Great stuff. MP was a hero to me when I was a kid. The accounts of the court of Kublai Khan were so dazzling that I doubted they could be true. Once I saw the treasures of Egypt, and Topkapi palace in Istanbul, and other wondrous things and places, I became more inclined to believe the traveler's stories.
Excellent documentary, TY. It shows very clearly that Marco Polo's journey is not just plausible but almost impossible to reject anymore. One wonders how many people, not just in Italy but also elsewhere is now descendant from that traveler gentleman.
Ibn Battuta was a famous Moroccan traveler who lived nearly a century after Marco Polo but traveled 3 times the distance that Marco Polo did and left detailed accounts of his perigrinations.However, as with the Polos,some historians doubt that all the accounts are by Ibn Battuta and that 2/3 others were involved and all the travels were later attributed to one person.Battuta,aged about 21 went on the Mecca hajj but then decided to continue on and on and wandered for about 18 years that took him to China,India,Indonesia and deep down into Africa.
I found a certain arrogance in Ibn Battuta’s account. He puts himself above his co-religious peoples who grant him position and wealth. As a Moroccan Arab he is considered a well educated member of their mutual society. There is similarities to his depictions of other people like the unedited version of Sir Richard Frances Burton’s translation of “1001 Arabian Nights”.
Correct. Him as many others before and after, did collected events and information from copies that have been revise over and over. Same analogy with Leonardo and " his inventions". Only in paper BUT never built 🤔🤔🤔 Perhaps he obtain books and manuscripts from the Venetian.
Like I said in my post critics now doubt that Ibn Battuta actually traveled to all those areas as claimed in the writings -there were probably others involved that got lumped together.
This was a great documentary, but I wish it had been a little more detailed and judging on this one a full doc would take a couple of hours. I believe in Marco’s story and wish I could have been their with him. I am going to purchase his book. RIP Marco Polo, I believe you.
It’s my belief that the researchers who look to discredit MP claims are simply living off the good graces of tax payers, continuously nit picking for the minutest inconsistencies of an account written over 700 years that have been translated and amended too numerous times to count. So long as they can create doubts they can keep their jobs. Read Laurence Bergreen’s book “Marco Polo, From Venice to Xanadu”, for a fair and balanced account of MP’s travels.
Yes, the man who was apparently close to Kublai Khan and the Yuan Court, who mysteriously is never mentioned in ANY Yuan court record. Maffeo and Niccolo, his father and uncle were. Seems legit.
Thank U, for this documentary story of Marco Polo, for only I learned in History w/o description & illustration on How Marco Polos travel be gin & How it ends..for only Now I see the journey of his travel at the Video Film.. & illustrated by a Famous story teller.. thanx to the manuscript studied by the Scholars & Historians...👍❤ in account to understand all the text of the book.. ❤👍
When in Taizhou Jiangsu I was visiting a local museum and in it was a letter written in Chinese but translated into English. I went something like ‘Taizhou is a nice quiet town, I enjoyed my stay here. Marco Polo’. Taizhou was a center for silk production in the time frame of Marco Polo’s era. I don’t know if it was authentic, but the locals did.
Probably not authentic. Marco Polo said he was a governor of Yangzhou for "many years" but yet none of the historical records from Chinese side have any record of him. Chinese record everything since ancient time, we can easily list out all the names of every governor of Yangzhou during that timeframe but no one called Marco Polo or anything remotely close to that. Strangely, Marco Polo also used the Persian name of the chinese cities in his book. That is even stranger considering he's been living in China for many many years and even a governor of Yangzhou.
So far, there are no Chinese records proved Marco was the governor of Taizhou. Many Chinese tourist area recreates the artifacts to attract tourists n money. For example, I went to Xian. The tour group took us to Hua Qing bathing palace. It was famous because famous empress Yang in Tang Dynasty took shower in this palace. The problem is tyranny burned n destroyed the Xian city including this palace in 904. Oh, the site did say recreated in 2001 in Chinese n English. There are plenty of tourist sites like this do this. At this this site mentioned it was built in 2001. Others don't bother to label. There are many tourist sites n say there were birth places of fictional characters. There is even a building where those fictional characters dined. There is a cemetery site that buried fictional magical monkey. Those sites will show you all the proof. Taizhou is not famous on anything. To boost economy, it uses Marco Polo. Unfortunately, there are no evidences, so it fabricated evidences.
I found quibbling over his silence on the contents of the Dunhuang caverns to be stupidly anachronistic. All that stuff was indoors / underground. Although some Manichee stuff might have been mixed in, it was almost all Buddhist (thus, from a Muslim perspective , the idols of "devil worshipping polytheists"). From Polo's own account it was clear that the oasis had already fallen under Muslim control or at least was subject to constant incursion by Islamic merchants &/or armies. Such people are notorious iconoclasts, well known for considering it a holy act to deface or destroy religious images and statuary belonging to other religions. The Buddhists etc would have buried their art (obscuring cave doors etc) before fleeing the area if they knew Muslim control was nigh. That is why the art was preserved into the 20th century. When archeologists found the grottos, they were not in active use. The Turpan (eastern) Uyghur state (which was Buddhist at a time when steppe principalities including more western Uyghur populations had already islamized) fell to jihad in the Kara Khitan (pre Mongol) period, long before Marco Polo, and the inhabitants knew it was coming.
That sly minx. Write a book negating Polo to cause people to investigate and in turn, they will be studying. She just explained her real mission and it had nothing to do with him.
