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| Marco Polo (Italian traveler, businessman) |
Marco Polo (September 15, 1254-January 8, 1324), was born in a wealthy merchant family in Venice, an Italian traveler, and businessman. His representative works include " Marco Polo's Travels ".
Marco Polo
Country of CitizenshipRepublic of Venice
nationality Italian
date of birth September 15, 1254
Date of death January 8, 1324
profession Traveler, businessman
Major achievements Oral narration, written by inmates in "Marco Polo's Travels"
place of birth Venice, Italy
Belief Catholicism
representative work"Marco Polo's Travels"
Life
Marco Polo [September 15, 1254-January 8, 1324], a world-renowned traveler and businessman. Born in a merchant family in Venice in 1254. His father Niccolo and Uncle Matteo were both Venetian merchants. It is said that at the age of 17, Marco Polo followed his father and uncle to China. After about four years, he arrived in the capital of the Yuan Dynasty in 1275 and established a friendship with Yuan Shizu Kublai Khan. He traveled in China for 17 years, visited many ancient cities in China at that time, and visited Yunnan and Southeastern China in the southwest. Back to Venice after, Marco Polo in Venice and once Genoa naval battle between the captured, oral travel experiences in prison by Rustichello da Pisa But whether he has ever been to China has sparked controversy.
" Marco Polo's Travels " (also known as " Marco Polo's Journey ", "Oriental Records") records what Marco Polo saw and heard in the richest country in the East-China. Later It was widely circulated in Europe, which aroused Europeans' enthusiastic yearning for the East, and had a huge impact on the opening of new shipping routes in the future
Marco Polo as a child, his father, and uncle to the East business, came to Dadu and seen towards the Mongol empire of Kublai Khan, Khan also brought back the papal letter. After they got home, little Marco Polo pestered them every day to tell stories about their Eastern travel. These stories aroused great interest in little Marco Polo and made him determined to go to China with his father and uncle. In 1271, when Marco Polo was 17 years old, his father and uncle took the Pope’s reply letter and gifts and led Marco Polo to the east with a dozen travel companions. They entered from Venice, the Mediterranean, and then across the Black Sea, the Middle East after the ancient city of Mesopotamia came to Baghdad, from here to the Persian Gulf to the sea Hormuz will be a boat headed for China. However, an accident happened at this time. When they were paying for something in a town, they were spotted by robbers. The robbers took them to sleep at night and caught them and detained them separately. In the middle of the night, Marco Polo and his father escaped. When they called for the rescue, the robbers had already left. Except for the uncle, the other traveling companions were also missing. His experience inspired Columbus and many other travelers. Many literary works are based on his travel notes. Marco Polo also influenced the production of maps in Europe, leading to the appearance of the map of Fra Mauro.
Marco Polo came to Hormuz with his father and uncle. They waited for two months, but they didn't encounter a ship going to China, so they had to go overland. This is a road full of difficulties and obstacles, and a road that discourages even the most ambitious travelers. They headed east from Hormuz, across the desolate and terrifying Iranian desert, across the steep and cold Pamirs, trekking along the mountains and rivers, overcoming the troubles of disease, hunger, and thirst, avoiding the invasion of robbers and beasts, and finally arrived. Xinjiang, China. Once here, Marco Polo's eyes were attracted. Kashgar is beautiful and prosperous, Hotan is rich in jade, and there are orchards full of flowers.
Marco Polo and the others continued eastward, through the Taklimakan Desert, and came to the ancient city of Dunhuang, where they admired the world-famous Buddha sculptures and murals. Then they saw the Great Wall of China via Yumen Pass. Finally, through the Hexi Corridor, we finally arrived at Shangdu, the northern capital of the Yuan Dynasty. It was the summer of 1275, and it had been four heat and cold since they left the motherland! Marco Polo’s father and uncle presented the Pope’s letters and gifts to Kublai Khan and introduced Marco Polo to Khan. Da Khan admired the young and smart Marco Polo very much, and specially invited them into the palace to tell them what they had seen along the way, and brought them back to the capital with them, and later left them to serve as officials in the Yuan Dynasty.
