話說，波城唐人街人才輩出，是臥虎藏龍之地。但百多年來，就好像只出了一個身兼詩人、文學家、雕塑家、畫家的巨人，而且不是來自中國。不過，值得慶幸的是，這位文學藝術家曾在舊昆士小學(1847-1976)念過書，即現時中華公所的所在地，亦是華埠昆士小學的前身。他是敘利亞 \ 黎巴嫩人，名字叫紀伯倫 (Kahlil Gibran)。
在1883年，紀伯倫在地中海西岸黎巴嫩山區出生，家境寒微，父親因賭博、欠債及逃稅而入獄，母親攜同四名子女來美尋找新生活。當時，紀伯倫只有十二歲，就在夏里臣街居住，與舊昆士小學相隔一條街。另有一說是，紀伯倫在愛丁堡街落腳，無巧不成話，即在現時的波士頓藝術學會那條街。在百多年前，這裡一帶被視為波士頓的『貧民窟』，紀伯倫的母親靠做小販，沿門叫賣維生，而紀伯倫就入讀特別班，學英文。
在1898年，18歲的紀伯倫返回貝魯特，進入克瑪學院學習阿拉伯古典文學，後因思想激進，在1901年被逐回美。此後，母親及兄妹相繼去世，剩下來的小妹是做縫紉，而紀伯倫靠繪畫及寫文章去維持生計。當時，在唐人街有很多敘利亞/黎巴嫩人居住，紀伯倫就是畫肖像畫為主，因帶有濃厚的阿拉伯風格，因此很受歡迎。
在第一次世界大戰前，所謂敘利亞及黎巴嫩同屬土耳其奧斯曼帝國的一部份。在奧斯曼帝國土崩瓦解時，西方大國便『分贓』，在中東『製造』了不少小國，法國在黎巴嫩進行影響，而英國在敘利亞指手劃腳。由於這那裡戰亂頻頻，加上宗教問題復雜，不少人就遠道重洋，來到美國謀生。最初，敘利亞人是聚居在夏里臣街、乞臣街及阿賓尼街一帶，他們不是回教徒，大多信奉Maronite/希臘東正教(Greek Orthodox Catholic)，這裡曾有三間敘利亞人去的教堂，唐人多把他們當為天主教徒。在1926年，當黎巴嫩通過獨立憲法後，波士頓的敘利亞人便改稱自己是黎巴嫩人了。
由於修建公路，市政府進行收地，在唐人街大肆清拆，黎巴嫩人便遷出，連教堂一起搬往西洛斯堡里(West Roxbury)白人區，剩下來仍在唐人街的不超過五戶，其中一家就在屋街與夏里臣街角賣潛水艇三文治，過往那裡是一間雜貨店，專售黎巴嫩人喜愛的家鄉土產及物品。紀伯倫在波士頓唐人街大概生活了十二年。
紀伯倫在1931年逝世，在世上只活了四十八個寒暑，其中有三十一年是遠離自己的祖國。雖然在世匆匆，但留下在人間的畫作共有七百多幅，分別藏於美國的博物館及在黎巴嫩家鄉的紀念館。 文學著作有十多部，以散文詩聞名，筆法近似舊約聖經，蘊含極深的宗哲理念及教誨，而且受尼采的影響很大。紀伯倫的散文詩首先在1923年被矛盾介紹到中國，在1931年冰心翻譯了《先知》這部作品。
為紀念紀伯倫，波士頓市政府在郭培理廣場公立圖書館前，放置了一面小小的牌匾，上面刻有紀伯倫的話﹕心受眾恩，獻我綿力 (It was in my heart to help a little because I was helped much.) 這反映出紀伯倫在唐人街艱苦的歲月，仍懷著感恩圖報之心。在舊昆士小學對面，曾有專為敘利亞黎巴嫩人提供社會援助服務的志願機構，贈醫施藥、派牛奶，婦女就在那裡做一點手工藝出售維生，而紀伯倫亦在那兒寫文章、作畫及賣畫。在波士頓的黎巴嫩人均以紀伯倫為榮。
在美國的黎巴嫩人現正在網上發動簽名運動，要求為紀伯倫出紀念郵票，唐人街的華人也應支持，與敘利亞黎巴嫩人一起在這裡生活，而且相安無事，總算是一種緣份吧。3\8\2006寫
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Leaving Lebanon
ReplyDeleteLying at the crossroads of the Orient and Europe, Lebanon, a mostly Muslim country, has a history of trading and dealing. The mountain village where many of Dunedin’s Lebanese originated is Bsharri (Bcharré). The name is biblical, meaning ‘milky white’, and refers to the snow-covered cedars of the Lebanon Mountains. Peasants there tended vines, figs, cherries, olives and mulberries. In this land of rocks, there were many travelling craftsmen such as stonemasons. The mountains also provided a refuge for Christians.
