Why was the explorer Marco Polo given the nickname “A Thousand Fables”? In the 13th century, Kithai, as China was then called, was an unfamiliar country to Europeans, full of secrets and wonders. When Marco Polo turned eighteen, he was invited by his father Niccolo and uncle Matteo

What is the book of Marco Polo about? “The Book” of Marco Polo is one of the rare medieval works: a lively account of an eyewitness and participant in the events is combined in it with the meticulousness of a scientific researcher. It is curious that in the XIV–XV centuries it was used as

Can Marco Polo be trusted? Although the attitude of contemporaries towards the “Book” was ambiguous, in the 14th–15th centuries. The work of the Venetian served as one of the manuals for drawing up geographical maps of Asia. It played a special role in the era of great geographical discoveries.Leaders

Why was the traveler Marco Polo called “A Thousand Fables” by his fellow countrymen? In the 13th century, Kithai, as China was then called, was an unfamiliar country to Europeans, full of secrets and wonders. When Marco Polo turned eighteen, he was invited by his father Niccolo and uncle Matteo

So, who is Marco Polo? This is the most famous medieval Italian traveler (if you follow the path of Marco Polo on a map, it turns out that he traveled half the world) and writer. The book “On the Diversity of the World” became a bestseller and sold out in huge quantities throughout Europe.

Despite the fact that the accuracy of the facts presented in it is doubtful, this work is still considered a valuable source containing the most important information on the history, ethnography and geography of the Middle Eastern and Asian regions.

Attention! It is known that he used the book during his sea travels. In particular, with the help of it, the Italian tried to find the shortest route to India. This book has survived to this day. It is known that Columbus made more than 70 notes in its margins.

Brief biography of the Venetian traveler

There are a lot of blank spots in the biography of the famous merchant. Historians do not doubt the fact of its existence, but some points have not been fully studied yet.

Family

In particular, it is unknown where and when the traveler was born. There are several versions of the origin:

1. The father was the merchant Niccolo Polo. The son was born between 1254–1261. in Venice (official years of life: 1254–1324) and was the only child in the family, since at the time of birth his father had already left for China, and his mother died before her husband returned.
2. The father was originally from Dolmatia (Croatia) and moved to Venice only in the middle of the 19th century. Perhaps by that time the future traveler had already been born, since there is no information about birth in the Republic in the archives of Venice. If we follow this version, it turns out that Niccolò was a Dalmatian and not a Venetian merchant. In Venice, he and his brothers had only a trading post.

The journey of a father and his brothers

Venetian traders XIII century took a leading position in the Mediterranean Sea. They were the main importers of valuable goods from Africa. But this was not enough.

The heads of the largest trading houses in Venice turned their gaze to the East. Their mysterious and rich Asia beckoned, which could offer European businessmen a variety of different, elite and incredibly expensive goods.

Niccolo was the head of one of the most successful trading houses in Venice and, of course, wanted to conquer the eastern markets. Together with his brother Matteo, he went to the Crimea, to the city of Sudak. There was a trading post there, led by another brother of theirs, Marco. This trip took place sometime between 1253–1260.

From Sudak the brothers went to the capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai-Batu. There they spent a year, and then went on to Bukhara, where they stayed for another 3 years (at this moment there was actually a war between Batu and Berke, the Mongol khans from the Genghisid clan, who were rivals). From Bukhara with a Persian caravan they moved to Khanbalik (Beijing), where at that time another Genghisid ruled - Kublai (Kublay). By the time of his arrival, Kublai had completely conquered China and became the Great Khan.

In Beijing, the brothers stayed for a year, were received by the khan, received from him a golden paiza, which made it possible to freely travel through the territory of the Mongol Empire, and they were also given instructions - convey a message from Khubilai to the Pope. The Great Khan wanted Catholic missionaries from .

The brothers returned to Venice only in 1271. At the same time, Niccolo learned that his wife had died and that he had a fully grown 16-year-old son.

Travel to China and life at the court of the Great Khan

In 1271, the entire family (father, son and father's brothers) made a trip to Jerusalem. From there the merchants set off on their way back to China. In 1275, Marco with his father and uncle arrived in Shandu. It can be said that the young Venetian did a brilliant career at the Khan's court. He writes that he was a military adviser to the khan, as well as the governor of one of the Chinese provinces.

