Chapter CVI: Section XI

_Account of the Imperial City of Cambalu, and the Court of the Great Khan, or Emperor of the Tartars_.

During the three winter months of December, January, and February, Kublai-khan generally resides in Cambalu[1] which is at the north-east border of Kathay. On the north part of the new city stands the great palace of the khan. In the first place is a great wall surrounding a vast square enclosure, each side being eight miles in length; the wall is environed on the outside by a deep ditch, and has a great gate in the middle of each side. Within this outer wall, there is another exactly a mile distant, each side of the square which it forms being six miles; and in the space between these two walls the soldiers attend and perform their exercises and evolutions. This inner square has three gates on its south side, and the same number on the north; the middle gate of both these sides being greater and more magnificent than the others, and is appropriated to the sole use of the khan, the others being open to all who have a right to pass. In each corner of this second wall, and in the middle of each side, there are very large and magnificent buildings, eight in all, which are appropriated as storehouses or arsenals for keeping the warlike weapons and furniture belonging to the khan: as horse trappings of all kinds in one; bows and arrows and cross-bows in a second; helmets, cuirasses, and leather armour in a third; and so on in the rest. Within this second circuit, and at a considerable distance, there is a third wall, likewise square, each side being a mile in length; this wall being ten paces high and very thick, with white battlements, has six gates as in the second wall. Between this third wall and the former there is an extensive park, with many fine trees and large meadows, well stocked with deer and other game, and the roads are raised two cubits above the meadows, to save the grass from being trodden. All of this park is kept in the finest order imaginable. In the four angles, and in the middle of each side of this interior wall, there are eight large and magnificent buildings, in which the khans provisions, and other things belonging to the court, are stored up.

Within this last wall is the palace of the great khan, which is the largest and most magnificent of any in the world[2], extending the whole way between the north and south walls of the inner circuit, except an opening of sufficient width for the passage of the soldiers and barons attending the courts The palace hath no ceiling[3], but the roof is very high. The foundation of the pavement or floor is raised ten palms above the ground, and is surrounded by a marble wall of two paces wide, resembling a walk; and at the end of the wall without, there is a fair turret ornamented with pillars. In the walls of the halls and chambers, there are numerous figures of dragons, soldiers, birds and beasts of various kinds, and representations of battles, all finely carved and splendidly gilded, and the roof is so richly ornamented, that nothing is to be seen but splendid gold and imagery. In every square of the palace there is a great hall, capable of containing a prodigious multitude of people, and all the chambers are arranged and disposed in the best possible manner; the roofs being all richly painted red, green, azure, and all other colours. Behind the palace there are many great rooms and private storehouses, for the treasure and jewels of the khan, for the dwellings of his women, and for various other private purposes. Over against the palace of the khan, there is another, which was formerly inhabited by his deceased son Zingis, who held a court in all things resembling that of his father. Near the palace, and to the north, there is a high artificial mount, a mile in circumference, and an hundred paces high, planted with evergreen trees, which were brought from remote places, with all their roots, on the backs of elephants: This eminence is called the _Green Mountain_, and is extremely pleasant and beautiful. Where the earth was taken away to form this mount, there are two lakes corresponding with each other, supplied by a small river, and well stored with fish; and the passages of the water are grated in such a manner that the fish cannot escape.

The city of Cambalu is seated on a great river in the province of Kathay, or Northern China, and its name signifies the city of the prince, having been the royal residence in former times. After the conquest, understanding, from his astrologers, that the inhabitants would rebel, the great khan removed the city to the other side of the river, calling the new city Taidu, which is twenty-four miles in circumference, every side of the square being six miles, and he commanded all the Kathayans to remove from the old city into the new one. The walls are of earth, ten paces thick at the bottom, and gradually tapering to three paces thick at the top, with white battlements. Each side of the square has three principal gates, or twelve in all, having sumptuous palaces built over each; and there are pavilions in all the angles of the wall, where the arms of the garrison are kept, being 1000 men for each gate. The whole buildings of this city are exactly squared, and all the streets are laid out in straight lines; so that a free prospect is preserved from gate to gate, through the whole city; and the houses are built on each side like palaces, with courts and gardens, divided according to the heads of families. In the middle of the whole, there is a noble building, in which a great bell is suspended, after the tolling of which, at a certain hour of the night, no person must go out of his house till the dawn of next morning, except it be for some urgent cause, as for assistance to a woman in labour, and even then they must carry lights. On the outside of the walls there are twelve large suburbs, extending three or four miles in length, from each gate, and there are more inhabitants in these suburbs than within the walls. In these, foreign merchants, and other strangers live, each nation having several storehouses and bazars, in which they lodge and keep their goods. No dead body is allowed to be burnt or buried within the city; but the bodies of the idolaters are burned without the suburbs, and the bodies of all other sects are buried in the same places. On account of the vast multitude of Mahometans who inhabit here, there are above 25,000 harlots in the city and suburbs: Over every 100 and every 1000 of these, there are chiefs or captains appointed, to keep them in order, and one general inspector over the whole. When any ambassador or other person, having business with the khan, comes to Cambalu, his whole charges are defrayed from the imperial treasury, and the general inspector of the harlots provides the ambassador, and every man of his family, a change of women every night at free cost. The guards of the city carry all whom they may find walking in the streets, after the appointed hour, to prison; and it these persons cannot give a valid excuse, they are beaten with cudgels, as the Bachsi allege that it is not right to shed mens blood; yet many persons die of this beating.

