mained the centre of the command he exercised over the Mongol
garrisons. In 1277 this prince took part in military operations in the
north; he died in 1280 (17th year Che Yuan), leaving his principality of
Ngan-si to his eldest son Ananda, and this of Tsin to his second son
Ngan-tan Bu-hoa. Kublai, immediately after the death of his son Mangala,
suppressed administrative autonomy in Ngan-si." (_Yuan-shi lei
pien_).--H.C.]

[1] I am indebted for this information to Baron Richthofen.

[2] See the small map attached to "Marco Polo's Itinerary Map, No. IV.,"
at end of Vol. I.

[3] [It is supposed to come from _kang_ (king) _dang_.--H.C.]

[4] In the first edition I was able to present a reduced facsimile of a
_rubbing_ in my possession from this famous inscription, which I owed
to the generosity of Dr. Lockhart. To the Baron von Richthofen I am no
less indebted for the more complete rubbing which has afforded the
plate now published. A tolerably full account of this inscription is
given in _Cathay_, p. xcii. seqq., and p. clxxxi. seqq., but the
subject is so interesting that it seems well to introduce here the
most important particulars:--

The stone slab, about 7-1/2 feet high by 3 feet wide, and some 10
inches in thickness,[A] which bears this inscription, was
accidentally found in 1625 by some workmen who were digging in the
Chang-ngan suburb of the city of Singanfu. The cross, which is
engraved at p. 30, is incised at the top of the slab, and beneath this
are 9 large characters in 3 columns, constituting the heading, which
runs: "_Monument commemorating the introduction and propagation of the
noble Law of_ Ta T'sin _in the Middle Kingdom;_" _Ta T'sin_ being the
term applied in Chinese literature to the Roman Empire, of which the
ancient Chinese had much such a shadowy conception as the Romans had,
conversely, of the Chinese as _Sinae_ and _Seres_. Then follows the
body of the inscription, of great length and beautiful execution,
consisting of 1780 characters. Its chief contents are as follows:--
1st. An abstract of Christian doctrine, of a vague and figurative
kind; 2nd. An account of the arrival of the missionary OLOPAN
(probably a Chinese form of _Rabban_ = Monk),[B] from Ta T'sin in the
year equivalent to A.D. 635 bringing sacred books and images, of the
_translation of the said books_, of the Imperial approv