The Greatness of Cities [22]
Asiatica with a valiant expedition and power of arms, and made the name of the Tartars famous. For he subdued China and made a great part of India tributary unto him; he wasted Persia, and made Asia to tremble. The successors of this great prince made their residence in the city of Cambaluc, a city no less magnificent than great, for it is said it is in compass twenty-eight miles, besides the suburbs, and that it is of such traffic and commerce as besides other sorts of merchandise there are every year brought into it very near a thousand carts, all loaden with silk that come from China. Whereupon a man may guess both the greatness of the trades, the wealth of the merchandise, the variety of the artificers and arts, the multitude of people, the pomp, the magnificence, the pleasure and the bravery of the inhabitants thereof. But let us now come to China. There is not in all the world a kingdom (I speak of united and entire kingdoms) that is either greater, or more populous, or more rich, or more abounding in all good things, or that hath more ages lasted and endured than that famous and renowned kingdom of China. Hereof it grows that the cities wherein their kings have made their residence have ever been the greatest that have been in the world. And those are Suntien, Anchin and Panchin. Suntien (by so much as I can learn out of the undoubted testimonies of other men) is the most ancient and the chiefest and the principallest of a certain province which is called Kinsay, by which name they commonly call the same city.* It is seated as it were in the extremest parts almost of the east, in a mighty great lake that is drawn out of the four princely rivers that fall there into it, whereof the greatest is called Pulisanghin. The lake is full of little islands which, for the gallantness of the site, the freshness of the air and sweetness of the gardens are very delightful without measure. His banks are tapestried with verdure, mantled with trees, watered with clear running brooks and many springs, and adorned with magnificent and stately palaces. This lake in his greatest breadth is four leagues wide at the mouth of the river twenty-eight miles, or thereabout. In circuit it is an hundred miles about, with large passages both by water and by land. The streets thereof are all of them paved gallantly with stone, and beautified with very fair benches or seats to sit upon. The chattels of most account are haply fifteen, with bridges over them so stately to behold that ships under all their sails pass under them. The greatest of these channels cutteth through the midst, as it were, of the city and is a mile wide, a little more or less, with fourscore bridges upon it; a sight, no question, that doth exceed all other. I should be too long if I should here declare all that might be said of the greatness of the walks and galleries, of the magnificent and stately buildings, of the beauty of the streets, of the innumerable multitude of inhabitants, of the infinite concourse of merchandise, of the inestimable number of ships and vessels, some inlaid with ebony and some with ivory, and chequered some with gold and some with silver, of the incomparable riches that come in thither and are carried out continually; to be short, of the delights and pleasures whereof this city doth so exceedingly abound as it deserves to be called proud Suntien. And yet the other two cites Panchin and Anchin are never a whit less than this is. But forasmuch as we have made mention of China, I think it not amiss in this place to remember the greatness of some other of her cities, according to the relations we receive in these days. Canton, then (which is the most known, though not the greatest) the Portuguese that have had much commerce thither these many years confess it is greater than Lisbon, which yet is the greatest city that is in Europe except Constantinople and Paris. Sanchieo is said to be three times greater than Seville, so that since Seville is six miles in compass Sanchieo must needs be eighteen miles about. They also say Huchou exceeds them