{"id":2532,"date":"2016-11-21T16:24:50","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T15:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ulrichneininger.de\/?p=2532"},"modified":"2018-11-26T15:53:13","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T07:53:13","slug":"the-legend-of-the-venetian-knight-errant-at-the-court-of-kublai-khan-and-the-true-story-of-the-busy-official-marco-polo-how-he-grew-rich-in-china-and-what-he-kept-secret-from-his-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ulrichneininger.de\/?p=2532","title":{"rendered":"The Legend of the Venetian Knight-Errant at the Court of Kublai Khan, and the True Story of the Busy Official Marco Polo, how he Grew Rich in China and what he Kept Secret from his Readers"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h1>\n

Readers of his book often called Marco Polo’s credibility into question.1<\/a><\/sup> <\/a>How could he have been in China, they asked, when he failed to report on so many conspicuous things? He did not mention the Great Wall, which nobody can easily overlook, nor did he describe the tea or the peculiarities of the Chinese writing. Moreover, instead of Chinese place names, his report often uses Persian and Turkish names, as written by a Muslim traveller. At one point, he claimed to have been governor of Yangzhou, then one of the largest and richest cities in China. His critics say, quite rightly, had he assumed such an important office, his name should appear in the records of the Yuan Dynasty. However, the documents of the Yuan never mention him. These ambiguities led readers to suspect that Marco Polo had his report copied from a Persian source somewhere in the Middle East to present it as \u201cWonder of the World\u201d to a European audience.<\/p>\n

There are good arguments to refute these doubts: In the 13th<\/sup> century the Great Wall was a dilapidated earthen wall, which barely resembled the impressive construction, erected by the Ming emperors 200 years later. Wherever Marco Polo traveled on the ancient Silk Road, he must have met Mongols drinking tea. In addition, Chinese communities resided in West Asia, as in all the trading centres of the empire. That Marco Polo fails to mention the tea appears to posterity, because this beverage has become so important in Europe, as a major oversight. For him, however, tea-drinking was only one of many peculiar habits \u2013 and he could not describe all those customs. Moreover, he understood the Chinese language well. Without mentioning the characters in their particularity, he speaks of the great <\/span><\/span>diversity of <\/span><\/span>dialect<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span>, noting that <\/span><\/span>different <\/span><\/span>regions <\/span><\/span>nevertheless have a common language and \u201cone uniform manner of writing.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

How Marco Polo became \u201cGovernor of Yangzhou\u201d, is a special story, more on which follows below.<\/p>\n

Early in the nineteenth century a knowledgeable, but ultimately misguided critic calls Marco Polo’s report a \u201cclumsily composed\u201d Christian propaganda text \u201cto boost the zeal for the conversion of the Mongols\u201d, invented \u201cto redound to the benefit of both the clergy and particularly the merchant class.\u201d Uncle, father and son Polo did accordingly not get further than to Bukhara \u201cwhither then, many Italians journeyed.\u201d What is told of the countries east of the Mongol Empire, \u201care memories of common talks and travel stories by local traders.\u201d3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The pious stories that Marco Polo weaves into his text were also<\/em> missionary propaganda. Above all, they had a protective function as religiously correct passages in a secular text that came at a time when the Church\u00a0 was eradicating Waldensians, Cathars, Joachimites and other Luciferiansin pious zeal. Back then, the pyres burned everywhere in northern Italy. A traveller, who reported on his services for the Great Khan, could easily fall into the suspicion of being a tool of hell. Many medieval theologians considered the ruler of the Tartars (ex tartarus<\/em> = from hell) as Lord of Hell.4<\/a><\/sup> Acts of the Saints, transcribed from devotional literature and interpolated in the travelogue, served as the repeated assertion that a faithful Christian, and not a secret idolater, wrote the text. To give weight to his position, Marco Polo does not shy away from passing off the most bizarre stories as historical events. He tells of a poor shoemaker, who the cruel caliph of Baghdad forced to prove that the Christian faith could move mountains. Of course, the mountain moved. \u201cThe khalif and all those by whom he was surrounded, were struck with terror, and remained in a state of stupefaction. Many of the latter became Christians and even the khalif secretly embraced Christianity, always wearing a cross concealed under his garment, which after his death was found upon him; and on this account, it was that, they did not entomb him in the shrine of his predecessors.\u201d5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Pagan rulers who are crypto-Christians, secretly professing Jesus Christ, or even hovering on the brink of conversion together with all their nobles and the people, were common in missionary propaganda. Thus Kublai Khan himself was regarded as a future Christian. Allegedly, he instructed the brothers Maffeo and Nicolo on their first trip to China to ask the pope for able scholars to instruct him and his people in the true Christian faith.6<\/a><\/sup> Moreover, he ordered oil from the lamp of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.7<\/a><\/sup> Unfortunately, the dispatch of the 100 priests required failed. \u201cIf the Pope had sent out persons\u201d, the writer regrets, \u201cduly qualified to preach the gospel, the grand khan would have embraced Christianity, for which, it is certainly known, he had a strong predilection.\u201d The absence of priests is particularly unfortunate, because the emperor has so many subjects.8<\/a><\/sup> The reference to the many Chinese, who are more numerous than all the rest, was in itself for Marco Polo an argument to give things a unique importance.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n



