Over the last few months, we’ve been talking about works of literary fiction that drastically
reshaped religion.
Now I want to talk about a book that altered the course of history.
It wasn’t supposed to be a work of fiction, it was marketed as an accurate traveler’s
guide, but as we’ll soon find out – It might as well have been fiction.
Where can you find this book?
It’s not too hard, in fact, children have been doing it in swimming pools for decades.
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I just realized that sounds like I’m talking about pee.
I’m not, I’m talking about Marco Polo.
The swimming pool game comes from Marco Polo himself, when he was separated from his father
and uncle in a crowded market, that’s how they would call out and find each other.
That’s the story anyway.
His father and uncle, Niccolo and Maffeo Polo traveled Asia for a few years and reached
the court of Kublai Khan in 1266.
They returned to Venice three years later in 1269.
They were sent by the Khan to bring back a hundred Christian missionaries, they only
brought back two, who didn’t make it for one reason or another.
But they did bring the then seventeen-year-old Marco Polo.
The three of them traveled around Asia for twenty-four years between 1271 and 1295 and
the story of their adventures eventually became the “Book of the Marvels of the World.”
Otherwise known as “The Travels of Marco Polo.”
When Marco Polo returned to Venice in 1295, he was captured and put into a Genoese prison,
where he dictated an account of his travels to his cellmate, Rustichello da Pisa.
Previously known for his work on King Arthur.
Here’s where we run into the first problem – if you were to ask me to describe a city
I visited once twenty-four years ago.
I’m probably going to get a few things wrong.
When the story of my adventures gets filtered through a writer whose entire body of work
consists of fantasy…
Things are going to get embellished a little.
And since this was before the printing press, every copy had to be handwritten or translated.
And each person tended to add their own little flair.
It’s impossible to know how much of the book as it exists today is Marco Polo’s
original work.
But his name is still on the cover, so I’m going to attribute it all to him.
Likewise, Marco prefaces the entire book with a disclaimer saying that he’s only going
to talk about places he personally visited or were described to him by a “credible
source.”
He doesn’t distinguish between those places during the book, so again I’m going to treat
it all the same.
Some of it is just innocent misremembering, some of it is exaggeration or embellishment,
and some of it is just straight up lies.
Which normally wouldn’t be a problem.
But since this was sold as a true account of his travels, certain things he described
put dollar signs in the eyes of those who read it.
So what did he actually say?
He starts his adventures in Turkey, where he describes the people as very rude and of
dull intellect.
He then moves on to Armenia, where Noah’s Ark apparently landed.
He travels through Baghdad and Persia, which are areas pretty well known to most Europeans,
so his descriptions are pretty tame.
The further east he goes, the more fantastical his claims get.
For example, for a year, he stays in the city where Genghis Khan apparently died from an
arrow to the knee – I know – it’s actually historically unclear what killed Genghis Khan,
and Marco gets the date wrong by fifteen years.
But you know…
I had to say it.
Then he travels through the territory of Prester John, a Christian king who… never existed.
He’s basically the King Arthur of the Middle East.
Everywhere he goes, he talks about the various goods that can be bought or sold, whether
it’s ginger or golden tissues and napkins.
Which makes sense, he’s a merchant.
He tells you which watering holes to avoid, saying that the green salt will cause “frequent
calls to nature.”
Which is useful information for a travel guide.
But then he also talks about the incombustible fabrics they make, which isn’t entirely
impossible, asbestos isn’t exactly a new substance.
But it wasn’t widely used until the 1800s.
Or the magicians who can control darkness and render themselves practically invisible
or make cups float in the air and spontaneously fill themselves.
And control the weather, because why not?
But the truly fun stuff doesn’t come along until he reaches the court of Kublai Khan
in Tartaria, what we now know as Mongolia.
He, and everyone else at the time, called the Mongols “Tartars.”
He describes their complicated tax system, and that the Khan won’t take taxes from
a flock or farm that was struck by lightning.
Thinking it must be cursed by the heavens.
He talks about their paper money, which was actually unique in the world at the time.
Again, important stuff for a merchant to know.
But this is also where Marco Polo starts to exaggerate his own importance, some of it
rooted in truth and others… not so much.