In the late 1800s population growth put pressure on the available land. Increasingly young men looked overseas for economic opportunity. In the late 1800s and early 1900s tens of thousands of Lebanese sailed west to the Americas. A few went to Australia, and a handful came even further, to New Zealand.
Arriving in New Zealand, the Lebanese quickly found opportunities to hawk goods to isolated farmers and gold miners. British people were often too proud for such work, but the Lebanese saw no shame in it – besides, it could pay. With these earnings they built up businesses such as clothing stores.
Trunks full of trinkets
In the 1890s and early 1900s many first- and second-generation Lebanese men were hawkers and peddlers. They spent weeks traversing the back roads of rural Otago, Southland and Canterbury. As a woman hawker, Saada Bacos stood out. She plied Central Otago’s roadways – pushing a large cane baby’s pram packed with suitcases of trinkets, jewellery and haberdashery. She would take the lot by train up the Taieri Gorge to the railhead, and then set off.
Dunedin Lebanese
The Lebanese settled in clusters in Dunedin. The Catholics (Maronites) from Bsharri were concentrated in the southern inner city while the Eastern Orthodox followers from Tarābulus (Tripoli) gathered in South Dunedin.Some settlers anglicised their family names or adopted similar English names – from Yusef to Joseph, or Boutros to Peter. ...
http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/NewZealandPeoples/MiddleEasternPeoples/1/en
http://www.alhewar.com/Gibran.html
ReplyDeleteKahlil Gibran of America
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ReplyDeleteXuan Zang obtains the Scriptures
ReplyDeleteThe Tang Monk who is a household byword, and who was depicted in “The Journey to the West” as laughably timid and cautious and completely dependent on his three escorts, the senior disciples Wukong, Bajie and the Sandy Monk when going to Paradise to find the Scriptures is, of course, the creation of a literary work. The Tang Monk of history – Xuan Zang, was quite the opposite. He had a firm and indomitable character. He was a traveller, thinker, man of letters and translator who was undaunted by repeated setbacks, and he is a figure in the history of Chinese foreign cultural relations worthy of being referred to with pride by the Chinese people.
Xuan Zang (602-662 AD), secular surname Chen, given name Yi, of Louzhougoushi (today's Yanshigoushi Town in Henan Province), became a monk at thirteen years old. Xuan Zang was his Buddhist name. In the early Tang, he went to Chang'an and Chengdu to study, and he also travelled widely in China and consulted very many learned monks and laymen. He found that China's Buddhist sects were divided, that the translations of the Scriptures were incomplete, and that it was impossible to pass on the teachings with certainty. He therefore decided to go to the place of origin of the Buddhist religion, Tianzhu (the present-day Indian Peninsula), to study Buddhism. In Xuan Zang's twenty-sixth year the Tang Dynasty decided for the first time to prohibit its subjects from travelling abroad. Xuan Zang left Chang'an secretly and travelled West.
On the road leading out from the Jiayuguan pass, an old man, hearing that Xuan Zang was going to the West to obtain the Scriptures, counselled him three times not to go. The old man said "The road to the West is extremely dangerous. In the eight hundred li great sandy desert in the state of Yiwu, no birds fly above and no animals move below. A crowd of people could lose their way, let alone a single person. Go back!" Xuan Zang said, "I am determined to go West. I definitely will not go back to the East a single pace. Even if I die on the way, I will not mind at all!" When the old man saw that his mind was made up, he gave him the red horse he was riding, and said, "This horse's legs are strong and powerful, don't just consider him old and thin. He has already crossed Yiwu more than ten times, and knows the way." Xuan Zang's determined belief in seeking the scriptures also moved the beacon-tower field officers at the border, and they not only allowed him to go through, but also rendered all manner of help.