Attention! The traveler wrote that he spent about 17 years in China. The chronology in the book is not always accurate, but the geographical and ethnographic descriptions, descriptions of the customs that existed in the Middle Kingdom at that time are as detailed as possible.

The family managed to return to their homeland, Venice, only in the 90s of the 13th century. The merchants took advantage of the marriage of one of the Mongol princesses, volunteering to accompany her by sea to her groom in Persia.

Book

In Venice no one doubted the reality of the family's trip(Marco Polo’s path is shown very clearly on the map of the Republic at that time).

Upon his return, the merchant managed to fight with the Genoese and even spend some time in a Genoese prison.

It was in conclusion that the book was written. More precisely, it was not the traveler who wrote, but his cellmate Rusticiano.

Marco dictated his notes and thoughts to him.

Attention! No authentic handwritten text has survived. Some researchers believe that a mixture of Old French and Italian was used, while others believe that a little-known Venetian dialect was used. One way or another, only lists from the original manuscript have survived to our time.

The book originally consisted of four parts:

• the first part is about the journey to China through the countries that Marco visited;
• the second part is the customs of the Celestial Empire and the court of the Great Khan;
• the third part is a description of the countries of Southeast Asia, Japan and India;
• the fourth part is a story about the wars waged by the Mongols.

The Way of Marco Polo on the map(according to his book) looks like this:

• there: Venice - Jerusalem - Akka - Baghdad - Hormuz - Kerman - Kashkar - Karakorum - Beijing - Chengdu - Pagan - Beijing;
• back: Beijing - through all of Southeast Asia, Hindustan and the Middle East by sea - Hormuz - Tabriz - Constantinople - Venice.

The book was translated into many languages. It is clear that during the rewriting and translation, errors and inaccuracies were made; perhaps entire fragments of the authentic text were thrown out or fantastic additions were made; as a result, Marco Polo’s path on the map was partially changed.

last years of life

ABOUT recent years Not much is known about the life of the Venetian traveler, but all data is documented. The merchant was married to a noble Venetian woman, had several houses and offices in Venice, was involved in business, and participated in litigation.

The couple had three children, all girls. Two married merchants from Dolmatia (possibly version about the Croatian origin of the family and is correct).

Died in 1324. He was buried in the Church of San Lorenzo.

False Journey Version

Alone modern researchers they doubt that the famous merchant actually made such a journey and lived in China for a long time. They argue their point of view by the fact that the book contains chronological inaccuracies and there is no mention of:

• hieroglyphs;
• book printing;
• porcelain;
• gunpowder;
• Great Wall;
• traditions of tea drinking and foot binding for women.

Skeptics also point out that there is not a word in Chinese sources about the presence of the Venetians at the court of the Great Khan.

Arguments in defense of the traveler

Many historians believe that Polo actually made the journey, and did not glean information from the lips of Persian merchants. Proponents of this version say that

• spoke Mongolian and Persian perfectly, he did not need to know the Chinese language (especially writing), since Mongolian was the official language at court;
• he knew little about the traditions of China and the Chinese, since he lived rather separately, and the Chinese themselves did not favor European barbarians;
• did not describe the Great Wall of China, since it was completely completed only during the Ming Dynasty;
• I wrote from memory, so topographical, geographical and historical inaccuracies are quite acceptable.

As for Chinese chronicles, Europeans were rarely mentioned there at all. But in the chronicle of Yuan-Shi there is a mention of a certain Po-Lo, who lived and worked at the court of the Great Khan.

Attention! The Venetian's book contains a lot interesting facts about the life of the court of Kublai Khan. An outsider could hardly be so knowledgeable about the smallest details of everyday life and court intrigues.

What Marco Polo discovered

It cannot be said that Marco Polo's family became pioneer of the trade route To China. It also cannot be said that this was the first contact between Europeans and Chinese.

Historians know that the Roman emperors managed to establish contact with the Chinese Han dynasty, that in Chinese chronicles there are references to certain merchants from the countries of the “midnight sun”

(perhaps we were talking about Scandinavians or Slavs from Novgorod the Great, who made long expeditions even before the Tatar-Mongol invasion), that shortly before the journey of his father and uncles, an envoy visited China French king Louis IX.

