And Now Ye Shall Hear How And Wherefore.[NOTE 1]

NOTE 1.

- According to Sanang Setzen, Chinghiz himself discerned young Kublai's superiority. On his deathbed he said: "The words of the lad Kublai are well worth attention; see, all of you, that ye heed what he says! One day he will sit in my seat and bring you good fortune such as you have had in my day!" (p. 105).

The Persian history of Wassaf thus exalts Kublai: "Although from the frontiers of this country ('Irak) to the Centre of Empire, the Focus of the Universe, the genial abode of the ever-Fortunate Emperor and Just Kaan, is a whole year's journey, yet the stories that have been spread abroad, even in these parts, of his glorious deeds, his institutes, his decisions, his justice, the largeness and acuteness of his intellect, his correctness of judgment, his great powers of administration, from the mouths of credible witnesses, of well-known merchants and eminent travellers, are so surpassing, that one beam of his glories, one fraction of his great qualities, suffices to eclipse all that history tells of the Caesars of Rome, of the Chosroes of Persia, of the Khagans of China, of the (Himyarite) Kails of Arabia, of the Tobbas of Yemen, and the Rajas of India, of the monarchs of the houses of Sassan and Buya, and of the Seljukian Sultans." (Hammer's Wassaf, orig. p. 37.)

Some remarks on Kublai and his government by a Chinese author, in a more rational and discriminative tone, will be found below under ch.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 1022 of 1256
Words from 278139 to 278398 of 342071