<\/p>\n

\"Neimeng,<\/a><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shangdu (Xanadu). Ruins of the palace\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a9 U. Neininger<\/h6>\n



<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Beginnings of a Legend \u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n



The matter with the oil from the lamps at the Holy Sepulcher however, proved to be hugely satisfying. When Maffeo, Nicolo and Marco delivered the requested vials in 1275 after reaching Kambalu (Beijing), the ordered vials, the young Marco \u2013 he was only 21 years old \u2013 caught <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>attention<\/span><\/span> of the Great Khan, who thought that he was virtuous and of a humble kind (\u201ctugendhafftig vnd von diem\u00fctiger art\u201d) and immediately knighted him. The Khan kept him in honour like one of his princes, and the \u201cyoung knight\u201d swiftly learned the languages of the Tartars, and quickly adopted their habits, as if he were a native (\u201ceyn geporner mann des lands\u201d).9<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

From a literary standpoint, the vial of oil of the Holy Sepulcher is an elegant insertion in the fashion of the time. Around the year 1190 Chr\u00e9tien de Troyes‘ Story of the Grail <\/em>was published, and soon became immensely popular via adaptations and translations all over Europe. Poets did not quite agree on the Grail. Wolfram von Eschenbach regarded it as a stone, but the majority of poets described it as a vessel containing a mysterious substance, which some said was the blood of Christ. The hero of the legend of the Grail is Perceval, who as a naive young man moved out into the world to become a noble knight of the Round Table of King Arthur.<\/p>\n

In Italy, the poet Rustichello of Pisa eulogised\u00a0 the feats of King Arthur and his knights in Old French. The poet met Marco Polo in 1298 in Genoa, where both men were prisoners of war. Since Marco had been barely 17 years old when he set off for his journey to China, he certainly possessed only little formal education. He was, in the words of his most influential editor, Ramusio, \u201cwithout any regular training in the art of composition.\u201d10<\/a><\/sup> Thus, he probably wrote in the dry style of a shopkeeper. It does not seem that he had ever thought of recording his experiences in a book before he met Rustichello. Now the Venetian had found a poet who could write down all the marvels he had experienced to make sure \u201cthat the great wonders and deeds of the almighty God remain not unsaid and not hidden.\u201d11<\/a><\/sup> The Pisan, however, had met the knight-errant, whose adventures he could glorify. In the prologue, he recommended the book to the emperors and kings, the dukes and counts. Definitely, he had a clear idea of its readership. No man was ever born, he praised his hero, \u201cwho searched and saw more in this world than the gallant knight Marco Polo.\u201d12<\/a><\/sup> Collaboration must have proved difficult between the poet and the merchant, the man of the past, who rewrote the Celtic legends from early European history, and the man of the future, whose travels were a prelude to the Age of Discovery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kublai Khan, it is said at one point, sent his Venetian courtier \u201cin an important affair of state\u201d to Karazan (Yunnan). Marco behaved \u201cwith so much wisdom and prudence in management of the affairs entrusted to him that his services became highly acceptable.\u201d13<\/a><\/sup> Here Rustichello set the solemn tune, but also the narrator clearly does not lack self-confidence. It is noticeable that he does not say a single word about the important affair of state \u2013 certainly not out of modesty.<\/p>\n

