Destiny Ponzo / History 1013 / December 7th 2016 Primary Source Analysis 2 / Chapter 7: Travelers’ Tales and Observations (Sources 7.1 / 7.2) What are the advantages and limitations for historians in drawing on the writings of foreign observers? Xuanzang was a highly educated Buddhist monk from China, who in 629 C.E. made the long and treacherous journey along the Silk Road to India. His main objectives in his sixteen years away from home were fundamentally religious; he only wanted to study more complete scriptures to answer questions he had, which he deemed unsolvable in his own country. It is important to understand Xuanzang’s own position within the Chinese society and the type of situation it was in: Chinese Buddhists had many disagreements …show more content…
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. Through examining these texts, it is evident that the advantages historians have when drawing on evidence such as this is that they can easily reveal certain social and cultural values of the society from which the authors came from, just as easily as it shows social and cultural values of the society of which it was written about. The limitations for historians when collecting written evidence is that some key features of the complex civilizations written about were often left out or could be easily misinterpreted or …show more content…
Many scholars believe his accounts of the city are exaggerated and Marco Polo even states himself “that it is not easy to even put it in writing.” (317). Furthermore his accounts of the women in China seem to be exaggerated as well as missing some information of the society: “These women are extremely accomplished in the arts of allurement, and readily adapt their conversation to all sorts of persons, insomuch that strangers who have once tasted their attractions seems to get bewitched, and are so taken with their blandishments and their fascinating ways that they never seem to get these out of their heads.” (317). While women in China experienced fewer restraints, there were still many patriarchal rules put in place that made women subordinate to men. The act of foot-binding was one such rule which placed an emphasis on “small size, frailty, and deference and served to keep women restricted to the ‘inner quarters’ (331). For reasons unknown, Marco Polo leaves this excruciating detail out of his tales completely, leaving some scholars to question whether he really did make it to
Barbara Blaugdone traveled a great deal, using her faith and drive to spread her message across England and Ireland. In England, she traveled well over a hundred miles, in Ireland she traveled over two hundred. She also made several voyages by sea. Her travels must have been long and difficult, as she faced not only the everyday dangers of the road but the dangers of persecution and imprisonment as well.
Moral influence stimulates one's thoughts and direction within their interest. This changes within generations, for the reason that society is continuously evolving. The chronicles of two best sellers - The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo and The Strange Stones: Dispatches from the East to West by Peter Hessler - gives a great example on how foreigners enter the Eastern world with mentality/behaviourism. From a merchant's perspective, to a journalist who immerses himself into the society, both authors bring two distinct perspectives to this topic. The impact of social standards, that have evolved over seven centuries, essentially affected the approach and research shown in both authors in perspective of women, religion, the commercial industry and under authority. Through their
The period that followed the Han dynasty was known as the Warring States Period, during which China suffered frequent invasions by nomads from Central Asia. The documents of “The Four Noble Truths” (Doc1) and Zhi Dun (Doc2) demonstrate the initial compatibility of Buddhism with the time period. The Buddhist sermon in the Four Noble Truths outlines the many steps in the path of stopping all misery, and the Zhi Dun document demonstrates the Chinese peoples’ embracing this form of salvation as a response to putting control in their own hands. If they could not control the nomadic invaders, at least they could follow many rituals with the promise of release from the material world through Nirvana. However, the sermon preached by Buddha was for a large audience, meaning it had to have a mass appeal toward the lower castes in order to reconcile them with their suffering (Doc1). Zhi Dun expressed a political statement, which served a purpose of conveying to the people a sense of sanctuary (Doc2). Being from the point of view of an upper class scholar who was wealthier than those of lower classes, documen...
al., Peter N. Stearns et. Documents in World History, volume I: The Great Traditions: From Ancient Times to 1500, 6th edn . Boston: Pearson, 2012.
Between 1403 to 1433, Zheng He was a Chinese explorer who traveled from China to India to the East Coast of Africa. Zheng He led seven major voyages that extended the cultural and economic reach of the Chinese empire. The voyages extended China’s influence and brought it great treasures in trade and tribute while Zheng He was in power. Each voyage brought a meaning of friendship and peace between China and the other countries of the world. The voyages helped China become a political superpower. Zheng He was a man who faced many obstacles to become an admiral of the greatest navy the world had ever seen.
