I, Marco Polo travelled a great deal in China. I was amazed with China’s enormous power, great wealth, and complex social structure. China is rich in gold, ivory, jade, jewels, porcelain and silk.
porcelain
Chinese Silk
A Chinese Jade Pendant
A Chinese Ivory Carving
China under the Yuan (The Mongol Empire) dynasty (1264 – 1368) was a huge empire whose internal economy dwarfed that of Europe. It’s reported that iron manufacture was around 125,000 tons a year (a level not reached in Europe before the 18th century) and salt production was on a prodigious scale: 30,000 tons a year in one province alone. A canal-based transportation system linked China’s huge cities and markets in a vast internal communication network in which paper money and credit facilities were highly developed. The citizens could purchase paperback books with paper money, eat rice from fine porcelain bowls and wear silk garments, lived in prosperous city that no European town could match. We lived in the empire, in the service of the Khan, used paper money, passports, and traveled on the Grand Canal in China, at a time when paper money, passports, and canals were unknown in Europe.
I was impressed with Kublai Khan’s prosperous, advanced empire in China. I marveled the summer palace in particular. It was the greatest palace that ever was. The walls were covered with gold and silver and the Hall was so large that it could easily dine 6,000 people. The palace was made of cane supported by 200 silk cords, which could be taken to pieces and transported easily when the Emperor moved. There too, the Khan kept a stud of 10,000 speckless white horses. The fine marble Palace, the rooms of which are all gilt and painted with figures of men and beasts…all executed with such exquisite art that you regard them with delight and astonishment.
There were some phenomena which were totally new to me. We noted the center of asbestos industry in Uighuristan, but the other three beggared my imagination, and they were paper currency, coal and the imperial post.
I was impressed with Kublai Khan’s prosperous, advanced empire in China. I marveled the summer palace in particular. It was the greatest palace that ever was. The walls were covered with gold and silver and the Hall was so large that it could easily dine 6,000 people. The palace was made of cane supported by 200 silk cords, which could be taken to pieces and transported easily when the Emperor moved. There too, the Khan kept a stud of 10,000 speckless white horses. The fine marble Palace, the rooms of which are all gilt and painted with figures of men and beasts…all executed with such exquisite art that you regard them with delight and astonishment.
There were some phenomena which were totally new to me. We noted the center of asbestos industry in Uighuristan, but the other three beggared my imagination, and they were paper currency, coal and the imperial post.
Chinese Paper Currency
Coal
The idea of paper substituting gold and silver was a total surprise even to us. I attributed the success of paper money to Kublai stature as a ruler. “With these pieces of paper they can buy anything and pay of anything.” I marveled at the Chinese use of paper money, which bore the seal of the emperor. At the same time, we, the Europeans were trading with heavy coins made of copper, gold, or lead.
It is true that the Chinese have plenty of firewood. But the population is so enormous and there are so many bath-houses and baths constantly being heated, that it would be impossible to supply enough firewood, since there is no one who does not visit a bath-house at least 3 times a week and take a bath – in winter every day, if he can manage it. Every man of rank or means has his own bathroom in his house… so these black stones (coal), being very plentiful and very cheap, effect a great saving of wood. The Chinese mine and use coal as fuel. Coal had not yet been used in Europe.
I was equally impressed with the efficient communication system in the Mongol world. There were three main grades of dispatch, which may be rendered in modern terms as ‘second class’, first class’, and ‘On His Imperial Majesty’s Service: Top Priority’. ‘Second class’ messages were carried by foot-runners, who had relay-stations three miles apart. Each messenger wore a special belt hung with small bells to announce his approach and ensure that his relief was out on the road and ready for a smooth takeover. This system enabled a message to cover the distance of a normal ten-day journey in 24 hours. At each three miles station a log was kept on the flow of messages and all the routes were patrolled by inspectors. ‘First class’ business was conveyed on horseback, with relay-stages of 25 miles. But the really important business of Kublai empire was carried by non-stop dispatch riders. Riders on horseback relayed messages from one station to another.
Printing had not yet been invented in Europe, and so scholars copied by hand. European interest in Asia had brought to Europe such Chinese inventions as the printing, papermaking and compass.
As in other periods of alien dynastic rule of China, a rich cultural diversity developed during the Yuan dynasty. The major cultural achievements were the development of drama and the novel and the increased use of the written vernacular. The Mongols’ extensive West Asian and European contacts produced a fair amount of cultural exchange. Western musical instruments were introduced to enrich the Chinese performing arts. Advances were realized in the fields to travel literature, cartography and geography, and scientific education. Certain key Chinese innovations, such as printing techniques, porcelain production, playing cards, and medical literature, were introduced in Europe, while the production of thin glass and cloisonné became popular in China.
It is true that the Chinese have plenty of firewood. But the population is so enormous and there are so many bath-houses and baths constantly being heated, that it would be impossible to supply enough firewood, since there is no one who does not visit a bath-house at least 3 times a week and take a bath – in winter every day, if he can manage it. Every man of rank or means has his own bathroom in his house… so these black stones (coal), being very plentiful and very cheap, effect a great saving of wood. The Chinese mine and use coal as fuel. Coal had not yet been used in Europe.
I was equally impressed with the efficient communication system in the Mongol world. There were three main grades of dispatch, which may be rendered in modern terms as ‘second class’, first class’, and ‘On His Imperial Majesty’s Service: Top Priority’. ‘Second class’ messages were carried by foot-runners, who had relay-stations three miles apart. Each messenger wore a special belt hung with small bells to announce his approach and ensure that his relief was out on the road and ready for a smooth takeover. This system enabled a message to cover the distance of a normal ten-day journey in 24 hours. At each three miles station a log was kept on the flow of messages and all the routes were patrolled by inspectors. ‘First class’ business was conveyed on horseback, with relay-stages of 25 miles. But the really important business of Kublai empire was carried by non-stop dispatch riders. Riders on horseback relayed messages from one station to another.
Printing had not yet been invented in Europe, and so scholars copied by hand. European interest in Asia had brought to Europe such Chinese inventions as the printing, papermaking and compass.
As in other periods of alien dynastic rule of China, a rich cultural diversity developed during the Yuan dynasty. The major cultural achievements were the development of drama and the novel and the increased use of the written vernacular. The Mongols’ extensive West Asian and European contacts produced a fair amount of cultural exchange. Western musical instruments were introduced to enrich the Chinese performing arts. Advances were realized in the fields to travel literature, cartography and geography, and scientific education. Certain key Chinese innovations, such as printing techniques, porcelain production, playing cards, and medical literature, were introduced in Europe, while the production of thin glass and cloisonné became popular in China.
The Mongols undertook extensive public works. Road and water communications were reorganized and improved. To provide against possible famines, granaries were ordered built throughout the empire. The city of Beijing was rebuilt with new palace grounds that included artificial lakes, hills and mountains, and parts. During the Yuan period, Beijing became the terminus of the Grand Canal, which was completely renovated. These commercially oriented improvements encouraged overland as well as maritime commerce throughout Asia and facilitated the first direct Chinese contacts with Europe. Chinese and Mongol travelers to the West were able to provide assistance in such areas as hydraulic engineering, while bringing back to the Middle Kingdom new scientific discoveries and architectural innovations. Contacts with the West also brought the introduction to China of a major new food crop – sorghum-along with other foreign food products and methods of preparation.
It was indeed a powerful and prosperous civilization under the leadership of Kublai Khan at a time of peace. He also supports learning and the arts, and there were indeed many cultural achievements.
Drama
Cloisonne
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