However, the journey of Marco Polo and his subsequent detailed description provided an opportunity for Europeans to learn a lot about China and the Chinese. In Europe they started talking about paper money, coal, and sago palms. Detailed description the cultivation of spices and places of trade in them made it possible for European merchants to eliminate the Arab monopoly on this type of trade.

Marco Polo, travel map, biography

Brief biography of the traveler Mark Polo

Conclusion

In general, the travels of this family did an incredible thing - they brought Europe and Asia as close as possible. Marco Polo and his relatives visited many countries, thereby the Venetian merchants proved that overland travel through the Mongol Empire could be relatively safe, and therefore profitable. The question of who is Marco Polo and what did he do for rapprochement between Europe and Asia, can be considered sufficiently studied.

An Italian merchant and traveler who presented the story of his travels through Asia in the famous “Book of the Diversity of the World.”

Despite doubts about the reliability of the facts presented in this book, expressed from the moment of its appearance to the present time, it serves as a valuable source on the geography, ethnography, history of Armenia, Iran, China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, India, Indonesia and other countries in the Middle Ages . This book had a significant influence on sailors, cartographers, and writers of the 14th-16th centuries. In particular, she was on the ship of Christopher Columbus during his search for a route to India; According to researchers, Columbus made 70 marks on it.

Marco Polo was born around 1254 in Venice or on the island of Korcula (the territory of modern Croatia). Polo's ancestors came to Venice from Dalmatia and were never among the noble Venetian merchant families. When Marco was six years old, his father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo set off on a nine-year journey to the East. During this time, the boy's mother died, and he was raised by his paternal aunt. Marco received a quite passable education for that time - he read the Bible and some ancient authors, and knew how to count and write. And he spent his free time on the Venetian canals or in the port, where merchant ships loaded with goods arrived and departed to all corners of the world.

Marco was 15 years old when his father Nicolo and uncle Mateo, rich merchants, returned to Venice from a long and distant journey. This was in 1269. They visited the Crimea, the Middle Volga, Samarkand and Bukhara, and Mongolia. According to them, Mongol Empire stretches from the Danube to the banks Pacific Ocean. Even China was under the rule of the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan.

Khan hospitably received the Polo brothers and, when they were preparing to return, instructed them to deliver a letter to the Pope, in which he expressed his readiness to establish diplomatic relations.

Only two years later (1271) the Polo brothers received a response letter from the pope and gifts for Kublai Khan. This time Nicolo took his 17-year-old son Marco with him. Thus began the famous 24-year journey of Marco Polo. The journey to China was long, it took about 4 years (1271-1275).

The first Chinese city to which the Polo family reached in 1275 was Shazha (modern Dunhuang). That same year they reached Kublai Kublai's summer residence in Shangdu (in modern Gansu province of China). According to Marco Polo, the khan admired him, gave him various instructions, did not allow him to return to Venice, and even kept him governor of the city of Yangzhou for three years (Chapter CXLIV, Book 2). In addition, the Polo family (according to the book) participated in the development of the Khan's army and taught him to use catapults in the siege of fortresses.

In the spring of 1292, a fleet of fourteen four-masted ships sailed from the port of Zaitun (Quanzhou). While traveling around the eastern and southern coasts of Asia, Marco Polo learned about Japan, the islands of Indonesia (“the labyrinth of 7448 islands”), and the country of Chambo on the eastern coast of Indochina. From the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, the ships passed through the Strait of Malacca and made a three-month stop on the shores of the island of Sumatra. After stopping in Ceylon and sailing along the western coast of India, the ships entered the Persian Gulf and anchored in Hormuz, where the Polos had visited 22 years earlier. While sailing across the Indian Ocean, Marco Polo managed to obtain some information about the African coast, Ethiopia, and the islands of Madagascar, Zanzibar and Socotra. Having delivered the princesses to Persia, the Polo family returned to Venice in 1295. All of Venice was amazed to learn how much wealth - precious stones - the three travelers brought from the East.

Soon a war broke out between Venice and Genoa for supremacy in trade in the Mediterranean. Marco Polo equipped the ship at his own expense and took part in the battle himself. Together with his team, he was captured and imprisoned in a Genoese prison. There, Marco Polo told prisoners about his travels to distant countries. One of the captives, the Italian writer Rusticiano, wrote down the Venetian's stories about everything he saw and heard during his interesting and long journey.