Actually, she said, "That's what I wanted to do, bring China to the West." Yes and cash in personally for doing it by writing a book. Marco couldn't have gone there, because then I can't get the credit for enlightening the Western world. How does she account for Polo knowing so much detail that has been corroborated by modern scholars collaboratively? By hypothesizing that Polo just so happened to have the necessary series of encounters with different people in Constantinople that all form a continuos path to and througout Asia hitting all the notable sights that locals would have mentioned and everyone he encountered also provided the most minute of details. That is to say every story teller Marco Polo drank with in bars was a real Marco Polo. Please. A long prison stretch with a great story teller with a keen eye for detail converying his experiences to pass the endless hours on to an author is actually more plausible. The great thing about denier theories is that one can spin them up solo, and sell them in a book to the masses at a very low personal financial cost and potentially high profit. But when you publicly display your ignorance or worse, try to leverage a readership's ignorance. about the phases of construction of the Great Wall of China, which in Polo's time was really the "Mediocre Wall of China" just mounds of clay, that's about how high your credibility stacks up.
@@christopherhoyt7195 Fully agreed : he did not have enough of a lifetime in constantinople, full time, trying to collect all that information!. And all those details. Even more at a time when so few people were going there. I went to Dunhuang, the caves are 30 km of the city or so. Not by the town. And they have been sealed for centuries .
Frances Wood her argument is "there is no proof"...obviously it's been 750 years and Marco Polo's intent was as a merchant and not as a travel vloggers. Frances Wood should ask all Christians where is proof of all things in Bible!
The other half of the story is: chopsticks, the Great Wall, New Year's fireworks, Dunhuang, pandas, Stargazing Pavilion... Because it is too miraculous, no one will believe it.😮💨 Marco Polo is a great traveler👍
Also the great wall wasn’t there at the time of Polo. Just small unconnected pieces of different materials. It was united and became the Great wall in the 16th century. Of course he wouldn’t mention it
The narrator has missed a big refrence. Qublai Khan ordered to invade Japan. We find a detailed plan in Morcopolo's accounts. Marco Polo had even suggested to Qublai not to invade Japan.
Young Marco was a mere explorer/traveller not a military strategist. Why would he be allowed to get close to great Qublai Khan and to suggest to him not to invade Japan, it doesn’t make sense ?
I like how this documentary presents Wood's arguments and then immediately destroys them.
2 года назад+3
May i suggest to all people interested in Marco Polo the book " the journeyer" written by the late Gary Jennings...I am pretty sure you will enjoyed it...😀👍👍
the answer to the question - why Marco Polo did not mention paper money and bookprinting - in his own words that he did not tell half of what he saw, because they would not have believed it. Indeed, who in 13th-century's Europe of gold and silver would have believed that someone would trade goods for paper or tree skin (= for nothing)? Or in the Europe manuscripts on the skins of animals who would have believed that you can print books on paper? The paper itself was not known to Europeans. Gunpowder is from the same series
@@aticofilia4288 Yep, the appearance of Arabian сalifate and Mongolian empire contributed to the flow of knowledge from East to West. Moreover, the Arabs were not the creators of this knowledge, but the carriers-transporters of Indian, Persian and Chinese inventions. So from the Arabs besieging the port Ancona and captured the Italians learned the existence of paper and the secret of its preparation (animal gelatin + cotton fibers). That is, you are right - the secret of paper had already penetrated into Italy several decades before the birth of Polo, having passed the path China-Samarkand-Baghdad-Ancona-Fabriano, and the enterprising residents of the city of Fabriano set up its production becoming famous cartiers in whole Europe. Anyhow, till inventing using of wood fiber for paper production the cotton paper not was a cheap thing accessible to everyone.
a fascinating documentary. I knew there were people doubting him, and didn't expect that his extremely detailed records would make it right one day. It's very interesting that if he arrived in China decades earlier or later at the age of Song and Jin or Ming dynasty, then he would never be offered an official post. An empirial government with civil or military officers from all over the world, that kind of thing in China were only in Yuan (Mongols) and Tang dynasties.
This is one explanation. The Tang and yuan Dynasties were more open, with officials of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. If he had arrived in China at any time between the two Dynasties, the chances of a traveler from a lonely wandering country getting a government position without special background and contribution were almost zero. Unless it is an official institution of scholarly historical research and record, he is more likely to be accepted, and if so, his exposure to things and stories will not be limited to fragmentary street stories and life scenes.
Marco Polo in our time, would have made a superb vlogger. People didn’t believe him because he couldn’t show them he had actually been there. His account is one of the greatest adventures of all time and he opened the world to Europeans. That remains his legacy.
Tatars and mongols, in fact, are different ethnicities. Mongols weren’t called tatars, their invasion is called tatar-mongolian invasion, as they were different. Tatars still live in their autonomic republic in Russian Federation nowadays. They have their language and culture and are related ethnicity to turks.
I wonder why Frances Wood think because Marco polo use an unusual rout in his travels, the journey may not be real. She seams to be disregarding that fact that traveling on horseback in the 12th century was prone to attack and it rather make sense for Marco polo to use an unusual route to prevent such attacks. There could be reports on issues of security which will inform their decision use certain routes. I think she should look at it from different perspective and she will understand the flaws in her argument better
There is Benjamin of Tudela, a Jewish medieval traveler who traveled as far as India and his description of various Jewish communities he encountered in his travels are credible because he saw them with his own eyes.
"paper" money was introduced by the Templars in the 11 century. Travellers to the holy land would deposit their money at any one of their fortified churches and then would be given a document that could be fully or partially redeemed at anyone of their banks. It was a method for protecting travellers from robbers and helped to build the wealth of the templars. This is where Mongols got their idea.