There are 12,000 horse-guards, called Casitan, who attend on the person of the khan, more from state than from any suspicion of danger. These have four chief commanders, one to every 3000 men; and one commander, with his band of 3000, keeps guard over the khan for three days and nights, after which he is succeeded by another, and so on in regular order.

When the khan holds a solemn court on any particular day of festival, his table is raised higher than all the rest, and is set on the north side of the hall, having his face to the south, his first queen or principal wife being placed on his left hand, and his sons and nephews, and other princes of the blood-royal being arranged on his right; but their table is placed so much lower, that their heads are hardly so high as the khans feet. The princes and other lords of the court sit lower still on the right hand; and the ladies being all placed in similar order on the left, those of the sons and kinsmen of the khan being next to the queen, and after these, the wives of the lords and officers, each according to their several ranks, in due order. By this means the khan, as he sits at table, can see all that feast along with him in the hall. There are not tables for all who are admitted to the feast, but the greatest part of the soldiers and captains sit down on carpets, where they are served with victuals and drink. At all the doors there are two gigantic fellows with cudgels, who observe carefully if any one touches the threshold in going in; and whoever does so, forfeits his garment, or receives a certain number of blows of a cudgel. Those who serve the khan, or who sit at his table, have their mouths covered with silken veils, lest their breath should touch the meat or drink which he is to use. When he drinks, the damsel who carries the cup kneels down, and then all the barons and others present kneel likewise, and all the musicians sound their instruments, till the khan has done drinking. If I were to describe all the pomp and magnificence of these festivals, and all die dainties and delicate dishes which are served up, I should become prolix and tiresome.

The birth days of their lords are celebrated with great reverence among the Tartars. That of Kublai-khan, their great emperor, is held yearly, on the twenty-eighth day of September, and is kept with greater solemnity than any other festival, except that of the new year, which is celebrated on the first day of February, when the Tartar year commences. On his birth day the great khan is clothed in a most splendid robe of cloth of gold, and about 2000 of his barons and soldiers receive, on this occasion, silken garments of a golden, colour, and girdles wrought in gold or silver, with each a pair of shoes. Some of those who are next to the khan in dignity, wear pearls and jewels of great value. These splendid garments are only worn on thirteen solemn festivals, corresponding to the thirteen moons or lunar months, into which the Tartar year is divided, when all the great men of the court are splendidly habited, like so many kings. The birth-day of the great khan is celebrated by all the Tartars throughout his extensive dominions; and on this day, all the kings, princes, governors, and nobles, who are subject to his authority, send presents to him in honour of the day, and in token of submission. Such as are desirous of obtaining any place of dignity or office, present their petitions to a council of twelve barons, appointed for that express purpose; and their decision is considered as equivalent to an answer from the khan in person. All the people of the immense dominions who acknowledge the authority of the great khan, whether Christians, or Jews, Mahometans, Tartars, or Pagans, are bound, on this anniversary, to pray solemnly to their Gods for the life, safety, prosperity, and health of the great khan.

On the first of February, which is the commencement of the Tartar year, the great khan, and all the Tartars, wherever they may happen to be at the time, observe a very solemn feast; and all of them, both men and women, are desirous, on that occasion, to be clothed in white garments, that fortune may be favourable to them for the remainder of the year. On this occasion, the governors of provinces, and rulers of cities, and all who are in office or authority, send presents to the khan, of gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones, likewise of many white cloths of various kinds, and other white things, and many white horses. It is the custom of those who bring presents, if they can, to present nine times nine of every particular article, whether it be gold, or silver, or cloths, or horses; and on this occasion, the khan sometimes receives 100,000 horses. On this grand festival, all the elephants belonging to the great khan, about 5000, are brought into the great court of the palace, covered with splendid housings of tapestry, wrought with the figures of various kinds of birds and beasts, each of them bearing on their backs two chests filled with vessels of gold and silver; and many camels are paraded on the same occasion, covered over, with fine silken cloths, and loaded with other necessaries for the court.