After Xuan Zang entered the great desert, he lost his way and could not find the Wild Horse Spring. He was alarmed and spilt the entire water skin. He wanted to go back for more water; however, he remembered his vow, "Without reaching India, I definitely will not go back eastward one step". He resolved, "I would rather go to the west and die. How could I go back to the east and live?" and immediately urged his horse on to the west. After four or five days, with not one drop of water having passed his lips, he finally fell down senseless in the desert. Actually this place was not far from Lüzhou. At night cool gusts of wind arose and he regained consciousness. He mustered all his courage and continued west, and at last found grass and water. When man and horse had drunk their fill, they continued on for two days before leaving the Moheyanqi (the Great Gobi Desert). He crossed Xinjiang by the Tianshan southern route. From Congling's northern edge he crossed the year-round snow-covered Ling Mountains, passed through Suyecheng (that is, Suiye), and crossed Wuhushui (today's Amu River). Then he turned north-east, climbed the Pamir Highlands, passed the Western Turks' southernmost fortress - the Tiemenguan natural barrier (at Badake Mountain in Afghanistan), and passed Tuhuoluo (in northern Afghanistan). In the year 628, he arrived in north-west Tianzhu.
India, called "Tianzhu" in the Tang Dynasty, was at that time divided into five parts, East, West, North, South and Middle, and was called the "Five Indias". The East, North and Middle were ruled by the Wuchang Dynasty. Xuan Zang was the first Chinese traveller to journey around the Five Indias. He studied in India for fifteen years, and visited more than seventy kingdoms. When he went to the Kashmir Kingdom in North India, he received a grand welcome from the king, the massed officials, and the clergy. Xuan Zang stayed there for two years, probing into the Buddhist canon with the famous monks of that area. The king of the country assigned twenty scribes to copy the Scriptures for Xuan Zang.
Xuan Zang stayed in India's Mojietuo Kingdom the longest. In the famous Nalanda Temple he studied from an authoritative and virtuous Buddhist Master. The Master was old and had not taught for a long time. He made an exception for Xuan Zang and gave lectures for fifteen months. For five years, Xuan Zang specialised in the Buddhist Scriptures, yinming (logic) and shengming (grammar) and became a Buddhist scholar of the first rank. In the year 642 AD, Xuan Zang was invited to chair a debate at Weiriwangduqunu City. Those taking part in this distinguished gathering were eighteen kings, three thousand clerics, two thousand Brahmans and other Buddhist believers, as well as more than one thousand monks from the Nalanda Temple. Xuan Zang was invited to be a speaker at the conference. It is said that, for the eighteen days of the conference, no-one dared to challenge Xuan Zang's arguments. Xuan Zang became a scholar celebrated throughout India.
In 643 AD, Xuan Zang left India to return to China. In 645 (the 19th year of Zhen Guan), in the first month of the lunar year, he returned to Chang'an. He took back with him six hundred and fifty seven books from the Buddhist canon. Under his direction, a multitude of eminent monks and scholars were assembled at Chang'an and Luoyang to organise large-scale translation of the Scriptures. Xuan Zang and the others spent nineteen years translating the seventy-five books. Altogether there were one thousand three hundred and thirty-five volumes amounting to more than thirteen million characters. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was constructed under Xuan Zang's direction to store the Scriptures. He also translated into Sanskrit the "Laozi" and "The Great Vehicle Qixinlun", a Buddhist text which had been lost in India, and introduced them to India. Under Tang Taizong's orders, he wrote "Travels in the Western Regions in the Great Tang". This recorded his personal experience of one hundred and ten, and second-hand experience of twenty-eight, city-states, regions and countries. He worked continuously up until he died in his sixties.
The school of Buddhism which Xuan Zang founded was actually not popular for very long. On the other hand, the numerous Buddhist texts which he translated have become a treasury for present-day research of the classical culture of the Indian peninsula. He left behind an important chapter in the history of cultural contact between China and India. His "Travels in the Western Regions in the Great Tang" is a monumental reference work for the research of the history and geography of central, west and south Asia. It is also one of the most detailed books in the world for the research of Indian history in the Middle Ages, and has come to be highly thought of in the world scientific community over the past hundred years. It has been translated and published in French, English, Russian, Japanese and German, and it is something for us to be proud of and to cherish.