Jiaozi is a paper currency circulated in Sichuan Province during the Northern Song Dynasty in China . It is the earliest "official" banknote in the world. [ 1 ] It first appeared in the private sector during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song (997-1022). It was initially issued by merchants, and later issued by the government as legal tender . It was based on iron coins and was not restricted in transactions and taxation. When it was first used by Emperor Renzong of Song , Jiaozi began to face depreciation pressure. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song (1102-1110), due to frequent wars, there was a crisis of obvious inflation [ 2 ] , which also caused society to lose confidence in currency, causing the currency function of Jiaozi to disappear. [ 3 ] In the third year of Chongning (1104), the Song court issued an imperial decree that the 41st to 43rd Jiaozi would no longer be accepted, and circulation ceased. In the first year of Daguan (1107), Jiaozi was renamed Qianyin . from wikipedia
I like to think Polo actually went to China. But everything in the book could have been told to Polo in the same way, and for the same reasons, Polo told them to Rustichello (who almost certainly added, and subtracted, from the narrative to some degree). Those that have an interest in Polo should check out "The Journeyer" by Gary Jennings (historical fiction, 'the half he didn't tell')
The biggest question for me is why MP didn’t mention the gruesome massacres Mongols did in China as he was there at the time, loads of Chinese records of them and also other foreign visitors' accounts. Quote from Quora “ Goryeo ambassador to Yuan who visited the Yuan emperor in China three years after the conquest of Song travelled through Southern China on the way to back to Korea by boat. He commented that there were six empty houses for every occupied house and at night you could hear people’s cries for dead loved ones from every where. So thorough was the Mongol’s destruction and killing that it was difficult for the ambassador to find Southern Chinese men or women older than 20. Starving people and dead bodies everywhere and abandoned farm lands as far as the eyes can see and the sky was filled with clouds of crows.”
I can empathize with Marco on his deathbed saying saying that he had only spoke of half of what he had seen for fear of not being believed is the same as I feel about 30yrs of taxi driving (particularly nights) nobody would believe the things I have seen, lol
Dw mate - I think life is like this for a lot of us. They look down at us for whatever reason. Reality is that they don't listen to you because they are prejudiced so stopped caring the moment you came in their vicinity in my experience.
I think it would be appropriate to mention that the first documented contact between China and Western Europe occurred in the 1st century AD, when the Chinese came to Rome through the Persian Empire for fire eaters.
@@marcobelli6856 of course, Rome city. They met the Emperor and complained that the Parthian empire obstructs contacts between Rome and Han empire. But, the Romans too explored the Far East at Mark Aurelius. Roman coins of 2nd century BC are found in Vietnam and even Japan. The old Chinese chronicles report arrival of Roman ships to the place in Vietnam where the coins are indeed found in XX century. Actually, the modern vison of the ancient world is totally false in everything, including geography and communications between ancient nations. E.g, I saw bas-reliefы depicting pineapple in Pompei while it's an endemic of Brasil. The Roman sources clearly stated that the Phoenicians were regularly bringing exotic fruits from "an huge island located far behind the Pillars of Hercules. There are plenty Phoenician inscriptions found everywhere around Mexican gulf, including Texas
It is interesting to me how the detractors focus on what he doesn't mention, as a proof of not been true. It reminds me of movies where humans never go to the restroom... And they make a passing mention to been careful what they write due to possibly offending the church of the time. I would think this weight heavily on their minds, as the church on those times could be quite forceful. While Polo might not have had an issue with Buddhism, I have to think he had to be careful on not presenting it to the point of infuriating the Catholic church and be branded a heretic.
I haven't read the book,but it sounds like Marco Polo was a businessman rather than an explorer. Notice his notation about paper money. He was determined to open trade or at least establish relations with the east.
Please stop repeating this myth. A fresh product called "laganum" existed in ancient Italy since the time of the Greeks and Etruscans. It consisted of a flour water mixture which has been cut into strips. The Roman poet Horace mentions this dish in his writings.
@@arichisyour claim I more a myth as it's zero proof, another eurocentric western hoax. Pasta in Italy is not ancient, it's flourish during renaissance period 14 century AD, while noodle is a pasta version in Asia as it's ingredients is similar Chinese pasta is 1700 BC. The most accepted theory is via legendary silk road or brought by Arab traders...
World famous Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta from Morocco travelled to China through north Africa Arabia, Caucuses, Persia, Central Asia, India and Bangladesh Sylhet. Where he met shah jalal founder of Islam in Bangladesh. He was granted passage through each territory when he worked as a scholar and judge. Every land he passed through had government records of his arrival and departure proper receipts proving he had been to these lands.
Considering the importance the Chinese emperors attributed to themselves, and the lack of respect Chinese culture felt for other cultures, I do not think that Marco Polo's presence in China/Mongolia would have made much of an impact on them. On the other hand, I am convinced that Marco Polo had to enhance his own status in these countries as he was hoping to get privileges and become an emissary.
Actually imperial China had great respect for the Roman Empire over a thousand years before Marco Polos time although it seems they didn't actually meet . And to a lesser extent, the Arabs and Indians.
Ibn Batuta's travels are largely his but 'experts' have found some accounts - a small proportion - are similar to those of Ibn Jubayr and one or two others. But most of the accounts are his. He also married in some places were, like eastern China, where there are those who claim are his descendents. It's easy to becoem cynical about anything!
So, I mean: it is very possible that he went there and saw all that, but also very possible that he and his companions were hardly noticed. Moreover, these countries were visited by other exotic people from India etc, so a couple more might not have registered at all. It seems to me that looking for traces of Marco Polo in local writings is not realistic. Are the other "exotic" visitors that we know were there much mentioned? That would be an interesting quest.
