"In Those Days The
Dynasty Was Holding On To A Mere Corner Of The Realm, Hardly Able To
Defend Even
That; and nevertheless all, high and low, devoted themselves
to dress and ornament, to music and dancing on the lake
And amongst the
hills, with no idea of sympathy for the country." A garden called
Tseu-king ("of many prospects") near the Tsing-po Gate, and a monastery
west of the lake, near the Lingin, are mentioned as pleasure haunts of the
Sung Kings.
NOTE 12. - The statement that the palace of Kingsze was occupied by the
Great Kaan's lieutenant seems to be inconsistent with the notice in De
Mailla that Kublai made it over to the Buddhist priests. Perhaps Kublai's
name is a mistake; for one of Mr. Moule's books (Jin-ho-hien-chi) says
that under the last Mongol Emperor five convents were built on the area
of the palace.
Mr. H. Murray argues, from this closing passage especially, that Marco
never could have been the author of the Ramusian interpolations; but with
this I cannot agree. Did this passage stand alone we might doubt if it
were Marco's; but the interpolations must be considered as a whole. Many
of them bear to my mind clear evidence of being his own, and I do not see
that the present one may not be his. The picture conveyed of the ruined
walls and half-obliterated buildings does, it is true, give the impression
of a long interval between their abandonment and the traveller's visit,
whilst the whole interval between the capture of the city and Polo's
departure from China was not more than fifteen or sixteen years.
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