Translated from Wang Yong Kuan et al., Native land, China Youth Press, Beijing, 1983
State Tutor Phagspa
ReplyDeleteIn the ninth century AD (at the end of the Tang Dynasty), the Tufan power set up by the Tibetan leader, Songtsan Gampo, collapsed, and Tibet fell into a state of disunity. At this time, Lamaism was growing, and the Sakyapa sect within Lamaism tried to reunify Tibet but was unsuccessful.
When Mongolia was rising up and expanding outwards, the head of the Sakyapa sect was Gongga Jiancan, also called Sa Ban; he had very high prestige in Tibet. In 1239 AD (Southern Song, third year of Li Zong Jiaxi), Ogodei's second son, Crown Prince Kuoduan, who was stationed at Liangzhou (today's Wuwei County in Gansu), sent a general called Duodana to attack Tibet. The Tibetans were in a very great panic. They had no means of resisting the Mongol army, and they asked Sa Ban to go as their representative to negotiate with the Mongols. In 1247 AD (Southern Song, seventh year of Li Zong Chunyou), Sa Ban arrived at Liangzhou and conducted negotiations with Crown Prince Kuoduan. He also cured the Crown Prince of his illness.
The Mongols had always believed in the Shanman religion. This religion revered Heaven, and believed that the entire cosmos was dominated by Heaven. Now that Sa Ban had brought Lamaism and also knew how to cure illness, Kuoduan was well-disposed towards Lamaism. As a result of the negotiations, Tibet would acknowledge allegiance to Mongolia and would pay tribute to Mongolia each year in gold and silver, hides and jewels, and Mongolia would not send soldiers into Tibet again. Sa Ban wrote a letter to the Tibetan religious leaders and feudal lords, asking them to submit themselves to the rule of the Mongols. Some of the Tibetan leaders, however, were not willing to submit, and some of the feudal lords refused to hand in the tribute items, even going so far as to make preparations to resist.
In 1251 AD, Mongke sent Kublai and Wulianghatai to attack the Southern Song, and Kublai set out for Yunnan by way of Tibet. After he entered Tibet he defeated the rebellious feudal lords and Tibet completely acknowledged allegiance to the Mongolian state. By that time, Sa Ban had already died, and his nephew, Phagspa, went to Liupanshan to pay his respects to Kublai.
Since he was a child, Phagspa had been intelligent and quick-witted. When he was seven years old he could read the Buddhist scriptures aloud and, moreover, he could follow their general meaning, so the Tibetan people all called him the "Sage Child". "Phagspa" is "Sage Child" in the Tibetan language. When Sa Ban went to Liangzhou to negotiate with Kuoduan, he took the eight year old Phagspa with him. After the negotiations were over, Phagspa was left behind at Liangzhou as hostage. In the year when Phagspa was fifteen, he became Sa Ban's successor and went to Liupanshan to pay his repects to Kublai. When Kublai met him, he liked him very much and kept him by his side. Phagspa often told Kublai about the Buddhist doctrines. Once he said to Kublai, "The Lamaism that Tibetans believe in comes from Tianzhu (present day India). The aim of the Buddhist doctrines is to succour and be magnanimous to every living creature, and to lead all living creatures to the nirvana realm (the highest realm) to lead a Sukhavati life. To reach that realm it is necessary to strictly honour and abide by the commandments and practices set out in the Three Buddhist Scriptures (the Sutras, Laws and Dissertations, three types of scriptures). If a person uses dung, urine and blood to sully the spirit, he will be reincarnated in a morass of rotting corpses. If a person goes against the commandments of the Three Scriptures, he will be reincarnated to suffer in abi hell (abi is a transliteration from the Indian language, meaning uninterrupted). If a person offers flesh, blood and urine to the Triratna , he will be reincarnated amongst foul luosha (evil spirits)…"
Kublai listened with great interest, and could not help asking, "Well, how should one practice then?" Phagspa said, speaking and demonstrating at the same time, "One must kousong zhenyan (chant incantations), shoujie qiyin (do all kinds of different hand rituals), and xinzuo guanxiang (imagine), and if you have no evil thoughts whatsoever, then you can become a Buddha."