Yes exactly people always say “Chinese wrote everything” but I doubt they have a list of all random merchants that got in the Silk roads since a lot of Arabs and Indians and later other Europeans would come let alone write his name. Also there must have been millions in the decades who travelled the silk roads I doubt they have a 800 years old mongolian books with all the names but Polo not mentioned hahaha
Life's reality. One's very own do not cherish one's work until it's been spun around the world many times over. Such tactic is employed with many universities here in the US where they don't hire their own graduate. Instead let the graduate be employed somewhere else and if s/he made it, then invite her/him back.
Very interesting to know the great Kublai khan hired MP as a tax collector expert - the chief tax collector! - in the 13 century! A guy who could not write his own story! Nice work!
42:50 - no one before had traveled so widely? Except of course for the Ancient Roman ambassadors who went to China, and the Chinese embassies who visited Rome. Ptolomy had detailed maps of Thailand and India. China was well known to the ancients.
18:00 The caves are world famous (personally, never heard of them until now and I'm four score years old). By the same token I live 25 miles away from Ybor City and in 40 years have never been there. Keep in mind that Marco stated that he had not accounted for half of what he had seen so shouldn't there be something missing in his narrative?
That's because the Great Wall that everyone knows is built during the late 16th Century CE. The Great Wall that Marco Polo had seen are a series of crumbling walls that unimpressive enough for him not to have mentioned it.
What people forget was that what is reported as his travels was dictated or relayed to a fellow prisoner while in jail so it was he who missed things out and edited the account, not Polo himself
I have always pointed out one single fact that proves Marco Polo traveled and lived in China: Spaghetti. And noodles is Northern Chinese main staple food. Italy is the only European country whose staple main food is spaghetti/noodles. Marco Polo did brought back significant amounts of things with him to Italy.
Chinese people have always been debating on whether the Yuan (1271-1368) and Qing dynasties ( 1636-1912) can be considered "Chinese dynasties", and whether they were representative of "China" during the respective historical periods.
Marco Polo had too much information about the places he visited for it not to be truthful. After all, it was Marco Polo who opened the silk road for trade between Asia and Europe.
Exuse me Marco mentions the roof tiles on the khans palace, tri colour sparkling in the sun, i have held a ceramic bowl from the yuan era that matches this comment,
Doesn't this show begin with Marco confessing that he has ''only told half of what he knows?" So why are omissions a problem? I have traveled thousands of miles around the United States many of them hitchhiking, many more of them by car, train and airplane, in 57 years I have been on 4 continents, and met hundreds of people. The amount that I'm able to remember even with concentration and effort is threadbare compared to what's out there swimming in the fog of my mind. 🙃 I won't bore you all with the details, but driving through Memphis Tennessee I saw a glass pyramid by the river. Out of the dozens of times I drove past it over the decades I am mentioning it now for the very first time. I suspect Marco's mind worked the same way. And having a biographer jailed up there with him must have been both a burden and a blessing. The two surely created a little mystique and magic along the way, otherwise the book wouldn't have sold.🥰
As he said he only told half of what he saw. I’ve lived in China and I can relate. It’s so amazing
Great stuff. MP was a hero to me when I was a kid. The accounts of the court of Kublai Khan were so dazzling that I doubted they could be true. Once I saw the treasures of Egypt, and Topkapi palace in Istanbul, and other wondrous things and places, I became more inclined to believe the traveler's stories.
Yes l agree...staggering accounts of Polo...he should be revered..and acknowledge 🎉🎉
Why, would u not believe?
I'm glad to learn more of Marco Polo trip to China We have been to China many times from Shanghai to Shandong and to far south Hainan island!
Excellent documentary, TY. It shows very clearly that Marco Polo's journey is not just plausible but almost impossible to reject anymore. One wonders how many people, not just in Italy but also elsewhere is now descendant from that traveler gentleman.
Yeah! Can't believe they even attempted cancelling Marco Polo. LOL. #nicetrychurch
@@seabedpebbles Yeah, no they didn't.
Spot on!
@@seabedpebbles8
How many…”are.”
Ibn Battuta was a famous Moroccan traveler who lived nearly a century after Marco Polo but traveled 3 times the distance that Marco Polo did and left detailed accounts of his perigrinations.However, as with the Polos,some historians doubt that all the accounts are by Ibn Battuta and that 2/3 others were involved and all the travels were later attributed to one person.Battuta,aged about 21 went on the Mecca hajj but then decided to continue on and on and wandered for about 18 years that took him to China,India,Indonesia and deep down into Africa.
I found a certain arrogance in Ibn Battuta’s account. He puts himself above his co-religious peoples who grant him position and wealth. As a Moroccan Arab he is considered a well educated member of their mutual society. There is similarities to his depictions of other people like the unedited version of Sir Richard Frances Burton’s translation of “1001 Arabian Nights”.
@@michaeltelson9798 He was a Berber by the way.
@@michaeltelson9798
This film tries to 'prove' Marco's tall tales. Of course everything 'falls into place'. The braggart.
@@ishratfirdousi7182 and this film prove it.
Correct. Him as many others before and after, did collected events and information from copies that have been revise over and over.
Same analogy with Leonardo and " his inventions". Only in paper BUT never built 🤔🤔🤔 Perhaps he obtain books and manuscripts from the Venetian.
Excellent! Thank you for posting the video.
Mandeville, Ruysbroeck, Odoric of Pordenone, Ibn Battuta. Several Middle Agers traveled to the Far East. Why doubt the story of Marco Polo?
Like I said in my post critics now doubt that Ibn Battuta actually traveled to all those areas as claimed in the writings -there were probably others involved that got lumped together.
Publicity
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A time when exploration was an adventure of magnificence and mystery.
How typical of ppl not to accept what they cannot comprehend....poor guy.....Excellent documentary
This was a great documentary, but I wish it had been a little more detailed and judging on this one a full doc would take a couple of hours. I believe in Marco’s story and wish I could have been their with him. I am going to purchase his book. RIP Marco Polo, I believe you.
