Chapter LIV

CONCERNING THE CITY OF MIEN, AND THE TWO TOWERS THAT ARE THEREIN,
ONE OF GOLD AND THE OTHER OF SILVER.

And when you have travelled those 15 days through such a difficult country as I have described, in which travellers have to carry provisions for the road because there are no inhabitants, then you arrive at the capital city of this Province of Mien, and it also is called AMIEN, and is a very great and noble city.{1} The people are Idolaters and have a peculiar language, and are subject to the Great Kaan.

And in this city there is a thing so rich and rare that I must tell you about it. You see there was in former days a rich and puissant king in this city, and when he was about to die he commanded that by his tomb they should erect two towers [one at either end], one of gold and the other of silver, in such fashion as I shall tell you. The towers are built of fine stone; and then one of them has been covered with gold a good finger in thickness, so that the tower looks as if it were all of solid gold; and the other is covered with silver in like manner so that it seems to be all of solid silver. Each tower is a good ten paces in height and of breadth in proportion. The upper part of these towers is round, and girt all about with bells, the top of the gold tower with gilded bells and the silver tower with silvered bells, insomuch that whenever the wind blows among these bells they tinkle. [The tomb likewise was plated partly with gold, and partly with silver.] The King caused these towers to be erected to commemorate his magnificence and for the good of his soul; and really they do form one of the finest sights in the world; so exquisitely finished are they, so splendid and costly. And when they are lighted up by the sun they shine most brilliantly and are visible from a vast distance.

Now you must know that the Great Kaan conquered the country in this fashion.

You see at the Court of the Great Kaan there was a great number of gleemen and jugglers; and he said to them one day that he wanted them to go and conquer the aforesaid province of Mien, and that he would give them a good Captain to lead them and other good aid. And they replied that they would be delighted. So the Emperor caused them to be fitted out with all that an army requires, and gave them a Captain and a body of men-at-arms to help them; and so they set out, and marched until they came to the country and province of Mien. And they did conquer the whole of it! And when they found in the city the two towers of gold and silver of which I have been telling you, they were greatly astonished, and sent word thereof to the Great Kaan, asking what he would have them do with the two towers, seeing what a great quantity of wealth there was upon them. And the Great Kaan, being well aware that the King had caused these towers to be made for the good of his soul, and to preserve his memory after his death, said that he would not have them injured, but would have them left precisely as they were. And that was no wonder either, for you must know that no Tartar in the world will ever, if he can help it, lay hand on anything appertaining to the dead.{2}

WITH THE GOLD AND SILVER TOWERS]

They have in this province numbers of elephants and wild oxen;{3} also beautiful stags and deer and roe, and other kinds of large game in plenty.

Now having told you about the province of Mien, I will tell you about another province which is called Bangala, as you shall hear presently.

NOTE 1.—The name of the city appears as _Amien_ both in Pauthier’s
text here, and in the G. Text in the preceding chapter. In the Bern
MS. it is _Aamien_. Perhaps some form like _Amien_ was that used by
the Mongols and Persians. I fancy it may be traced in the _Arman_
or _Uman_ of Rashiduddin, probably corrupt readings (in _Elliot_ I.
72).

NOTE 2.—M. Pauthier’s extracts are here again very valuable. We
gather from them that the first Mongol communication with the
King of Mien or Burma took place in 1271, when the Commandant
of Tali-fu sent a deputation to that sovereign to demand an
acknowledgment of the supremacy of the Emperor. This was followed
by various negotiations and acts of offence on both sides, which
led to the campaign of 1277, already spoken of. For a few years no
further events appear to be recorded, but in 1282, in consequence
of a report from Násruddin of the ease with which Mien could be
conquered, an invasion was ordered under a Prince of the Blood
called Siangtaur [called _Siam-ghu-talh_, by Visdelou.—H. C.]. This
was probably _Singtur_, great-grandson of one of the brothers of
Chinghiz, who a few years later took part in the insurrection of
Nayan. (See _D’Ohsson_, II. 461.) The army started from Yun-nan fu,
then called Chung-khing (and the _Yachi_ of Polo) in the autumn of
1283. We are told that the army made use of boats to descend the
River _Oho_ to the fortified city of Kiangtheu (see _supra_, note
3, ch. lii.), which they took and sacked; and as the King still
refused to submit, they then advanced to the “primitive capital,”
_Taikung_, which they captured. Here Pauthier’s details stop. (Pp.
405, 416; see also _D’Ohsson_, II. 444 [and _Visdelou_].)

