Marco Polo Research Paper Marco Polo is inarguably one of the most famous Venice travelers and merchants in the 13th century in Europe. Driven by his curiosity, Marco Polo headed to the east to find the truth about the east for the Europeans. He wrote the famous book, a relatively comprehensive introduction of his trip to Asia, The Travels of Marco Polo despite some argument still struggles about whether Marco Polo had been to China because of some small details and over-exaggerated stories. In the book, he described his full experience about his trip to the east which innovated the inspiration of the European to explore China at that time. Although with criticism on his over-exaggerated stories in the book, he certainly brought knowledge …show more content…
Since Marco Polo is the first man that travelled to china who brought back the detailed travels notes, the details brought by him gave the European a chance to know how Chinese live, especially the landscape in China as described in the book: “The great cities of China and the waterways that linked them, above all Kinsai the 'City of Heaven', 100 miles in circuit, built like Venice on canals, with 12 gates and 12,000 bridges -- all these things, in Marco's reports, entered into the imaginative consciousness of Europeans.” (Skelton, 5) Also, for the first time in the history, he gave Europeans the opportunity to learn about Chinese culture in every means of the lifestyle. The people of Europe at that time, with strong arrogance, thought that they had the most complex societies in the world. But with the introduction of the Mongol Empire by Marco Polo in his Journey, the Europeans realized that the Mongol Empire in China was much more complex with advanced indoor plumbing and paper money technology. (Historpedia) Thus, The Travel of Marco Polo certainly decreased the arrogance of Europeans and made them realize and curious about the complexity of the Asian society. Regardless the fact that it is debated whether his journey really happened, he successfully brought the attention of the Europeans on the well-structured Asian society at that
When comparing the Chinese and Western historical development, the similar key events would have very different outcomes due to their different backgrounds. During the fifteenth century, Zheng He was commissioned to lead the “treasure ships” for seven voyages down the Western Seas. And, Prince Henry sent expeditions to explore the western coast of Africa. China and Portugal, the both ends of the Eurasian continent, almost simultaneously began marine navigations. They have shared some similar features, but there are actually major differences between the two. This paper will compare and contrast these two remarkable explorers. The focus will be on the ideas and circumstances that influenced their actions, and their importance in shaping history.
As new ideas traveled main trade routes, such as the Silk Road and the Mediterranean, the effects of such were felt through an influx of contact between countries due to increased desire for new information and countries gaining a larger presence on the world stage. This phenomenon can also be seen through the lens of cultural exchange that took place during this same time period in Eurasia. A major component of the Eurasian trade networks, such as the Silk Road and Indian Ocean, was that they fostered interregional contacts that had ceased to previously exist. When a country had a desire for study or technology, they earned more respect on the global stage. This can be further examined by looking at Marco Polo’s voyage into Asia.
The enlightenment period was full of social and intellectual growth. This time period changed the way people thought of the world and exposed the world to different cultures. It brought the world into several revolutions that will later contribute to great change for the modern world. Travel was significant during the enlightenment due to the enlightenment ideas that knowledge and information was gained through experience. In order for the people to get a better understanding of the world and gain information about other cultures, they had to travel to these people. During this era and time period of the enlightenment, travel was significant in order to get a quality and endless education. Denis Diderot shows the significance that travel did
Due to their contrasting but also similar views of economic expansion, the Portuguese and the Chinese had different structures and values of their societies. Both societies were very involved in trading and exploration, however they had different reasons for exploration. The Portuguese and Prince Henry wanted to reach Asian lands by sailing down the coast of Afric...
Exploration is an activity that is held in high esteem because of the mental challenge that comes with willingly surrendering the safety of certainty to venture into unknown land. This act is seen as reflecting the utmost courage. Although this may be true, it is important to realize that more often than not, explorers had certain expectations regarding the places they were traveling to. This fact was strongly reflected in the nature of their accounts. In Marco Polo’s case, his father and uncle had observed “many things worth of admiration… in the progress of their journey,” which took place several years before Marco Polo set off from Venice . Marco Polo surely heard about the great things they had come across. He came in knowing that, despite the risks of such long travel, the things that he would see would be unlike anything that he had ever met before. Perhaps, this was Polo’s motivation. It is never explicitly stated, but it may be that Polo was driven by curiosity. He merely wanted to learn more about the great culture he had heard about.
Accompanied by 27,000 men on 62 large and 255 small ships, the Chinese eunuch Zheng He, led 7 naval expeditions to Southeast Asia, Middle East and east coast of Africa in the span of 28 years during the Ming Dynasty. The scale of Zheng He’s fleet was unprecedented in world history. The large treasure ships used during the expeditions were purported to be 440 feet long and 180 feet wide (Dreyer, p. 102). Throughout his travels, Zheng He brought Chinese tea, porcelain and silk products to foreign countries and also brought back exotic goods to the Ming court such as spices, plants and leather. Although his voyages fostered commercial trades and cultural exchange between China and foreign countries, the goal of his expeditions stemmed from the political motivation to maintain the tributary system and his voyages had important political implication of causing Neo-Confucian opposition and suspension of the expedition.