The clever Marco Polo quickly learned Mongolian and Chinese. Taking the opportunity of visiting various places under the order of a great sweat, he traveled all over the mountains and rivers of China, and he was shocked by the vastness and wealth of China. He has been to Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Beijing successively, and has also traveled to Vietnam, Myanmar, and Sumatra. Everywhere he goes, he always has to inspect the local customs, geography, and human conditions in detail. After returning to Dadu, he gave a detailed report to Kublai Khan.
In "Marco Polo's Travels", he praised China's prosperity; developed industry and commerce, bustling markets, gorgeous and cheap silk brocades, magnificent capitals, perfect and convenient post road transportation, and widely circulated banknotes. and many more. The content of the book makes everyone who has read this book infinitely fascinated.
Seventeen years passed quickly, and Marco Polo became more and more homesick. In the spring of 1292, Marco Polo and his father, uncle commissioned by Kublai Khan, the escort named Kukachin of Mongolian princess out to sea from Quanzhou to Persia married. They took the opportunity to request Da Khan to return home. Da Khan promised them that after completing their mission, they could change their way back to the country. Wang Dafang, an expert in Yuan history and director of the Cultural Relics Department of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region's Cultural Department, believes that during the 17 years of the Yuan Dynasty, Marco Polo was often sent by Kublai Khan to perform classified tasks throughout the empire.
At the end of 1295, the three of them finally returned to their relatives who had been away for twenty-four years. The news of their return from China quickly spread throughout Venice, and their knowledge aroused great interest. The countless rare treasures they brought back from the east made them the great wealth of Venice overnight. In 1298, Marco Polo participated in the war between Venice and Genoa and was unfortunately captured on September 7 of the same year. In prison, he met the writer Rustiqian, so he had the "Marco Polo's Travels" dictated by Marco Polo and recorded by Rustiqian.
Dispute
Have you been to China?
Marco Polo and his story "Marco Polo's Travels" have long been well-known to women and children. The "affirmatives" at home and abroad affirm or recognize Marco Polo's visit to China are mainly based on two reasons: one is people's benevolent interpretation of Marco Polo and "Marco Polo's Travels" . The other reason is that some of the contents recorded in "Marco Polo's Travels" cannot be known in such detail without personal experience.
However, there are some scholars who believe, "The Travels of Marco Polo" in the restatement of some of the content is well-known stories, such as the Yuan Dynasty expedition Japan, the king of the insurgency, Xiangyang fro gun, Persian envoys escorted Kukachin Princess.
Nevertheless, some of the contents recorded in "Marco Polo's Travels" surprised scholars. For example, the record about Hangzhou in "Marco Polo's Travels" stated that Hangzhou was known as Xingxing at the time, and it was the most beautiful city in the world, with a thriving business, and there were 12 types of industries, each with 12,000 households. There is a big lake (the West Lake ) in the city, 30 miles around, beautiful scenery. These records have been confirmed in ancient books such as " Lin'an Zhi on the Main Road " and " Meng Liang Lu ". There are many other bridges in Suzhou and many people in Hangzhou. The records in "Marco Polo's Travels" are quite detailed and specific. These materials were impossible to obtain from hearsay in the historical context of the time.
Scholars studying Marco Polo in the world have formed two opposing schools, namely, the "affirmative" who affirmed that Marco Polo had been in China and the "skeptic" who doubted that Marco Polo had been in China. ". The two parties argued fiercely. In fact, this argument is of little significance. Speaking of Columbus, almost everyone may know that he discovered America. However, this is only the thinking of our descendants. As far as Columbus is concerned, he believed that he had discovered not America but India until his death. Therefore, he insisted that he had seen the first piece of land near America during his voyage. As the " West Indies ". Columbus was not a liar, and Marco Polo didn't mean to lie. He may have only been to certain countries in Central Asia, as Kronas believed, and he regarded these countries as China. However, most people still believe that he has been to China.
Where is the solution to Marco Polo’s problem? The key point is that you can't just lie on "Marco Polo's Travels" to study the so-called "Marco Polo Studies". Scholars at home and abroad have acknowledged that "Marco Polo's Travels" has made great contributions to the development of exchanges between the East and the West. So why should we care about who Marco Polo is? In fact, the name "Marco Polo" does not necessarily refer to a specific person, but refers to a group of pioneers of east-west transportation at that time. "Marco Polo" is synonymous with them, and "Marco Polo's Travels" is the summary of their adventures at that time.