A contradiction <\/span><\/span>characteri<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span>es<\/span><\/span> the whole book: <\/span><\/span>o<\/span><\/span>ur young knight Marco resides at the court of Kublai Khan, advises the ruler, travels on his behalf all over the country and shows up in high places. However, what <\/span><\/span>is he doing in China<\/span><\/span> in the first place<\/span><\/span>? On<\/span><\/span>ly on<\/span><\/span> two occasions <\/span><\/span>does <\/span><\/span>he <\/span><\/span>make this clear.<\/span><\/span> According to <\/span><\/span>Ramusio\u2019s<\/span><\/span> edition, he served as governor of Yangzhou.<\/span><\/span>14<\/a><\/sup> Furthermore, towards the end of his stay in China, he took command over a flotilla. At that time, Princess Kogatin was attempting to travel to Persia as a royal bride. However, wars blocked the road to the realm of her groom, and the princess and her entourage had to turn back as a result.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAbout the time of their reappearance, Marco Polo happened to arrive from a voyage he had made, with a few vessels under his orders, to some parts of the East Indies and reported to the grand khan the intelligence he brought respecting the countries he had visited, with the circumstances of his own navigation, which, he said, was performed in those seas with the utmost safety.\u201d15<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The commander set sail with his flotilla and just happened to return in time to reassure the beautiful princess that she could travel safely to India. Certainly the young Marco knew his way around the East Indies. Even on the wide ocean he was the knight errant, moving through the world, from one place to another, always on the lookout for new adventures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In general, he is a hero who wanders aimlessly. He often vanishes over many chapters, disappearing from the text until he reports back as the narrator: \u201cMarco Polo, in travelling through the province, has only noted such cities as lay in his route, omitting those situated on the one side and the other, as well as many intermediate places, because, a relation of them all would be a work of too great length, and prove fatiguing to the reader.\u201d16<\/a><\/sup> When he talks about himself, <\/span><\/span>it <\/span><\/span>is <\/span><\/span>mainly to corroborate the accounts with <\/span><\/span>the stamp of <\/span><\/span>his authority. <\/span><\/span>For example, <\/span><\/span>he writes about the defeat of the <\/span><\/span>C<\/span><\/span>aliph of Baghdad: <\/span><\/span> \u201cI judge that our Lord Jesus Christ herein thought proper to avenge the wrongs of his faithful Christians, so abhorred by this khalif.\u201d17<\/a><\/sup> In addition, considering the marvel of the countless ships on the Yangtze he remarks \u201cI, Marco, have to tell you quite honestly: In the whole world are not so many ships as in this country or on the river Quiam.\u201d18<\/a><\/sup> On the other hand, when he describes the rain of arrows in a battle: \u201cI, Marco Polo, saw with my own eyes a heaven covered with arrows, going from one side to the other, as water raining from heaven.\u201d19<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The erratic description of the hero partly results from Rustichello\u2019s literary weaknesses. However, the main cause of the erratic storytelling is a serious flaw in the narrative material. Although Marco Polo claims, that he \u201cdiligently and regularly\u201d wrote down all the knowledge he acquired personally or by hearsay 20<\/a><\/sup>, he reveals to his readers nothing about his activities in China. He conceals his doings on purpose and quite systematically. His text raises many questions. However, the key question is not: \u201cWas Marco Polo in China?\u201d The question is: \u201cWhat was he doing in China?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