He brought back many books, relics, statues, plants, and seeds. Xuanzang received the emperor’s forgiveness and even a royal escort home. Xuanzang’s trek sparked many pilgrimages between China and India, opening possibly trade for both. As for Xuanzang, he chose to stay a Buddhist monk and supervised a team of
Whereas Buddhism started fifth century BCE with Buddha’s first sermon, which preached the four noble truths, Buddhism’s spread into China happened later during the period of political instability, after the collapse of the Han dynasty. One of the first documents showing the acceptance of the spread of Buddhism was the Chinese scholar Zhi Dun who preached that anyone in China who served the
Many settlers believed that the natives were savages as were not as advanced, but were all the natives actually savages? The stories “La Relacion” and “Travels of Marco Polo” are two different stories that have contrast as well as many similarities. These stories both show how the English settlers thought of the natives, how both settlers were apprehensive, but how different they were with the way the natives treated the settlers.
Full of suspense, personality and adventure, Monkey by Wu Ch’eng-En is considered to be one of the most influential works of Chinese literature in history. The 16th century novel follows the demanding journey of a small group of travellers — including the carefree, trickster character Monkey — from Chang'an to India on a quest to acquire ancient scriptures. By reading Monkey, one can acquire knowledge about several important aspects of ancient Chinese culture, the most prominent being the path to nirvana, an idea present in Buddhism— known not only for being China’s oldest religion, but for being one of the most widely followed religions in modern China as well.
Since the start of the Dark Ages, Europe and the east were almost completely separated. The cultures were so different they knew very little about each other only hundreds of years after stopping trade. Re-discovering China would have been almost as important and shocking as discovering the Americas. One of the first person to travel to China after the Dark Ages from Europe and write about it was Marco Polo. Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant and trader who was one of the first Europeans to travel into the east and write about his accounts. His book, The Travels of Marco Polo, introduced the west to new places, cultures, animals and more. Many question the accuracy of his accounts since it was written, but many of the facts have been proved.
Archaeology as a rule is created through the continual process of the deposition of artefacts created, transformed and discarded by humans. Archaeological material is the record of human presence and activities and thus a source of information of the social past. Historical texts however, are the discontinuous process of making information permanent with the objective being to impart the text with contemporaries and future masses. Where it is present therefore, historical texts can border into the assemblage of unceasing archaeological evidence (Tabaczynski 1993:3).
Marco Polo’s greatest journey was when he visited the Yuan Empire and spent 25 years in Asia.
‘The Story of Marco Polo’ is a book that has been debated upon for centuries. Marco Polo, a thirteenth century explorer that claims to have traveled to China and beyond, is said by some to be a liar. However, there are multiple claims that can prove this to be wrong and instead peg the famous explorer as a wonderful storyteller and exaggerater.
Also, historians depend on the written record. Perhaps a better way of saying that is that they are at the mercy of that record. Land transactions, birth and death records, weather reports, government documents—to the historian, nothing written is trivial, because it all contributes to the picture we have of the past. In the last century or so, as historians have turned away from their fixation on the doings of the great and included the lives of average people in their study, the letters those people left behind are invaluable evidence of how life was once lived. We know what our ancestors ate, how they dressed, what they dreamed about love and what they thought about warfare, all from their letters. Without that correspondence, the guesswork mounts (The History and Lost Art of Letter Writing, Malcolm Jones)
History is the study of the past, particularly on how it relates to humans. (Anderson, 2014) Traditionally, historians record past events and also attempted to answer historical questions through the study of written documents and oral accounts. In general, the sources of historical knowledge that historians consult can be separated into three distinct categories: what is written, what is said, and what is physically preserved. (Lemon, 1995) However, History does not rest solely on memory but on critical understanding. It is difficult to distinguish the truth and determine, from many differing accounts, which is most factually accurate. Those who know only by tittle-tattle the role of criticism are aware of its use in historical circles. And yet this is only part of the task of historical studies. (Ranke, 2010) As a result, Ibn Khaldun invented a scientific method to the study of history, and he often referred to it as his "new science". (Franz Rosenthal, 1967) As Ranke wrote, “Just as science endeavours to press on to the inner sources of nature from which all things spring, so it is with history.” (Ranke, 2010) As such, History is a science as it attempts to formulate a hypothesis of the past based on empirical historical evidence. However, History and Science differs on their purpose and reliability. Despite these differences, History ultimately aims to