Did Marco Polo Go To China

Download or read book Did Marco Polo Go To China? written by Frances Wood and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-06-19 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all ?know? that Marco Polo went to China, served Ghengis Khan for many years, and returned to Italy with the recipes for pasta and ice cream. But Frances Wood, head of the Chinese Department at the British Library, argues that Marco Polo not only never went to China, he probably never even made it past the Black Sea, where his family conducted business as merchants.Marco Polo's travels from Venice to the exotic and distant East, and his epic book describing his extraordinary adventures, A Description of the World, ranks among the most famous and influential books ever published. In this fascinating piece of historical detection, marking the 700th anniversary of Polo's journey, Frances Wood questions whether Marco Polo ever reached the country he so vividly described. Why, in his romantic and seemingly detailed account, is there no mention of such fundamentals of Chinese life as tea, foot-binding, or even the Great Wall? Did he really bring back pasta and ice cream to Italy? And why, given China's extensive and even obsessive record-keeping, is there no mention of Marco Polo anywhere in the archives?Sure to spark controversy, Did Marco Polo Go to China? tries to solve these and other inconsistencies by carefully examining the Polo family history, Marco Polo's activities as a merchant, the preparation of his book, and the imperial Chinese records. The result is a lucid and readable look at medieval European and Chinese history, and the characters and events that shaped this extraordinary and enduring myth.

Download or read book Marco Polo Was in China written by Hans Ulrich Vogel and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2012-11-21 with total page 676 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Marco Polo was in China Hans Ulrich Vogel undertakes a thorough study of Yuan currencies, salts and revenues, by comparing Marco Polo manuscripts with Chinese sources and thus offering new evidence for the Venetian’s stay in Khubilai Khan’s empire.

Download or read book The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East written by Marco Polo and published by . This book was released on 1903 with total page 812 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Marco Polo's China written by Stephen G. Haw and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-11-22 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marco Polo’s famous book about his journey to China, written in 1298, continues to be a subject of considerable controversy. One recent work on the subject argues that Marco Polo never went to China at all, and other scholars have pointed out apparent mistakes and important omissions in Marco’s writings, including his failure to mention the Great Wall, and his apparently erroneous description of the course of the Yellow River. Haw re-examines Marco Polo’s writings. The main arguments against his credibility have been negative, concentrating on things that it is argued he should have seen and noted but did not. The most serious of these supposed omissions are generally said to be his failure to describe the Chinese writing system, tea, foot-binding and the Great Wall of China. Yet Haw argues that what he does mention is impressive and argues strongly for his veracity. This book clarifies Marco Polo’s itineraries in China and proposes several new identifications of places mentioned. Relying extensively on original Chinese sources and supplemented by Haw’s wide knowledge of China, Marco Polo’s China presents a convincing argument and concludes that his work is an accurate, important and useful source from an extraordinary period of Chinese history.

Download or read book Marco Polo's Journey to China. 2nd Edition written by Diana Childress and published by Twenty-First Century Books. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can one book really change the world? A handwritten manuscript by Marco Polo in 1288 did. Polo, son of a wealthy Italian merchant, wrote about his incredible experiences traveling to China with his father and uncle on a trade expedition, and also about his adventures as an envoy of Kublai Khan, the ruler of most of China. Polo’s book became a bestseller in Europe in the fourteenth century. It was copied over and over by hand, translated into fourteen languages, and became one of the first books to be printed after the invention of moveable type. The tales inspired others—including Christopher Columbus in the fifteenth century—to seek new sea routes for trade. Polo’s adventures—and manuscript—are one of world history’s most pivotal moments.

Download or read book Marco Polo written by Laurence Bergreen and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2007 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this authoritative biography of one of the most fascinating figures in world history, Marco Polos incredible odyssey--along the Silk Road and through all the fantastic circumstances of his life--is chronicled in sumptuous and illuminating detail. Illustrated.

Download or read book The Open Empire written by Valerie Hansen and published by W. W. Norton. This book was released on 2000 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Open Empire presents a fresh approach to Chinese history in the premodern period, drawing on stunning evidence from recent archaeological finds and exciting currents in scholarship.