Some time later, Marco Polo was released from prison, returned to Venice and continued writing about his travels. He died in 1324 as a noble, respected man. His book interested his contemporaries. At first it circulated in many handwritten lists. It was first published in 1477 and then translated into many languages. This book introduced Europeans to the distant countries of the East, their nature, inhabitants, and culture. True, not everything in it was reliable. But the huge amount of valuable information about the East that Marco Polo collected during his travels made this work a favorite book of such outstanding navigators as Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan. Marco Polo's book played an important role in the discovery of America and sea ​​route to India.

"The Book of Wonders of the World"

Also known as “The Travels of Marco Polo”, “The Book of the Diversity of the World”, “The Book of Marco Polo” (old French: Livres des merveilles du monde).

Despite doubts about the reliability of the facts presented in this book, expressed from the moment of its appearance to the present time, it serves as a valuable source on geography, ethnography, history different nations peace.

A description of Marco Polo's travels across Asia and Africa, made between 1276 and 1291, which were written down from his words in Old French by Rustichelli da Pisa, who was with him in a Genoese prison.

“Journeys” consists of four parts. The first describes the territories of the Middle East and Central Asia which Marco Polo visited on his way to China. The second describes China and the court of Kublai Khan. The third part talks about coastal countries: Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and the east coast of Africa. The fourth describes some of the wars between the Mongols and their northern neighbors.

Descriptions of Marco Polo are full of inaccuracies. This applies to the names of individual cities and provinces, their relative locations, as well as descriptions of objects in these cities. A famous example is the description of the bridge near Beijing (now named after Marco Polo), which actually has half as many arches as described in the book.

Marco Polo visited

And Armenia

According to Marco Polo, Armenia was divided into Greater (most of modern Armenia) and Lesser (most likely he meant Cilicia).

"This great country. It begins in a city called Arzinga (Erzincan), where the best fabrics and linens in the world are woven. He also has the best baths from natural springs that are found throughout the city. The people of the country are Armenians. There are many cities and villages in the country, but significant city is Arzinga, where the Archbishop's See is located, Arziron (Erzrum) and Arzizi (Arzhish). Passing from Trebizond to Tauris, there is one castle - Paipurt (Baiburt), it stands on a hill of the peninsula and here you can see silver mines,” the traveler wrote.

Marco Polo was perhaps the first European to reveal to the West the indescribable and majestic beauty of the biblical Mount Ararat. He described everything in his notes. Marco Polo, I wanted to convey that important fact, that it is in Armenia, on the top of the Holy Mountain, that Noah’s Ark is located.

Russia

Russia is a large country in the north. Christians of the Greek confession live here. There are many kings and its own language; the people are simple-minded and very beautiful; men and women are white and blond. There are many difficult passes and fortresses on the border. They pay tribute to no one, only a little to the king of the West; and he is a Tatar and is called Taktaktai, they pay tribute to him, and to no one else. This is not a trading country, but they have a lot of expensive furs of high value; they have sables, and ermines, and squirrels, and ercolines, and many glorious foxes, the best in the world. They have a lot of silver ores; They mine a lot of silver.

There is nothing else to talk about here, and therefore we will go from Russia and tell you about the Great Sea that is around these regions, and the inhabitants there, starting first of all with Constantinople.

But I’ll tell you first of all about the region to the north and northwest. In this country, I’ll tell you, there is a region called Lac, it borders on Russia, there is a king, and the inhabitants are Christians and Saracens. There are a lot of good furs here; merchants take them in different directions. Residents are engaged in trade and crafts. There’s nothing else to talk about here, so let’s go from here and talk about something else.

I want to say something about Russia that I forgot. Know, in truth, the most severe cold in the world is in Russia; it's hard to hide from him. The country is large, right up to the sea-ocean; on this sea they have several islands where gyrfalcons and pilgrim falcons live, all of which is exported to different countries of the world. From Russia, I’ll tell you, the way to Norway is not long, and if it weren’t for the cold, you could get there soon, but because of the great cold it’s not easy to go there.

To China

In 1260, Nicolo (Marco's father), and his brother Maffeo, undertook a trading expedition to East Asia. Marco was also among the travelers. The route ran from Venice (Northern Italy) to the Palestinian Akka, then to the port of Ayas on the southern coast of Asia. The merchants crossed the Armenian Highlands and descended the Tigris to the port of Basra. The goal of this enterprise was to reach the shores of China by sea. But fearing the difficulties of sea travel and not trusting unreliable (according to the merchants) ships, they abandoned the sea route and continued their journey to China by land.

