The Travels Of Marco Polo - Volume 1 Of 2 By Marco Polo And Rustichello Of Pisa










































 - 

[Illustration: Palace at Khan-baligh. (From the Livre des Merveilles.)]

[The Ta-ming tien (Hall of great brightness) is without - Page 567
The Travels Of Marco Polo - Volume 1 Of 2 By Marco Polo And Rustichello Of Pisa - Page 567 of 655 - First - Home

Enter page number    Previous Next

Number of Words to Display Per Page: 250 500 1000

[Illustration: Palace At Khan-Baligh.

(From the Livre des Merveilles.)]

["The Ta-ming tien (Hall of great brightness) is without doubt what Marco Polo calls 'the Lord's Great Palace.'... He states, that it 'hath no upper story'; and indeed, the palace buildings which the Chinese call tien are always of one story. Polo speaks also of a 'very fine pillared balustrade' (the chu lang, pillared verandah, of the Chinese author). Marco Polo states that the basement of the great palace 'is raised some ten palms above the surrounding soil.' We find in the Ku kung i lu: 'The basement of the Ta-ming tien is raised about 10 ch'i above the soil.' There can also be no doubt that the Ta-ming tien stood at about the same place where now the T'ai-ho tien, the principal hall of the palace, is situated." (Bretschneider, Peking, 28, note.)

[Illustration: Winter Palace at Peking.]

The Ch'ue keng lu, translated by Bretschneider, 25, contains long articles devoted to the description of the palace of the Mongols and the adjacent palace grounds. They are too long to be reproduced here. - H. C.]

NOTE 9. - "As all that one sees of these palaces is varnished in those colours, when you catch a distant view of them at sunrise, as I have done many a time, you would think them all made of, or at least covered with, pure gold enamelled in azure and green, so that the spectacle is at once majestic and charming." (Magaillans, p. 353.)

NOTE 10. - [This is the Ling yu or "Divine Park," to the east of the Wan-sui shan, "in which rare birds and beasts are kept. Before the Emperor goes to Shang-tu, the officers are accustomed to be entertained at this place." (Ch'ue keng lu, quoted by Bretschneider, 36.) - H. C.]

NOTE 11. - "On the west side, where the space is amplest, there is a lake very full of fish. It is in the form of a fiddle, and is an Italian mile and a quarter in length. It is crossed at the narrowest part, which corresponds to gates in the walls, by a handsome bridge, the extremities of which are adorned by two triumphal arches of three openings each.... The lake is surrounded by palaces and pleasure houses, built partly in the water and partly on shore, and charming boats are provided on it for the use of the Emperor when he chooses to go a-fishing or to take an airing." (Ibid. 282-283.) The marble bridge, as it now exists, consists of nine arches, and is 600 feet long. (Rennie's Peking, II. 57.)

Ramusio specifies another lake in the city, fed by the same stream before it enters the palace, and used by the public for watering cattle.

["The lake which Marco Polo saw is the same as the T'ai-yi ch'i of our days. It has, however, changed a little in its form. This lake and also its name T'ai-yi ch'i date from the twelfth century, at which time an Emperor of the Kin first gave orders to collect together the water of some springs in the hills, where now the summer palaces stand, and to conduct it to a place north of his capital, where pleasure gardens were laid out. The river which enters the lake and issues from it exists still, under its ancient name Kin-shui." (Bretschneider, Peking, 34.) - H. C.]

NOTE 12.

Enter page number   Previous Next
Page 567 of 655
Words from 296224 to 296800 of 342071


Previous 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 Next

More links: First 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200
 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300
 310 320 330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400
 410 420 430 440 450 460 470 480 490 500
 510 520 530 540 550 560 570 580 590 600
 610 620 630 640 650 Last

Display Words Per Page: 250 500 1000

 
Africa (29)
Asia (27)
Europe (59)
North America (58)
Oceania (24)
South America (8)
 

List of Travel Books RSS Feeds

Africa Travel Books RSS Feed

Asia Travel Books RSS Feed

Europe Travel Books RSS Feed

North America Travel Books RSS Feed

Oceania Travel Books RSS Feed

South America Travel Books RSS Feed

Copyright © 2005 - 2022 Travel Books Online