Chapter LXXIX: Of the City of Tanpiju and Others

When you leave Kinsay and travel a day’s journey to the south-east, through a plenteous region, passing a succession of dwellings and charming gardens, you reach the city of TANPIJU, a great, rich, and fine city, under Kinsay. The people are subject to the Kaan, and have paper-money, and are Idolaters, and burn their dead in the way described before. They live by trade and manufactures and handicrafts, and have all necessaries in great plenty and cheapness.{1}

But there is no more to be said about it, so we proceed, and I will tell you of another city called VUJU at three days’ distance from Tanpiju. The people are Idolaters, &c., and the city is under Kinsay. They live by trade and manufactures.

Travelling through a succession of towns and villages that look like one continuous city, two days further on to the south-east, you find the great and fine city of GHIUJU which is under Kinsay. The people are Idolaters, &c. They have plenty of silk, and live by trade and handicrafts, and have all things necessary in abundance. At this city you find the largest and longest canes that are in all Manzi; they are full four palms in girth and 15 paces in length.{2}

When you have left Ghiuju you travel four days S.E. through a beautiful country, in which towns and villages are very numerous. There is abundance of game both in beasts and birds; and there are very large and fierce lions. After those four days you come to the great and fine city of CHANGSHAN. It is situated upon a hill which divides the River, so that the one portion flows up country and the other down.[1] It is still under the government of Kinsay.

I should tell you that in all the country of Manzi they have no sheep, though they have beeves and kine, goats and kids and swine in abundance. The people are Idolaters here, &c.

When you leave Changshan you travel three days through a very fine country with many towns and villages, traders and craftsmen, and abounding in game of all kinds, and arrive at the city of CUJU. The people are Idolaters, &c., and live by trade and manufactures. It is a fine, noble, and rich city, and is the last of the government of Kinsay in this direction.{3} The other kingdom which we now enter, called Fuju, is also one of the nine great divisions of Manzi as Kinsay is.

NOTE 1.—The traveller’s route proceeds from Kinsay or Hang-chau
southward to the mountains of Fo-kien, ascending the valley of
the Ts’ien T’ang, commonly called by Europeans the Green River.
The general line, directed as we shall see upon Kien-ning fu in
Fo-kien, is clear enough, but some of the details are very obscure,
owing partly to vague indications and partly to the excessive
uncertainty in the reading of some of the proper names.

No name resembling Tanpiju (G. T., _Tanpigui_; Pauthier, _Tacpiguy,
Carpiguy, Capiguy_; Ram., _Tapinzu_) belongs, so far as has yet
been shown, to any considerable town in the position indicated.[2]
Both Pauthier and Mr. Kingsmill identify the place with Shao-hing
fu, a large and busy town, compared by Fortune, as regards
population, to Shang-hai. Shao-hing is across the broad river, and
somewhat further down than Hang-chau: it is out of the traveller’s
general direction; and it seems unnatural that he should commence
his journey by passing this wide river, and yet not mention it.

For these reasons I formerly rejected Shao-hing, and looked rather
to Fu-yang as the representative of Tanpiju. But my opinion is
shaken when I find both Mr. Elias and Baron Richthofen decidedly
opposed to Fu-yang, and the latter altogether in favour of
Shao-hing. “The journey through a plenteous region, passing a
succession of dwellings and charming gardens; the epithets ‘great,
rich, and fine city’; the ‘trade, manufactures, and handicrafts,’
and the ‘necessaries in great plenty and cheapness,’ appear to
apply rather to the populous plain and the large city of ancient
fame, than to the small Fu-yang hien ... shut in by a spur from
the hills, which would hardly have allowed it in former days to
have been a great city.” (_Note by Baron R._) The after route, as
elucidated by the same authority, points with even more force to
Shao-hing.

