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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

8   INTRODUCTORY NOTICES.

Orient, July-Sept., 1904, p. 769), the biography of Han Lin-eul

in the Ming shi, k. 122, p. 3.

Prof. Pelliot writes to me : " Il faut renoncer une bonne fois à

retrouver Marco Polo dans le Po-lo mêlé A l'affaire d'Ahmed.

Grâce aux titulations successives, nous pouvons reconstituer la

carrière administrative de ce Po-lo, au moins depuis 1271, c'est-

A-dire depuis une date antérieure á l'arrivée de Marco Polo A la

cour mongole. D'autre part, Rashid-ud-Din mentionne le rôle

joué dans l'affaire d'Ahmed par le Pulad-aqa, c'est-A-dire Pulad

Chinsang, son informateur dans les choses mongoles, mais la

forme mongole de ce nom de Pulad est Bolod, en transcription

chinoise Po-lo. J'ai signalé (T'oung Pao, 1914, p. 640) que des

textes chinois mentionnent effectivement que Po-lo (Bolod),

envoyé en mission auprès d'Arghún en 1285, resta ensuite en

Perse. C'est donc en définitive le Pulad (= Bolod) de Rashid-

ud-Din qui serait le Po-lo qu'A la suite de Pauthier on a trop

longtemps identifié A Marco Polo."

Introduction, p. 23.

The Yüan SM contains curious confirmation of the facts

which led up to Marco Polo's conducting a wife to Arghún of

Persia, who lost his spouse in 1286. In the eleventh moon of

that year (say January, 1287) the following laconic announcement

appears : ` T'a-ch'a-r Hu-nan ordered to go on a mission to

A-r-hun.' It is possible that Tachar and Hunan may be two

individuals, and, though they probably started overland, it is

probable that they were in some way connected with Polo's first

and unsuccessful attempt to take the girl to Persia." (E. H.

PARKER, Asiatic Quart. Rev., Jan., 1904, p. 136.)

Introduction, p. 76 n.

With regard to the statue of the Pseudo-Marco Polo of

Canton, Dr. B. Laufer, of Chicago, sends me the following valuable

note :

THE ALLEGED MARCO POLO LO-HAN OF CANTON.

The temple Hua lin se (in Cantonese Pa lunz se, i.e. Temple

of the Flowery Grove) is situated in the western suburbs of the

city of Canton. Its principal attraction is the vast hall, the Lo-

han t'ang, in which are arranged in numerous avenues some five

hundred richly gilded images, about three feet in height, repre-

senting the 500 Lo-han (Arhat). The workmanship displayed