Abstract
In the year 1215, the Chung-tu city of Chin fell into the hands of the Mongols, the third of the series of successive nomadic invaders after the fall of the T’ang dynasty. Using the city as a military base, the Mongols first drove the Chin rulers south of the Yellow River and eventually wiped out their retreating columns in 1234. Twenty-six years later, the great Mongol chieftain Kublai Khan assumed the imperial title in Kai-ping, about 200 miles northwest of Chung-tu, and established the Mongol dynasty in China which is called Yüan. The government of the Southern Sung dynasty did not cease until 1279. Since then, under the rule of Yüan, China emerged once more as a unified empire, prosperous and strong.
That is, ‘the City of the Khan’. Other spellings of the names are Khanbalik, Cambaluo, Cambalu, etc.
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Notes
- 1.
See Su Chia-jung [1, p. 20].
- 2.
This city was later on made the summer residence of the Yüan emperors and was renamed as Shang-tu, the ruin of which remains to the present day. See Lawrence Impey [2].
- 3.
- 4.
Travels of Marco Polo, translated with notes by Sir Henry Yule, 3rd edition, edited by Henri Cordier, London (1921), vol. i, p. 374. The wholesale destruction of the Chin palace by the Mongols when they first took the city was probably another reason leading to the abandoning of the old capital. See Chao I. op. cit, 27/14b.
- 5.
There are at least three terms which have been used in China to describe different residences of the emperor, namely:
-
1.
Huang Kung (皇宫), i.e. the royal palace inside the city walls of the capital.
-
2.
Li Kung (离宫), this may be literally translated as ‘Departure Palace’ which means a palace for the emperor when he takes departure from the capital, such as Sandringham in England. The common English translation is ‘Summer Palace’ which is rather misleading, because it is not used only in summer.
-
3.
Hsing Kung (行宫), i.e. a ‘Travel Palace’ which is only occupied by the emperor in travel.
-
1.
- 6.
To build Li Kung in the immediate environs of the capital is common practice in Chinese history. Both Ch’in and Han, for instance, had built magnificent Li Kung not far from their respective capitals. See p. 154.
- 7.
Chin Shih, Ti Li Chih (《金史·地理志》, Dynastic History of Chin, Book on Geography).
- 8.
It is recorded in Yüan Shih, Shih-Tsu Pen Chi (《元史·世祖本纪》, Dynastic History of Yüan, Chronicle of Shih-Tsu) that a great decorative jar, called Tu-shan Ta-yü Hai (渎山大玉海), beautifully carved out of a single piece of jade, was made in 1265. The emperor Kublai ordered it to be kept in Kuang Han Tien (广寒殿, Hall of Kuang Han) on the Island of Ch’iung Hua (12th month of the 2nd year of Chih Yüzn 至元). This jar has been preserved to the present day and is kept under a special pavilion in front of Ch’eng Kuang Hall (承光殿) which was built on the original site of the I T’ien Hall (仪天殿) of Yüan (see Fig. 7.1). Hence the history of this jar is even older than the history of the present city.
- 9.
Tao Tsung-I, Nan-ts’un Ch’o-keng Lu (陶宗仪《南村缀耕录》), Ssu-pu Ts’ung-k’an edition, 1/19a-20a.
- 10.
See Appendix III.
- 11.
The following events, which occurred during the years immediately preceding the founding of Khanbaliq in 1267, tell the story (Abstracted mainly from Yüan Shih 《元史》, Dynastic History of Yüan):
1260 ‘Emperor Kublai arrives in the environs of Yen-ching (i.e. the old capital)’ (Shih-tsu Pen Chi《世祖本纪》, Chronicle of Shih-tsu, the 12th month of the 1st year of Chung-t’ung). For the explanation of the name Yen-ching, see footnote 2 on p. 4. It was probably the Li Kung of Chin where he stayed, and not the city itself.
1261 ‘The old city of Yen-ching is repaired’ (Ibid., the 11th month of the 2nd year of Chung-t’ung).
1262 ‘The Island of Ch’iung Hua Is rebuilt’ (Tao Ts’ung-i, op. cit., 1/15a). Not clear whether the island itself or the buildings on it were rebuilt.
1264 ‘The name Yen-ching is officially changed into Chung-tu. Further construction of the Island of Ch’iung Hua’ (Shih-tsu Pen-Chi, op. cit., the 2nd and the 8th month of the first year of Chih- Yüan 至元). See comment under 1262.
1266 ‘Further construction of the Island of Ch’iung Hua’ (Yüan Shih vol. 145). See also Marco Polo, op. cit., 1/365.
- 12.
The southwest corner of the Imperial City was a concave one, because on the very spot, there was originally a Buddhist temple called Ta Ts’u-en Ssu (大慈恩寺), which was purposely avoided and was left outside the enclosure (Sun Ch’eng-tse, op. cit., 6/8b).
- 13.
By this, though, I mean the entire city within the outer walls of Khanbaliq as distinct from the inner Imperial City.
- 14.