On the morning of this festival of the new year, all the captains, barons, soldiers[4], physicians, astrologers, governors of provinces, generals of armies, and other officers of the great khan, assemble before the emperor, in the great hall of the palace, all placed in due order, according to their rank and dignity, and those who have no place or employment, stand without, that they may see the ceremonies. One of the heads of their priests then rises, and cries out with a loud voice, "Bow down and adore," on which all who are present bend down their foreheads to the earth. He then calls out aloud, "God preserve our khan, and grant him long life and happiness;" and all the people answer, "God grant this." Then he says, "May God increase and advance his empire, and preserve all his subjects, in peace, concord, and prosperity;" and the people say, "God grant this our prayer." All this is repeated four times. Then the chief priest goes forwards to a red table or altar, richly adorned, on which the name of the khan is written; and taking a censer, containing rich spices and perfumes, he perfumes the altar or table with great reverence, in honour of the khan, and returns to his place in the assembly. After the conclusion of this ceremony, the various gifts which have been already mentioned are presented to the khan. And then the tables are prepared, and a most solemn and splendid dinner is served up, of which all the assistants, with their wives, partake, eating and drinking with great joy, as formerly described. In the course of this solemn feast, a tame lion is led up to the khan, which lies down at his feet as gentle as a whelp, acknowledging and caressing his lord.

In those three winter months during which the khan resides in Cambalu, viz. December, January, and February, all the imperial huntsmen who are maintained in the provinces contiguous to Kathay, employ themselves continually in hunting, and bring all the larger wild beasts, such as stags, deer, roe-bucks, bears, and wild-boars, to their governors or masters of the game; and if within thirty days journey of Cambalu, all these are sent in waggons to the court, being first embowelled; but such as are at a greater distance, send only the skins, which are used in making housings and other military articles.

The khan has many leopards, wolves, and even lions, trained for hunting. These lions are larger than those which are found near Babylon, and are variegated with small spots of white, black, and red. They are bred to catch bears, boars, stags, roe-bucks, wild asses, and wild bulls, and it is wonderful to see their dexterity and fierceness in the chase. When these lions are taken out to hunt, they are carried in waggons, two together, accompanied by a dog, with which they are familiar. They are managed in this manner, because of their fierce and unruly disposition, and they must be drawn towards the game against the wind, otherwise the beast would scent them and fly away. There are also many tame eagles, so trained as to take hares, roe-bucks, deers, and foxes; and some of these will even seize upon wolves, and vex them so grievously, that the men may take them without danger. For the conduct of the imperial hunt, there are two great officers called Ciurco, or masters of the game, who are brothers, named Boyan and Mingan, each of whom have the command of 10,000 men; those who belong to one of these divisions being clothed in red, and the others in sky blue; and they keep various kinds of dogs, such as mastiffs and others, for hunting, to the number of 5000 or more. When the khan goes to hunt, one of these great companies of hunters stretches out on his right hand, and the other on his left, occupying the plain country to the breadth of a whole days journey, so that no beast can escape them; and when they have collected the game into a circle, it is delightful to see the khan going into the middle, with numbers of dogs, which hunt down the harts and bears, and other wild beasts. The masters of the game are bound by their commissions to send to court, between the beginning of October and end of March, 1000 head of beasts, besides birds of various kinds, and fish, the best they can procure.

[1] The proper name of this place is Kan-balgassan, or, for shortness,
Khan-balga, signifying the city of the khan. Arabian authors have
changed it to Khan-balick or Khan-baligh; and the Italians to
Chanbalig, Chanbalu, Cambalu, and even Gamelecco. The Chinese call
this northern part of the imperial city King-tshing, which has the
same meaning with the Tartar name, and may be translated Kingstown.
Pe-king, the other part of the same city, signifies the northern court
or residence.--Forst.

[2] The description of this palace is exceedingly confused and
unintelligible, most probably from erroneous transcription and
mistakes in translation.--E.

[3] By this obscure expression, it seems to be implied that there are no
upper rooms.--E.

[4] The soldiers mentioned here and in other places, as present in the
great hall upon solemn occasions, can only mean the officers of the
military actually on guard over the person of the khan at the time.
--E.