During the thirteenth century, a merchant named Marco Polo returned home to Italy after
spending 24 years living in the Mongolian Empire.
He had the bad luck of getting arrested in Genoa, while they were at war with his hometown
of Venice.
He was a prisoner for two years, and he just so happened to share his cell with a famous
writer named Rustichello da Pisa.
The two of them shared stories with one another- as you do, when you’re stuck in a prison
cell with absolutely no form of entertainment.
Rustichello was so captivated by the stories of Marco Polo’s journey, that he knew it
would make a great book.
So they spent those two years in captivity writing the manuscript together.
When they were finally released from prison, they published The Travels of Marco Polo,
and it became an overnight best-seller.
Marco Polo became the first European to document so many details about the Mongolian and Chinese
Empires.
The western world had a difficult time believing that it was possible that there could be a
civilization out there that was actually more advanced than theirs.
His stories were so fantastic, people assumed that it must be a work of fiction.
For the rest of his life, Marco Polo was called a liar.
It would take hundreds of years before the world would know that every single story he
told was absolutely true.
And yet, even today, there are some skeptics who find it hard to believe that one man could
have seen and done so much in his lifetime.
He has gone down in history as being one of the greatest explorers in the world.
The Beginning Of An Epic Journey Marco Polo was born into a wealthy Venetian
family in the year 1254.
He was expected to follow the family trade of becoming a merchant.
His father, Niccolo, and his uncle, Maffeo, were traveling most of Marco’s young life.
Unlike a normal job, merchants were expected to leave home for years at a time.
They traveled the world, and gathered popular items like spices, pearls, gold, and gem stones
that were plentiful in certain countries.
Then, they sold their goods in other countries where they were far more valuable.
They would earn enough money to last for years, only to go back on a new journey once again.
At that time, travelers would return to Europe claiming that they had seen amazing creatures
in the far-east.
Many of these were complete works of fiction.
There were stories about a country full of human-dog hybrids, fire breathing dragons,
and mystical unicorns.
Christians believed that the Garden of Eden was somewhere hiding in the middle east, and
that Jerusalem was located in the exact center of the world...which was flat, of course.
The vast majority of people either fully believed these fairytales, or chose to take everything
with a grain of salt.
The only people who knew the truth about what went on in foreign countries were the ones
who had seen these places with their own eyes.
And at a time when traveling meant going on a journey that required sailing, walking,
or horseback-riding, people could only go so far before they ran out of money, food,
and water.
So the only people who traveled the world were the merchants.
They had generations of their family’s maps and personal experiences behind them.
It took an entire lifetime to prepare for the journey.
Marco Polo grew up learning to read, write, and speak multiple languages.
While his father and uncle were gone, his mother passed away, and he spent a lot of
his time at home, eagerly waiting for his father and uncle’s return, so that they
could go on an adventure.
By the time Niccolo and Maffeo finally returned to Venice, Marco Polo was 15 years old.
They explained to the boy that they had lived in Constantinople for several years before
finding themselves ushered into China, at the heart of the Mongolian Empire.
The leader, Kublai Khan, was interested in meeting them, because he had never seen European
men before.
The Khan was impressed by their ability to read and write in so many languages, and he
believed that they could be very useful to him.
The Polo brothers were treated as esteemed guests, and they were given luxuries beyond
their wildest dreams.
He asked them to return to Italy on a mission to meet with the Pope.
Kublai Khan had request for the Polo brothers to bring back 100 priests to the Mongolian
Empire.
Kublai Khan was a Buddhist, but he was very accepting of all cultures and religions.
He wanted Christians to come into his Empire to help diversify academic knowledge of the
kingdom.
Unfortunately for the Polos, they returned to find that the Vatican was arguing over
who would become the next Pope.
Niccolo and Maffeo brought back gold and gemstones that were hidden in the lining of their clothes,
and they were able to sell them all for a small fortune.
For two years, they prepared to return to Mongolia, and taught Marco all about what
to expect on the journey.
Without the help of the Pope, they could only convince two priests to come with them.
When Marco was 17, his father and uncle packed up the caravan, and they set off on a journey
across the land that would take them 3 years.
Traveling to China Traveling from Italy to China was no small
task.
The Polos had planned to take a boat there, but they realized that after years of being
away, the family ship had fallen into disrepair, and there would be no way for them to sail.
They had no choice but to go on foot.
If they went straight through the desert, they would never make it.
So they had to go on a journey where they were able to stop at small cities and oases
along the way.
They would have taken camels, horses, and donkeys to help carry the supplies.
They ate dried meat and water, and once they reached a town or city, they would barter
with their goods to trade for fresh fruits and vegetables in the marketplaces.
All along the way, they carried goods that they could sell for a profit in the next country.
The journey would have been exhausting, and they would be exposed to the elements.
But there were also countless numbers of bandits waiting to steal from traveling caravans.
Marco Polo mentions the Tartars, who were known to kill men without mercy.
But the Polo family was gifted with golden passports, which provided them protection
from the Great Khan.