T’ao Tsung-i, op. cit., 21/1a. Except the Ling-hsing Gate, none of the other 14 gates can be located. According to Marco Polo, ‘the palace is enclosed all round by a great wall forming a square each side of which is a mile in length; that is to say, the whole compass thereof is four miles’ (op. cit., p. 362). For the approximate location of the Imperial City, see the reconstructed plan of Khanbaliq (Fig. 7.2).
- 15.
Wang San-p’in [5, 1/8]. Wang mentions this in a general way without giving any reference. I am quite sure the term Chin Shui Ho was used in K’ai-feng, but cannot be sure about Ch’ang-an.
- 16.
Cf. Marco Polo, op. cit., p. 363.
- 17.
Cf. Ibid., pp. 364–365.
- 18.
Cf. Marco Polo, op. cit., p. 366.
- 19.
For explanation see the original translation, ibid., footnote 12 on p. 370.
- 20.
Op. cit., pp. 365–366.
- 21.
According to Marco Polo, the city ‘has a compass of twenty-four miles for each side of it has a length of six miles, and it is four square’ (op. cit, p. 374). It was a gross exaggeration.
- 22.
Marco Polo’s memory failed him again in regard to the gates which he claimed to be 12 with 3 on each side (ibid., 374). G. Bouillard made the same mistake by following Marco Polo without realizing that there were only two gates on the north side (op. cit., Map III).
All Chinese records agree in stating that there were only 11 gates in all. The ruins of the two northern gates remain to the present day.
- 23.
It was recorded in Hsi-Chin Chih (《析津志》, Topography of the District of Hsi-chin, i.e. the local district of the capital) that when the city had been built, a place for growing reeds was made about 5 li outside the Wen Ming Gate (文明门) so that there might be needs to fence the walls of the city. See quotation in Jih-hsia Chiu-wen K’ao, 38/1b-2a. The information given by Marco Polo about the rampart of the great city is also interesting: ‘It is all walled round with walls of earth which have a thickness of full ten paces at bottom, and a height of more than ten paces; but they are not so thick at top, for they diminish in thickness as they rise, so that at top they are only about three paces thick. And they are provided throughout with loop-holed battlements which are white-washed’ (op. cit., p. 374).
- 24.
Yüan I Tung Chih (《元一统志》, Comprehensive Geography of the Yüan Empire), as quoted by Yü Min-chung, op. cit., 38/1b, and Hsi-chin Shih, ibid., 54/15a.
- 25.
See Fig. 7.3, The Distribution of Markets in Khanbaliq.
- 26.
West of the present towers, there is still a north-south street which is called Chiu Ku-low Ta-chieh, or Old Drum-Tower Street. For the construction of the present towers, see Wang Pi-wen [8]. Yule was wrong in saying that ‘the tower indicated by Marco appears still to exist’ (op. cit., footnote 6, p. 378). Bretschneider realized that the present bell tower is not built on the original site. However, he still believed that ‘the Ku-low (i.e. drum-tower) is the same as that built in the thirteenth century. (Ibid.) So does Osvald Sirén (op. cit., pp. 11–12)’. Wang Pi-wen disproved them.
- 27.
Yüan Shih, Shi-Tsu Pen-chi, the 2nd month of the 22nd year of Chih-yüan.
- 28.
Yüan I T’ung Chih, op. cit., 38/5a-7b.
- 29.
The Journal of Friar William de Rubruquis, a Frenchman of the Order of the Minorite Friars, unto the East Parts of the World, 1253. Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas His Pilgrimes, by Samuel Parchas, Hakluyt Society, Extra Series, Vol. XI, Chapter 1, p. 47.
- 30.
Yüan I T’ung Chih, op. cit., 38/7a-b. See map.
- 31.
A-ni-ko, for instance, a native of Nepal, was appointed the Chief of Sculptors in 1278. See Biography of A-ni-ko in the Dynastic History of Yüan.
- 32.
See Biography of Liu Ping-chung in the Dynastic History of Yüan.
- 33.
In traditional Chinese usage, these directions are to be interpreted as follows: With the main entrance of the palace facing the south, the left side of the palace is the east side and right side, the west side. ‘In front of the palace’ means south of the palace. ‘Behind the Imperial City’ means north of the Imperial City.
- 34.
The section on Public Works (《冬官·考工记》, “匠人营国”条).
- 35.
See reconstructed plan Fig. 7.2.
- 36.
Han and Tang did not conform as closely as Khanbaliq to the ideal plan just described.
- 37.
Marco Polo, op. cit., p. 412.
- 38.
Marco Polo, op. cit., p. 412.
- 39.
For further discussions, see the following chapters.
- 40.
Professor Griffith Taylor believes that the irregular plan of the present Outer (South) City together with the long east-west street turning right across the western part of it ‘agrees with the general street plan of many of the medieval cities of Europe’. This statement is made probably without quite realizing the actual background from which this part of the city has evolved. See Taylor [10]. The same article has been incorporated in the same author’s Our Evolving Civilization [11, pp. 207–209], and Urban Geography [12, pp. 26–29].
- 41.
See footnote 26 on p. 82.
- 42.
