2 messages.-----------------------------------Johnnie
-------------------------------------------
>Date: Mon, 07 Apr 1997 10:18:29 -0700 (PDT)
>From: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Cities of Marco Polo?
I reviewed these questions with Thomas Yeh, our Head of Documents, and he
thought that perhaps Zayton might be Tianjin (formerly Tientsin) and
Kinsay might be Yantai (formerly Chefoo), both significant and
longstanding ports. Shanghai, a mere village at the time, is up the
Huangpu River and is a huge distance from Kublai Khan's capital. Tianjin
has always served as Beijing's seaport, though it is some distance up the
Hai River from the sea. Its' harbor, though, might be the haven in
question, though Polo might already have referred to it. Another
possibility might be Qingdao (Tsingtao) or Weihai, both in Shandong
Province, and thus, close to Beijing. As you can see, I've not read my
Polo, but having been in China last year, your questions caught my
interest. Good Luck!
Brian P. Bach
Map Technician
Central Washington University Library
[log in to unmask]
On Mon, 7 Apr 1997, Bill Thoen wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I was reading about the origins of interest in spices recently and came
> across a quote supposedly from Marco Polo. He names two cities in China
> I can't identify. Is there an ancient cities gazetteer anywhere that
> would help me associate the Chinese cities of Zayton or Kinsay with
> their modern equivalents? I think Kinsay sounds a lot like Shanghai, but
> Zayton escapes me.
>
> Here's the quote from Marco Polo (according to Sylvia Windle Humphrey,
> author of "A Matter of Taste") about the spice ships arriving in the
> harbor at Zayton:
>
> "...they bring thither spicery and all other costly wares. And I
> assure you that for one shipload of pepper that goes to Alexandria
> or elsewhere, there comes a hundred such, aye, and more, too, to
> this haven of Zayton, for it is one of the two greatest havens in
> the world for commerce."
>
> Polo goes on to mention that the daily consumption of pepper in another
> port city, Kinsay, was nearly 10,000 pounds.
>
> These two cities appear to be major ports of China in the late 13th and
> early 14th century. They were obviously pretty important then, but where
> are these cities today? What Chinese harbor was once called Zayton, and
> where was the other "haven"? (Venice?) Does anyone have answers or
> suggestions as to where I should look? Or is this a question better put
> to MAPHIST-L? My motivation to know is mostly idle curiousity, I
> suppose, but you can never have too many odd facts to make your head an
> interesting place to screw around in... I'll summarize responses at
> least, if there are any.
>
> TIA,
>
> _ /| Bill Thoen <[log in to unmask]>
> \'o.O' --------------------------------------------------------------
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> ---
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>
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>Date: Mon, 7 Apr 1997 10:44:09 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Lily Wai <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Cities of Marco Polo?
I think Kinsay (or Kin-sai) is the city named Hangchow (Wade-Giles
spelling), and now called Han-zhou (pinying spelling?). Zayton (or
Zaitun) is probably Amoy, and now called xia-men. Hangchow happens to be
my birth place -- a beautiful ancient city, well-known for its West-Lake,
tea, and silk. Amoy is across from the Taiwan Strait, and was the center
of the attention in the early '50s during the Korean War, and Taiwan
Strait crisis. Most of the Chinese immigrants that came to United States
in the late 19th century were from Amoy. Hope this helps.
Lily Wai Phone: 208-885-6344
Head of Government Documents Fax: 208-885-6817
University of Idaho Library (0135) E-Mail:[log in to unmask]
Moscow, ID 83844-2353 http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/govdoc
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