(Dupre De St. Maur, Essai Sur Les Monnoies, Etc., 1746, P. Viii.; Also
(On Saiga) See Pertz, Script.
XVII.
357; Rubruq. 312; Golden
Horde, 219-220, 521; Ilch. II. 166 seqq., 355-356; D'Ohsson, III.
412-413; Q. R. 177-180; Ham. Wassaf, 154, 176; Makrizi, IV. 158;
St. Martin, Mem. sur l'Armenie, II. 137, 169; M. Mas Latrie in
Bibl. de l'Ec. des Chartes, IV. 585 seqq.; J. As. ser. V. tom. xvii.
536 seqq.; Schmidt, ueber eine Mongol. Quadratinschrift, etc., Acad. St.
P., 1847; Russian paper by Grigorieff on same subject, 1846.)
["The History tells us (Liao Shih, Bk. LVII. f. 2) that the official
silver tablets p'ai tzu of the period were 600 in number, about a foot
in length, and that they were engraved with an inscription like the above
['Our imperial order for post horses. Urgent.'] in national characters
(kuo tzu), and that when there was important state business the Emperor
personally handed the tablet to the envoy, which entitled him to demand
horses at the post stations, and to be treated as if he were the Emperor
himself travelling. When the tablet was marked 'Urgent,' he had the right
to take private horses, and was required to ride, night and day, 700 li
in twenty-four hours. On his return he had to give back the tablet to the
Emperor, who handed it to the prince who had the custody of the state
tablets and seals." (Dr. S. W. Bushell, Actes XI. Cong. Int. Orient.,
Paris, p. 17.)
"The Kin, in the thirteenth century, used badges of office made of silver.
They were rectangular, bore the imperial seal, and an inscription
indicative of the duty of the bearer. (Chavannes, Voyageurs chez les
Khitans, 102.) The Nue-chen at an earlier date used wooden pai-tzu tied
to each horseman and horse, to distinguish them by. (Ma Tuan-lin, Bk.
327, 11.)" (Rockhill, Rubruck, p. 181, note.)
"Tiger's tablets - Sinice Hu fu, and p'ai tsze in the common language.
The Mongols had them of several kinds, which differed by the metal, of
which they were made, as well as by the number of pearls (one, two, or
three in number), which were incrusted in the upper part of the tablet.
Falcon's tablets with the figure of a falcon were round, and used to be
given only to special couriers and envoys of the Khan. [Yuen shi lui
pien and Yuen ch'ao tien chang.] The use of the Hu-fu was adopted by
the Mongols probably from the Kin." (Palladius, l.c. p. 39.)
Rubruquis (Rockhill's ed. pp. 153-154) says: - "And whenever the principal
envoy [of Longa] came to court he carried a highly-polished tablet of
ivory about a cubit long and half a palm wide. Every time he spoke to the
chan or some great personage, he always looked at that tablet as if he
found there what he had to say, nor did he look to the right or the left,
nor in the face of him with whom he was talking. Likewise, when coming
into the presence of the Lord, and when leaving it, he never looked at
anything but his tablet." Mr. Rockhill observes: "These tablets are called
hu in Chinese, and were used in China and Korea; in the latter country
down to quite recent times. They were made of jade, ivory, bamboo, etc.,
according to the rank of the owner, and were about three feet long. The
hu was originally used to make memoranda on of the business to be
submitted by the bearer to the Emperor or to write the answers to
questions he had had submitted to them. Odoric also refers to 'the tablets
of white ivory which the Emperor's barons held in their hands as they
stood silent before him.'"
(Cf. the golden tablets which were of various classes with a tiger for
image and pearls for ornaments, Deveria, Epigraphie, p. 15 et seq.) - H.
C.]
NOTE 3. - Umbrella. The phrase in Pauthier's text is "Palieque que on
dit ombrel." The Latin text of the Soc. de Geographie has "unum pallium
de auro," which I have adopted as probably correct, looking to Burma,
where the old etiquettes as to umbrellas are in full force. These
etiquettes were probably in both countries of old Hindu origin. Pallium,
according to Muratori, was applied in the Middle Ages to a kind of square
umbrella, by which is probably meant rather a canopy on four staves, which
was sometimes assigned by authority as an honourable privilege.
But the genuine umbrella would seem to have been used also, for Polo's
contemporary, Martino da Canale, says that, when the Doge goes forth of
his palace, "si vait apres lui un damoiseau qui porte une umbrele de dras
a or sur son chief," which umbrella had been given by "Monseigneur
l'Apostoille." There is a picture by Girolamo Gambarota, in the Sala del
Gran Consiglio, at Venice, which represents the investiture of the Doge
with the umbrella by Pope Alexander III., and Frederick Barbarossa
(concerning which see Sanuto Junior, in Muratori, XXII. 512).
The word Parasol also occurs in the Petrarchian vocabulary, (14th
century) as the equivalent of saioual (Pers. sayaban or saiwan, an
umbrella). Carpini notices that umbrellas (solinum vel tentoriolum in
hasta) were carried over the Tartar nobles and their wives, even on
horseback; and a splendid one, covered with jewels, was one of the
presents made to Kuyuk Kaan on his enthronement.
With respect to the honorary character attaching to umbrellas in China, I
may notice that recently an English resident of Ningpo, on his departure
for Europe, was presented by the Chinese citizens, as a token of honour,
with a pair of Wan min san, umbrellas of enormous size.
The umbrella must have gone through some curious vicissitudes; for at one
time we find it familiar, at a later date apparently unknown, and then
reintroduced as some strange novelty. Arrian speaks of the [Greek:
skiadia], or umbrellas, as used by all Indians of any consideration; but
the thing of which he spoke was familiar to the use of Greek and Roman
ladies, and many examples of it, borne by slaves behind their mistresses,
are found on ancient vase-paintings.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 284 of 335
Words from 289208 to 290250
of 342071
