I suspect Marco's story of the Three Kings arose from a misunderstanding
about this historical period of the San-Kwe or Three Kingdoms (A.D.
222-264). And this tripartite division of the city may have been merely
that which we see to exist at present.
[Mr. Baber, leaving Ch'eng-tu, 26th July, 1877, writes (Travels, p. 28):
"We took ship outside the East Gate on a rapid narrow stream, apparently
the city moat, which soon joins the main river, a little below the An-shun
Bridge, an antiquated wooden structure some 90 yards long. This is in all
probability the bridge mentioned by Marco Polo. The too flattering
description he gives of it leads one to suppose that the present handsome
stone bridges of the province were unbuilt at the time of his journey."
Baber is here mistaken.
Captain Gill writes (l.c. II. p. 9): "As Mr. Wylie in recent days had
said that Polo's covered bridge was still in its place, we went one day on
an expedition in search of it. Polo, however, speaks of a bridge full half
a mile long, whilst the longest now is but 90 yards. On our way we passed
over a fine nine-arched stone bridge, called the Chin-Yen-Ch'iao. Near the
covered bridge there is a very pretty view down the river." - H.C.]
Baron Richthofen observes that Ch'eng-tu is among the largest of Chinese
cities, and is of all the finest and most refined.