Marco Polo lived in China for about 15 years as a trader. While serving under Khan, Marco crossed Eastern China many times. From the traveler's stories, only two routes can be known with certainty. The first route follows the coastline south to the cities of Quinsay and Zeitoun. The second route leads to eastern Tibet, Yunnan and further to northern Indochina.

Kazakhstan

In the history of the penetration of information about the Kazakh land into Europe, the name of the Venetian Marco Polo cannot fail to be mentioned, “ greatest traveler of all times and peoples,” as it was deservedly called by the Russian scientist, explorer of Asia I. Mushketov. The paths of the Polo brothers crossed both the territory of Central Asia and the Kazakh land (Otrar, the Syr Darya and Ili valleys).

The six chapters of Marco Polo's book detail the disagreements and struggles between certain courageous men named Alau and Berke. The name Alau-batyr is found in folklore works published by V.V. Radlov in his work “Samples of Folk Literature of Northern Turkic Tribes” and in “Song of Forty Crimean Heroes” (“Tsyrymnyts ktryk, batyrs turaly zhyr”).

Mongolia

Marco Polo served for 17 years at the court of the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan, who founded the Yuan Empire. Carrying out orders from the emperor, he traveled through almost all the provinces of today's China. The subsequently written book “On the Diversity of the World” became a real treasure of medieval literature. It tells in detail about the life, way of life, traditions, history and culture of the Mongols of the 14th century.

In 1292, the khan released three travelers with rich gifts; They went to the ocean and through Cochin China, Sumatra, Ceylon, Trebizond and Constantinople returned to Venice in 1295.

In Venice, Marco Polo, thanks to his wealth, achieved a high position and received the nickname Masser Millioni.

And India

The trip to India was the last of Marco Polo's great missions. His book says this: “Marco returned from India, across many seas, and told a lot of new things about that country.”

In the book of Marco Polo there is a mention of the city of Mian. It is believed that Myan is Pagan on the Irrawaddy River. Accordingly, Myan Marco Polo is Burma.
In the book of Marco Polo it is said that the city of Mian is “large, noble, the most important in the kingdom; the people here are idolaters, they speak in a special language, in their own language, and are subservient to the great khan.”

And Indonesia

It is believed that the explorer Marco Polo (1254-1324) was the first European to visit the Indonesian archipelago. He supposedly wandered there by accident, while searching for various spices, which were extremely highly valued at that time.

In the introduction, Marco describes Indonesia as eight kingdoms, six of which he visited, “namely... the kingdoms of Ferlek, Basman, Sumatra, Dagroyan, Lambri and Fansur.” Perhaps the most primitive of them was Basman, whose inhabitants “have no law, like animals.” He notes: “The Great Khan considers them his subjects, but they do not pay him tribute because they are so far away that the Great Khan’s people do not get here.”

Museum of Marco Polo

The Marco Polo House Museum is located in Korcula, Croatia.

The Marco Polo Museum is located very close to cathedral St. Mark in one of the old houses, where, according to one version, he was born. Nobody really knows if this is true.

You will be greeted at the entrance to the museum wax figure Marco Polo himself, dressed in a costume similar to what merchants and travelers wore then. A wide stone staircase leads into the building, leading up to a narrow door made of planks. Here are scenes from the life of the young Marco Polo in Korcula, his travels through the Egyptian sands and China, the scene of his meeting with Kublai Khan in Mongolia, as well as scenes from Marco Polo's imprisonment - it was there that he began to describe his travels.

Marco Polo (TV series)

American historical television series telling the story of the journey of the legendary Venetian merchant Marco Polo. The main roles were played by Lorenzo Riquelmi (Marco Polo) and Benedict Wong (Khubilai Khan). Since December 12, 2014.

Plot of the film

1273 The young Venetian Marco Polo, along with his father, as part of a group of European merchants, arrives in China, which is under Mongol rule, and ends up at the court of the ruler, Kublai Khan. Marco's father offers the khan to give his son into his service in exchange for the right to trade in Silk Road. Marco learns local traditions and culture, becomes close to the khan and inevitably becomes involved in political intrigues at court.

