A Weakness In Polo’S Work Is His Natural Bias In Seeing

2. Skeptics question the authenticity of Marco Polo’s account, citing his omission of such things as the great wall, tea, and calligraphy. How important is the veracity of the narrative to our overall assessment of its value to history.

Emperor of China; Self Portrait of K’ang-hsi should not be read as a textbook or as a completely true historical

In Documents 2 and 4, traveling to unfamiliar areas shows its importance. Although Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo were not traveling for the same

In 1271, Marco Polo’s father and uncle, both merchants from Europe, were requested to return to China for the second time by the Mongol Emperor, Kublai Khan. The purpose of the request made by the Great Khan (Kublai) was to bring back to the Mongol court some holy oil from Jerusalem and “a hundred men of learning, thoroughly acquainted with the principles of the Christian religion” (Polo 7) to convince the Mongols to convert to Christianity. Marco Polo joined his father and uncle for this second journey to the East. As part of this journey, Polo traveled throughout regions of the Middle East and Central Asia before reaching the final destination. Further, while working for Kublai Khan in China, he was sent on many inspection tours which allowed him to explore most of the provinces of China. In all the regions that were visited along the way, and more so in the case of the Mongol Empire, there was a distinct disparity in the culture as compared to Polo’s native land. Moreover, Marco Polo’s religious disposition towards Christianity set him apart from the people of the region –the Tartars—who , according to the Kublai Khan, where worshippers of “evil spirits” (Polo 7). These factors placed Marco Polo in the position of an “outsider” as defined by Hage, i.e. “someone who does not experience either socio-cultural or political belonging. It is someone whose mental and bodily dispositions have evolved somewhere else and thus feels culturally ‘out of place’.

The Europeans who dreamt of conquering Asia were under the impression that Asia was a blank slate, isolated with no history and traditions. However, that is their misconception for Asia from 500-1500 CE “was a vast world of contrast… [and] bewildering variety” thriving with many empires, capital cities, religions, and cultures (Gordon, 177). Because of this, Asia then can be classified as a compilation of many key eras such as the Medieval Age in China and the Golden Age. Such prosperous times for Asian states and empires are to be accredited to the notable networking in Asia at this time period. People who utilized the establishment of fundamental institutions such as the religions of Islam and Buddhism and various modes of trading and traveling were able to facilitate the diffusion of ideas and cultures therefore indirectly contributing to the overall connection of Asian states and empires during 500-1500 CE.

22.  What political and cultural differences stand out in the histories of fifteen century China and Western Europe?  What similarities are apparent?  Why?

In order to better understand the criticism against these Chinese writers, we must first understand what is meant by orientalist thinking or orientalism for that matter. One of the authorities on the subject, Edward Said explains the term "Orientalism" and tackles the question of East and

The imperial palaces were built on a grand scale, sparing no expense to display the majesty and dignity of the imperial power of the time. Each successive emperor contributed grandeur to the structures, and today, these palaces stand for all to enjoy. Each imperial palace is a testament to the history and glory of Chinese culture. These glorious structures clearly demonstrate the creative essence and imperial traditions of the Chinese

In terms of the Chinese tribute system we examined in class, the leaders of China’s voyages dealt with leaders of countries they visited by treating them based on the tribute gifts they received. Under Confucian civilization, China often received tribute from the foreign states they visited and gave them Chinese products and recognition of their authority and sovereignty in return. There were several tribute states to China including neighboring countries such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Borneo, Indonesia, South Asia and Central Asia. However when countries stopped paying tribute to China, there were often tensions. During the Zheng He expeditions many goods were carried to build tribute relationships between the Ming Dynasty and newly discovered kingdoms. An example of the a tribute gift given was an eyeglass given to Zhu Di by Parameswara of Malaca. “Of all the tributes Zhu Di received that summer from the many envoys

McNeil is also critical of Landes’ preoccupation in the happenings of Europe alone, while remaining dismissive of all economic and technological accomplishments of China after 1 000 A.D. While Landes dismisses the economic demise of China as a “weird pattern of isolated initiatives and Sisyphean discontinuities,” McNeil instead portrays the rapid innovations of the Sung era, and how they were damaged and disrupted by Mongol conquests and contained within the Ming dynasty, thereby showing that Europe did not surpass Europe in achievement due to their own pre-eminence.

1. Trade rights and religious perceptions affected how Matteo Ricci viewed relations with china by taking a different strategy than the other missionaries. “…the Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) encouraged his followers to immerse themselves in the language and to become conversant with the rich traditions of Chinese literature (Source 21.2, Ricci, Matteo, in Patterns of World History, Vol. 2, p. S21-4)”. Instead of limiting their training in Chinese language and culture and focusing merely on the conversion of the poor, the Jesuits instead immersed themselves in the Chinese language and high culture of the empire. They gained recognition through their advanced knowledge in mathematics, astronomy, military science and other European learning required by the imperial

2. Albert M. Craig, William A. Graham, Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, Frank M. Turner. “China‘s First Empire”. The Heritage of World Civilizations. 1: 1152 (2007, 2005, 2002) Pearson Education, Inc. New

Furthermore, this experience led to the discovery that the key to success is control over regions that produced valuable goods, since control over trade routes ultimately leads to their change.1 China with its warfare and seafaring technology never claimed to take control over the sea even after Zheng He’s voyages, since they had enough, if not more resources than everyone else, unlike Europe. The conclusive thought is that Europeans were poor, and in order for them to succeed in an otherwise rich world, force was the only option. The bias is therefore in the fact that Europeans had no

After about a three and a half year journey, Marco noted that the Polos arrived in the court of Kublai Khan, the conqueror of China. The Great Khan ruled a vast empire of prosperous cities that had richer goods, services, and technology than any place in Europe that Marco had ever seen (Freedman 6). Kublai Khan was the grandson of the infamous Genghis Khan, the fearless Mongol who swept across Asia and the Middle East generations earlier. When the Polos arrived in Shangdu (the capitol of Kublai Khan’s empire), the Mongol empire stretched from China, to Russia and Iraq; the empire was at the pinnacle of its existence (Polo 26). Marco stated that he soon rose to a position of power in Kublai Khan’s court, because Mublai Khan was pleased by Marco’s knowledge and logic. Marco endeavored on confidential missions to “learn about all kinds of different matters in the countries he visited, in order to satisfy the curiosity of the Great Khan” (Hart 35). The Polos accumulated great wealth in jewels and gold, thanks to the generosity of Kublai Khan; however, they eventually grew homesick and began their

“I have not told half of what I saw” were the final words of the great Venetian explorer Marco Polo; however, in recent times, Marco Polo’s exploits have been doubted more and more. (Pedriali, 161) Most often cited as evidence that Marco Polo’s travels may not have been as truthful as reported is the 1998 book Did Marco Polo go to china? by Dr. Frances Wood. Through new research done by Dr. Hans Ulrich Vogel of University of Tübingen in Germany, it has been shown that Marco Polo was mostly truthful in his memoirs, but it has also proven that some things were exaggerated thanks to his ghostwriter Rustichello da Pisa, Marco Polo himself, or later copyists.