And in just this way, Kublai slowly followed along and learned everything, and before long, he formally accepted the Buddhist disciplines, and became a disciple of Buddhism. In the first Zhongtong year (1260 AD), not long after Kublai became Great Khan, he gave Phagspa the title of "State Tutor"
In the first Zhi Yuan year (1264 AD), Kublai set up an organisation specifically to manage Buddhist affairs for the whole country and civil and military affairs for the Tibet Region - the Zongzhiyuan, and put the young Phagspa in charge. The Yuan government also set up a regional administration organisation in Tibet, and sent representatives to Tibet to survey the number of households, set up twenty-seven staging posts, and redivide the administrative regions according to the distribution of material produce. They also set up thirteen wanhu in Front Tibet and Rear Tibet. Each wanhu was in charge of civil and military affairs concurrently, and they all came under Phagspa's leadership. Phagspa was Tibet's religious head and also the administrative head. A new form of government had appeared in Tibet, "Combined church and state".
Another contribution of Phagspa's was his creation of "Phagspa script". In 1260 AD, he received an order from Kublai to formulate a new Mongol script. The Mongols did not have a script initially. After Genghis Khan eliminated Naiman , he had asked the Uighur, Tatatong'a, to use the Uighur written language to write Mongolian. However, in the process of using it many imperfections had been found. Kublai wanted very much to formulate a new script to be the common official script for the whole state and therefore he gave the task to Phagspa. Phagspa borrowed Tibetan letters and created forty-one new letters to spell the Mongol language. In 1269 AD, its use was officially proclaimed, and from that time on all official documents were written in the new Mongolian letters Phagspa had formulated. From Yuan dynasty stele inscriptions which have been kept, we can still see this type of script. So, "Phagspa script" symbolises the cultural exchange between Mongolia and Tibet. Phagspa and his followers also took Tibetan Buddhist plastic arts to the Interior, and the Interior's cut block printing to Tibet. Phagspa made a contribution to cultural exchange between the Chinese people of every nationality.
Later on, Kublai promoted Phagspa again, to be "Imperial Tutor" and "Dabao Dharma King". In the eleventh Zhi Yuan year (1274 AD), Phagspa went back to Tibet. His younger brother, Yi Lin Zhen remained in Dadu, and replaced him as Imperial Tutor. In the seventeenth Zhi Yuan year (1280 AD) Phagspa died, and to commemorate his merits and achievements, the Yuan Dynasty emperor had statues of him moulded all over the country, consecrated them in temples, and had the people look at them with reverence.
From Phagspa onwards, successive dynasties all called the heads of Tibetan Lamaism "State Tutor". They received the imperial court's trust, executed the imperial court's orders, and managed Tibet's government affairs. After Phagspa's death, in order to strengthen the management of Tibet, the Yuan Dynasty government set up three Xuanweishisidu Yuanshuaifu military prefectures in Tibet: Wusi (Front Tibet), Zang (Rear Tibet), and Nalisugulusun (Ali).
Under the Yuan Dynasty's unified management, the Tibet area ended its separatist and divided state, built closer political relations with the interior of our country, and became an indivisible part of our country. In these respects, the actions of Sa Ban and Phagspa should be affirmed.
Translated from Qiu Shusen, Chinese History Stories - Yuan, China Children's and Young Peoples's Press, Beijing, 1983
Marco Polo Goes to China
ReplyDeleteIn the Yuan Dynasty, China had very close contacts with all the different countries of the world. Of the many foreigners who went to China, the Italian, Marco Polo, must be considered the most influential.
Marco Polo was born into a merchant family in Venice, Italy. In the year 1260, his father, Niccolo Polo, and his father's younger brother, Maffeo Polo, went to the Jinzhang Khanate to do business. On the way back, as they were passing through Buhuala, they met an official envoy who had been appointed to the Yuan Court by the Il-Khanate. The official invited them to go to China with him. At that time Kublai Khan had not long been Great Khan. When he received them, the diligent and curious Kublai sought to learn from them about the various Western countries and the Vatican at Rome. He inquired about how the foreign states were administered and how they went to war, and about what religion they believed in, and so on. They answered each question one by one. Kublai was very satisfied and decided to send the envoy, Kejiada, to the Vatican in Rome. He appointed the two Polo brothers as assistant representatives bearing official accreditation letters. They were to ask the Pope to send one hundred missionaries, proficient in rhetoric, grammar, logic, mathematics, astronomy, geography and music - seven fields of study, to China. Kublai also asked them to go to the tomb of Jesus to obtain holy oil from the long-burning lamp and bring it back to China. He longed to have the oil because he had heard that it brought good fortune and could cure illness, and also because his mother believed in Christianity.