It is curious to compare these narratives with that from the
Burmese Royal Annals given by Colonel Burney, and again by Sir
A. Phayre in the _J. A. S. B._ (IV. 401, and XXXVII. Pt. I. p.
101.) Those annals afford no mention of transactions with the
Mongols previous to 1281. In that year they relate that a mission
of ten nobles and 1000 horse came from the Emperor to demand gold
and silver vessels as symbols of homage on the ground of an old
precedent. The envoys conducted themselves disrespectfully (the
tradition was that they refused to take off their boots, an old
grievance at the Burmese court), and the King put them all to
death. The Emperor of course was very wroth, and sent an army of
6,000,000 of horse and 20,000,000 of foot (!) to invade Burma.
The Burmese generals had their _point d’appui_ at the city of
_Nga-tshaung-gyan_, apparently somewhere near the mouth of the
Bhamó River, and after a protracted resistance on that river, they
were obliged to retire. They took up a new point of defence on the
Hill of Malé, which they had fortified. Here a decisive battle was
fought, and the Burmese were entirely routed. The King, on hearing
of their retreat from Bhamó, at first took measures for fortifying
his capital Pagán, and destroyed 6000 temples of various sizes to
furnish material. But after all he lost heart, and embarking with
his treasure and establishments on the Irawadi, fled down that
river to Bassein in the Delta. The Chinese continued the pursuit
long past Pagán till they reached the place now called _Tarokmau_
or “Chinese Point,” 30 miles below Prome. Here they were forced
by want of provisions to return. The Burmese Annals place the
abandonment of Pagán by the King in 1284, a most satisfactory
synchronism with the Chinese record. It is a notable point in
Burmese history, for it marked the fall of an ancient Dynasty
which was speedily followed by its extinction, and the abandonment
of the capital. The King is known in the Burmese Annals as
_Tarok-pyé-Meng_, “The King who fled from the _Tarok_.”[1]

In Dr. Mason’s abstract of the Pegu Chronicle we find the notable
statement with reference to this period that “the Emperor of China,
having subjugated Pagán, his troops with the Burmese entered Pegu
and invested several cities.”

We see that the Chinese Annals, as quoted, mention only the
“capitale primitive” _Taikung_, which I have little doubt Pauthier
is right in identifying with _Tagaung_, traditionally the most
ancient royal city of Burma, and the remains of which stand side
by side with those of _Old_ Pagán, a later but still very ancient
capital, on the east bank of the Irawadi, in about lat. 23° 28′.
The Chinese extracts give no idea of the temporary completeness
of the conquest, nor do they mention Great Pagán (lat. 21°
13′), a city whose vast remains I have endeavoured partially to
describe.[2] Sir Arthur Phayre, from a careful perusal of the
Burmese Chronicle, assures me that there can be no doubt that
_this_ was at the time in question the Burmese Royal Residence,
and the city alluded to in the Burmese narrative. M. Pauthier is
mistaken in supposing that Tarok-Mau, the turning-point of the
Chinese Invasion, lay north of this city: he has not unnaturally
confounded it with Tarok-_Myo_ or “China-Town,” a district not far
below Ava. Moreover Malé, the position of the decisive victory of
the Chinese, is itself much to the south of Tagaung (about 22° 55′).

Both Pagán and Malé are mentioned in a remarkable Chinese notice
extracted in _Amyot’s Mémoires_ (XIV. 292): “Mien-Tien ... had
five chief towns, of which the first was _Kiangtheu_ (_supra_, pp.
105, 111), the second _Taikung_, the third _Malai_, the fourth
Ngan-cheng-kwé (? perhaps the _Nga-tshaung gyan_ of the Burmese
Annals), the fifth PUKAN MIEN-WANG (Pagán of the Mien King?).
The Yuen carried war into this country, particularly during the
reign of Shun-Ti, the last Mongol Emperor [1333–1368], who, after
subjugating it, erected at Pukan Mien-Wang a tribunal styled
_Hwen-wei-she-sé_, the authority of which extended over Pang-ya
and all its dependencies.” This is evidently founded on actual
documents, for Panya or Pengya, otherwise styled Vijáyapúra, was
the capital of Burma during part of the 14th century, between the
decay of Pagán and the building of Ava. But none of the translated
extracts from the Burmese Chronicle afford corroboration. From
Sangermano’s abstract, however, we learn that the King of Panya
from 1323 to 1343 was the _son of a daughter of the Emperor of
China_ (p. 42). I may also refer to Pemberton’s abstract of the
Chronicle of the Shan State of Pong in the Upper Irawadi valley,
which relates that about the middle of the 14th century the Chinese
invaded Pong and took Maung Maorong, the capital.[3] The Shan King
and his son fled to the King of Burma for protection, but _the
Burmese surrendered them_ and they were carried to China. (_Report
on E. Frontier of Bengal_, p. 112.)