@@Endgame707 Oh yes, a name like Marco Polo really sounds like a turk!
It’s my belief that the researchers who look to discredit MP claims are simply living off the good graces of tax payers, continuously nit picking for the minutest inconsistencies of an account written over 700 years that have been translated and amended too numerous times to count. So long as they can create doubts they can keep their jobs. Read Laurence Bergreen’s book “Marco Polo, From Venice to Xanadu”, for a fair and balanced account of MP’s travels.
I find this documentary series is loose with the truth. It creates convenient stories mixed with a bit of history
@@okmmauh The German sinologist has been there, done that (like Polo), whereas the Briton is holed up in her armchair.
Sometimes, such questions result in new and useful information.
Yes, the man who was apparently close to Kublai Khan and the Yuan Court, who mysteriously is never mentioned in ANY Yuan court record. Maffeo and Niccolo, his father and uncle were. Seems legit.
Excellent documentary. Fascinating
Many thanks!
just finished "the travels" and im fascinated. great video that only makes me more interested!
Wonderful channel and voice of the narration
Thank U, for this documentary story of Marco Polo, for only I learned in History w/o description & illustration on How Marco Polos travel be gin & How it ends..for only Now I see the journey of his travel at the Video Film.. & illustrated by a Famous story teller.. thanx to the manuscript studied by the Scholars & Historians...👍❤ in account to understand all the text of the book.. ❤👍
When in Taizhou Jiangsu I was visiting a local museum and in it was a letter written in Chinese but translated into English. I went something like ‘Taizhou is a nice quiet town, I enjoyed my stay here. Marco Polo’.
Taizhou was a center for silk production in the time frame of Marco Polo’s era. I don’t know if it was authentic, but the locals did.
Probably not authentic. Marco Polo said he was a governor of Yangzhou for "many years" but yet none of the historical records from Chinese side have any record of him. Chinese record everything since ancient time, we can easily list out all the names of every governor of Yangzhou during that timeframe but no one called Marco Polo or anything remotely close to that. Strangely, Marco Polo also used the Persian name of the chinese cities in his book. That is even stranger considering he's been living in China for many many years and even a governor of Yangzhou.
Taizhou was part of Yangzhou in Yuan Dynasty when Marco Polo visited.
So far, there are no Chinese records proved Marco was the governor of Taizhou.
Many Chinese tourist area recreates the artifacts to attract tourists n money.
For example, I went to Xian. The tour group took us to Hua Qing bathing palace.
It was famous because famous empress Yang in Tang Dynasty took shower in this palace. The problem is tyranny burned n destroyed the Xian city including this palace in 904. Oh, the site did say recreated in 2001 in Chinese n English. There are plenty of tourist sites like this do this. At this this site mentioned it was built in 2001. Others don't bother to label.
There are many tourist sites n say there were birth places of fictional characters. There is even a building where those fictional characters dined.
There is a cemetery site that buried fictional magical monkey.
Those sites will show you all the proof.
Taizhou is not famous on anything. To boost economy, it uses Marco Polo. Unfortunately, there are no evidences, so it fabricated evidences.
I found quibbling over his silence on the contents of the Dunhuang caverns to be stupidly anachronistic. All that stuff was indoors / underground. Although some Manichee stuff might have been mixed in, it was almost all Buddhist (thus, from a Muslim perspective , the idols of "devil worshipping polytheists"). From Polo's own account it was clear that the oasis had already fallen under Muslim control or at least was subject to constant incursion by Islamic merchants &/or armies. Such people are notorious iconoclasts, well known for considering it a holy act to deface or destroy religious images and statuary belonging to other religions. The Buddhists etc would have buried their art (obscuring cave doors etc) before fleeing the area if they knew Muslim control was nigh. That is why the art was preserved into the 20th century. When archeologists found the grottos, they were not in active use. The Turpan (eastern) Uyghur state (which was Buddhist at a time when steppe principalities including more western Uyghur populations had already islamized) fell to jihad in the Kara Khitan (pre Mongol) period, long before Marco Polo, and the inhabitants knew it was coming.
That sly minx. Write a book negating Polo to cause people to investigate and in turn, they will be studying. She just explained her real mission and it had nothing to do with him.
Exactly. I noticed that.
Actually, she said, "That's what I wanted to do, bring China to the West." Yes and cash in personally for doing it by writing a book. Marco couldn't have gone there, because then I can't get the credit for enlightening the Western world.
How does she account for Polo knowing so much detail that has been corroborated by modern scholars collaboratively? By hypothesizing that Polo just so happened to have the necessary series of encounters with different people in Constantinople that all form a continuos path to and througout Asia hitting all the notable sights that locals would have mentioned and everyone he encountered also provided the most minute of details. That is to say every story teller Marco Polo drank with in bars was a real Marco Polo. Please.
A long prison stretch with a great story teller with a keen eye for detail converying his experiences to pass the endless hours on to an author is actually more plausible.
The great thing about denier theories is that one can spin them up solo, and sell them in a book to the masses at a very low personal financial cost and potentially high profit. But when you publicly display your ignorance or worse, try to leverage a readership's ignorance. about the phases of construction of the Great Wall of China, which in Polo's time was really the "Mediocre Wall of China" just mounds of clay, that's about how high your credibility stacks up.
@@christopherhoyt7195 Fully agreed : he did not have enough of a lifetime in constantinople, full time, trying to collect all that information!. And all those details. Even more at a time when so few people were going there. I went to Dunhuang, the caves are 30 km of the city or so. Not by the town. And they have been sealed for centuries .