According to the Global Times published on August 11, 2011, British media quoted the findings of a group of Italian archaeologists on the 10th, saying that the great explorer Marco Polo had never actually been to China. "Ke Polo's Travels" is a collection of hearsay. The British " Daily Mail " stated on the 9th that if this theory is proven correct, Marco Polo, one of the greatest explorers in human history, is a "liar."
According to a report by the British " Daily Telegraph " on the 9th, archaeologists believe that Marco Polo is more likely to have learned "second-hand stories" about China, Japan, and the Mongol Empire from Persian merchants. He then put these stories together with other bits and pieces of information, which is the source of the best-selling book "Marco Polo's Travels." Archaeologists pointed out that there are contradictions and inaccuracies in the description of Kublai Khan’s two expeditions to Japan in 1274 and 1281 in "Marco Polo's Travels". Daniel Petrella of the University of Naples in Italy said: "Marco Polo confused the details of the two expeditions. In his account of the first expedition, he described that the Yuan fleet was hit by a typhoon before it left North Korea and reached the coast of Japan. A blow. But that happened in 1281. If he were really a so-called witness, would he confuse the two battles spanning seven years?" In addition, in many parts of the book, Marco · Polo uses Persian to mark the place names of China and Mongolia. Petrella told an Italian history magazine that with the deepening of research, questions about "Marco Polo's Travels" have become more and more. Other archaeologists also stated that Marco Polo claimed to have served as a messenger in Kublai’s court, but his name did not appear in any existing Mongolian or Chinese ancient records.
Before this, some British scholars questioned whether Marco Polo had been to China. In 1995, the British historian Francis Wood wrote that Marco Polo had not actually been outside the Black Sea. Some things that were very common in China at that time, such as the Four Great Inventions, chopsticks, footwear, and the Great Wall, etc. Marco Polo never mentioned it. Wood also stated that there is no mention in the Venice archives that the Polo family had direct contact with China. She said: "In the entire manuscript of "Marco Polo's Travels", only 18 sentences are written in the first person. It is not so much a person's account, but more like a database of Far Eastern knowledge of medieval Europeans."
It is said that he began to travel the world at the age of 17. He lived in China for 17 years and visited many ancient cities in China at that time, as well as Yunnan and Southeastern China in the southwest. His "Marco Polo's Travels" described the scene of a rich China at that time, which aroused the passion of Europeans for the East, and had a huge impact on the opening of new shipping routes in the future.
On April 18, 2013, a bronze sculpture based on Marco Polo was unveiled in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China. According to the local cultural department, Marco Polo served as an official in Yangzhou for three years. As a cultural businessman and exchange messenger, Marco Polo has made a lot of contributions to local publicity and culture. There is a Marco Polo Memorial Hall in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province.
Is it fake
Since the publication of "Marco Polo's Travels", the controversy about him has not stopped for 700 years, and there have been people who have been wondering whether he has been to China. Is "Marco Polo's Travels" a fake?
As early as when Marco Polo was alive, "Marco Polo's Travels" was suspicious and ridiculed because the book was full of unknown anecdotes. Friends who cared about him even persuaded him to delete the narrative that deviated from the facts in the book before he died. Later, with the discovery of geography, Europeans became more and more knowledgeable about the East. Many things mentioned in "Marco Polo's Travels" were gradually confirmed and no longer regarded as absurd myths. But there are still people who doubt the authenticity of "Marco Polo's Travels."
