All The Rivers Of Fo-Kien, As I Learn From Dr.
Douglas Himself, Are Rapidly Silting Up; And It Is Probable That The River
Of Chinchew Presented, In The 13th And 14th Centuries, A Far More
Impressive Aspect As A Commercial Basin Than It Does Now.
But still it
must have been far below Amoy Harbour in magnitude, depth, and
accessibility.
I have before recognised this, but saw no way to reconcile
the proposed deduction with the positive historical facts already stated,
which absolutely (to my mind) identify the Zayton of Polo and Rashiduddin
with the Chinese city and port of T'swan-chau. Dr. Douglas, however,
points out that the whole northern shore of Amoy Harbour, with the Islands
of Amoy and Quemoy, are within the Fu or Department of T'swan-chau; and
the latter name would, in Chinese parlance, apply equally to the city and
to any part of the department. He cites among other analogous cases the
Treaty Port Neuchwang (in Liao-tong). That city really lies 20 miles up
the Liao River, but the name of Neuchwang is habitually applied by
foreigners to Ying-tzu, which is the actual port. Even now much of the
trade of T'swan-chau merchants is carried on through Amoy, either by junks
touching, or by using the shorter sea-passage to 'An-hai, which was once a
port of great trade, and is only 20 miles from T'swan-chau.[3] With such
a haven as Amoy Harbour close by, it is improbable that Kublai's vast
armaments would have made rendezvous in the comparatively inconvenient
port of T'swan-chau. Probably then the two were spoken of as one. In all
this I recognise strong likelihood, and nothing inconsistent with recorded
facts, or with Polo's concise statements. It is even possible that (as Dr.
Douglas thinks) Polo's words intimate a distinction between Zayton the
City and Zayton the Ocean Port; but for me Zayton the city, in Polo's
chapters, remains still T'swan-chau. Dr. Douglas, however, seems disposed
to regard it as Chang-chau.
The chief arguments urged for this last identity are: (1.) Ibn Batuta's
representation of his having embarked at Zayton "on the river," i.e. on
the internal navigation system of China, first for Sin-kalan (Canton), and
afterwards for Kinsay. This could not, it is urged, be T'swan-chau, the
river of which has no communication with the internal navigation, whereas
the river at Chang-chau has such communication, constantly made use of in
both directions (interrupted only by brief portages); (2.) Martini's
mention of the finding various Catholic remains, such as crosses and
images of the Virgin, at Chang-chau, in the early part of the 17th
century, indicating that city as the probable site of the Franciscan
establishments.
[Illustration: SKETCH MAP of the GREAT PORTS OF FOKIEN to illustrate the
Identity of Marco Polo's ZAYTON]
[I remember that the argument brought forward by Mr. Phillips in favour of
Changchow which most forcibly struck Sir H. Yule, was the finding of
various Christian remains at this place, and Mr. Phillips wrote (Jour.
China Br.R.A.Soc. 1888, 27-28): "We learn from the history of the
Franciscan missions that two churches were built in Zaitun, one in the
city and the other in a forest not far from the town. MARTINI makes
mention of relics being found in the city of Changchow, and also of a
missal which he tried in vain to purchase from its owner, who gave as a
reason for not parting with it, that it had been in his family for several
generations. According to the history of the Spanish Dominicans in China,
ruins of churches were used in rebuilding the city walls, many of the
stones having crosses cut on them." Another singular discovery relating to
these missions, is one mentioned by Father VITTORIO RICCI, which would
seem to point distinctly to the remains of the Franciscan church built by
ANDRE DE PEROUSE outside the city of Zaitun: "The heathen of Changchow,"
says RICCI, "found buried in a neighbouring hill called Saysou another
cross of a most beautiful form cut out of a single block of stone, which I
had the pleasure of placing in my church in that city. The heathen were
alike ignorant of the time when it was made and how it came to be buried
there." - H.C.]
Whether the application by foreigners of the term Zayton, may, by some
possible change in trade arrangements in the quarter-century after Polo's
departure from China, have undergone a transfer, is a question which it
would be vain to answer positively without further evidence. But as
regards Polo's Zayton, I continue in the belief that this was T'swan-chau
and its haven, with the admission that this haven may probably have
embraced that great basin called Amoy Harbour, or part of it.[4]
[Besides the two papers I have already mentioned, the late Mr. Phillips
has published, since the last edition of Marco Polo, in the T'oung-Pao,
VI. and VII.: Two Mediaeval Fuh-kien Trading Ports: Chuean-chow and
Chang-chow. He has certainly given many proofs of the importance of
Chang-chau at the time of the Mongol Dynasty, and one might well hesitate
(I know it was also the feeling of Sir Henry Yule at the end of his life)
between this city and T'swan-chau, but the weak point of his controversy is
his theory about Fu-chau. However, Mr. George Phillips, who died in 1896,
gathered much valuable material, of which we have made use; it is only fair
to pay this tribute to the memory of this learned consul. - H.C.]
Martini (circa 1650) describes T'swan-chau as delightfully situated on a
promontory between two branches of the estuary which forms the harbour,
and these so deep that the largest ships could come up to the walls on
either side. A great suburb, Loyang, lay beyond the northern water,
connected with the city by the most celebrated bridge in China.
Collinson's Chart in some points below the town gives only 1-1/4 fathom
for the present depth, but Dr. Douglas tells me he has even now
occasionally seen large junks come close to the city.
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