Not long after the delegation had set out, the ambassador, Kejiada, became seriously ill and was unable to travel any further. The Polo brothers continued to press forward. When they learned on the journey that the Pope had died, they had no choice but to go back to their hometown, Venice, and wait until the new Pope had been chosen before going to the Vatican. By this time, Niccolo's wife had long since died, leaving only their fifteen-year-old son, Marco Polo.
Niccolo and Maffeo waited two years in Venice, but the new Pope had still not been chosen. In order not to let down the expectations of Kublai, they decided to go to China again. This time they took the young Marco Polo along with them. They first obtained credentials from the Roman Vatican, and then went to Jerusalem in the Holy Land (Jerusalem in present-day Palestine) to obtain the holy oil, before formally starting on their long return journey. While they were in Armenia (present-day Armenia in the Soviet Union) Rome's new Pope was chosen, so they decided to go back to see him. However, the new Pope did not completely satisfy Kublai's requirements and only sent two missionaries to accompany them to China. When they had gone only part of the way, the missionaries heard that Armenia was at war and were very frightened. They handed over the official documents and gifts to the Polo brothers and went back to Rome.
The three of them, the two Polo brothers and Marco Polo, passed through Syria and the Tigris-Euphrates Basin, entered present-day Iran, crossed the Central Asian Great Sandy Desert, and then crossed the Pamir tablelands - the Roof of the World. All along the way, they went through many kinds of hardships and difficulties. Sometimes they would not see a single home, or a green plant, or a bird in the sky for more than ten days at a time. They entered what is today Chinese Xinjiang, passed through Kashi and Yutian (present-day Hetian County in Xinjiang) and arrived at the lake, Lop Nor. They rested at the city, Lop Cheng, for a week, then, taking with them a month's supply of food, they continued on, pressing forward through the boundless desert. Since leaving Rome, three and a half years had gone by when they finally reached Yuan Shangdu (in the north-west of present-day Duolun County in Inner Mongolia) in the twelfth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1265 AD). At that time, Kublai was staying at Shangdu on his summer retreat. They submitted the Pope's letter, and presented the lamp oil from the Holy Sepulchre and the Pope's gifts. They gave an account to Kublai of their representations to the Pope and their experiences on the journey. Kublai was very pleased and made the three of them honoured attendants.
The clever Marco Polo quickly learned Mongolian and other eastern languages, and because he was capable, careful, and conscientious in handling matters, Kublai had great confidence in him. He was often called to the imperial palace by Kublai to relate the history and customs of all the European countries and their current situation. Kublai always listened with great interest. Marco Polo liked raising horses. He wrote an article speaking highly of Shanxi's white horses which Kublai hung in the palace, side by side with a famous drawing of eight fine steeds, to add to his enjoyment.
In addition to holding a post at Dadu, Marco Polo was often instructed by Kublai to go on a tour of inspection to the provinces or to go as envoy to foreign countries. He once went to what are today Shanxi, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces. He penetrated far into the areas of the minority peoples of Sichuan and Tibet. He went to Yunnan and North Burma and, according to his own words, he was an official in Yangzhou. Later on, he received orders to go to South-east Asia as ambassador. He went to Annan (today's Vietnam), Java, Sumatra (today's Indonesia), and also to the various states in India and to Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka).
Marco Polo and his father and uncle lived in China for seventeen whole years and they very much wanted to go back to their hometown, Venice, for a visit. At that time the Great Khan of the Il-Khanate had sent three envoys to ask Kublai if he could marry the imperial princess, and Kublai had decided to allow the seventeen year old princess to go out and be wed far away from home. The Il-Khanate representatives and the princess set out on the land route, but because war had broken out in Central Asia, the route was closed and they went back to Dadu. As it happened, Marco Polo had just come back from India by boat, and had gone to make his report to Kublai regarding the situation of each state, and his experiences on the voyage. The three envoys then requested the three Polos to take them back by the sea route. Kublai had originally been reluctant to let the Polos leave China, but, because of the princess's marriage, he had no choice but to give his agreement. However, he asked them to return to China after they had finished seeing their relatives and friends.
Early in the twenty-ninth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1292 AD), the three Polos prepared fourteen ships and two years' food supplies. Then, carrying Kublai's credentials for the French, English and Spanish kings, they set off from Quanzhou in Fujian.