Traveling here and there<\/strong><\/h4>\n


For European readers<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> it may have seemed quite logical that <\/span>the\u00a0<\/span><\/span> knight<\/span> <\/span>errant <\/span><\/span>and<\/span><\/span> great voyager<\/span><\/span> would <\/span><\/span>receive<\/span><\/span> a personal reward from the <\/span><\/span>E<\/span><\/span>mperor<\/span><\/span> after his arrival<\/span><\/span>. From a Chinese standpoint<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> however, the Polos were three strangers in a crowd of strangers who ended up in China. In the wake of the Mongol conquest, foreigners came <\/span><\/span>in large numbers to the Far East <\/span><\/span>as merchants, soldiers<\/span><\/span> and<\/span><\/span> enslaved prisoners of war<\/span><\/span>. There were plenty of Turks, Christian Alans, Russians, Persians, Syrian Nestorians and other residents of the Mediterranean<\/span><\/span> in China<\/span><\/span>. Once Marco Polo mentions a German <\/span><\/span>who built a catapult for the Mongols during the siege of a Chinese city<\/span><\/span>.21<\/a><\/sup> In the vast and indistinguishable mixture of foreigners living under Mongol rule, coming from afar, from Venice, was not enough to become an adviser to the Emperor. On the other hand, there were many opportunities for a young intelligent foreigner to enjoy at least a modest career as a Chinese official.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The imperial bureaucracy at the time was already a venerable institution that <\/span><\/span>followed<\/span><\/span> long<\/span><\/span>–<\/span><\/span>established rules. However, the Mongol invaders <\/span><\/span>abolished<\/span><\/span> the examinations, a substantial part of this institution<\/span><\/span>. The sons of the steppe warriors, who had conquered the kingdom on horseback, had no chance against the sons of the native Confucian elite in the traditional examination system. Thus, ethnic criteria <\/span><\/span>became<\/span><\/span> crucial <\/span><\/span>for <\/span><\/span>selection<\/span><\/span>. The Mongols divided <\/span><\/span>society into four classes<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>22<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 The<\/span><\/span>y reserved the<\/span><\/span> highest rank <\/span><\/span>for <\/span><\/span>themselves. <\/span><\/span> The Semuren<\/em> \u8272\u76ee\u4eba (the „people of special class“ = the foreigners) followed them. The Hanren<\/em> \u6f22\u4eba (the northern Chinese and the former nomadic peoples who as conquerors and settlers had lived already for a long time in northern China) formed the third class. The last were the Nanren<\/em> \u5357\u4eba (the southern Chinese), pejoratively<\/span><\/span> called Manzi<\/em> \u883b\u5b50.23<\/a><\/sup> Offices were assigned according to this order, but also according to aristocratic rank, military merit, <\/span><\/span>loyalty and<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> less important<\/span><\/span>ly,<\/span><\/span> intellectual <\/span><\/span>abilities<\/span><\/span>. In order to monitor the effectiveness of their bureaucracy, the Mongol invaders retained the routine evaluation (<\/span><\/span>kao<\/span><\/span> \u8003<\/span><\/span>). Every three years \u2013<\/span><\/span> or <\/span><\/span>every <\/span><\/span>30 <\/span><\/span>months<\/span><\/span> in the capital<\/span><\/span> \u2013 they evaluated <\/span><\/span>an official<\/span><\/span>\u2019s<\/span><\/span> performance<\/span><\/span>. Afterwards<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> the court decided <\/span><\/span>on <\/span><\/span>his transfer, <\/span><\/span>promotion or demotion.\u00a0 As rulers of South China, the land of Mangi, the Emperor appointed nine \u201cviceroys\u201d. One of these nine governors ruled in Hangzhou. He also received his post \u201clike all other public officials\u201d for three years only.<\/span><\/span> 24<\/a><\/sup> The rotation system worked reasonably well, although it occasionally led to abuse of power.25<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In order to get \u2013 literally \u2013 on Marco Polo\u2019s trail, we have to follow his travel routes. He seems to have travelled in a straight line. The graphical representation of his journeys in China comprises two lines: one route from Beijing to Yunnan, the other in a south-easterly direction from Beijing to Zayton (Quanzhou). The places he visited appear like beads on a string. Thus, one has the impression that Marco only undertook two major journeys in China (apart from his arrival).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marco Polo himself says quite the opposite. He claims to have travelled widely: \u201cWhen the grand khan sent me, Marco, to fulfill an order in distant lands of his kingdom, I often stayed four months on the trip, and explored all the things I met with diligence, traveling here and there.\u201d26<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0He travelled often, he says, here and there, in every part of the empire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The chapter on the distances from Beijing to Yunnan and Beijing to Quanzhou usually begin with the indication of the distance from one place to the next. Taken by itself, the initial sentences create an itinerary, similar to the topographic descriptions used by the travelling merchants in Southwest China until very recently.27<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 The itineraries record the distances from place to place, the bridges, fords, fountains and mountain passes, the predatory and welcoming villages, and in general, all points a traveller should know. Regular updated and revised, the itineraries preserved the travel experience of several generations of traders.<\/p>\n

Marco Polo undoubtedly owned such itineraries and brought them back to Italy. Therefore, itineraries must have been among the records he requested from Venice when he wrote his book in Genoa.28<\/a><\/sup> The information on distances and facts were surely a great help in outlining the text. That explains the schematic beginning of the chapters: \u201cAt the end of ten days\u2019 journey from the city of Gouza, you arrive (as has been said) at the kingdom of Ta-in-fu \u2026\u201d (chapter 29). \u201cLeaving Ta-in-fu, and travelling westward, seven days‘ journey, through a fine country in which there are many cities and strong places, where commerce and manufactures prevail, and whose merchants, travelling over various parts of the country, obtain considerable profits, you reach a city named Pi-an-fu \u2026\u201d (chapter 30).\u00a0 \u201cIn a western direction from Pi-an-fu there is a large and handsome fortress named Thai-gin \u2026\u201d (chapter 31). \u201cUpon leaving the fortress of Thai-gin, and travelling about twenty miles, you come to a river called the Kara-moran \u2026\u201d (chapter 32). \u201cHaving crossed this river and travelled three days\u2019 journey, you arrive at a city named Ka-chan-fu \u2026 \u201c (chapter 33).29<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The breakdown by itineraries reinforces the impression of an awkwardly patched, \u201cclumsily composed\u201d work. Thus, it partly resembles a logbook. 1st<\/sup> day: Arrival in Ta-in-fu.<\/em> 2nd<\/sup> day: Continue to Pi-an-fu.<\/em> 3rd<\/sup> day: Stay in Thai-gin.<\/em> 4th<\/sup> day: Continue to Kara-moran.<\/em> 5th<\/sup> day: Arrival in Ka-cian-fu.<\/em> This pedantic structure interferes constantly with the romantic momentum Rustichello tries to give the text. Almost completely absent from the mundane reports and the far-flung storytelling is the personal, realistic narrative. Descriptions as of the bridge that became famous in Europe under his name are rare: \u201cUpon leaving the capital and travelling ten miles, you come to a river named Pulisangan, which discharges itself into the ocean, and is navigated by many vessels entering from thence, with considerable quantities of merchandise. Over this river there is a handsome bridge of stone, perhaps unequalled by another in the world. Its length is three hundred paces, and its width eight paces, so that ten men can, without inconvenience, ride abreast.\u201d30<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Th<\/span><\/span>is<\/span><\/span> textual structure has led commentators to assume<\/span><\/span> that Marco Polo<\/span><\/span> only <\/span><\/span>undertook <\/span><\/span>two long trips <\/span><\/span>in China. They <\/span><\/span>usually<\/span><\/span> ignored<\/span><\/span> his own claim that he had travel<\/span><\/span>l<\/span><\/span>ed over the whole country. Certainly, he never travel<\/span><\/span>l<\/span><\/span>ed back and forth across China, and <\/span><\/span>once again it was <\/span><\/span>Rustichello<\/span><\/span> who <\/span><\/span>was <\/span><\/span>responsible <\/span><\/span>for <\/span><\/span>maintaining that the <\/span><\/span>K<\/span><\/span>han <\/span><\/span>had <\/span><\/span>sent Marco Polo \u201cto confidential missions in every part of the empire<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span> Undoubtedly, he trave<\/span><\/span>l<\/span><\/span>led extensively in China, but always in areas where he had some ordinary work to do. He was active in the coastal area of the southeast, on the Grand Canal and in the mountainous regions of the <\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span>outhwest. The text describes his doings <\/span><\/span>im<\/span><\/span>plicitly, as a knight<\/span><\/span> errant travels \u201cin lands faraway to kings and lords\u201d<\/span><\/span>31<\/a><\/sup> and not from government department to government department.<\/p>\n