Like claiming to be the governor of Yangzhou for three years.
(Yawng-zhoo) There’s no record of that, in fact, there are no Mongol or Chinese records
that mention Marco Polo at all.
Some historians doubt he was ever there.
But he describes things accurately enough that he would have had to be there, so in
all likelihood, he was actually there.
He inaccurately describes a bridge that was later named after him.
And that bridge happens to be where World War 2 started in Asia, depending on who you
ask.
On the flip side, he completely neglects to mention the Great Wall of China, which had
existed, at least in part, for over a thousand years at that point.
But other historians go so far as to defend Marco Polo.
Saying that they probably used a Chinese pseudonym for him in their records, they don’t know
what that pseudonym is….
And he would have been the only foreigner they ever did that for.
They had no problem using Niccolo Polo’s real name, or any other European or Arab merchant
for that matter.
He would have been the only one.
It’s not impossible, when I took French, my pseudonym was Serge – but what are the
odds that they bestowed this special honor on the one guy who happened to go on to write
a historically important travel guide over a decade later.
And make no mistake, it is a mostly boring merchant’s travel guide.
The people here speak a peculiar language and are Mohammedans.
They burn their dead and use the Great Khan’s paper currency.
Be sure to stop by Hamid’s shop for the best falafel this side of the Euphrates.
One of those was added by me but still, not that far off from what Marco Polo actually
said.
Everywhere he goes, he talks about how the wine is made, whether it’s from grapes or
rice, what food they eat, what currency they use, and what religion they are.
And of course, how beautiful the women are.
In one city, women are encouraged to “take up the company” of many different men.
Virgins are seen as undesirable; something must be wrong with them.
In several places in China, which he calls the provinces of Cathay and Mangi, he talks
about various nudist and cannibal cultures.
Which there’s no evidence for beyond Marco Polo.
As well as a few other practices that are so blasphemous that being a proper Christian,
he can’t put them to paper.
How convenient.
He calls any religion that isn’t Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, “idolatry” which includes
Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Shintoism.
As well as any ancestor or animal worship.
Marco spends a great deal of time describing the strange animals he encounters, like dogs
the size of donkeys which are used for sledding in Siberia.
Which he calls the “Region of Darkness.”
In India, they use dogs to hunt tigers…
Somehow.
And in Madagascar, there are eagles so large they can pick up an elephant and drop it from
a great height… wait, Madagascar isn’t even close to China or India.
Yeah, we’ll get to that.
He also describes giraffes, which he calls camelopards, and rhinoceroses… rhinoceri?
Which he calls unicorns.
Everywhere he goes, everything is cheap and in great abundance, whether it’s spices,
women, or gold.
Ah, there’s those dollar signs I was talking about.
On the island of Cipangu, they have so much gold that they built entire cities out of
it – the floors, the walls, and the rooves – I know what you’re thinking.
We need to get to Cipangu immediately.
Which is going to be kind of hard when he gives directions like this.
Upon leaving the city, travel fifteen day’s journey in a direction between north and northeast.
So… north-northeast?
We have a word for that, you know… it’s not even like, a strange word.
And what does fifteen days’ journey mean?
Are we talking on horseback or on a camel?
Because as we learned a few months ago, those are very different speeds and distances.
Or does he mean on foot?
Again, are we talking my walking pace or SophsNotes’ walking pace?
Because as I learned a few months ago, those are also very different speeds and distances.
That girl walks with a purpose, she has places to be.
I mean, at least nobody is going to use these directions to make a map or anything…
Hello?
Hey KB!
Oh, hey Soph, I was just talking about- Yeah so, people did use his directions to
make maps.
What?
Why would someone use- No, not someone, everyone.
Everyone?
Nuh uh.
Yeah huh!
But… but like, everything would be in the wrong place and stuff.
Everything was in the wrong place and stuff….
And completely the wrong size.
And I’m not talking about some amateur with a paintbrush in his garage, I’m talking
about respectable, world-renowned cartographers.
People who are considered to be experts used Marco Polo as a primary source.
This is the Erdapfel, the world’s oldest surviving globe from 1492, Asia is about twice
the size as it is in reality.
