It is Pe-yen, the Chinese form of Bayan, that means, or
rather may be punningly rendered, "One Hundred Eyes." Chincsan, i.e.
Ching-siang, was the title of the superior ministers of state at
Khanbaligh, as we have already seen. The title occurs pretty frequently in
the Persian histories of the Mongols, and frequently as a Mongol title in
Sanang Setzen. We find it also disguised as Chyansam in a letter from
certain Christian nobles at Khanbaligh, which Wadding quotes from the
Papal archives. (See Cathay, pp. 314-315.)
But it is right to observe that in the Ramusian version the mistranslation
which we have noticed is not so undubitable: "Volendo sapere come avea
nome il Capitano nemico, le fu detto, Chinsambaian, cioe Cent'occhi."
A kind of corroboration of Marco's story, but giving a different form to
the pun, has been found by Mr. W.F. Mayers, of the Diplomatic Department
in China, in a Chinese compilation dating from the latter part of the 14th
century. Under the heading, "A Kiang-nan Prophecy," this book states
that prior to the fall of the Sung a prediction ran through Kiang-nan:
