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The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2

Note {1} — Chapter LXXVI

Henry Yule translation

Note 1.—Kinsay represents closely enough the Chinese term King-sze, “capital,” which was then applied to the great city, the proper name of which was at that time Lin-ngan and is now Hang-chau, as being since 1127 the capital of the Sung Dynasty. The same term King-sze is now on Chinese maps generally used to designate Peking. It would seem, however, that the term adhered long as a quasi-proper name to Hang-chau; for in the Chinese Atlas, dating from 1595, which the traveller Carletti presented to the Magliabecchian Library, that city appears to be still marked with this name, transcribed by Carletti as Camse; very near the form Campsay used by Marignolli in the 14th century.

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