If a nobleman, a highly honored courtier, an adviser to the Emperor is in charge, then he sails across the sea as a commodore.\u00a0 Residing in a city, however, he must be at least a governor, personally appointed by the Emperor. Certainly, it was not a careless copyist, who elevated Marco Polo from a simple official to governor. The editors just refused to believe that an \u201cHonorary Companion of the Emperor\u201d when he deigns to hold office, does not govern at least a Province. The Creussner-Edition however, notes here soberly:<\/p>\n

\u201cI, Marco Polo, ordered by my master, the great Khan, was three years in the service of the governor and captain of the land Mangi.\u201d32<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

He had taken a typical Chinese officials career where dislocations in three-year intervals were the norm. Exceptional however, and a common occurrence in the Mongol period only, was the fact that a foreigner could make a career in the Chinese bureaucracy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n



\nHow Marco became an official<\/strong><\/h4>\n


Below Rustichello\u2019s high-spirited descriptions, on the realistic layer, the text explains how the young man from Venice gained access to the civil service. Marco Polo rarely mentions personal names, and then only in historical contexts. An exception is his travel<\/span><\/span>l<\/span><\/span>ing companion <\/span><\/span>Zufficar<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> a<\/span><\/span>bout <\/span><\/span>whom<\/span><\/span> we learn that he was a Turk<\/span><\/span>ish<\/span><\/span> merchant and a baron<\/span><\/span>33<\/a><\/sup>, and a \u201cgreat master of the ores or mines\u201d, responsible for mining in the province Chinugiatasal, where he had stayed for three years.34<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 On his way back to the capital, he met Marco.<\/p>\n

His fellow traveller\u2019s knowledge certainly impressed the master of ores and mines. Marco could tell him about Armenia, where they used oil as fuel, or Kerman in Persia, where they used mining zinc to produce an eye ointment (sormeh) and medicine to treat skin diseases. Despite his limited formal education, the young man proved to be an able inquirer into geological and chemical phenomena:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey take the crude ore from a vein that is known to yield such as is fit for the purpose, and put it into a heated furnace. Over the furnace, they place an iron grating formed of small bars set close together. The smoke or vapour ascending from the ore in burning attaches itself to the bars, and as it cools becomes hard. This is the tutty; whilst the gross and heavy part, which does not ascend, but remains as a cinder in the furnace, becomes the spodium.\u201d35<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In Afghanistan, he was interested in the mining of rock salt with iron tools.36<\/a><\/sup> His observations about the salt mining in particular, must have been very useful for his later career as an official.<\/p>\n

