Rashid in 798 had to perform the "ceremony of kneeling and striking the
forehead against the ground." And M. Pauthier can scarcely be right in
saying that the practice was disused by the Ming Dynasty and only
reintroduced by the Manchus; for in the story of Shah Rukh's embassy the
performance of the K'o-tow occurs repeatedly.
["It is interesting to note," writes Mr. Rockhill (Rubruck, p. 22),
"that in A.D. 981 the Chinese Envoy, Wang Yen-te, sent to the Uigur Prince
of Kao-chang, refused to make genuflexions (pai) to him, as being
contrary to the established usages as regards envoys. The prince and his
family, however, on receiving the envoy, all faced eastward (towards
Peking) and made an obeisance (pai) on receiving the imperial presents
(shou-tzu)." (Ma Twan-lin, Bk 336, 13.) - H. C.]
(Gaubil, 142; Van Braam, I. 20-21; Baber, 106; N. et E. XIV. Pt.
I. 405, 407, 418.)
The enumeration of four prostrations in the text is, I fancy, quite
correct. There are several indications that this number was used instead
of the three times three of later days. Thus Carpini, when introduced to
the Great Kaan, "bent the left knee four times." And in the Chinese bridal
ceremony of "Worshipping the Tablets," the genuflexion is made four times.
At the court of Shah Abbas an obeisance evidently identical was repeated
four times. (Carp. 759; Doolittle, p. 60; P. Della Valle, I. 646.)
[1] Gaubil, cited in Pauthier's Hist. des Relations Politiques de la
Chine, etc., p. 226.
CHAPTER XVI.
CONCERNING THE TWELVE THOUSAND BARONS WHO RECEIVE ROBES OF CLOTH OF GOLD
FROM THE EMPEROR ON THE GREAT FESTIVALS, THIRTEEN CHANGES A-PIECE.
Now you must know that the Great Kaan hath set apart 12,000 of his men who
are distinguished by the name of Keshican, as I have told you before;
and on each of these 12,000 Barons he bestows thirteen changes of raiment,
which are all different from one another: I mean that in one set the
12,000 are all of one colour; the next 12,000 of another colour, and so
on; so that they are of thirteen different colours. These robes are
garnished with gems and pearls and other precious things in a very rich
and costly manner.[NOTE 1] And along with each of these changes of
raiment, i.e. 13 times in the year, he bestows on each of those 12,000
Barons a fine golden girdle of great richness and value, and likewise a
pair of boots of Camut, that is to say of Borgal, curiously wrought
with silver thread; insomuch that when they are clothed in these dresses
every man of them looks like a king![NOTE 2] And there is an established
order as to which dress is to be worn at each of those thirteen feasts.
The Emperor himself also has his thirteen suits corresponding to those of
his Barons; in colour, I mean (though his are grander, richer, and
costlier), so that he is always arrayed in the same colour as his Barons,
who are, as it were, his comrades. And you may see that all this costs an
amount which it is scarcely possible to calculate.
Now I have told you of the thirteen changes of raiment received from the
Prince by those 12,000 Barons, amounting in all to 156,000 suits of so
great cost and value, to say nothing of the girdles and the boots which
are also worth a great sum of money. All this the Great Lord hath ordered,
that he may attach the more of grandeur and dignity to his festivals.
And now I must mention another thing that I had forgotten, but which you
will be astonished to learn from this Book. You must know that on the
Feast Day a great Lion is led to the Emperor's presence, and as soon as it
sees him it lies down before him with every sign of the greatest
veneration, as if it acknowledged him for its lord; and it remains there
lying before him, and entirely unchained. Truly this must seem a strange
story to those who have not seen the thing![NOTE 3]
NOTE 1. - On the Keshican, see note 1 to chap. xii., and on the changes
of raiment note 3 to chap. xiv., and the remarks there as to the number of
distributions. I confess that the stress laid upon the number 13 in this
chapter makes the supposition of error more difficult. But there is
something odd and unintelligible about the whole of the chapter except the
last paragraph. For the 12,000 Keshican are here all elevated to
Barons; and at the same time the statement about their changes of
raiment seems to be merely that already made in chapter xiv. This
repetition occurs only in the French MSS., but as it is in all these we
cannot reject it.
NOTE 2. - The words Camut and Borgal appear both to be used here for
what we call Russia-Leather. The latter word in one form or another,
Bolghar, Borghali, or Bulkal, is the term applied to that material to
this day nearly all over Asia. Ibn Batuta says that in travelling during
winter from Constantinople to the Wolga he had to put on three pairs of
boots, one of wool (which we should call stockings), a second of wadded
linen, and a third of Borghali, "i.e. of horse-leather lined with
wolf-skin." Horse-leather seems to be still the favourite material for
boots among all the Tartar nations. The name was undoubtedly taken from
Bolghar on the Wolga, the people of which are traditionally said to have
invented the art of preparing skins in that manner.