Source – Internet

Marco Polo- Italian merchant and traveler who presented the story of his travels through Asia in the famous “Book of the Diversity of the World.” Despite doubts about the reliability of the facts presented in this book, expressed from the moment of its appearance to the present time, it serves as a valuable source on geography, ethnography, history of Iran, China, Mongolia, India, Indonesia and other countries in the Middle Ages. This book had a significant influence on sailors, cartographers, and writers of the 14th-16th centuries. In particular, she was on the ship of Christopher Columbus during his search for a route to India.

Origin

Marco Polo was born into the family of a Venetian merchant, Nicolo Polo, whose family was involved in the jewelry and spice trade. Since there is no surviving birth certificate for Marco Polo, the traditional version of his birth in Venice was challenged in the 19th century by Croatian researchers who claim that the first evidence of the Polo family in Venice dates back to the second half of the 13th century, where they are referred to as Poli di Dalmazia , while until 1430 the Polo family owned a house in Korcula, now in Croatia.

The Journey of Marco Polo

Road to China

A new journey to China passed through Mesopotamia, Pamir and Kashgaria.

Travels 1271-1295

Life in China

The first Chinese city to which the Polo family reached in 1275 was Shazha (modern Dunhuang). That same year they reached Kublai Kublai's summer residence in Shangdu (in modern Gansu province of China). According to Polo, the khan admired him, gave him various instructions, did not allow him to return to Venice, and even kept him governor of the city of Yangzhou for three years (Chapter CXLIV, Book 2). In addition, the Polo family (according to the book) participated in the development of the Khan's army and taught him to use catapults in the siege of fortresses.

Descriptions of Polo's life in China rarely follow a chronological order, making it difficult to determine the exact route of his travels. But its description is quite accurate geographically; it gives orientation by cardinal directions and distances in terms of days of the route: “To the south of Panshin, one day’s journey away, is the large and noble city of Kaiu”. In addition, Polo describes the daily life of the Chinese, mentioning the use paper money, typical crafts and culinary traditions of various regions. He stayed in China for fifteen years.

Return to Venice

Despite numerous requests from the Polo family, Khan did not want to let them go, but in 1291 he married one of the Mongol princesses to the Persian Ilkhan Arghun. To organize her safe journey, he equipped a detachment of fourteen ships, allowed the Polo family to join as official representatives of the khan, and sent a flotilla to Hormuz. During the voyage, the Polos visited Sumatra and Ceylon and returned to Venice in 1295 through Iran and the Black Sea.

Life after returning

Very little is known about his life after returning from China. According to some reports, he took part in the war with Genoa. Around 1298, Polo was captured by the Genoese and remained there until May 1299. His travel stories were recorded by another prisoner, Rustichello (Rusticiano), who also wrote chivalric romances. According to some sources, the text was dictated in the Venetian dialect, according to others, it was written in Old French with inserts in Italian. Due to the fact that the original manuscript has not survived, it is not possible to establish the truth.

After his release from Genoese captivity, he returned to Venice, got married and from this marriage he had three daughters (two were married to merchants from Dalmatia, which, according to some researchers, confirms the hypothesis of his Croatian origin, but the wife herself was from the famous Venetian family, which rather speaks of the well-established connections of the Polo family in Venice). He also had a house on the corner of Rio di San Giovanni Crisostomo and Rio di San Lio. There are documents showing that he was involved in two minor trials.

In 1324, already an ill man, Polo wrote his will, which mentioned the golden paiza received from Tatar Khan(he received it from his uncle Maffeo, who in turn bequeathed it to Marco in 1310). Also in 1324, Marco died and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo. In 1596, his house (where, according to legend, the things he brought from the Chinese campaign were kept) burned down. The church in which he was buried was demolished in the 19th century.

Researchers about the book

Cover of the English edition Books by Marco Polo, 1874

The book of Marco Polo is one of the most popular objects of historical research. The bibliography, compiled in 1986, contains more than 2,300 scientific works in European languages ​​alone.

