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

MARCO POLO AND HIS BOOK.

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INTRODUCTORY NOTICES.

Introduction, p. 6.

SPEAKING of Pashai, Sir Aurel Stein (Geog. Journ.), referring to

the notes and memoranda brought home by the great Venetian

traveller, has the following remarks : " We have seen how

accurately it reproduces information about territories difficult of

access at all times, and far away from his own route. It appears

to me quite impossible to believe that such exact data, learned at

the very beginning of the great traveller's long wanderings, could

have been reproduced by him from memory alone close on thirty

years later when dictating his wonderful story to Rusticiano

during Ms captivity at Genoa. Here, anyhow, we have definite

proof of the use of those ' notes and memoranda which he had

brought with him,' and which, as Ramusio's ' Preface ' of 1553

tells us (see Yule, Marco Polo, I., Introduction, p. 6), Messer

Marco, while prisoner of war, was believed to have had sent to

him by his father from Venice. How grateful must geographer

and historical student alike feel for these precious materials

having reached the illustrious prisoner safely ! "

Introduction, p. lo n.

KHAKHAN.

" Mr. Rockhill's remarks about the title Khakhan require

supplementing. Of course, the Turks did not use the term

before 56o (552 was the exact year), because neither they nor

their name ' Turk ' had any self-assertive existence before then,

and until that year they were the ' iron-working slaves ' of the

Jou-jan. The Khakhan of those last-named Tartars naturally

would not allow the petty tribe of Turk to usurp his exclusive