Nowadays the wide array of transportation means and infrastructures at our disposal has made it relatively easy for us to travel from one country to another; even when those countries are thousands of miles away from each other. However, during the 13th and 14th centuries, travelling was not that easy. Yet, two men, the Italian tradesman Marco Polo and the Moroccan Jurist Ibn Battuta became famous for having managed to perform extremely long distance journeys away from their home country. At the end of their long travels, both men shared their experiences with the world via the books, The Travels of Marco Polo and The Travels of Ibn Battuta. An analysis of those two texts reveals two things. On one hand, Marco Polo remained a cultural outsider to the people he met during his travels, thus enhancing his power of observation and stimulating his curiosity. On the other hand, Ibn Battuta travelled as an insider, and consequently he judged the people he met only in light of his Muslim background.
... [New ed. New York: Liveright ;, 2003. Print. This source tells the reader about the tales of Marco Polo's travels, but it also goes in depth into the troubles that Marco Polo faced once he did return. This sources tells the reader about the people the critics who questioned Marco's work. This source also tells the reader about the challenges the Polos faced, trying to return to Venice after having been away for so long.
Age of Explorations was a time of discovery of the new world during the 15th through 17th century. Many Explorers were in search for new passage ways, new trading ports, new land, new spices, and riches. The three explorers discussed in this paper is Henry Hudson, Jacques Cartier, and Francisco Pizarro. Henry Hudson was an explorer whose main purpose was to find a route to Asia from Europe, he had a series of three voyages trying to achieve this. Jacques Cartier was sent to find riches and a route to Asia as well. Francisco Pizarro served on an expedition, which he discovered the Pacific Ocean.
...e, Europeans were finding themselves short of land and room for expansion due to numerous empires in a relatively small area. This led to the search for land. The political powers sought wealth and hoped to achieve this by conquering Asians markets as had been done in the west. Much like the political powers, the Christian church greedily sought mass expansion and conversion, pushing for missions in the foreign lands. In contrast to the Europeans motives, the reasons for Chinese commercial expansion were desires and curiosity of a single emperor in the Ming dynasty that was not pushed for by the aristocrats, church, or scholar-gentry. Whereas the general consensus of Europe pushed for expansion for economic, political, and religious reasons, the expansion was the doing of one emperor who looked for wealth for defense against the threat of the Mongols from the north.
There is a debate whether or not Marco Polo truly went to China. The side that does not believe Marco Polo traveled to China has this view because Marco Polo did not mention the Great Wall. In addition, the Chinese culture was not noted of. Being a foreigner, Marco Polo did not write about these strange things such as foot binding, calligraphy and etcetera. Not only that, but Marco Polo did not catch onto and learn the Chinese language due to the time he was there. Also, Marco Polo was not mentioned or documented about directly in the Chinese writings. However, three Venetians were written about.
Political factors in the 18th century involving the Islamic conquest of Spain, France, North Africa and parts of the Mediterranean, successfully hindered European expedition to the Far East for succeeding centuries. This made many early explorers like Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama look for new trade path to the East. Ocean expeditions were very treacherous at this time. The weather could not be predicted, the navigation techniques were still primarily ancient and maps were scandalously unre...
After receiving a job in a minor administrative position for the Mongol ruler, Marco Polo stayed in China for another seventeen years. Throughout this time he wildly traveled across the Chinese land and collected stories about his experiences in the foreign country. His book, The Travels of Marco Polo helped to shape Western European culture, though scholars question the legitimacy behind his stories since he left out many prominent features of the Chinese life.
Around the time of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Europe was a place in need of inspiration. Marco Polo, a merchant, and still a simple man, was this source of inspiration. He was an ordinary boy during his childhood, living a similar life to the other boys his age. Although his intentions might not have been as significant as his impact, he was very influential. Marco Polo served as an influence to many later explorers. Whether it was through his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, which focused mainly on descriptions of spices and commercial goods and many other interesting trade items he encountered in his travels, he sparked an interest and desire of not only Europe, but later explorers as well . Marco Polo was viewed to have had definite charm and also having much capability. He has also proven that he was a tough man. This is evident because of the many voyages he survived, which included occurrences of bandit ambushes, disease, and not to mention the fatigue of the travel. There have been many who believe that Marco Polo was not intellectually equipped, meaning that he was not a very educated man, as no European probably was at the time . But as always, there is of course some speculation on the many aspects of the life of Marco Polo. Many people have their own beliefs of whom the real Marco Polo was and what he accomplished. There will be mention on some of the alleged negative, yet also positive aspects of his life. Despite all the accusations or assumptions of Marco Polo, history was affected as a result of his existence. He still remains an important figure in history.
It is important to note however, that Marco Polo barely knew his uncle or father because they left on a trip to Mongolia when Marco was 6 years old and did not return for 9 years. During their nine-year absence, Marco was raised by his mother and other members of his extended family.Marco Polo's father and uncle impressed Kublai Khan with their intelligence and their knowledge of the world. For these reasons he kept them around for several years. In 1269 he sent them to Rome as his messengers with a request that the pope send one hundred Europeans to share their knowledge with him. Although the pope did not grant the request, the Polo brothers set out to return to China in 1271. Since his mother had died recently, Marco Polo was taken along on the trip as a world traveler at age seventeen. The return to China, over land and sea, desert and mountain, took slightly more than three years. Despite their failure to bring back the one hundred Europeans from Rome, Kublai Khan welcomed the Polos back and again took them into his service. He became increasingly impressed wit...