From the moment he returned to the city, stories from the trip were viewed with disbelief. Peter Jackson mentions as one of the reasons for mistrust reluctance to accept his description of a well-ordered and hospitable Mongol Empire, which contradicted the traditional Western view of barbarians. In turn, in 1995, Frances Wood, curator of the Chinese collection of the British Museum, published a popular book in which she questioned the very fact of Polo's travel to China, suggesting that the Venetian did not travel beyond Asia Minor and the Black Sea, but simply used the ones known to him. descriptions of the travels of Persian merchants. For example, in his book, Marco Polo writes that he helped the Mongols during the siege of the Song base in Sanyang, but the siege of this base ended in 1273, that is, two years before his arrival in China. There are other shortcomings in his book that raise questions among researchers.

Previous contacts with China

One of the myths surrounding this book is the idea of ​​Polo as the first contact between Europe and China. Even without the assumption of contact between the Roman Empire and the Han dynasty, the Mongol conquests of the 13th century eased the route between Europe and Asia (since it now passed through the territory of almost one state).

In Khubilai's archives from 1261 there is a reference to European merchants from Lands of the Midnight Sun, probably Scandinavian or Novgorod. On their first journey, Nicolo and Maffeo Polo followed the same route as Guillaume de Rubruck, indeed sent by Pope Innocent IV, who reached the then Mongol capital of Karakorum and returned in 1255. The description of his route was known in medieval Europe and could have been known to the Polo brothers on their first journey.

During Polo's stay in China, Rabban Sauma, a native of Beijing, came to Europe, and missionary Giovanni Montecorvino, on the contrary, went to China. Published in 1997 by David Selbourne, the text of the Italian Jew Jacob of Ancona, who allegedly visited China in 1270-1271, shortly before Polo, is, according to most Hebraists and Sinologists, a hoax.

Unlike previous travelers, Marco Polo created a book that gained great popularity and throughout the Middle Ages competed in public success with the fantastic journey of John Mandeville (the prototype of which was Odorico Pordenone).

Book versions

Little is known about Marco Polo's literacy rate. Most likely he could keep commercial records, but it is unknown whether he could write text. The text of the book was dictated by him to Rustichello, probably in his native language, Venetian, or in Latin, but Rustichello could also write it in French, in which he wrote novels. The process of writing a book could significantly affect the reliability and completeness of its content: Marco excluded from his description those memories that were of no interest to him as a merchant (or were obvious to him), and Rustichello could omit or interpret at his own discretion memories that were not of interest to him. interest or already incomprehensible to him. It can also be assumed that Rustichello was related to only some of the four books, and Polo could have other “co-authors”.

Soon after its appearance, the book was translated into Venetian, Latin (different translations from the Venetian and French versions), back into French from the Latin version. During the process of translation and rewriting, the books were changed, text fragments were added or deleted. The oldest surviving manuscript (Manuscript F) is significantly shorter than the others, but textual evidence suggests that the other surviving manuscripts are based on more complete original texts.

Fragments that raise doubts

Significant omissions

Francis Wood notes that neither hieroglyphs, nor printing, nor tea, nor porcelain, nor the practice of binding women's feet, nor the Great Wall of China are mentioned in Polo's book. The arguments put forward by proponents of travel authenticity are based on the specific process of the book's creation and Polo's purpose in conveying his memories.

Polo knew Persian (the language of international communication at that time), while living in China, he learned Mongolian (the language of the Chinese administration during this period), but did not need to learn Chinese. As a member of the Mongol administration, he lived at a distance from Chinese society (which, according to him, had a negative view of European barbarians), had little interaction with his daily life, and was unable to observe many of the traditions evident only in the household.

To a man who had not received a formal education and was a stranger to literature, local books represented “Chinese literacy,” but Polo describes in detail the production of paper money, which differs little from the printing of books.

Tea was by that time widely known in Persia, so it was of no interest to the author; similarly, it is not mentioned in Arabic and Persian descriptions of that time.

Porcelain was mentioned briefly in the book.

Regarding footbinding, one of the manuscripts (Z) mentions that Chinese women walk in very small steps, but this is not explained more fully.

The Great Wall as we know it today was built during the Ming Dynasty. In the time of Marco Polo, these were mostly earthworks, which did not form a continuous wall, but were limited to the most militarily vulnerable areas. For the Venetian, fortifications of this kind may not have been of significant interest.

Inaccurate descriptions

Descriptions of Marco Polo are full of inaccuracies. This applies to the names of individual cities and provinces, their relative locations, as well as descriptions of objects in these cities. A famous example is the description of the bridge near Beijing (now named after Marco Polo), which actually has half as many arches as described in the book.