On the way to Beijing, Zufficar explained the production of asbestos to him. In ancient times, merchants had introduced asbestos cloth from the Roman Orient to China. Because of its fire-resistance, it became the subject of many miracle stories. The Europeans believed asbestos being the hair of the salamander, living in the fire.37<\/a><\/sup> In China, the famous alchemist, Ge Hong, described asbestos as the hair of a white rodent that feels quite comfortable in the flames.38<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In 1267, the Minister Ahmed39<\/a><\/sup> petitioned Kublai Khan to access the asbestos deposits in his realm.40<\/a><\/sup> Until then, the Chinese had regarded asbestos as an exotic commodity. Zufficar was certainly very familiar with asbestos production, and may even have supervised the mining. Marco Polo summarizes the master’s knowledge as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fossil substance procured from the mountain consists of fibres not unlike those of wool. This, after being exposed to the sun to dry, is pounded in a brass mortar, and is then washed until all the earthy particles are separated. The fibres thus cleansed and detached from each other, they then spin into thread and weave into cloth. In order to render the texture white, they put it into the fire, and suffer it to remain there about an hour, when they draw it out uninjured by the flame, and become white as snow.\u201d41<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Marco calls asbestos \u201ca substance of the nature of the salamander\u201d, but he adds to his definition: \u201cAnd you may know in truth that salamander of which I speak is not a beast nor serpent, for it is not true that those cloths are of the hair of an animal which lives in fire, as one says in our country \u2026\u00a0 No beast nor any animal can live in fire, because each animal is made of the four elements, namely air, water, fire & earth, so that an animal of any kind has in it heat, moisture, cold, & dryness.\u201c42<\/a><\/sup> Berthold Laufer explains: \u201cMarco Polo, with his keen power of observation and his large share of common sense, was the first to shatter the European superstition.\u201d43<\/a><\/sup> Neverthe\u00adless, people believed until modern times that asbestos was the hair of the salamander.44<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The young Marco, who now approached the imperial capital, had to contemplate finding work in China.\u00a0 As there was only a slim chance to become a personal adviser to the Emperor, he had to consider a more common career. In a situation like this, it was extremely useful to know a \u201cgood fellow\u201d, who held a senior position in the administration of the imperial mines.<\/p>\n

