ABSTRACT
The country which the authors commonly call China was called by Marco Polo the Venetian the kingdom of Cathay, perhaps because it was then so called; for when he came there, it was ruled by the Tartars. The kingdom of Taybin must be almost a thousand leagues long and four hundred broad, with a circuit of nearly two thousand and five hundred leagues. All of the kingdom of Taybin which is bounded by the aforesaid wall and by that great river and the sea, is divided into fifteen provinces which they call ce, two of which are governed by high-courts, which are Pacquiaa and Lamquia. The fifteen provinces of the kingdom of Taybin have two kinds of cities, some called hu or fu, and others called chuy. The most important ones are usually called fu, each one of which has its own governor appointed by the king, except for the capitals of the provinces wherein the viceroys usually reside.
