Travels Of Marco Polo: Eighty Four

When a man leaves Ughim, [1] and goes three days, he observes many noble and rich cities and castles, with great merchandise.  The people are all idolaters, subject to the Khan, use paper money, and have abundant means of subsistence. At the end of these three days, he finds a very noble city named Kinsai [2] which means in our language, the city of heaven.  And now I will tell you all its nobleness.  Without doubt it is the largest city in the world.  I will give you the account given by the Queen of Manji to Bayam, who conquered that kingdom to be transmitted to his master, who thereby might be persuaded not to destroy it.  And this letter contained the truth, as I Marco 

Saw with my own eyes.  It is related that the city of Kansai is 100 miles in circumstance, and has twelve thousand stone bridges; and beneath the greater part of these a large ship 

might pass, and beneath the others the smaller ones.  And you need not wonder there are so many bridges, because the city is wholly on the water, and surrounded by it, like Venice.  It contains twelve arts or trades, and each trade has 12000 stations or houses, and in each station there are of masters and labourers, at least ten, in some fifteen, thirty and even forty, because this town supplies many others round it.  The merchants are so numerous and so rich, that their wealth can neither be told nor believed.  They, their ladies, and the heads of the trades do nothing with their own hands, but live as cleanly and delicately as if they were kings.  These females also are of angelic beauty, and live in the most elegant manner.  But it is established that no one can practice any other art, than which his father followed, even though he were worth 1,00,000 bezants.[3] To the south of that city is a lake, full thirty miles in circuit; and all around it are beautiful palaces and houses so wonderfully built that nothing can possibly surpass them.  They belong to the great and noble men of the city. There are also abbeys and monasteries of idolaters in great numbers.  In the middle of the lake are two islands, on one of which stands a place, so wonderfully adorned that it seems worthy of belonging to the emperor.  Whoever wishes to celebrate a marriage or other festival, goes tither, where he finds dishes, plates and other festivals, goes tither, where he finds dishes, plates and implements necessary for the occasion.  The city Kansai contains many beautiful houses, and one great stone tower, to which the people convey all their properties, when the houses take fire, as often happens, because many of them are of wood.  They are idolaters, subject to the great Khan, and use paper money.  They eat the flesh of dogs and other beasts, such as no christian would touch for the world.  On each of the 12000 bridges, ten men keep guard day and night, so that no one may dare to raise a disturbance or commit theft or homicide.  I will tell you another thing, that in the middle of the city is a mound, on which stands a tower, wherein is placed a wooden table, against which a man strikes with a hammer, so that it is heard to a great distance; this he does when there is an alarm of any emergency. 

All the streets are paved with stones and bricks; so are the high roads of Manji, on which account men may travel very pleasantly either on horseback or on foot.  There are 4000 baths in the city, in which the citizens, both men and women take great delight.

They are largest and most beautiful baths in the world, insomuch that 100 of either sex may bathe in them at once.  Twenty five miles from here is ocean, between south and east. And there is a city named Ganfu[4] which has a very fine port, with large ships and much merchandise of immense value from India and other quarters.  Past this city to the port flows a river by which the ships can come to it, and which runs tither for a great distance.  The Khan has divided the whole province of Manji into nine large kingdoms, all of which pays him a large annual tribute.  In Ganfu resides its king who has under him 140 cities.  In this province there are 1200 towns, and in each a garrison having 1000 to 30000 men. But these are not all Tartar cavalry, but infantry sent from Cathay. The Khan draws immense wealth from the province of Manji.  Here are some of the strange customs followed by the people here: when a boy or girl is born, the day, hour and minute are written down, and also the Zodiac sign, so that all may know their nativity.  And anyone who wishes to take a journey or do anything else of importance, should go to an astrologer and consult him whether he can embark upon such a journey or undertaking.  Another custom is concerned with the burial or cremation. All relatives of the dead man should dress themselves in canvass to express grief and go with the corpse, with singing and dancing and chanting prayers. To the place the cremation is to be done they carry images of various things like men, women, camel, clothes, and money and throw them into the funeral pyre. These are done with the belief that the dead man is entering another world and these accompaniments are to be used by him there.  In this city of Kansai there is a palace of the king who fled, which is the noblest and most beautiful in the world.  It is a square, ten miles in circuit, surrounded by a lofty wall within which are garden abounding in all the most delicate fruits, fountains, and lakes supplied with many kinds of fish. In the middle is the edifice itself, large and beautiful, with a wall so extensive that a vast number of persons can sit down at table.  That hall is painted all over with gold and azure, representing many stories in which are beasts, birds, knights, ladies, and various wonders.  Nothing can be seen upon the walls and roof but these ornaments.  There are twenty others of similar dimensions, such that 10000 men can conveniently sit at table; and they are covered and worked in gold.  This palace contains 1000 chambers.  In city are 160 toman of fires [5] that is, of houses and the toman is 10000 making 1600000 houses among which are many great and rich palaces.  There is only one church of Nestorian Christians [6]. Each man of the city as also of the others has written on his door the name of his wife, his children, of his sons' wives, his slaves and of all his households; and when anyone is born, he adds the name, and when he dies, takes it away.  Thus the governor of each city knows the names of every person in it; and this practice is followed in all the towns of Manji and Cathay.  The same account is given of strangers who reside for a time in their houses, both when they come, and when they go; and by that means, the great Khan knows whoever arrives and departs, which is of great advantage.

____________________________________

1.Ughim: It is modern day Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province.

2. Kinsai: Modern day Huzhou, a city in northern Zhijiang province.  It is located on the south bank of Taihu lake

3. Bezant was a gold coin that originated in Byzantine Empire, and was widely used in trade and commerce in the Mediterranean region during the middle ages.

Sons following the profession of his father has its roots in tribal state of human history, but it is institutionalised in Indian subcontinent in ancient times.

4.Ganfu: Modern day Ganzhou or Kanchow in the south of Jiangxi province 

5. A toman refers to a unit of measurement. Here it means groups of families or households with each group or household or family having its own hearth or fire.

6. Nestorian Christians: Oxford English Dictionary defines Nestorianosm as:

The doctrine of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople by which Christ is asserted to have had distinct human and divine persons.

End of the Section