Marco Polo's Paradise In Heaven, Suzhou On Earth

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’.

827-782 BCE) fought many defensive wars against no-Chinese in the boreal during most of his reign. In 771 BCE, his son, King You, was stream during a barbarian encroachment in Haojing, the capital city, which was overrun and plunder by a assemblage of northeners. The illustrious inheritor and some of the court members who conduct to survive the disaster decided that Haojing was too vulnerable to attack from the coast, so they abandoned the city and the aurorean auxiliary metropolis at Luoyang became the new magnanimous capital. This was the greater dissuasion point in the Zhou Dynasty, which marks the close of the Western Zhou period.

Despite being the shortest ruling dynasty at fifteen years, the Qin dynasty served a vital role in the development of China’s civilization (51). The Qin dynasty was prefaced by a period of instability caused by an ineffective political system and war between several regions all vying to overtake the others. After the Qin kingdom rose as the victor, King Cheng established for himself the title of Shi huangdi, or emperor, and looked to create a political system that would prevent the empire from fragmenting again. To achieve such a centralized government, Shi Huangdi sacrificed his people’s intellectual freedom and lives and produced a connected and standardized China, whose efficiency and strength still impacts the vision

Next is the evidence provided by the works from their methodology. For The Travels of Marco Polo, the evidence for Polo’s conclusions are his own experiences while in China. Therefore, Polo’s work provided Europe a more unfiltered and objective view of China in all its extravagance to Polo and later the Europeans. This unfiltered view point meant that Polo was inaccurate in some of his information. When describing Kublai Khan’s palace, Polo remarked how large the walls are and how extravagant and magnificent it was. The palace itself was in fact just an enclosed royal park used as an encampment. Polo’s observations and vocabulary used to describe the palace showed that European’s viewed China and what they did in awe, even when the Chinese were acting similar to the Europeans in many aspects.

Before 221 BC, China was separated into different states, and there was great conflict between them. This was the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC) Qin Shi Huangdi, then known as Ying Zheng, was made ruler of the Qin district, and made many great changes to society. He created a fair military system, built one of the worlds most iconic national structures, and unified the warring states that would come to be known as China. Qin was a highly regarded leader, and changed China for the better.

Source: Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant who may have worked for the Yuan dynasty, the Mongol rulers of China, late 13th century. This excerpt is a description of Hangzhou, a southern city that was part of the Yuan empire.

Within the years of 221-206 BCE, the Qin Dynasty rose as a superpower. During this time period, the Warring States Era, Chinese civilization was impacted tremendously in almost every aspect. These hallmarks in history vary from the spreading of Legalism to the birth of the Great Wall of China. Through these countless contributions, the Qin Dynasty was able to revolutionize the Chinese civilization in such a short period of time.

Each consisted of two sections—an elevated citadel, or fortress, and a lower residential area.The Shang may simply be one of several early Chinese civilizations. But it is China’s first historical state. That is, the Shang were the first to record their dynasty’s history using a formal writing

China created an empire extremely similar to the Roman empire discussed in Chapter 5. The only difference being, the Chinese empire was put together using several large armies, which forced their way into new territories. The Qin and Han rulers in China founded this empire. During 221 BCE the state of Qin helped unify China by defeating a main rival of the empire. After this, the king of Qin eventually began to rule all of China, being know as the "first emperor." To help all the states to become more unified he asked for all of the citizens to move into the capital, which created a bigger empire for him to rule. To make sure there wasn't any resistance from the citizens, he ordered officials to go out and retrieve them. Although Qin wanted

Written in ca. 1270 CE, the document titled, “Marco Polo in China” was written first by Marco Polo during his travels, but then transliterated by a professional author when he returned to Venice in 1295 CE (“Marco Polo”). The selection is a piece of descriptive literature detailing the affluent city of Hangchow. According to the document, the city was one hundred miles in circumference and nestled in between a massive river and a freshwater lake. Polo then continued on to describe what the ten marketplaces were like in the city, claiming there were shops galore and a plethora of foodstuffs. In addition, his descriptions of what the housing in the city looked like gives rise to the image of modern-day apartment buildings. In Hangchow, there were paved roads, approximately 12,000 bridges, and even an army that acted as a sort of police force. Marco Polo’s documentation of the city of Hangchow was intended for an audience of educated individuals who had never been to the city. The incredibly detailed description of the city, in

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

The Han dynasty was a golden era for China. It saw the greatest land confiscation of the nation’s history and economic success. In this paper I will be focusing on the structure of the national government, the monopolizing of iron and salt, the Yumen Pass and the Yellow Turban rebellion. Join me as we take a trip back in time to visit a time in Chinas history that is highly revered.

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

The Chinese Empire is a land of innovation, mystery, culture, and art. From mysterious trade partners to military expansionists, the Chinese people have faced a constant evolution of change over their vast history. China’s innovative and advanced mindset has made the West wonder in awe for centuries, and it is difficult to realize that, unlike the West, the East has been the center of technological and industrial advancements for centuries until their eventual decline. Due to China’s vibrant and long past, many have debated which time period was China’s strongest age, and it is difficult to answer this question without clear and precise evidence. Although many Dynasties have been both influential

Many children, including myself, have once played the game Marco Polo. Although, I have always been curious, who exactly is Marco Polo? My fascination of Marco Polo warped into a fixation of his travels. Marco Polo was born in Venice in the year 1254. His father, Nicolo, and his uncle, Maffeo, were merchants who had seats in the great nobleman council of Venice (Polo IV). According to his records, he had traveled thousands of miles with his father and uncle.