Here’s another map from the 1400s, note Madagascar being just south of India, and
north of a weirdly large Zanzibar.
In truth, Madagascar is way down near Africa, and Zanzibar is right here – it’s actually
so small it doesn’t even show up on this map.
Here’s another famous map that many long time viewers of my channel will recognize,
made by Toscanelli in 1474.
Here’s Cathay and Mangi, and here’s the island of Cipangu – known as Japan today.
Marco Polo said that Japan was 1500 miles away from the coast of China in the Sea of
Qin.
Spelled Qin because… why not?
He said it was about twice the size it actually is and was the largest of 7000 islands in
the Sea of Qin, which…
I doubt there are that many islands in the world.
Hello?
There are literally millions of islands in the world.
Nuh uh.
Yeah huh!
Sweden alone has over 200,000.
Well, I guess that just depends on your definition of an island then doesn’t it?!
The point is, it doesn’t look anything like this.
The fact that Marco Polo made Japan as large as he did and put it as far away from China
as he did, and how large he made China in the first place…
Made it so that when cartographers tried to place it on a map, they ended up putting it
where Mexico is in reality.
Marco Polo specifically said that the Sea of Qin is part of the same ocean as is off
the coast of Europe.
Which is technically right, I guess.
In 1474, Toscanelli wrote a letter to the Canon of Lisbon, saying…
From the island of Antillia… to the very famous island of Cipangu… is 2,500 miles.
That island is very rich in gold, pearls, and precious stones, and its temples and palaces
are covered in gold.
But since the route to this place is not yet known, all these things remain hidden and
secret; and yet one may go there in great safety.
And in case you haven’t connected the dots yet or haven’t seen my video on Columbus,
Toscanelli wrote him a letter too.
The said voyage is not only possible, but it is true, and certain to be honourable and
to yield incalculable profit, and very great fame among all Christians.
That’s right, through Toscanelli and basically every other cartographer at the time, Marco
Polo directly inspired Columbus.
It even says that on his Wikipedia page.
Columbus was sailing for Cipangu looking for gold.
And because it took them a while to realize that Hispaniola was not an island off the
coast of Asia, it also inspired several conquistadors who were looking for a fabled city made entirely
out of gold.
Which turned into myths like Cibola and El Dorado.
One man’s merchant’s travel guide, filled with misremembered facts, embellishments,
and fabrications, indirectly led to the death of millions.
Not many books can say that.
Okay like, three other books can say that.
The thing is, it’s not even a good book.
There’s a Netflix series that takes some… historical liberties.
From a book that is itself full of historical liberties.
But it’s a very dry, boring read, it doesn’t have a lot of narrative flow.
Which is something he could have learned on Skillshare by going to skl.sh/knowingbetter9.
Skillshare is an online learning community with over 25,000 courses taught by experts
in their field.
Marco Polo, or rather, his ghostwriter, should have taken this course in how to write character-driven
short stories.
Rather than just listing the Wikipedia facts about each city.
Or this course in how to write truth with style, rather than just making stuff up to
sound more exciting.
You can learn this and much more for less than $10 a month.
But if you head over to skl.sh/knowingbetter9, you can get two months of unlimited access
to all of Skillshare’s courses for free.
You’ll also be supporting the channel when you do.
They say you shouldn’t believe everything you see on the internet, they used to say
you shouldn’t believe everything you see on TV.
But back in the day, you probably shouldn’t have believed everything you read either.
Crazy racist uncles have always existed, and they’ve always been looking for reasons
to dislike people over there, whether they’re cannibals or have way too much gold.
And even back then they were way too into chain mail.
It’s weird to think that works of fiction about travels through hell or travels through
Asia would get taken way too literally by some people and completely change the way
we look at the world.
And in the case of Marco Polo, completely alter the course of history.
So maybe be a little more careful with what you write, think a little more about what
you read and what you share, because now, you know better.
I’d like to thank SophsNotes and Blue from OSP for lending their voices.
There was a bit of parallel creation on this one, so be sure to check out Blue’s video
on the topic in the description.
If you’d like to add your name to this list of travelers, head on over patreon.com/knowingbetter,
or for a one-time donation, paypal.me/knowingbetter.
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