It was written that if anyone were to mess with the Polos, they would have to face the
wrath of the Khan’s entire army.
Because of this, he never mentions going through very many hardships during that journey, except
for the fact that the two priests could not handle it.
They were forced to turn back and return to Italy.
The Polos had to cross over the Pamir Mountains in South-Central Asia.
He described the bitter cold, and how their fires could never be as hot as they were back
home.
Their next big challenge was the Gobi Desert, where they periodically came across the skeletons
of dead animals and humans who had not survived the harsh conditions.
He often heard the “singing sand dunes”.
He described it as sounding like different instruments playing all at once, and sometimes,
it sounded like the dunes were whispering his name.
It was enough to drive a man mad.
There were stories of men wandering into the desert to try to find the source of the music,
but they never returned.
Now, this story truly sounds supernatural, because it was as if was some vengeful spirit
trying to lure men to the deaths.
This is actually a very real phenomenon, though.
These musical notes come from the sound of vibrations of sand sliding down the dunes.
These play musical notes, “G, E, or F”, which some people have describe as sounding
similar to a cello.
Once Marco Polo reached China, he had become very ill, and was afraid that he may die.
But he found mountains that were said to have magical healing powers.
He climbed the mountain, breathed in the fresh air, and found that it truly did heal him.
He wrote that in Tibet, parents wanted their daughters to have sex with as many men as
possible before they got married, so that they could prove how desirable they would
be as wives.
Since he was a young European man, these parents were practically throwing their daughters
at him to have a foreigner review their daughter’s sexual abilities.
He mentions that Tibet was a great place to be for a boy of 17 to 20 years old.
Of course, this story caused a bit of controversy, and it was one of the many examples of stories
that people found too far-fetched to believe.
But it is actually based on a real custom.
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Life in the Mongolian Empire Years before Marco Polo was born, a powerful
leader named Genghis Khan united the Mongolian Empire.
Once all of the Mongol tribes were lead by a single leder, they began to conquer surrounding
territories in Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
Mongolian warriors were trained since they were toddlers to ride on horseback, and the
men spent their entire lives preparing for battle.
They had the strongest army in the world, with millions of soldiers prepared to fight
for the Khan.
In each new generation, the strongest heir was chosen to be the new Khan.
Marco Polo and his family were going to see Kublai Khan, who was arguably one of the greatest
rulers the empire had ever seen.
After traveling over 10,000 miles, Marco, Niccolo, and Maffeo Polo all arrived at Kublai
Khan’s summer palace, called Xanadu.
They were greeted as esteemed royal guests.
Even though he had heard so many stories from his father and uncle, it could never compare
to experiencing the real thing.
Marco Polo was completely blown away by the wealth and magnificence of the Mongolian Empire.
Xanadu was a massive palace that had its own park, with lush gardens and exotic species
of animals living on the land.
Even in the 1200’s, the Chinese had advanced systems of heating and cooling that had never
been seen in Europe before.
Pipes in the ground heated the polished hardwood floors, which kept the royal court warm in
the winter.
Engineers had constructed impressive bridges and buildings.
They were years ahead of Europe with their sanitation systems, as well.
Every single person was clean, smelled great, and dressed in luxurious silk robes, shimmering
with golden threads.
For Marco Polo, it was like he had died and gone to heaven.
The Khan threw a celebration for the Polo family’s arrival with a feast.
They fed over 40,000 guests, and Marco Polo could fill his cup with unlimited drinks from
a massive silver wine fountain.
He was incredibly impressed by Kublai Khan.
Polo looked up to him with almost a god-like reverence, because he was an example of the
perfect ruler.
The Great Khan had incredible skill in battle, like his ancestors before him, but he was
also educated, and level-headed when it came to making diplomatic decisions.
Instead of attempting to rule every single country that he conquered, Kublai Khan allowed
existing government structures to continue functioning on their own, so long as they
agreed to bow down to the Khan, and pledge their allegiance to the Mongolian Empire.
This mean that every territory was allowed to keep their religions, languages, and culture.
Kublai Khan celebrated diversity, and he believed that one day, the Mongolian Empire may spread
across the entire planet.
Because of this, it was very important to have advisors like the Polo family in his
court to help him negotiate with foreign nations.
Marco Polo became one of Kublai Khan’s trusted advisors, and he was able to live among the
royal court.
Since he could speak 5 languages, he was very useful in diplomacy and negotiations.
He was eventually trusted to be in charge of the Mongolian salt trade, and brokered
deals for sending the mineral to other lands.
At that time, salt was incredibly valuable, even though it was relatively easy to produce.
He described in great detail about how the workers made salt from boiling sea water in
giant vats, which is a technique that is still used in China today.
Along with all of these responsibilities, Marco Polo was allowed to enjoy all of the
best entertainment that the empire had to offer.
There were musical performances, horse races, theater, and wrestling matches.
Men of high standing were allowed to have their own harem, as well.
The most beautiful women in the empire were brought to Xanadu.
He wrote about how the women were skilled in playing musical instruments, and how they
were all graceful and polite.
