THE PROVINCE OF CHINGINTALAS.
Prof. E.H. PARKER writes in the Journ. of the North China Branch of the
Royal As. Soc., XXXVII., 1906, p. 195: "On p. 215 of Yule's Vol. I. some
notes of Palladius' are given touching Chingkintalas, but it is not stated
that Palladius supposed the word Ch'ih kin to date after the Mongols,
that is, that Palladius felt uncertain about his identification. But
Palladius is mistaken in feeling thus uncertain: in 1315 and 1326 the
Mongol History twice mentions the garrison starts at Ch'ih kin, and in
such a way that the place must be where Marco Polo puts it, i.e. west of
Kia-yueh Kwan."
OF THE PROVINCE OF SUKCHUR.
XLIII., p. 217. "Over all the mountains of this province rhubarb is found
in great abundance, and thither merchants come to buy it, and carry it
thence all over the world. Travellers, however, dare not visit those
mountains with any cattle but those of the country, for a certain plant
grows there which is so poisonous that cattle which eat it loose their
hoofs. The cattle of the country know it and eschew it."
During his crossing of the Nan Shan, Sir Aurel Stein had the same
experience, five of his ponies being "benumbed and refusing to touch grass
or fodder." The traveller notes that, Ruins of Desert Cathay, II., p.
303: "I at once suspected that they had eaten of the poisonous grass which
infests certain parts of the Nan Shan, and about which old Marco has much
to tell in his chapter on 'Sukchur' or Su-chou. The Venetian's account had
proved quite true; for while my own ponies showed all the effects of this
inebriating plant, the local animals had evidently been wary of it. A
little bleeding by the nose, to which Tila Bai, with the veterinary skill
of an old Ladak 'Kirakash,' promptly proceeded, seemed to afford some
relief. But it took two or three days before the poor brutes were again in
full possession of their senses and appetites."
"Wild rhubarb, for which the Nan-shan was famous in Marco Polo's days,
spread its huge fleshy leaves everywhere." (STEIN, Ruins of Desert
Cathay, II., p. 305.)
XLIII., p. 218.
SUKCHUR.
The first character of Suchau was pronounced Suk at the time of the
T'ang; we find a Sughciu in von Le Coq's MSS. from Turkestan and
Sughcu in the runnic text of W. Thomsen; cf. PELLIOT, J. As.,
Mai-Juin, 1912, p. 591; the pronunciation Suk-chau was still used by
travellers coming from Central Asia - for instance, by the envoys of Shah
Rukh. See Cathay, III., p. 126 n.
OF THE CITY OF CAMPICHU.
XLIV., pp. 219 seq. "The Idolaters have many minsters and abbeys after
their fashion. In these they have an enormous number of idols, both small
and great, certain of the latter being a good ten paces in stature; some
of them being of wood, others of clay, and others yet of stone. They are
all highly polished, and then covered with gold. The great idols of which
I speak lie at length. And round about them there are other figures of
considerable size, as if adoring and paying homage before them."
The ambassadors of Shah Rukh to China (1419-1422) wrote:
"In this city of Kamchau there is an idol temple five hundred cubits
square. In the middle is an idol lying at length, which measures fifty
paces. The sole of the foot is nine paces long, and the instep is
twenty-one cubits in girth. Behind this image and overhead are other idols
of a cubit (?) in height, besides figures of Bakshis as large as life.
The action of all is hit off so admirably that you would think they were
alive. Against the wall also are other figures of perfect execution. The
great sleeping idol has one hand under his head, and the other resting on
his thigh. It is gilt all over, and is known as Shakamuni-fu. The people
of the country come in crowds to visit it, and bow to the very ground
before this idol" (Cathay, I., p. 277).
XLV., p. 223.
OF THE CITY OF ETZINA.
I said, I., p. 225, that this town must be looked for on the river
Hei-shui called Etsina by the Mongols, and would be situated on the
river on the border of the Desert, at the top of a triangle, whose bases
would be Suhchau and Kanchau. My theory seems to be fully confirmed by Sir
Aurel Stein, who writes:
"Advantages of geographical position must at all times have invested this
extensive riverine tract, limited as are its resources, with considerable
importance for those, whether armed host or traders, who would make the
long journey from the heart of Mongolia in the north to the Kansu oases.
It had been the same with the ancient Lou-lan delta, without which the
Chinese could not have opened up the earliest and most direct route for
the expansion of their trade and political influence into Central Asia.
The analogy thus presented could not fail to impress me even further when
I proceeded to examine the ruins of Khara-khoto, the 'Black Town' which
Colonel Kozloff, the distinguished Russian explorer, had been the first
European to visit during his expedition of 1908-1909. There remained no
doubt for me then that it was identical with Marco Polo's 'City of
Etzina.' Of this we are told in the great Venetian traveller's narrative
that it lay a twelve days' ride from the city of Kan-chou, 'towards the
north on the verge of the desert; it belongs to the Province of Tangut.'
All travellers bound for Kara-koram, the old capital of the Mongols, had
here to lay in victuals for forty days in order to cross the great 'desert
which extends forty days' journey to the north, and on which you meet with
no habitation nor baiting place.'
"The position thus indicated was found to correspond exactly to that of
Khara-khoto, and the identification was completely borne out by the
antiquarian evidence brought to light.
