Who Was Marco Polo?

Marco Polo was a European merchant and explorer who traveled throughout the Far East and China during his lifetime. His stories formed the basis of what Europe knew about Ancient China for years. He lived from 1254 to 1324.

Where Did He Grow Up?

Marco was born in Venice, Italy, in 1254. Venice was a wealthy trading city, and Marco's father was a merchant. This would make it easier for him to establish connections in his later life. The Silk Road was a long trade route that passed through large cities, extending from Northern China to Eastern Europe, and it remained important from antiquity to modern times. This route was called the Silk Road because "silk fabric" constituted the largest export from China to the rest of the world. In general, people did not travel the entire route. Trade was mostly between cities or small sections of the route, and goods slowly passed from one end to the other, reaching another hand. However, Marco Polo's father and uncle wanted to try something different. They wanted to travel to China and bring goods directly back to Venice. They thought they would further increase their wealth this way. This idea was risky because such a long journey was quite dangerous towards the end of the Middle Ages. They stayed in China for about 9 years, but in the end, they succeeded in bringing goods to Venice as they had thought.

When Did Marco Polo First Go to China?

Marco first went to China at the age of 17. He traveled there with his father and uncle. During their first trip to China, his father and uncle had met the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan and told him they would return. Kublai Khan was the ruler of all of China at the time Marco made his travels.

Where Did He Go?

It took Marco Polo three years to arrive in China. Along the way, he visited many large cities and saw places such as the holy city of Jerusalem, the Hindu Kush, Persia, and the Gobi Desert. He met many different people and had many adventures.

Living in China

Marco lived in China for many years and learned to speak Chinese. He traveled throughout China as an envoy and spy for Kublai Khan. He even went as far south as present-day Myanmar and Vietnam. During these visits, he learned about different cultures, foods, cities, and people. He saw many places and things that no one from Europe had ever seen before. When he returned, he told others what he had seen in his travelogue. Marco was greatly impressed by the wealth and luxury of Chinese cities and Kublai Khan's court. It was nothing like what he had experienced in Europe. The capital, Kinsay, was very large, and also well-organized and clean. Wide roads like the Grand Canals and massive engineering projects were far beyond anything he had seen at home in Europe. Everything from food to people, to animals like orangutans and rhinos, was new and fascinating to him.

How Do We Know Marco Polo?

After a journey of twenty years, Marco decided to return to Venice with his father and uncle. They had left their home in 1271 and finally returned in 1295. A few years after returning home, Venice went to war with the city of Genoa. Marco was arrested during this time. While imprisoned, Marco recounted the detailed stories of his travels to a writer named Rustichello, who would later write them down in a book titled "The Travels of Marco Polo." After its publication, "The Travels of Marco Polo" became a very popular book. It was translated into multiple languages and read throughout Europe. After the fall of Kublai Khan, the Ming Dynasty took over China. The Chinese were very cautious about foreigners, and there was very little information about China in the rest of the world. This made Marco's book even more popular and important.

Some Fun Facts

The Travels of Marco Polo was also called Il Milione or The Million. Polo traveled on a fleet of ships carrying a princess who was to marry a prince in Persia. This journey was quite dangerous, and only 117 of the approximately 700 travelers managed to survive. Some people think that Marco made up most of his adventures. However, scholars and historians have now fact-checked much of this information and concluded that much of it is likely true. During the time the Mongols and Kublai Khan ruled China, merchants could rise to advantageous positions in Chinese society. During other dynasties, merchants were looked down upon and seen as parasites on the economy. Marco had to travel through the great Gobi Desert to get to China. It took him months to cross the desert, and the desert was said to be haunted. Therefore, this journey was both grueling and frightening for Marco.