The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,335 pages of information about The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2.

The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,335 pages of information about The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2.

[Mr. Geo. Phillips finds a strong argument in favour of Changchau being Zayton in this passage of Ibn Batuta.  He says (Jour.  China Br.R.A.  Soc. 1888, 28-29):  “Changchow in the Middle Ages was the seat of a great silk manufacture, and the production of its looms, such as gauzes, satins and velvets, were said to exceed in beauty those of Soochow and Hangchow.  According to the Fuhkien Gazetteer, silk goods under the name of Kinki, and porcelain were, at the end of the Sung Dynasty, ordered to be taken abroad and to be bartered against foreign wares, treasure having been prohibited to leave the country.  In this Kinki I think we may recognise the Kimkha of IBN BATUTA.  I incline to this fact, as the characters Kinki are pronounced in the Amoy and Changchow dialects Khimkhi and Kimkhia.  Anxious to learn if the manufacture of these silk goods still existed in Changchow, I communicated with the Rev. Dr. TALMAGE of Amoy, who, through the Rev. Mr. Ross of the London Mission, gave me the information that Kinki was formerly somewhat extensively manufactured at Changchow, although at present it was only made by one shop in that city.  IBN BATUTA tells us that the King of China had sent to the Sultan, five hundred pieces of Kamkha, of which one hundred were made in the city of Zaitun.  This form of present appears to have been continued by the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty, for we learn that the Emperor Yunglo gave to the Envoy of the Sultan of Quilon, presents of Kinki and Shalo, that is to say, brocaded silks and gauzes.  Since writing the above, I found that Dr. HIRTH suggests that the characters Kinhua, meaning literally gold flower in the sense of silk embroidery, possibly represent the mediaeval Khimka.  I incline rather to my own suggestion.  In the Pei-wen-yun-fu these characters Kien-ki are frequently met in combination, meaning a silk texture, such as brocade or tapestry.  Curtains made of this texture are mentioned in Chinese books, as early as the commencement of the Christian era.”—­H.C.]

Rashiduddin, in enumerating the Sings or great provincial governments of the empire, has the following:  “7th FUCHU.—­This is a city of Manzi.  The Sing was formerly located at ZAITUN, but afterwards established here, where it still remains.  Zaitun is a great shipping-port, and the commandant there is Bohauddin Kandari.”  Pauthier’s Chinese extracts show us that the seat of the Sing was, in 1281, at T’swan-chau, but was then transferred to Fu-chau.  In 1282 it was removed back to T’swan-chau, and in 1283 recalled to Fu-chau.  That is to say, what the Persian writer tells us of Fuju and Zayton, the Chinese Annalists tell us of Fu-chau and T’swan-chau.  Therefore Fuju and Zayton were respectively Fu-chau and T’swan-chau.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.