His study is based upon two lists of the different ‘fang’ as quoted in Jih-hsia Chiu-wen K’ao, 38/5a-8b from Yüan I Tung Chih and Hsi-Chin Chih.
- 43.
Tu Ching Chih Shu (《图经志书》), as quoted by Yü Ming-chung, op. cit., 38/8b.
- 44.
Hsi-Chin Chih, as quoted by Yü Min-Chung, op. cit., 54/12b.
- 45.
For instance, the stalk of broomcorn, a variety of sorghum which grows to a height of 8–12 ft with the grain at the top, is a very common fuel supplied by the farmers in North China.
- 46.
See also L. H. Dudley Buxton [13].
- 47.
For the importance and function of rice- or grain-tribute in China, see Chi Ch’ao-ting, op. cit., pp. 5–7.
- 48.
See next chapter.
- 49.
J. C. Hou, op. cit.
- 50.
Several springs at the foot of the Wong Hill were recorded in Ping I Man Yü (《病逸漫语》) which was written in Ming dynasty (Chi Lu Hui Pien edition 辑录汇编本, 201/5b-6a). For Wan Shou Shan, see next chapter.
- 51.
During the construction of Khanbaliq, the Chin Kou canal was once more opened (in 1266) also by Kuo Shou-ching, not for the transportation of rice from the south but of lime and stone from the Western Hills which were used in the construction of the palaces of the new city. It was closed again in 1299 owing to the threat of flood from the river Hun.
See the Chronicle of Shih-tsu (the 12th month of the 3rd year of Chih-yüan) and the Biography of Kuo Shou-ching in the Dynastic History of Yüan. See also Su Tien-chüeh, Yüan Ch’ao Ming-chen Shih-lüeh (苏天爵《元朝名臣事略》, Biographies of the Famous Official of the Yüan Dynasty), Chi Fu Ts’ung-shu edition (畿辅从书本), 9/13b.
- 52.
The village Pai Fu is about 2 miles south of the present city Ch’ang-ping. I visited this place in January 1935. North of the village, there is an isolated hill known to the local people as Feng-huang Shan (凤凰山, Phoenixes Hill). At the foot of the hill, there is a spring with a temple called Lung Ch’uan Ssu (龙泉寺, Dragon-spring Temple), specially built for it. This must be the Shen Shan Spring of the Yüan dynasty.
The name of ‘Shuang Ta Ho’ (Double Pagodas River) as recorded in Yüan Shih (Dynastic History of Yüan) is no longer existent. But there is a town on the present river Ta Sha Ho (大沙河, Great Sand River) which still bears the name ‘Shuang Ta’. Due east of the town, there are two little villages called Yung Cha (东闸, Eastern Sluice) and Hsi Cha (西闸, Western Sluice), respectively. Both villages definitely derived their names from a pair of sluices which were built on the river in order to divert its water southward to Wong Shan Lake. Thus ‘Ta Sha Ho’ is only a modern name used for the Shuang Ta Ho of Yüan. A tributary of Ta Sha Ho to the south of it, known as Hsiao Sha Ho (小沙河, Little Sand River) was probably the Yü Ho of Yüan.
See Fig. 7.5.
- 53.
Yüan Shih, Kuo Shou-ching Chuan and Ho Ch’ü Chih (《元史》之《郭守敬传》, 《河渠志》, Dynastic History of Yüan, Biography of Kuo Shou-ching, and the Book on Rivers and Canals), with comments made by the author in A Study of the River of the Golden Water of Peiping. See also E. Bretschneider, op. cit., pp. 383–384.
- 54.
For documentary evidence in the reconstruction of this map, see Yüan Shih, Ho Chü Chi (《元史·河渠志》Dynastic History of Yüan, Book on rivers and Canals) and Wu Chung, Tung Hui Ho Chih (吴仲《通惠河志》, A History of the Tung Hui Canal, Hsüan-lan T’ang Ch’ung Shu edition 玄览堂丛书本).
- 55.
For instance: the locks were first built of wood which naturally could not last very long. They were rebuilt with brick and stone from 1311 to 1327, and the dike which diverted from the Shen Shan Spring to the Wong Shan Lake was recorded to be repaired in 1303, 1307, 1312, 1317 and 1327, respectively. See the Book on Rivers and Canals in the Dynastic History Yüan.
It is true that in the year 1342, a new canal to the south of the lower course of T’ung Hui was constructed with the hope of providing a better alternative to the latter. It proved to be only a failure and was abandoned immediately. This canal derived its water from the river Hun through the Chin Kou Canal which was reopened at the same time. The remaining bed of the lower course of this canal can still be traced from the southeast corner of the Outer City of today to Chang Chia Wan (张家湾) village south of T’ung Chow. It is represented by a dotted line in the above map.
- 56.
Ou-yang Hsüan (欧阳玄), Kuei-chai Chi (《圭斋集》) as quoted in Jih-hsia Chiu-wen K’ao, 89/13b-16a.
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Hou, R. (2014). Khanbaliq (1267–1368) of the Yüan Dynasty (1260–1368). In: An Historical Geography of Peiping. China Academic Library. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55321-9_7
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