I see no sufficient evidence as to whether Marco himself visited
the “city of Mien.” I think it is quite clear that his account
of the _conquest_ is from the merest hearsay, not to say gossip.
Of the absurd story of the jugglers we find no suggestion in the
Chinese extracts. We learn from them that Násruddin had represented
the conquest of Mien as a very easy task, and Kúblái may have in
jest asked his gleemen if they would undertake it. The haziness of
Polo’s account of the conquest contrasts strongly with his graphic
description of the rout of the elephants at Vochan. Of the latter
he heard the particulars on the spot (I conceive) shortly after the
event; whilst the conquest took place some years later than his
mission to that frontier. His description of the gold and silver
pagodas with their canopies of tinkling bells (the Burmese _Htí_),
certainly looks like a sketch from the life;[4] and it is quite
possible that some negotiations between 1277 and 1281 may have
given him the opportunity of visiting Burma, though he may not have
reached the capital. Indeed he would in that case surely have given
a distincter account of so important a city, the aspect of which in
its glory we have attempted to realize in the plate of “the city of
Mien.”

It is worthy of note that the unfortunate King then reigning
in Pagán, had in 1274 finished a magnificent Pagoda called
_Mengala-dzedi (Mangala Chaitya)_ respecting which ominous
prophecies had been diffused. In this pagoda were deposited,
besides holy relics, golden images of the Disciples of Buddha,
golden models of the holy places, golden images of the King’s
fifty-one predecessors in Pagán, and of the King and his Family.
It is easy to suspect a connection of this with Marco’s story. “It
is possible that the King’s ashes may have been intended to be
buried near those relics, though such is not now the custom; and
Marco appears to have confounded the custom of depositing relics
of Buddha and ancient holy men in pagodas with the _supposed_
custom of the burial of the dead. Still, even now, monuments are
occasionally erected over the dead in Burma, although the practice
is considered a vain folly. I have known a miniature pagoda with
a _hti_ complete, erected over the ashes of a favourite disciple
by a _P’hungyi_ or Buddhist monk.” The latter practice is common
in China. (_Notes by Sir A. Phayre; J. A. S. B._ IV. _u.s._, also
V. 164, VI. 251; _Mason’s Burmah_, 2nd ed. p. 26; _Milne’s Life in
China_, pp. 288, 450.)

NOTE 3.—The Gaur—_Bos Gaurus_, or _B. (Bibos) Cavifrons_ of
Hodgson—exists in certain forests of the Burmese territory; and,
in the south at least, a wild ox nearer the domestic species,
_Bos Sondaicus_. Mr. Gouger, in his book _The Prisoner in Burma_,
describes the rare spectacle which he once enjoyed in the
Tenasserim forests of a herd of wild cows at graze. He speaks of
them as small and elegant, without hump, and of a light reddish dun
colour (pp. 326–327).

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[1] This is the name now applied in Burma to the Chinese. Sir A. Phayre
supposes it to be _Túrk_, in which case its use probably began at
this time.

[2] In the Narrative of Phayre’s Mission, ch. ii.

[3] Dr. Anderson has here hastily assumed a discrepancy of sixty years
between the chronology of the Shan document and that of the Chinese
Annals. But this is merely because he arbitrarily identifies the
Chinese invasion here recorded with that of Kúblái in the preceding
century. (See _Anderson’s Western Yunnan_, p. 8.) We see in the
quotation above from Amyot that the Chinese Annals also contain an
obscure indication of the later invasion.

[4] Compare the old Chinese Pilgrims Hwui Seng and Seng Yun, in their
admiration of a vast pagoda erected by the great King Kanishka in
Gandhára (at Peshawur in fact): “At sunrise the gilded disks of the
vane are lit up with dazzling glory, whilst the gentle breeze of
morning causes the precious bells to tinkle with a pleasing sound.”
(_Beal_, p. 204.)