From Sakju, Or So-Chew, To Kamju[26], There Are Nine Stages Or Days Journey, And The Dankji Who Resides In Kan-Chew Is Superior To All The Other Governors On The Frontiers.

At each stage the ambassadors were furnished with 450 horses, mules, and asses, and fifty-six chariots or waggons.

The servants who tended the horses were called Ba-fu; the muleteers, who had charge of the mules and the asses,Lu-fu; and the men who drew the chariots, Jip-fu. These chariots were each drawn by twelve young men with cords on their shoulders, and they dragged through all difficulties from one lodging to another, the Ba-fu always running before as guides. At all the lodging places, where the ambassadors and their retinue stopped nightly, provisions were always found in abundance. At every city the ambassadors were feasted in a hall set apart for that special purpose, called Rasun, in each of which there stood an imperial throne under a canopy, with curtains at the sides, the throne always facing towards the capital of the empire. At the foot of the throne there always was a great carpet, on which the ambassadors sat, having their people ranked in regular rows behind them, like the Moslems at their prayers. When all were properly arranged, a guard beside the throne gave a signal, by calling out aloud three times; on which all the Kathayan officers bowed their heads to the ground towards the throne, and obliged the ambassadors to make a similar reverence; after which every one sate down to his appointed table.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 735 of 810
Words from 201451 to 201716 of 222093