It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that some people in academia began to criticize this book from the perspective of scholars and question Marco Polo. German scholar Xu Erman was the first to argue that Marco Polo had never been to China at all. He believed that his 17-year history in the Yuan Dynasty was a completely absurd fabrication, and he compiled poor church legends for travel notes for missionaries. And the interests of merchants, to stimulate the enthusiasm of the Mongolians in order to do business in China. It is also said that the Polo family is no more than the farthest to reach the territory of Bucharia. The situation about the Mongol Empire is heard from the merchants who have been there; the narratives about India, Persia, Arabia, and Ethiopia are Copied from Arabic writings. In 1965, German Han historian Fuchber listed many doubts, such as Yangzhou being an official and Xiangyang offering artillery. In 1979, the American scholar JWHaeger ( Heigl ) rake "The Travels of Marco Polo" full, Zhuancheng "Marco Polo visited China yet - see the problem from the internal evidence" article questioned. In 1982, the British " Times " published an article " The Footsteps of an Explorer " by the British scholar C.Clunas (Craig Clunas), raising four questions to question the claim that Polo had been to China. At the same time, many domestic Chinese scholars questioned Marco Polo. But they are all written short essays or incidental mentions in other papers. In 1995, the British scholar Dr. Frances Wood ( Wu Fangsi ), after years of research, wrote all the questions into a book " Has Marco Polo been to China?" ", thus becoming a representative of "skeptics."
The domestic "affirmative" is represented by Mr. Yang Zhijiu. Since the 1940s, he has been constantly fighting against "skeptics" at home and abroad. Many foreign scholars also believe that Marco Polo has been to China and the authenticity of Marco Polo's Travels. Germany is its representative character of Fu Haibo, Henry Yule Britain, and France Pelliot. In the 1890s, the British Marco Polo research expert Henry Yuer listed the flaws in Marco Polo’s Travels in his "Marco Polo's Travels-Introduction". And mistakes. He believes that the record of China in "Marco Polo's Travels" has many flaws, such as nothing about the Great Wall, tea, women's foot-binding, fishing with herons, artificial incubation of eggs, printed books, Chinese characters, and other strange techniques. There are still many uncertainties, such as Chinese place names in Tatar or Persian, records of the death of Genghis Khan and errors in the lineage relationship between his descendants, and the capture of Xiangyang City. But he never doubted the fact that Marco Polo had been to China. The German Marco Polo research expert Fu Haibo once said, "Anyway, I haven’t cited any conclusive evidence that Marco Polo’s book is just geography of the world. The chapters on China are taken from others. 、Perhaps Persian information (he used some Persian vocabulary)
In the past, we had to make a benevolent explanation, assuming (presumably) that he had been to China. " Although the French orientalist Berchhe spent a lot of time making a lot of annotations on "Marco Polo's Travels," he also understood the mistakes in Marco Polo's book and basically recognized Marco Polo. Been to China.
Main works
"Marco Polo's Travels" records his experience in the richest country in the East-China, which aroused Europeans' ardent yearning for the East and had a huge impact on the opening of new shipping routes in the future. It is also an important historical book for studying the history and geography of my country's Yuan Dynasty.
Although there are some loopholes and fallacies in Marco Polo's travel notes, some people take this hastily to think that his oral "Marco Polo's Travels" is purely fabricated, according to "Marco Polo's Travels" We can't reach China at all, but we cannot deny the positive significance of this legend and his works in history, literature, and cultural exchanges between China and the West.
"Marco Polo's Travels" is the first travel book written by a European that describes Chinese history, culture, and art in detail. 16th-century Italian collectors, geographers Lai Mai tin (Ramusio) said, "Travels" written in 1299, "A few months later, the book was everywhere in Italy" (Note: Lach, p. 35.). Before Marco Polo's death in 1324, "The Travels of Marco Polo" had been translated into many European languages and was widely circulated. The existing "Marco Polo's Travels" has 119 versions in various languages. In the aspect of spreading Chinese culture and art to Europe, "Marco Polo's Travels" is of great significance. Maurice Collis, a Western scholar who studies Marco Polo, believes that Marco Polo’s travel notes “is not a simple travel note, but an enlightenment work. For the blocked Europeans, It is tantamount to shocking the deaf, showing a brand new field of knowledge and vision for Europeans. The significance of this book is that it has led to a widespread revival of European humanities.
During the Yuan Dynasty, China had frequent exchanges with foreign countries. The Italian traveler Marco Polo came to China during the Yuan Dynasty and lived in China for more than ten years. " Marco Polo broker," the main content is about Marco Polo's travel documentary in China, and approach the situation and West Asia, Central Asia and Southeast Asia, and other countries and regions. The book uses a documentary method to record his experiences in various parts of China, including the Western Regions and the South China Sea. It records political affairs, wars, palace secrets, festivals, safari, etc. at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, especially the economic, cultural, and civil conditions of Yuanda Capital. Customs, and the prosperity of major cities and commercial ports such as Xi’an, Kaifeng, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou. For the first time, it introduced the developed material and spiritual civilizations of China to Europeans in a more comprehensive manner and showed the image of China, which is rich in land, rich in resources, and prosperous in culture and education, to the world.
