The Site
Was Visited (Though Not Described) By Pere Gerbillon In 1691, And Since
Then By No European Traveller Till 1872, When Dr. Bushell Of The British
Legation At Peking, And The Hon.
T. G. Grosvenor, made a journey thither
from the capital, by way of the Nan-kau Pass (supra p. 26), Kalgan, and
the vicinity of Chaghan-nor, the route that would seem to have been
habitually followed, in their annual migration, by Kublai and his
successors.
The deserted site, overgrown with rank weeds and grass, stands but little
above the marshy bed of the river, which here preserves the name of Shang-
tu, and about a mile from its north or left bank. The walls, of earth
faced with brick and unhewn stone, still stand, forming, as in the Tartar
city of Peking, a double enceinte, of which the inner line no doubt
represents the area of the "Marble Palace" of which Polo speaks. This
forms a square of about 2 li (2/3 of a mile) to the side, and has three
gates - south, east, and west, of which the southern one still stands
intact, a perfect arch, 20 ft. high and 12 ft. wide. The outer wall forms
a square of 4 li (1-1/3 mile) to the side, and has six gates. The
foundations of temples and palace-buildings can be traced, and both
enclosures are abundantly strewn with blocks of marble and fragments of
lions, dragons, and other sculptures, testifying to the former existence
of a flourishing city, but exhibiting now scarcely one stone upon another.
A broken memorial tablet was found, half buried in the ground, within the
north-east angle of the outer rampart, bearing an inscription in an
antique form of the Chinese character, which proves it to have been
erected by Kublai, in honour of a Buddhist ecclesiastic called Yun-Hien.
Yun-Hien was the abbot of one of those great minsters and abbeys of
Bacsis, of which Marco speaks, and the exact date (no longer visible) of
the monument was equivalent to A.D. 1288.[2]
[Illustration: Heading In the Old Chinese Seal-Character, of an
INSCRIPTION on a Memorial raised by KUBLAI-KAAN to a Buddhist Ecclesiastic
in the vicinity of his SUMMER-PALACE at SHANG-TU in Mongolia. Reduced from
a facsimile obtained on the spot by Dr. S. W. Bushell, 1872. (About one-
Forth the Length and Breadth of Original.)]
This city occupies the south-east angle of a more extensive enclosure,
bounded by what is now a grassy mound, and embracing, on Dr. Bushell's
estimate, about 5 square miles. Further knowledge may explain the
discrepancy from Marco's dimension, but this must be the park of which he
speaks.[3] The woods and fountains have disappeared, like the temples and
palaces; all is dreary and desolate, though still abounding in the game
which was one of Kublai's attractions to the spot. A small monastery,
occupied by six or seven wretched Lamas, is the only building that remains
in the vicinity.
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