Zufficar<\/span><\/span> had <\/span><\/span>noticed his companion\u2019s <\/span><\/span>scientific interests<\/span><\/span>. As Marco came from a family of merchants, he certainly <\/span><\/span>also <\/span><\/span>had a good head for<\/span><\/span> figures. That was another huge advantage for his future profession. The Turkish mining official obviously recommended the <\/span><\/span>talented <\/span><\/span>young <\/span><\/span>man <\/span><\/span>to the salt distribution agency.<\/span><\/span>45<\/a><\/sup> The salt authority in Yangzhou had merged with the department of transportation and developed into a second tax office. The officials of the salt distribution authority were therefore a kind of tax officials. Semuren largely managed the finances of the Yuan, as the Mongol invaders mistrusted their subjects particularly in tax matters.46<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Marco was a perfect choice for the agency. His life in the service of the salt distribution authority differed completely from the world of secret state affairs, which the romance writer Rustichello envisioned for him. Nevertheless, the narrator and his poet successfully created a text, in which both levels had their own place. Indeed, their cooperation was a stroke of luck: The chivalric romance, which enlivened the otherwise dry text, made the success of the book possible. Very fast, it became popular in a variety of transcripts, translations and adaptations. Marco Polo was not the only European who visited China at the time, and certainly, other returnees had as well many interesting things to talk about. Oderico of Pordenone, who a few decades later, from 1323 to 1328, was travelling in China, remarks on Hangzhou, he would not dare to speak of the gigantic proportions of this city, had he not \u201cmet at Venice people in plenty who have been there.\u201d47<\/a><\/sup> All those travellers vanished into oblivion because none of them had found his Rustichello.48<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Even the masterful description written by William of Rubruk, who had visited the Mongol capital Karakorum 1253-54, only survived\u00a0 by accident. Just three manuscripts of his Itinerarium fratris Willielmi de Rubruquis <\/em>were preserved, all in England, where Roger Bacon used the text of his Franciscan frater to study the tales on Gog and Magog.49<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Marco Polo repeatedly reports about salt, salt production and salt transport. These dry topics certainly displeased Rustichello.\u00a0 It would have been a comfort to him had he known that later editors of the text, whose original has been lost, busily promoted the legend of the knight errant and at the same time pruned the passages about the realities of his life in China. Thus, most editions abbreviate the descriptions of salt production in the province Kaindu. The Ramusio edition, however, reproduces the passage in full in 1559:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn this country there are salt-springs, from which they manufacture salt by boiling it in small pans. When the water has boiled for an hour, it becomes a kind of paste, which is formed into cakes of the value of twopence each. These, which are flat on the lower, and convex on the upper side, are placed upon hot tiles, near a fire, in order to dry and harden. On this latter species of money the stamp of the grand khan is impressed, and it cannot be prepared by any other than his own officers. Eighty of the cakes are made to pass for a saggio of gold. But when these are carried by the traders amongst the inhabitants of the mountains and other parts little frequented, they obtain a saggio of gold for sixty, fifty, or even forty of the salt cakes, in proportion as they find the natives less civilized, further removed from the towns, and more accustomed to remain on the same spot; inasmuch as people so circumstanced cannot always have a market for their gold, musk, and other commodities.\u201d50<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The salt monopoly guaranteed the state a higher income than all the other kinds of taxes.51<\/a><\/sup> Yunnan was particularly important. As a border region with troubled neighbo<\/span><\/span>u<\/span><\/span>rs, it enjoyed a special status. The tax remained in the province, <\/span><\/span>which was <\/span><\/span>ruled by a grandson of Kublai Khan. There are, said Marco Polo, \u201csalt-springs, from which all the salt used by the inhabitants is procured. The duty levied on this salt produces a large revenue to the king.\u201d Because the few factories and the few transport routes were easy to control, the salt tax <\/span><\/span>was continuously increas<\/span><\/span>ed<\/span><\/span> as a secure source of income<\/span><\/span>. I<\/span><\/span>n particular, i<\/span><\/span>t helped <\/span><\/span>to <\/span><\/span>cover<\/span><\/span> the immense costs of <\/span><\/span>warfare <\/span><\/span>for<\/span><\/span> the Mongol armies. In Yunnan, reported Marco Polo, <\/span><\/span>salt is so expensive that only <\/span><\/span>\u201cpersons of the higher class\u201d could afford it. They prepared raw meat by cutting it into small pieces and putting it in a spicy pickle of salt. The poorer people \u201conly steep it, after mincing, in a sauce of garlic, and then eat it as if it were dressed<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>52<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In line with<\/span><\/span> the bureaucratic routine, Marco must have spent at least three years in Yunnan. Considering the wealth of material, he probably held <\/span><\/span>two or three posts <\/span><\/span>successively <\/span><\/span>in the southwest. His career <\/span><\/span>then took<\/span><\/span> him <\/span><\/span>to southeast China. He travelled to Yangzhou, and <\/span><\/span>one can say <\/span><\/span>with certainty<\/span><\/span> that<\/span><\/span> he stayed <\/span><\/span>in the city of Hangzhou, which he s<\/span><\/span>o accurately describes<\/span><\/span>, for three years<\/span><\/span>. As an official of the governor of \u201cMangi\u201d (i.e. South China), he <\/span><\/span>was <\/span><\/span>probably <\/span><\/span>involved<\/span><\/span> in moving the government department from Yangzhou to Hangzhou.<\/span><\/span>53<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The central salt authority supplying large parts of the country with the commodity supervised 29 salt offices54<\/a><\/sup>, most<\/span><\/span> of which were<\/span><\/span> located in the area between the coast and the Grand Canal. However, the most profitable saline area was <\/span><\/span>Cangzhou<\/span><\/span> in the north. The city on the Grand Canal was a trade cent<\/span><\/span>r<\/span><\/span>e<\/span><\/span> for eight <\/span><\/span>salt mines<\/span><\/span> and is still a cent<\/span><\/span>r<\/span><\/span>e<\/span><\/span> of salt production in China<\/span><\/span> today<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>55<\/a><\/sup> As Marco Polo again describes the production comprehensively, we can presume that he held office in Cangzhou. As so often in his description of a city, the narrator enumerates a few platitudes: 1. The inhabitants worship idols. 2. They burn bodies. 3. They use paper money. Then he goes into detail:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this city and the district surrounding it they make great quantities of salt, by the following process: in the country is found a salsuginous earth; upon this, when laid in large heaps, they pour water, which in its passage through the mass imbibes the particles of salt, and is then collected in channels, from whence it is conveyed to very wide pans, not more than four inches in depth. In these it is well boiled, and then left to crystallize. The salt thus made is white and good, and is exported to various parts. Great profits are made by those who manufacture it, and the grand khan derives from it a considerable revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Yellow River, which at that time flowed south of the Shandong Peninsula into the sea, formed the boundary between Cathay and Mangi. Right from the southern shore, Marco reported, they manufacture salt in large quantities \u201csufficient for the supply of all the neighbouring provinces. On this article the grand khan raises a revenue, the amount of which would scarcely be credited.\u201d56<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

After making a fortune, the tax official is getting in trouble and returns home<\/strong><\/h4>\n


After 17 years in China and making a fortune, Marco Polo was in trouble. According to Creussner’s edition:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the young knight, Master Marco Polo was with his father altogether seventeen years at the court of the great emperor of Cathay, he was kept in such a great honor that the Lords became somehow envious. By now he thought with increasing frequency of an honorable departure, as he was fearful that the Lords in the long run would not tolerate him.\u201d57<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