Major achievements
Marco Polo's trip to China and his travel notes were thought to be myths in Europe within the Middle Ages, and were thought to be "An Arabian Nights". However, "Marco Polo's Travels" has greatly enriched the geographical information of Europeans, breaking the shackles of ancient thinking, and also the theory of "the sky and a spherical place"; at an equivalent time, "Marco Polo's Travels" contains a nice impact on the sailing business of Europe within the fifteenth century. vie a large role in promoting. Columbus European country, European nation Vasco public prosecutor Gama, Hubei Benedict, British Ka Bote, Anthony Jenkinson and Johnson, Martin Robbie break and plenty of alternative navigators, traveler, someone scans "Marco when "Polo's Travels", one when another came east to look for China, breaking the shackles of Western theocracy within the Middle Ages, and greatly promoting the communication and cultural exchanges between China and also the West. Therefore, it is the same that traveler and his "Marco Polo Travels" detached a replacement era in Europe.
At an equivalent time, before "Marco Polo's Travels", additional exactly before the thirteenth century, the political, economic, and cultural exchanges between China and also the West were indirectly connected through the bridge of Central Asia. In such exchanges between China and also the West, China has perpetually taken a positive angle and strives to perceive|to know|to grasp} and understand places outside of China, particularly the Western civilized world. It is derived back to the Western Tour of Zhou dynasty letter. though the story of King Zhou dynasty Mu’s tour of the West is filled with absurdity and mythology, it a minimum of reflects that the Chinese have begun to perceive|to know|to grasp} and understand the West. when Zhang Qian's access to the Western Regions throughout Emperor Shanghai dialect of the Western dynasty, a " trade route " from China to Europe via Central Asia Appeared, and China contains a higher understanding and understanding of the Western world. The Tang dynasty was the period of time of Chinese social structure society. The economy and culture reached unexampled prosperity. an oversized variety of Western businessmen came to China, and China had a deeper understanding of the Western world. However, till the thirteenth century, the exchanges between China and also the West solely stayed in trade-based economic relations, lacking direct contact and understanding. Europe’s information of China remained at the indirect contact of hearsay till the thirteenth century, and their information and understanding of China were terribly superficial. Therefore, Europeans ar filled with mystery and curiosity concerning the Japanese world. "Marco Polo's Travels" has an Associate in Nursing exaggerated and even legendary description of the Japanese world, that arouses European curiosity concerning the Japanese world. This successively promoted direct exchanges between China and also the West, by choice or accidentally. Since then, a replacement era of direct political, economic, and cultural exchanges between China and also the West has begun. the traveler could be an image of the time.
"Marco Polo's Travels" directly or indirectly detached a replacement era of direct contact and speak to between China and also the West, and additionally brought the dawn of a replacement century to medieval Europe. Facts have confirmed that "Marco Polo's Travels" has brought a large impact on the planet, and its positive impact is ineradicable.
"Marco Polo's Travels" opened the geographical and religious horizons of Europe, depart a fanatic and Chinese trend, and galvanized Europeans within the following centuries to the Japanese complicated. many folks began to flock to the East and learn from the East, so Europe has undergone earth-shaking changes. several valuable maps within the Middle Ages were created with respect to travel notes. several nice navigators set sail and explore the planet, galvanized and galvanized by travelers. In fact, the invention of the yank continent was strictly Associate in Nursing accident, as a result of the initial destination of Columbus, a loyal reader of travel notes, was prosperous China. At that point, Europeans believed that the east of China was a massive ocean, and also the alternative facet of the ocean was the house of Europe. over 700 years have passed since the traveler’s trip to the East, however, his spirit still casks people's hearts and galvanized them to create|to form|to create} new explorations and make new progress. there'll be additional and additional individuals walking on the road of East-West exchanges opened by him, and still, expand and expand. A harmonious world. traveler belongs to the entire world and everyone world. As for whether or not he was born in Korčula or away, it does not appear to matter abundant.
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