In Marco Polo's defense, it can be said that his description was from memory, he was familiar with Persian and used Persian names, which were often also inconsistent in their rendering of Chinese names. Some inaccuracies were introduced during translation or rewriting of the book, so some surviving manuscripts are more accurate than others. In addition, in many cases Polo did use second-hand information (especially when describing historical or fantastic events that happened before his journey). Many other contemporary descriptions also suffer from this kind of inaccuracy, which cannot be blamed on the fact that their authors were not in that place at that time.

Role at court

Kublai's honor to the young Polo and his appointment as governor of Yangzhou do not look credible, and the absence of Chinese or Mongolian official records of the merchants' presence in China for almost twenty years, according to Frances Wood, looks particularly suspicious. Most authors mention only a reference from 1271 in which Pagba Lama, a close adviser to Kublai Kublai, mentions a foreigner on friendly terms with the khan, but it does not indicate the name, nationality, or length of stay of this foreigner in China.

It is possible that Polo's role in China is greatly exaggerated in his book, but this error may be attributed to the author's boasting, the embellishment of the copyists, or problems of the translators, as a result of which the role of adviser may have been transformed into the post of governor.

In the book, Polo shows an awareness of relationships at the Khan's court, information about which would not have been available without proximity to the court. Thus, in Chapter LXXXV (On the treacherous plan to revolt the city of Kambala), he, emphasizing his personal presence at the events, describes in detail the various abuses of Minister Ahmad and the circumstances of his murder, naming the name of the killer (Wanzhu), which exactly corresponds to Chinese sources. This episode is significant because the Chinese dynastic chronicle Yuan-shi mentions the name of Po-Lo as a person who was part of the commission investigating the murder and stood out for sincerely telling the emperor about Ahmad's abuses. It was common practice to use Chinese nicknames for foreigners, making it difficult to find mention of Polo's name in other Chinese sources. Many Europeans who officially visited China during this period, such as de Rubruck, received no mention at all in Chinese chronicles.

Evaluation of the book by modern researchers

Most modern researchers reject Frances Wood's opinion about the complete fabrication of the entire trip, considering it an unsubstantiated attempt to make money on a sensation.

A more productive (and generally accepted) point of view is to look at this book as a source of merchant records about places to buy goods, routes for their movement and the circumstances of life in these countries.

MARCO POLO(Marco Polo) (1254–1324), Venetian traveler. Born into the family of the Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo. In 1260 Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, Marco's father and uncle, went to Beijing (Khanbalay, or Tatu), which Kublai Khan, grandson Genghis Khan, made it the capital of his possessions. Kublai made them promise to return to China and bring with him several Christian monks. In 1271 the brothers set off on a long journey to the east, taking Marco with them. The expedition reached Beijing in 1275 and was warmly received by Kublai Kublai. Marco was a diligent young man and had a talent for languages. While his father and uncle were engaged in trade, he studied the Mongolian language. Khubilai, who usually brought talented foreigners to his court, hired Marco into the civil service. Soon Marco became a member of the privy council, and the emperor gave him several assignments. One of them was to compile a report on the situation in Yunnan and Burma after the latter was conquered by the Mongols in 1287, the other was to purchase a Buddha tooth from Ceylon. Marco subsequently became prefect of Yangzhou.

During his 15 years of service, Marco studied China and collected a lot of information about India and Japan. In 1290 he asked to be allowed to go home, but Kublai refused. Marco managed to get out of China only in 1292, when he was appointed to accompany the Mongol princess Kokachin, who was going to Persia, where she was supposed to marry the local viceroy Arghun, Kublai's grandnephew. Having reached Persia, Marco received news of the death of Kublai. This freed him from the obligation to return to China, and he went to Venice.

The following year, after returning to Venice, Marco was captured aboard a Venetian merchant ship by the Genoese in the eastern Mediterranean. From 1296 to 1299 he was in prison in Genoa, where he dictated the Book of Marco Polo (or the Book of Wonders of the World) to a certain Rustichello from Pisa. The book contains descriptions not only of China and mainland Asia, but also of the vast world of islands - from Japan to Zanzibar.

In 1299 Marco was released. In the eyes of his fellow citizens, he remained an eccentric; no one believed his stories.