From Kwei-hwa
Ch'eng, M. Bonin went by the valley of the Hei Shui River to the Hwang Ho;
At the junction of the two rivers stands the village of Ho-k'au (Ho-k'ou)
south of the small town To Ch'eng, surmounted by the ruins of the old
square Mongol stronghold of Tokto, the walls of which are still in a good
state of preservation. - (La Geographie, I. 1901, p. 116.)
On the other hand, it is but fair to state that Palladius (21) says: "The
name of Tenduc obviously corresponds to T'ien-te Kiun, a military post,
the position of which Chinese geographers identify correctly with that of
the modern Kuku-hoton (Ta tsing y t'ung chi, ch. on the Tumots of
Kuku-hoton). The T'ien-te Kiun post existed under this name during the
K'itan (Liao) and Kin Dynasties up to Khubilai's time (1267); when under
the name of Fung-chow it was left only a district town in the department of
Ta-t'ung fu. The Kin kept in T'ien-te Kiun a military chief, Chao-t'ao-
shi, whose duty it was to keep an eye on the neighbouring tribes, and to
use, if needed, military force against them. The T'ien-te Kiun district was
hardly greater in extent than the modern aimak of Tumot, into which
Kuku-hoton was included since the 16th century, i.e. 370 li from north to
south, and 400 li from east to west; during the Kin it had a settled
population, numbering 22,600 families."
In a footnote, Palladius refers to the geographical parts of the Liao
shi, Kin shi, and Yuen shi, and adds: "M. Polo's commentators are wrong
in suspecting an anachronism in his statement, or trying to find Tenduc
elsewhere."
We find in the North-China Herald (29th April, 1887, p. 474) the
following note from the Chinese Times: "There are records that the
position of this city [Kwei-hwa Ch'eng] was known to the builder of the
Great Wall. From very remote times, it appears to have been a settlement
of nomadic tribes. During the last 1000 years it has been alternately
possessed by the Mongols and Chinese. About A.D. 1573, Emperor Wan-Li
reclaimed it, enclosed a space within walls, and called it Kwei-hwa
Ch'eng."
Potanin left Peking on the 13th May, 1884, for Kuku-khoto (or
Kwei-hwa-Ch'eng), passing over the triple chain of mountains dividing the
Plain of Peking from that on which Kuku-khoto is situate. The southernmost
of these three ridges bears the Chinese name of Wu-tai-shan, "the mountain
of five sacrificial altars," after the group of five peaks, the highest of
which is 10,000 feet above the sea, a height not exceeded by any mountain
in Northern China. At its southern foot lies a valley remarkable for its
Buddhist monasteries and shrines, one of which, "Shing-tung-tze," is
entirely made of brass, whence its name.
"Kuku-Khoto is the depot for the Mongolian trade with China. It contains
two hundred tea-shops, five theatres, fifteen temples, and six Mongol
monasteries. Among its sights are the Buddhist convent of Utassa, with its
five pinnacles and has-reliefs, the convent of Fing-sung-si, and a temple
containing a statue erected in honour of the Chinese general, Pai-jin-
jung, who avenged an insult offered to the Emperor of China." (Proc. R.
G. S. IX. 1887, p. 233.) - H. C.]
A passage in Rashiduddin does seem to intimate that the Kerait, the tribe
of Aung Khan, alias Prester John, did occupy territory close to the
borders of Cathay or Northern China; but neither from Chinese nor from
other Oriental sources has any illustration yet been produced of the
existence of Aung Khan's descendants as rulers in this territory under the
Mongol emperors. There is, however, very positive evidence to that effect
supplied by other European travellers, to whom the fables prevalent in the
West had made the supposed traces of Prester John a subject of strong
interest.
Thus John of Monte Corvino, afterwards Archbishop of Cambaluc or Peking,
in his letter of January, 1305, from that city, speaks of Polo's King
George in these terms: "A certain king of this part of the world, by name
George, belonging to the sect of the Nestorian Christians, and of the
illustrious lineage of that great king who was called Prester John of
India, in the first year of my arrival here [circa 1295-1296] attached
himself to me, and, after he had been converted by me to the verity of the
Catholic faith, took the Lesser Orders, and when I celebrated mass used to
attend me wearing his royal robes. Certain others of the Nestorians on
this account accused him of apostacy, but he brought over a great part of
his people with him to the true Catholic faith, and built a church of
royal magnificence in honour of our God, of the Holy Trinity, and of our
Lord, the Pope, giving it the name of the Roman Church. This King
George, six years ago, departed to the Lord, a true Christian, leaving as
his heir a son scarcely out of the cradle, and who is now nine years old.
And after King George's death, his brothers, perfidious followers of the
errors of Nestorius, perverted again all those whom he had brought over to
the Church, and carried them back to their original schismatical creed.
And being all alone, and not able to leave His Majesty the Cham, I could
not go to visit the church above-mentioned, which is twenty days' journey
distant.... I had been in treaty with the late King George, if he had
lived, to translate the whole Latin ritual, that it might be sung
throughout the extent of his territory; and whilst he was alive I used to
celebrate mass in his church according to the Latin rite." The distance
mentioned, twenty days' journey from Peking, suits quite well with the
position assigned to Tenduc, and no doubt the Roman Church was in the city
to which Polo gives that name.
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