I am inclined to think that Polo followed this
route, as the one given by Yule, by way of
Shao-hing and Kin-hua by land,
would be unnecessarily tedious for the ladies Polo was escorting, and
there was no necessity to take it; more especially as there was a direct
water route to the point for which they were making. I further incline to
this route, as I can find no city at all fitting in with Yenchau,
Ramusio's Gengiu, along the route given by Yule."
In my paper on the Catalan Map (Paris, 1895) I gave the following
itinerary: Kinsay (Hang-chau), Tanpiju (Shao-hing fu), Vuju (Kin-hwa fu),
Ghiuju (K'iu-chau fu), Chan-shan (Sui-chang hien), Cuju (Ch'u-chau),
Ke-lin-fu (Kien-ning fu), Unken (Hu-kwan), Fuju (Fu-chau), Zayton (Kayten,
Hai-t'au), Zayton (Ts'iuen-chau), Tyunju (Tek-hwa).
Regarding the burning of the dead, Mr. Phillips (T'oung Pao, VI. p. 454)
quotes the following passage from a notice by M. Jaubert. "The town of
Zaitun is situated half a day's journey inland from the sea. At the place
where the ships anchor, the water is fresh. The people drink this water
and also that of the wells. Zaitun is 30 days' journey from Khanbaligh.
The inhabitants of this town burn their dead either with Sandal, or Brazil
wood, according to their means; they then throw the ashes into the river."
Mr. Phillips adds: "The custom of burning the dead is a long established
one in Fuh-Kien, and does not find much favour among the upper classes. It
exists even to this day in the central parts of the province. The time for
cremation is generally at the time of the Tsing-Ming. At the commencement
of the present dynasty the custom of burning the dead appears to have been
pretty general in the Fuchow Prefecture; it was looked upon with disfavour
by many, and the gentry petitioned the Authorities that proclamations
forbidding it should be issued. It was thought unfilial for children to
cremate their parents; and the practice of gathering up the bones of a
partially cremated person and thrusting them into a jar, euphoniously
called a Golden Jar, but which was really an earthen one, was much
commented on, as, if the jar was too small to contain all the bones, they
were broken up and put in, and many pieces got thrown aside. In the
Changchow neighbourhood, with which we have here most to do, it was a
universal custom in 1126 to burn the dead, and was in existence for many
centuries after." (See note, supra, II. p. 134.)
Captain Gill, speaking of the country near the Great Wall, writes (I. p.
61): ["The Chinese] consider mutton very poor food, and the butchers'
shops are always kept by Mongols. In these, however, both beef and mutton
can be bought for 3d. or 4d. a lb., while pork, which is considered by
the Chinese as the greatest delicacy, sells for double the price." - H.C.]
NOTE 2.
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