Impressive documentary. I am curious how such quality productions make their way to RUclips. Did this film first appear on television in the UK?
Frances Wood her argument is "there is no proof"...obviously it's been 750 years and Marco Polo's intent was as a merchant and not as a travel vloggers. Frances Wood should ask all Christians where is proof of all things in Bible!
Terimakasih. Informasi yang bagus dan menarik.
The other half of the story is: chopsticks, the Great Wall, New Year's fireworks, Dunhuang, pandas, Stargazing Pavilion...
Because it is too miraculous, no one will believe it.😮💨
Marco Polo is a great traveler👍
Also the great wall wasn’t there at the time of Polo. Just small unconnected pieces of different materials. It was united and became the Great wall in the 16th century. Of course he wouldn’t mention it
Fascinating & enriching documentary in deed!
The narrator has missed a big refrence. Qublai Khan ordered to invade Japan. We find a detailed plan in Morcopolo's accounts. Marco Polo had even suggested to Qublai not to invade Japan.
Young Marco was a mere explorer/traveller not a military strategist. Why would he be allowed to get close to great Qublai Khan and to suggest to him not to invade Japan, it doesn’t make sense ?
the scholars of the time did not want to accept that they still had much to learn about other contours
I like how this documentary presents Wood's arguments and then immediately destroys them.
May i suggest to all people interested in Marco Polo the book " the journeyer" written by the late Gary Jennings...I am pretty sure you will enjoyed it...😀👍👍
It seems to me that his father and uncle were the real pioneers
That's always how it goes.
Robert Plant rocker and scholar!
Absolutely excellent viewing.
Thank you for a wonderful evening supper's entertainment. A fine distraction from our current state of affairs 👍🙏👍🤠
Our pleasure!
Excellent documentary
the answer to the question - why Marco Polo did not mention paper money and bookprinting - in his own words that he did not tell half of what he saw, because they would not have believed it.
Indeed, who in 13th-century's Europe of gold and silver would have believed that someone would trade goods for paper or tree skin (= for nothing)? Or in the Europe manuscripts on the skins of animals who would have believed that you can print books on paper? The paper itself was not known to Europeans.
Gunpowder is from the same series
There was already paper being produced in europe in the last years of the 13th century, at the time of marco polo. Look for fabriano paper.
@@aticofilia4288 Yep, the appearance of Arabian сalifate and Mongolian empire
contributed to the flow of knowledge from East to West. Moreover, the Arabs were not the creators of this knowledge, but the carriers-transporters of Indian, Persian and Chinese inventions.
So from the Arabs besieging the port Ancona and captured the Italians learned the existence of paper and the secret of its preparation (animal gelatin + cotton fibers). That is, you are right - the secret of paper had already penetrated into Italy several decades before the birth of Polo, having passed the path China-Samarkand-Baghdad-Ancona-Fabriano, and the enterprising residents of the city of Fabriano set up its production becoming famous cartiers in whole Europe.
Anyhow, till inventing using of wood fiber for paper production the cotton paper not was a cheap thing accessible to everyone.
He does mention paper money.
@@micksherman7709 but film's author says the contrary
@ I’ve seen it in the book. Full stop end of
You are just jealous that a Venetian visited China is brought so much progress to Europe if he was an Englishman everything was ok
a fascinating documentary. I knew there were people doubting him, and didn't expect that his extremely detailed records would make it right one day. It's very interesting that if he arrived in China decades earlier or later at the age of Song and Jin or Ming dynasty, then he would never be offered an official post. An empirial government with civil or military officers from all over the world, that kind of thing in China were only in Yuan (Mongols) and Tang dynasties.
This is one explanation. The Tang and yuan Dynasties were more open, with officials of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
If he had arrived in China at any time between the two Dynasties, the chances of a traveler from a lonely wandering country getting a government position without special background and contribution were almost zero. Unless it is an official institution of scholarly historical research and record, he is more likely to be accepted, and if so, his exposure to things and stories will not be limited to fragmentary street stories and life scenes.
Really appreciate your transcript in the Description.
Wherever there's a swimming pool, Marco Polo shall visit.
Marco polo in fact never owned a pool.
Such a waste.
Sad.
Polo is simply the Venetian version of the first name "Paul"
I think they missed your inference sir, lol...
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣!!
@@tashuntka It's my weird sense of humor. I'm often misunderstood.
great video!
Amazing talent , and a young promising boy ! ❤
Marco Polo in our time, would have made a superb vlogger. People didn’t believe him because he couldn’t show them he had actually been there. His account is one of the greatest adventures of all time and he opened the world to Europeans. That remains his legacy.
Tatars and mongols, in fact, are different ethnicities. Mongols weren’t called tatars, their invasion is called tatar-mongolian invasion, as they were different. Tatars still live in their autonomic republic in Russian Federation nowadays. They have their language and culture and are related ethnicity to turks.
Marco Polo Was An Alien 👽
Excellent,thanks
Well, of course Marco Polo couldn't possibly have been in China: he wasn't British enough.
Exellent!!!
@32:33...I had no idea, Robert Plant, could speak German, nor did I know he was so involved in the history of Marco Polo.
Polo's visit to the East gave the glimpse of wonders to the Western world to which they surely acted upon.
I wonder why Frances Wood think because Marco polo use an unusual rout in his travels, the journey may not be real. She seams to be disregarding that fact that traveling on horseback in the 12th century was prone to attack and it rather make sense for Marco polo to use an unusual route to prevent such attacks. There could be reports on issues of security which will inform their decision use certain routes. I think she should look at it from different perspective and she will understand the flaws in her argument better
There is Benjamin of Tudela, a Jewish medieval traveler who traveled as far as India and his description of various Jewish communities he encountered in his travels are credible because he saw them with his own eyes.
