P. 146 Note) Says That Kien-Ch'ang Is The Ancient
Territory Of Kiung-Tu Which, Under The Han Dynasty, Fell
Into the hands of
the Tibetans, and was made by the Mongols the march of Kien-ch'ang
(Che-Kong-t'u)
; It is the Caindu of Marco Polo; under the Han Dynasty
it was the Kiun or division of Yueh-sui or Yueh-hsi. Deveria quotes from
the Yuen-shi-lei pien the following passage relating to the year 1284:
"The twelve tribes of the Barbarians to the south-west of Kien-tou and
Kin-Chi submitted; Kien-tou was administered by Mien (Burma); Kien-tou
submits because the Kingdom of Mien has been vanquished." Kien-tou is the
Chien-t'ou of Baber, the Caindu of Marco Polo. (Melanges de Harlez, p.
97.) According to Mr. E.H. Parker (China Review, xix. p. 69), Yueh-hsi
or Yueh-sui "is the modern Kien-ch'ang Valley, the Caindu of Marco Polo,
between the Yalung and Yang-tzu Rivers; the only non-Chinese races found
there now are the Si-fan and Lolos." - H.C.]
Turning to minor particulars, the Lake of Caindu in which the pearls were
found is doubtless one lying near Ning-yuan, whose beauty Richthofen heard
greatly extolled, though nothing of the pearls. [Mr. Hosie writes (Three
Years, 112-113): "If the former tradition be true (the old city of
Ning-yuan having given place to a large lake in the early years of the Ming
Dynasty), the lake had no existence when Marco Polo passed through Caindu,
and yet we find him mentioning a lake in the country in which pearls were
found. Curiously enough, although I had not then read the Venetian's
narrative, one of the many things told me regarding the lake was that
pearls are found in it, and specimens were brought to me for inspection."
The lake lies to the south-east of the present city. - H.C.] A small lake
is marked by D'Anville, close to Kien-ch'ang, under the name of
Gechoui-tang. The large quantities of gold derived from the Kin-sha
Kiang, and the abundance of musk in that vicinity, are testified to by
Martini. The Lake mentioned by Polo as existing in the territory of Yachi
is no doubt the Tien-chi, the Great Lake on the shore of which the city
of Yun-nan stands, and from which boats make their way by canals along the
walls and streets. Its circumference, according to Martini, is 500 li.
The cut (p. 68), from Garnier, shows this lake as seen from a villa on its
banks. [Deveria (p. 129) quotes this passage from the Yuen-shi-lei pien:
"Yachi, of which the U-man or Black Barbarians made their capital, is
surrounded by Lake Tien-chi on three sides." Tien-chi is one of the names
of Lake Kwen-ming, on the shore of which is built Yun-nan fu. - H.C.]
Returning now to the Karajang of the Mongols, or Carajan, as Polo writes
it, we shall find that the latter distinguishes this great province, which
formerly, he says, included seven kingdoms, into two Mongol Governments,
the seat of one being at Yachi, which we have seen to be Yun-nan fu, and
that of the other at a city to which he gives the name of the Province,
and which we shall find to be the existing Ta-li fu.
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