Marco Polo's travel islands in south Asia

Résumé du document

Marco Polo was born in Venice in 1254, he surely was one of the most famous travelers of the Silk Road. He was also a European man who left his country to discover the Middle East. There, he recorded the story of a journey that lasted twenty-four years. It was initially a trip that should have led him to create a route to the East for commercial prospects.

Extraits

[...] This island is ruled by a great king and his people are idolatrous of him; plus they don't pay any taxes. That's how Polo describes the island, no more no less . Then, as the trader he is, he begins to talk about the fact that Java is rich. By that, he means, good for trade. Can be found there all the most precious spices we need such as pepper, nutmeg, galangal (it's like ginger), cubebs (pepper from Java) and cloves. [...]

[...] Marco Polo's travel islands in south AsiaMarco Polo was born in Venice in 1254, he surely was one of the most famous travelers of the Silk Road. He was also a European man who left his country to discover the Middle East. There, he recorded the story of a journey that lasted twenty-four years. It was initially a trip that should have led him to create a route to the East for commercial prospects. Marco Polo crossed the territories of Bysance, Armenia, Persia or Asia, but also some islands like Sumatra, Indonesia or Malaysia He went even further than any other traveler having preceded in the exploration of Mongolia and China. [...]

[...] They are as big as elephants. In fact, they have the weight of a buffalo ‘feet like those of an elephant, and a horn in the middle of the forehead, which is black and very thick.'. He doesn't harm men or animals with his horn, but with his tongue, cuz there are spines on it. And when he wants to hurt someone, he crushes him with his knees and lacerates him with his tongue. His head is like the one of a wild boar and it's always leaning towards the ground. [...]

[...] Their tails are about the thickness of a dog. There are also plenty of unicorns in that country, and abundance of game in birds and beasts.” When you read this type of text and if you attend Dr Francisco first lecture you would remember what he said and using him here as my reference) that Europe in medieval was obsessed with the stories of beasts and monsters who live in the far East, so was he tickling the imagination of a medieval reader? [...]

[...] And can we tell whether or not, it was imagined? I. Cipangu A. Geographic location Cipangu is the first island described by Marco Polo in his book Devisement du monde. The island is located on the ocean close to the Levant. Cipango is pronounced “Je-Pen-Kou” which literally means “country of the rising sun”. Marco Polo estimated that the island was at least 1500 miles away from the coast. However, this was an exaggeration: Japan is just 100 miles away from Korea. B. [...]