(Ibid. 35.) "The Ku Kung I Lu, In Describing The Wan-Sui-Shan,
Praises The Beautiful Shady Green Of The Vegetation There." (Ibid.
37.)
- H. C.]
["Near the eastern end of the bridge (Kin-ao yue-tung which crosses the
lake) the visitor sees a circular wall, which is called yuean ch'eng
(round wall). It is about 350 paces in circuit. Within it is an imperial
building Ch'eng-kuang tien, dating from the Mongol time. From this
circular enclosure, another long and beautifully executed marble bridge
leads northwards, to a charming hill, covered with shady trees, and capped
by a magnificent white suburga." (Bretschneider, p. 22.) - H. C.]
In a plate attached to next chapter, I have drawn, on a small scale, the
existing cities of Peking, as compared with the Mongol and Chinese cities
in the time of Kublai. The plan of the latter has been constructed (1)
from existing traces, as exhibited in the Russian Survey republished by
our War Office; (2) from information kindly afforded by Dr. Lockhart; and
(3) from Polo's description and a few slight notices by Gaubil and others.
It will be seen, even on the small scale of these plans, that the general
arrangement of the palace, the park, the lakes (including that in the
city, which appears in Ramusio's version), the bridge, the mount, etc., in
the existing Peking, very closely correspond with Polo's indications; and
I think the strong probability is that the Ming really built on the old
traces, and that the lake, mount, etc., as they now stand, are
substantially those of the Great Mongol, though Chinese policy or
patriotism may have spread the belief that the foreign traces were
obliterated. Indeed, if that belief were true, the Mongol Palace must have
been very much out of the axis of the City of Kublai, which is in the
highest degree improbable. The Bulletin de la Soc. de Geographie for
September 1873, contains a paper on Peking by the physician to the French
Embassy there. Whatever may be the worth of the meteorological and
hygienic details in that paper, I am bound to say that the historical and
topographical part is so inaccurate as to be of no value.
NOTE 14. - For son, read grandson. But the G. T. actually names the
Emperor's son Chingkim, whose death our traveller has himself already
mentioned.
[Illustration: Yuan ch'eng]
NOTE 15. - ["Marco Polo's bridge, crossing the lake from one side to the
other, must be identified with the wooden bridge mentioned in the Ch'ue
keng lu. The present marble bridge spanning the lake was only built in
1392." "A marble bridge connects this island (an islet with the hall I-
t'ien tien) with the Wan-sui shan. Another bridge, made of wood, 120
ch'i long and 22 broad, leads eastward to the wall of the Imperial
Palace. A third bridge, a wooden draw-bridge 470 ch'i long, stretches to
the west over the lake to its western border, where the palace Hing-sheng
kung [built in 1308] stands." (Bretschneider, Peking, 36.) - H. C.]
[1] Some years ago, in Calcutta, I learned that a large store of charcoal
existed under the soil of Fort William, deposited there, I believe, in
the early days of that fortress.
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