[Mr. G. Phillips has made a special study of the route from Kinsay
to Zaytun in the _T’oung Pao_, I. p. 218 _seq._ (_The Identity of
Marco Polo’s Zaitun with Changchau_). He says (p. 222): “Leaving
Hangchau by boat for Fuhkien, the first place of importance is
Fuyang, at 100 _li_ from Hangchau. This name does not in any way
resemble Polo’s Ta Pin Zu, but I think it can be no other.” Mr.
Phillips writes (pp. 221–222) that by the route he describes, he
“intends to follow the highway which has been used by travellers
for centuries, and the greater part of which is by water.” He adds:
“I may mention that the boats used on this route can be luxuriously
fitted up, and the traveller can go in them all the way from
Hangchau to Chinghu, the head of the navigation of the Ts’ien-t’ang
River. At this Chinghu, they disembark and hire coolies and
chairs to take them and their luggage across the Sien-hia pass
to Puching in Fuhkien. This route is described by Fortune in an
opposite direction, in his _Wanderings in China_, vol. ii. p. 139.
I am inclined to think that Polo followed this route, as the one
given by Yule, by way of Shao-hing and Kin-hua by land, would be
unnecessarily tedious for the ladies Polo was escorting, and there
was no necessity to take it; more especially as there was a direct
water route to the point for which they were making. I further
incline to this route, as I can find no city at all fitting in with
Yenchau, Ramusio’s Gengiu, along the route given by Yule.”

In my paper on the Catalan Map (Paris, 1895) I gave the following
itinerary: Kinsay (Hang-chau), Tanpiju (Shao-hing fu), Vuju
(Kin-hwa fu), Ghiuju (K’iu-chau fu), Chan-shan (Sui-chang hien),
Cuju (Ch’u-chau), Ke-lin-fu (Kien-ning fu), Unken (Hu-kwan), Fuju
(Fu-chau), Zayton (Kayten, Hai-t’au), Zayton (Ts’iuen-chau), Tyunju
(Tek-hwa).

Regarding the burning of the dead, Mr. Phillips (_T’oung Pao_, VI.
p. 454) quotes the following passage from a notice by M. Jaubert.
“The town of Zaitun is situated half a day’s journey inland from
the sea. At the place where the ships anchor, the water is fresh.
The people drink this water and also that of the wells. Zaitun is
30 days’ journey from Khanbaligh. The inhabitants of this town burn
their dead either with Sandal, or Brazil wood, according to their
means; they then throw the ashes into the river.” Mr. Phillips
adds: “The custom of burning the dead is a long established one in
Fuh-Kien, and does not find much favour among the upper classes. It
exists even to this day in the central parts of the province. The
time for cremation is generally at the time of the Tsing-Ming. At
the commencement of the present dynasty the custom of burning the
dead appears to have been pretty general in the Fuchow Prefecture;
it was looked upon with disfavour by many, and the gentry
petitioned the Authorities that proclamations forbidding it should
be issued. It was thought unfilial for children to cremate their
parents; and the practice of gathering up the bones of a partially
cremated person and thrusting them into a jar, euphoniously called
a Golden Jar, but which was really an earthen one, was much
commented on, as, if the jar was too small to contain all the
bones, they were broken up and put in, and many pieces got thrown
aside. In the Changchow neighbourhood, with which we have here most
to do, it was a universal custom in 1126 to burn the dead, and was
in existence for many centuries after.” (See note, _supra_, II. p.
134.)

Captain Gill, speaking of the country near the Great Wall, writes
(I. p. 61): [“The Chinese] consider mutton very poor food, and the
butchers’ shops are always kept by Mongols. In these, however, both
beef and mutton can be bought for 3_d._ or 4_d._ a lb., while pork,
which is considered by the Chinese as the greatest delicacy, sells
for double the price.”—H. C.]

NOTE 2.—Che-kiang produces bamboos more abundantly than any
province of Eastern China. Dr. Medhurst mentions meeting, on the
waters near Hang-chau, with numerous rafts of bamboos, one of which
was one-third of a mile in length. (_Glance at Int. of China_, p.
53.)

NOTE 3.—Assuming Tanpiju to be Shao-hing, the remaining places as
far as the Fo-kien Frontier run thus:—

3 days to Vuju (P. _Vugui_, G. T. _Vugui, Vuigui_, Ram. _Uguiu_).

2 „ to Ghiuju (P. _Guiguy_, G. T. _Ghingui, Ghengui, Chengui_,
Ram. _Gengui_).

4 „ to Changshan (P. _Ciancian_, G. T. _Cianscian_, Ram.
_Zengian_).

3 „ to Cuju or Chuju (P. _Cinguy_, G. T. _Cugui_, Ram. _Gieza_).