Interesting about Marco Polo. Wow.
People were so jealous of Marco. Was he provided an interpreter
"paper" money was introduced by the Templars in the 11 century. Travellers to the holy land would deposit their money at any one of their fortified churches and then would be given a document that could be fully or partially redeemed at anyone of their banks. It was a method for protecting travellers from robbers and helped to build the wealth of the templars. This is where Mongols got their idea.
Jiaozi is a paper currency circulated in Sichuan Province during the Northern Song Dynasty in China . It is the earliest "official" banknote in the world. [ 1 ] It first appeared in the private sector during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song (997-1022). It was initially issued by merchants, and later issued by the government as legal tender . It was based on iron coins and was not restricted in transactions and taxation. When it was first used by Emperor Renzong of Song , Jiaozi began to face depreciation pressure. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song (1102-1110), due to frequent wars, there was a crisis of obvious inflation [ 2 ] , which also caused society to lose confidence in currency, causing the currency function of Jiaozi to disappear. [ 3 ] In the third year of Chongning (1104), the Song court issued an imperial decree that the 41st to 43rd Jiaozi would no longer be accepted, and circulation ceased. In the first year of Daguan (1107), Jiaozi was renamed Qianyin . from wikipedia
I was told there’s no mentioning of tea and chopsticks in his records, very weird though.
Paper money was used in Mongolia before Europe ever adopted it
well done
Are there time-stamp breakdowns of the various topics explored in the video?
I like to think Polo actually went to China. But everything in the book could have been told to Polo in the same way, and for the same reasons, Polo told them to Rustichello (who almost certainly added, and subtracted, from the narrative to some degree). Those that have an interest in Polo should check out "The Journeyer" by Gary Jennings (historical fiction, 'the half he didn't tell')
I have seen Sicilian dishes (food) very specialized in NE China ~Jilin. How is that possible unless someone brought it there. or back
The biggest question for me is why MP didn’t mention the gruesome massacres Mongols did in China as he was there at the time, loads of Chinese records of them and also other foreign visitors' accounts.
Quote from Quora “ Goryeo ambassador to Yuan who visited the Yuan emperor in China three years after the conquest of Song travelled through Southern China on the way to back to Korea by boat.
He commented that there were six empty houses for every occupied house and at night you could hear people’s cries for dead loved ones from every where. So thorough was the Mongol’s destruction and killing that it was difficult for the ambassador to find Southern Chinese men or women older than 20. Starving people and dead bodies everywhere and abandoned farm lands as far as the eyes can see and the sky was filled with clouds of crows.”
I can empathize with Marco on his deathbed saying saying that he had only spoke of half of what he had seen for fear of not being believed is the same as I feel about 30yrs of taxi driving (particularly nights) nobody would believe the things I have seen, lol
What have you seen? I’ll believe u
I was a cabbie in the 70's, I saw a few sights to.
Dw mate - I think life is like this for a lot of us. They look down at us for whatever reason. Reality is that they don't listen to you because they are prejudiced so stopped caring the moment you came in their vicinity in my experience.
I think it would be appropriate to mention that the first documented contact between China and Western Europe occurred in the 1st century AD, when the Chinese came to Rome through the Persian Empire for fire eaters.
In the empire border or to Rome the city??? Crazy if it is the city
@@marcobelli6856 of course, Rome city. They met the Emperor and complained that the Parthian empire obstructs contacts between Rome and Han empire.
But, the Romans too explored the Far East at Mark Aurelius. Roman coins of 2nd century BC are found in Vietnam and even Japan. The old Chinese chronicles report arrival of Roman ships to the place in Vietnam where the coins are indeed found in XX century.
Actually, the modern vison of the ancient world is totally false in everything, including geography and communications between ancient nations. E.g, I saw bas-reliefы depicting pineapple in Pompei while it's an endemic of Brasil. The Roman sources clearly stated that the Phoenicians were regularly bringing exotic fruits from "an huge island located far behind the Pillars of Hercules.
There are plenty Phoenician inscriptions found everywhere around Mexican gulf, including Texas
I didn't know Robert Plant was a historian. Rock on 🤘
It is interesting to me how the detractors focus on what he doesn't mention, as a proof of not been true. It reminds me of movies where humans never go to the restroom... And they make a passing mention to been careful what they write due to possibly offending the church of the time. I would think this weight heavily on their minds, as the church on those times could be quite forceful. While Polo might not have had an issue with Buddhism, I have to think he had to be careful on not presenting it to the point of infuriating the Catholic church and be branded a heretic.
I haven't read the book,but it sounds like Marco Polo was a businessman rather than an explorer. Notice his notation about paper money. He was determined to open trade or at least establish relations with the east.
When you travel for 25 years, yes you are a traveler
Great....❤❤❤❤❤....
Who brought the noodle recipe to Italia for them to invent pasta?
There is no mention of chopsticks. It just seems so odd to omit this detail.
Thank you 😊
You're welcome 😊
Marco Polo brought back knowledge of making Chinese noodles or what Italians called Spagetti.
Please stop repeating this myth. A fresh product called "laganum" existed in ancient Italy since the time of the Greeks and Etruscans. It consisted of a flour water mixture which has been cut into strips. The Roman poet Horace mentions this dish in his writings.
@@arichisyour claim I more a myth as it's zero proof, another eurocentric western hoax. Pasta in Italy is not ancient, it's flourish during renaissance period 14 century AD, while noodle is a pasta version in Asia as it's ingredients is similar Chinese pasta is 1700 BC. The most accepted theory is via legendary silk road or brought by Arab traders...
