ch'êng has never been a port, as was the case for
Polo's «Lingiu» (and for Odoric's «Lenzin»), nor has it ever been of enough importance to give
its name to the «province», as Polo says of «Lingiu».

If we take into account all the data of Polo's text and the geographical conditions of the country,
the only acceptable solution is that «Lingiu» is 徐州 Hsü-chou; I agree on that point with CHA-
RIGNON (Ch, III, 21-23; also Hsü-chou in B¹, 444). Whatever route Polo may have followed east
or west of Lake Wei-shan (and I think he passed west of the lake), his eight days' journey to the south
(in fact to the south-east of all necessity) would bring him to Hsü-chou, then an important river port
connected by a canal with the Huang-ho. On the completion of the hydrographic works in 1324,
the Huang-ho itself was diverted to Hsü-chou and retained that new course until 1853. This would
be a justification of Odoric, if his «Lenzin» be identical with Polo's «Lingiu», when he says that it is
a great port on the «Caramoran» (= Huang-ho). He would not have confused the Huang-ho with
the Grand Canal, as has been assumed by his commentators.

One point remains without a solution, and that is the name. All important Mss. agree in begin-
ning it with an l, and it would be a desperate solution to propose the reading «Ciugiu» for «Lingiu»