First as regards _Changshan_, which, with the notable circumstances
about the waters there, constitutes the key to the route, I extract
the following remarks from a note which Mr. Fortune has kindly sent
me: “When we get to _Changshan_ the proof as to the route is _very
strong_. This is undoubtedly my _Chang-shan_. The town is near the
head of the Green River (the Ts’ien T’ang) which flows in a N.E.
direction and falls into the Bay of Hang-chau. At Chang-shan the
stream is no longer navigable even for small boats. Travellers
going west or south-west walk or are carried in sedan-chairs
across country in a westerly direction for about 30 miles to a
town named Yuh-shan. Here there is a river which flows westward
(‘the other half goes down’), taking the traveller rapidly in that
direction, and passing _en route_ the towns of Kwansinfu, Hokow
or Hokeu, and onward to the Poyang Lake.” From the careful study
of Mr. Fortune’s published narrative I had already arrived at the
conclusion that this was the correct explanation of the remarkable
expressions about the division of the waters, which are closely
analogous to those used by the traveller in ch. lxii. of this book
when speaking of the watershed of the Great Canal at Sinjumatu.
Paraphrased the words might run: “At Chang-shan you reach high
ground, which interrupts the continuity of the River; from one side
of this ridge it flows up country towards the north, from the other
it flows down towards the south.” The expression “The River” will
be elucidated in note 4 to ch. lxxxii. below.

This route by the Ts’ien T’ang and the Chang-shan portage, which
turns the danger involved in the navigation of the Yang-tzŭ and
the Poyang Lake, was formerly a thoroughfare to the south much
followed; though now almost abandoned through one of the indirect
results (as Baron Richthofen points out) of steam navigation.

The portage from Chang-shan to Yuh-shan was passed by the English
and Dutch embassies in the end of last century, on their journeys
from Hang-chau to Canton, and by Mr. Fortune on his way from Ningpo
to the Bohea country of Fo-kien. It is probable that Polo on some
occasion made the ascent of the Ts’ien T’ang by water, and that
this leads him to notice the interruption of the navigation.

[Mr. Phillips writes (_T. Pao_, I. p. 222): “From Fuyang the next
point reached is Tunglu, also another 100 _li_ distant. Polo
calls this city Ugim, a name bearing no resemblance to Tunglu,
but this name and Ta Pin Zu are so corrupted in all editions that
they defy conjecture. One hundred _li_ further up the river from
Tunglu, we come to Yenchau, in which I think we have Polo’s Gengiu
of Ramusio’s text. Yule’s text calls this city Ghiuju, possibly
an error in transcription for Ghinju; Yenchau in ancient Chinese
would, according to Williams, be pronounced Ngam, Ngin, and
Ngienchau, all of which are sufficiently near Polo’s Gengiu. The
next city reached is Lan Ki Hien or Lan Chi Hsien, famous for its
hams, dates, and all the good things of this life, according to the
Chinese. In this city I recognise Polo’s Zen Gi An of Ramusio. Does
its description justify me in my identification? ‘The city of “Zen
gi an,”’ says Ramusio, ‘is built upon a hill that stands isolated
in the river, which latter, by dividing itself into two branches,
appears to embrace it. These streams take opposite directions:
one of them pursuing its course to the south-east and the other
to the north-west.’ Fortune, in his _Wanderings in China_ (vol.
ii. p. 139), calls Lan-Khi, Nan-Che-hien, and says: ‘It is built
on the banks of the river, and has a picturesque hill behind it.’
Milne, who also visited it, mentions it in his _Life in China_ (p.
258), and says: ‘At the southern end of the suburbs of Lan-Ki the
river divides into two branches, the one to the left on south-east
leading direct to Kinhua.’ Milne’s description of the place is
almost identical with Polo’s, when speaking of the division of the
river. There are in Fuchau several Lan-Khi shopkeepers, who deal in
hams, dates, etc., and these men tell me the city from the river
has the appearance of being built on a hill, but the houses on
the hill are chiefly temples. I would divide the name as follows,
Zen gi an; the last syllable _an_ most probably represents the
modern Hien, meaning District city, which in ancient Chinese was
pronounced _Han_, softened by the Italians into _an_. Lan-Khi was a
Hien in Polo’s day.”—H. C.]

Kin-hwa fu, as Pauthier has observed, bore at this time the name
of WU-CHAU, which Polo would certainly write _Vugiu_. And between
Shao-hing and Kin-hwa there exists, as Baron Richthofen has pointed
out, a line of depression which affords an easy connection between
Shao-hing and Lan-ki hien or Kin-hwa fu. This line is much used by
travellers, and forms just 3 short stages. Hence Kin-hwa, a fine
city destroyed by the T’ai-P’ings, is satisfactorily identified
with _Vugiu_.