World famous Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta from Morocco travelled to China through north Africa Arabia, Caucuses, Persia, Central Asia, India and Bangladesh Sylhet. Where he met shah jalal founder of Islam in Bangladesh. He was granted passage through each territory when he worked as a scholar and judge. Every land he passed through had government records of his arrival and departure proper receipts proving he had been to these lands.
Considering the importance the Chinese emperors attributed to themselves, and the lack of respect Chinese culture felt for other cultures, I do not think that Marco Polo's presence in China/Mongolia would have made much of an impact on them. On the other hand, I am convinced that Marco Polo had to enhance his own status in these countries as he was hoping to get privileges and become an emissary.
Marlo Polo was the Salt official in Yangzhou. That’s as much as a personal favorite of a Chinese emperor can become
Actually imperial China had great respect for the Roman Empire over a thousand years before Marco Polos time although it seems they didn't actually meet . And to a lesser extent, the Arabs and Indians.
@@n.c9653where is evidence of it. I think they have the most respect towards india as they got Buddhism from there.
The truth is always true whether one believes or not....
Ibn Batuta's travels are largely his but 'experts' have found some accounts - a small proportion - are similar to those of Ibn Jubayr and one or two others. But most of the accounts are his. He also married in some places were, like eastern China, where there are those who claim are his descendents. It's easy to becoem cynical about anything!
Brilhant!
A great documentary which leads me to believe that MP did visit Cathay ) China).
Why the knock on polo? Trying to change history again?
Not that the dead seek any credit, it's absolutely shameless to distort history like that, to satisfy false ego's. Truth any ways will shine through!
Next episode . . . I question my own existence
Nice...
I'll quote that later 👍
So, I mean: it is very possible that he went there and saw all that, but also very possible that he and his companions were hardly noticed. Moreover, these countries were visited by other exotic people from India etc, so a couple more might not have registered at all. It seems to me that looking for traces of Marco Polo in local writings is not realistic. Are the other "exotic" visitors that we know were there much mentioned? That would be an interesting quest.
Yes exactly people always say “Chinese wrote everything” but I doubt they have a list of all random merchants that got in the Silk roads since a lot of Arabs and Indians and later other Europeans would come let alone write his name. Also there must have been millions in the decades who travelled the silk roads I doubt they have a 800 years old mongolian books with all the names but Polo not mentioned hahaha
Thanks
Life's reality. One's very own do not cherish one's work until it's been spun around the world many times over. Such tactic is employed with many universities here in the US where they don't hire their own graduate. Instead let the graduate be employed somewhere else and if s/he made it, then invite her/him back.
Venetian Empire lives on
City of London, British Empire, French and German Empires.
Very interesting to know the great Kublai khan hired MP as a tax collector expert - the chief tax collector! - in the 13 century! A guy who could not write his own story! Nice work!
42:50 - no one before had traveled so widely? Except of course for the Ancient Roman ambassadors who went to China, and the Chinese embassies who visited Rome. Ptolomy had detailed maps of Thailand and India. China was well known to the ancients.
I wondering about the music during silk roads were spread from East to West ?
18:00 The caves are world famous (personally, never heard of them until now and I'm four score years old). By the same token I live 25 miles away from Ybor City and in 40 years have never been there. Keep in mind that Marco stated that he had not accounted for half of what he had seen so shouldn't there be something missing in his narrative?
Marco Polo sounds in fact like a detail loving bureaucrat...
He never mentioned the Wall
Every thing else is fantastic
That's because the Great Wall that everyone knows is built during the late 16th Century CE. The Great Wall that Marco Polo had seen are a series of crumbling walls that unimpressive enough for him not to have mentioned it.
What people forget was that what is reported as his travels was dictated or relayed to a fellow prisoner while in jail so it was he who missed things out and edited the account, not Polo himself
I think the question should be ... did Marco Polo truly existed? 100% sure???
😆
I have always pointed out one single fact that proves Marco Polo traveled and lived in China: Spaghetti. And noodles is Northern Chinese main staple food. Italy is the only European country whose staple main food is spaghetti/noodles. Marco Polo did brought back significant amounts of things with him to Italy.
Surprisingly and unbelievably there was no mention of chopsticks by Marco Polo!
Chinese people have always been debating on whether the Yuan (1271-1368) and Qing dynasties ( 1636-1912) can be considered "Chinese dynasties", and whether they were representative of "China" during the respective historical periods.
Marco Polo had too much information about the places he visited for it not to be truthful. After all, it was Marco Polo who opened the silk road for trade between Asia and Europe.
He made it theres lots of proof and doubters were silencedcenturies ago. There saved ya 50 min
Exuse me Marco mentions the roof tiles on the khans palace, tri colour sparkling in the sun, i have held a ceramic bowl from the yuan era that matches this comment,
I strongly believe Marco Polo been to China. This documentary explains well documented.
It’s fascinating to hear this account of the travels of the pollos I’m sure a little fabrication a long the way only adds to the excitement
It sounds like they're saying Chinese sauces.
Too many ads.
Doesn't this show begin with Marco confessing that he has ''only told half of what he knows?" So why are omissions a problem?
I have traveled thousands of miles around the United States many of them hitchhiking, many more of them by car, train and airplane, in 57 years I have been on 4 continents, and met hundreds of people. The amount that I'm able to remember even with concentration and effort is threadbare compared to what's out there swimming in the fog of my mind. 🙃
I won't bore you all with the details, but driving through Memphis Tennessee I saw a glass pyramid by the river. Out of the dozens of times I drove past it over the decades I am mentioning it now for the very first time. I suspect Marco's mind worked the same way. And having a biographer jailed up there with him must have been both a burden and a blessing. The two surely created a little mystique and magic along the way, otherwise the book wouldn't have sold.🥰