On the sea, the weather was unpredictable and there were huge roaring waves. They took two and a half years to reach the Il-Khanate. Originally there were almost one thousand people in the party. Some had died on the voyage, others had drowned when the ships were damaged. There were only eighteen people left. Under their watchful care the princess was safe and sound. They took the princess to where the Great Khan was, and, after resting for nine months, they started on their journey to Italy. When they learned on the road that Kublai had died they were very grieved and, because of this, they gave up the idea of going back to China again. At the end of the first year of Yuan Zhen's reign (1295 AD), the three returned to their hometown, Venice. At that time, Venice and Genoa went to war. Marco Polo entered the Venetian navy and fought against Genoa. In 1298 AD (the second year of Yuan Chengzong Dade), the soldiers were defeated and Marco Polo was captured. He was locked up for a year. In the same prison there was a writer called Rustichello. Marco Polo told Rustichello all the varied and interesting things he had seen and heard in Asia, and Rustichello wrote them down. This is the world-famous "The Travels of Marco Polo".
"The Travels of Marco Polo" came to be called "The Book of Marvels of the World". The whole book was divided into four sections. The first section describes the countries and places Marco Polo travelled though when he came to China. The second section talks about the political situation of the early Yuan dynasty and records China's abundance of products and the thriving and prosperous condition of many cities. The third section introduces the situation of some of China's neighbouring countries and regions. The fourth section talks about the wars between the Mongol kings after Genghis Khan and the situation of Russia. The accounts in the book of the cities of Beijing (called Cambulac in the book), Xi'an, Ji'nan, Kaifeng, Xiangyang, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou are extremely authentic. The local conditions and customs and the plentiful products, as well as the city buildings, are all written about in great detail.
For example, when writing about Dadu City's magnificence and flourishing activity, Marco Polo said,
"Cambulac's area is designed like a chequerboard. It is an equal-sided square-shaped city, and the four sides have a city wall. Inside and outside Cambulac City walls, there is a multitude of inhabitants. Amongst them are many foreigners, some come to pay tribute, others to do business. Inside and outside the walls there are magnificent buildings and a wonderful array of precious foreign goods. The goods and materials brought in from inside and outside the country are an endless stream; every day more than one thousand carts enter the city."
As another example, the description of Hangzhou's rich, populous and beautiful period is as follows:
"Hangzhou is the world's most splendid city. The Frankish language translates Hangzhou as "Heaven City" - that means paradise. The scale of the city is very large, the perimeter is one hundred English miles. In the city there are twelve thousand stone bridges, and the whole city seems as if it is built on water. The residents of the city have twelve types of trade, and each trade has twelve thousand households. Because this is a place which produces silk, most of the residents wear silk clothes. Great businessmen and factory owners have a great deal of property. In the city there is a large lake (that is the West Lake), with a perimeter of thirty miles. The scenery is particularly beautiful. There are many sightseers at the lake, and in the lake there are small boats so that the sightseers can sit down in them and enjoy themselves. Around the lake there are extremely beautiful palaces and mansions, all of them the residences of respected people."
Marco Polo was the first foreigner to introduce China to the West. Through "The Travels" he introduced all the countries of the world to Chinese silkworm rearing, silk fabric, paper-making, paper money, printing, coal-burning, as well as city architecture, municipal administration, the arts and so on. It is said that Europe's violin was invented because Marco Polo took a Chinese huqin back with him. However, when "The Travels" was first published, people did not really believe it because they had never heard of those things before. In 1324 AD (the first year of the Yuan Tai Ding Emperor's reign), seventy year old Marco Polo contracted a serious illness. When he was near death, friends asked him, for the peace of his soul, to remove those parts of "The Travels" which were untrue. Marco Polo replied, "But I have not spoken the half of what I saw and heard!"
As the truthfulness of "The Travels" became more and more reinforced by the facts, Westerners' longing for China became more and more intense. In 1492 AD (the fifth year of the Ming Emperor, Hong Zhi), the Genoese youth, Christopher Columbus, who had read "The Travels" in his early years, undertook his famous voyage bearing a letter to the Chinese Emperor from the King of Spain. Later, when he reached the islands of the West Indies, he thought he had reached India in the East. One could say that this chance "Great Geographical Discovery" was accomplished through the influence of "Marco Polo's Travels".
Translated from Qiu Shusen, Chinese History Stories - Yuan, China Children's and Young People's Press, Beijing, 1983
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