The journey from Vugui to Ghiuju is said to be through a succession
of towns and villages, looking like a continuous city. Fortune,
whose journey occurred before the T’ai-P’ing devastations, speaks
of the approach to Kiu-chau as a vast and beautiful garden. And Mr.
Milne’s map of this route shows an incomparable density of towns
in the Ts’ien T’ang valley from Yen-chau up to Kiu-chau. _Ghiuju_
then will be KIU-CHAU. But between Kiu-chau and Chang-shan it is
impossible to make four days: barely possible to make two. My map
(_Itineraries_, No. VI.), based on D’Anville and Fortune, makes the
_direct_ distance 24 miles; Milne’s map barely 18; whilst from his
book we deduce the distance travelled by water to be about 30. On
the whole, it seems probable that there is a mistake in the figure
here.

From the head of the great Che-kiang valley I find two roads
across the mountains into Fo-kien described.

One leads from _Kiang-shan_ (not Chang-shan) by a town called
Ching-hu, and then, nearly due south, across the mountains to
Pu-ch’eng in Upper Fo-kien. This is specified by Martini (p. 113):
it seems to have been followed by the Dutch Envoy, Van Hoorn, in
1665 (see _Astley_, III. 463), and it was travelled by Fortune on
his return _from_ the Bohea country to Ningpo. (II. 247, 271.)

The other route follows the portage spoken of above from
_Chang-shan_ to Yuh-shan, and descends the river on that side to
_Hokeu_, whence it strikes south-east across the mountains to
Tsung-ngan-hien in Fo-kien. This route was followed by Fortune on
his way _to_ the Bohea country.

Both from Pu-ch’eng on the former route, and from near Tsung-ngan
on the latter, the waters are navigable down to Kien-ning fu and so
to Fu-chau.

Mr. Fortune judges the first to have been Polo’s route. There
does not, however, seem to be on this route any place that can
be identified with his Cuju or Chuju. Ching-hu seems to be
insignificant, and the name has no resemblance. On the other route
followed by Mr. Fortune himself from that side we have Kwansin fu,
_Hokeu_, Yen-shan, and (last town passed on that side) _Chuchu_.
The latter, as to both name and position, is quite satisfactory,
but it is described as a small poor town. _Hokeu_ would be
represented in Polo’s spelling as Caghiu or Cughiu. It is now a
place of great population and importance as the entrepôt of the
Black Tea Trade, but, like many important commercial cities in
the interior, not being even a _hien_, it has no place either in
Duhalde or in Biot, and I cannot learn its age.

It is no objection to this line that Polo speaks of Cuju or Chuju
as the last city of the government of Kinsay, whilst the towns just
named are in Kiang-si. For _Kiang-Ché_, the province of Kinsay,
then included the eastern part of Kiang-si. (See _Cathay_, p. 270.)

[Mr. Phillips writes (_T. Pao_, I. 223–224): “Eighty-five _li_
beyond Lan-ki hien is Lung-yin, a place not mentioned by Polo, and
another ninety-five _li_ still further on is Chüchau or Keuchau,
which is, I think, the Gie-za of Ramusio, and the Cuju of Yule’s
version. Polo describes it as the last city of the government of
Kinsai (Che-kiang) in this direction. It is the last Prefectural
city, but ninety _li_ beyond Chü-chau, on the road to Pu-chêng,
is Kiang-shan, a district city which is the last one in this
direction. Twenty _li_ from Kiang-shan is Ching-hu, the head of
the navigation of the T’sien-T’ang river. Here one hires chairs
and coolies for the journey over the Sien-hia Pass to Pu-chêng,
a distance of 215 _li_. From Pu-chêng, Fu-chau can be reached by
water in 4 or 5 days. The distance is 780 _li_.”—H. C.]

---------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] “_Est sus un mont que parte le Flum, que le une moitié ala en sus e l’autre moitié en jus_” (G. T.).

[2] One of the _Hien_, forming the special districts of Hang-Chau
itself, now called _Tsien-tang_, was formerly called
_Tang-wei-tang_. But it embraces the _eastern_ part of the
district, and can, I think, have nothing to do with _Tanpiju_. (See
_Biot_, p. 257, and _Chin. Repos._ for February, 1842, p. 109.)