Keep in mind that he was just 20 years old when he arrived, and he already had so much
experience being the most popular guy in Tibet during his journey to China.
While it’s not included in his book, there is one Chinese court record from that time
that is believed to be about Marco Polo.
A foreign man was arrested, because he was walking with women alone at night without
an escort.
This was illegal, but the young man was totally unaware of the law, and he had diplomatic
immunity.
So, they let him go.
But not all of the women in the Mongolian Empire were there for men’s entertainment.
Marco Polo witnessed Kublai Khan’s niece, Princess Khutulun, battle for her right to
choose her own husband.
She set out a challenge that if any man could defeat her in wrestling, they would win her
hand in marriage.
However, no one was every able to defeat her, and she acquired a massive fleet of 10,000
horses.
She was allowed to remain unmarried, and fought alongside her father in battle.
Even without Polo’s help to keep her memory alive, Khutulun’s story was so incredible,
that it had been passed down by word of mouth in China for hundreds of years.
Returning Home to Venice Scholars believe that the Polos would have
been afraid of what would have happened to them after Kublai Khan’s death.
Since they were foreigners who were not official citizens of the empire, they may not have
the same rights and privileges once he passed away.
They claim that they were home sick, and humbly request to return to Italy.
The Khan found them to be very useful, and at first, he did not want to see them go.
But he eventually relented, saying that they could leave, as long as they escorted a woman
named Princess Kokachin to meet her new husband in Persia.
She was also called “The Blue Princess”, and she was remembered for her legendary beauty.
This time, they did not have to go through the harsh mountains and desserts.
They were able to take a boat to Persia, but over 100 people died on the journey.
Only 18 survived, including the Polos and the princess.
By the time he returned to Italy, Marco Polo had been gone for 24 years, and he was a bachelor
in his 40’s.
During the war between Genoa and Venice, Marco Polo was arrested, and the government illegally
seized the majority of the wealth they had acquired in their time away.
He was able to hide some of his gold and gemstones, but he truly was lucky that his book was a
best-seller.
Otherwise, he may have ended up broke after all of those years away.
As we mentioned before, Marco Polo told the stories to Rustichello.
And yet he never describes himself, or very much of his personal life.
Throughout the entire book, Marco Polo is acting more like a journalist, or a non-biased
observer.
He passed no personal judgement, and he simply explained the things he was seeing in a very
matter-of-fact way.
After publishing The Travels of Marco Polo, the author got mixed reviews.
Some people congratulated him for his accomplishments, while others accused him of being a liar.
Many of his stories challenged the Christian beliefs about the outside world.
And, by comparison, the Mongolian Empire seemed far superior to Europe in a number of ways.
They were wealthy, powerful, well-educated, open-minded, and had the strongest army in
the world.
These stories made some Europeans feel inadequate by comparison, and they clung on to their
ethnocentric worldview.
In modern times, scholars have poured over the original manuscript of Marco Polo’s
book, and compared the details to ancient Chinese documents.
They were able to confirm nearly every detail was correct, which proves that he was telling
the truth all along.
For the rest of his life, Marco Polo tried to ignore the haters, and he went on living
his life.
He got married to a Venician noblewoman, and they had three daughters together.
In the records of his oldest daughter’s dowry, it was documented that he passed on
the golden passport that he received from the Khan as her wedding gift.
In 1324, Marco Polo was on his deathbed, surrounded by his family.
A priest showed up to read him his last rites, and he urged Polo to confess if he had truly
lied about his stories, as a way to cleanse his soul.
His dying words were that he only told a fraction of all of the stories about his amazing experiences.
And if he had given away all of his stories in the book, it would blow everyone’s minds,
but no one would have believed him, anyway.
As the years went on, there would be several new editions of Marco Polo’s book.
Priests re-wrote his stories with a Christian slant so that they could bolster Europe’s
superiority.
They highlighted certain stories, like the women in Tibet, as examples of the East’s
sinfulness and depravity.
They still could not stand the idea that China was somehow better than Europe.
Unfortunately, future generations would see this altered manuscript, and take it as a
sign that white people needed to reform foreign natives with Christianity.
Future explorers, like Christopher Columbus, used this altered version of Marco Polo’s
book as a guide for his own journey.
However, he often got it wrong, believing that they landed in an entirely different
country.
Without the ability to speak the language, Columbus assumed he had landed in India, and
immediately set out to enslave the native people.
He colonized the land for conquest and greed, rather than attempting to assimilate or understand
the Native American language and culture.
People love the story of Marco Polo, but no one truly knows what he looked like.
There are only artist’s interpretations of how they imagined him in their mind.
And even though he had so many stories to tell, we know very little about the actual
man.
We don’t really know what he did on a day-to-day basis, or anything about his personality.
Despite the fact that we know so little about who he truly was, he is still considered to
be one of the most admired people in history- not just for his discoveries, but because
lived his life to the fullest extent.
He was able to experience seeing a new world that was unlike anything that Europe had seen
before, and he became the real-life hero of every story about that one special person
who is invited into a magical world.
And that, on its own, is what dreams are made of.