T<\/span><\/span>he knight<\/span><\/span> errant <\/span><\/span>therefore <\/span><\/span>asked the Emperor for a discharge. In the version <\/span><\/span>by<\/span><\/span> Ramusio<\/span><\/span>, however, it is solely <\/span><\/span>homesickness that <\/span><\/span>makes<\/span><\/span> him <\/span><\/span>decide <\/span><\/span>to leave China: <\/span><\/span>\u201cOur Venetians having now resided many years at the imperial court, and in that time having realized considerable wealth, in jewels of value and in gold, felt a strong desire to revisit their native country, and, however honoured and caressed by the sovereign, this sentiment was ever predominant in their minds.\u201d Yet, Kublai proves to be extremely affectionate and very concerned for his Venetians: Such a trip is still dangerous, he warns, and in general, if money is the question, that problem can be solved. He offers them to double their wealth. When they still insist on leaving, he simply denies them their wish. 58<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Rustichellos romantic masterpiece is the description of the parting of uncle, father and son from China.<\/p>\n

Every<\/span><\/span> chivalric romance <\/span><\/span>must include<\/span><\/span> a beautiful damsel (\u201c<\/span><\/span>ein<\/span><\/span> sch\u00f6ne<\/span><\/span> iunckfrawen<\/span><\/span>\u201d) who needs the protection of the gallant knight and who in the right moment comes to his aid.<\/span><\/span>59<\/a><\/sup> Marco had found such an exemplary young Lady, \u201cseventeen years old and well built\u201d.60<\/a><\/sup> Princess Kogatin was on her way to her future husband Arghun, the \u201cKing of India\u201d. (Arghun ruled only over Persia, but India he would have loved to have.) \u00a0The Persian envoys, who \u201cheard the Latin knight praised and knew about his virtue\u201d promised to support his wish to travel back to Venice. The \u201cyoung queen\u201d personally pleaded with the emperor for permission to sail across the sea in company of the knight Marco.61<\/a><\/sup> This request the magnanimous ruler could not deny.\u00a0 As a farewell gift, Kublai presented his Venetians \u201cwith many rubies and other delicious gems of great value.\u201d However, they had to promise that they would soon return to China.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing seems to be indisputable: uncle, father and son Polo had become rich in China. \u201cIn the enjoyment of health and abundant riches\u201d, they reached their home.62<\/a><\/sup> Ramusio<\/span><\/span> describes how they <\/span><\/span>unstitched the hemlines of their clothes <\/span><\/span>once they arrived back in Venice <\/span><\/span>and <\/span><\/span>took out<\/span><\/span> incredible amounts of jewels.<\/span><\/span>63<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

B<\/span><\/span>ureaucrats in China <\/span><\/span>regularly amassed a fortune<\/span><\/span> while in office<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span> Of course, they <\/span><\/span>did<\/span><\/span> not <\/span><\/span>become <\/span><\/span>rich <\/span><\/span>through receipt of<\/span><\/span> personal gifts from the Emperor. An <\/span><\/span>e<\/span><\/span>mperor who presents his officials <\/span><\/span>with <\/span><\/span>a box <\/span><\/span>full of<\/span><\/span> emeralds and rubies <\/span><\/span>only <\/span><\/span>exists <\/span><\/span>in <\/span><\/span>Rustichello<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> chivalric romances. Officials at the salt administration usually <\/span><\/span>acquired<\/span><\/span> a fortune because they embezzled a considerable part of the duties and taxes. <\/span><\/span>Yunnan, where the taxes were high and the transport routes easy to monitor<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> was a<\/span><\/span> good place for a greedy official<\/span><\/span>. The costs for consumers, Marco Polo reports, went up \u201cin proporti<\/span><\/span>on as they find the natives less civilized, further removed from the towns, and more accustomed to remain on the same spot; inasmuch as people so circumstanced cannot always have a market for their gold, musk, and other commodities.\u201d<\/span><\/span>64<\/a><\/sup> He argues here like a modern social scientist writing about the exploitation of the periphery by the metropolis.<\/p>\n

In Yunnan and the neighbouring borderlands of Burma, people paid for their salt and the salt tax with precious stones and pearls. It is very likely that part of the jewels the three Polos carried to Venice were earned by\u00a0 Marco as a tax official in the southwestern corner of the Mongol empire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The misappropriation of tax revenues was quite common.65<\/a><\/sup> Thus, an official lived in permanent fear of a corruption complaint. To insure himself against such a twist of fate, he needed a circle of friends as helpers in need.<\/p>\n

If his circle was too weak to compete with other circles in the bureaucracy or an individual became isolated within his circle, the government confiscated the assets he had accumulated, sent the offender into exile or had him executed. A prudent official therefore always had to be on his guard against intrigue. In his long career, Marco Polo had had many opportunities to study the uncertainties of a civil servant\u2019s life. When he realised that some powerful people around him had \u201cbecome envious\u201d, he was experienced enough to seek his dismissal from the service.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In short: Marco Polo was working as an official for the state\u2019s salt monopoly. He, like others, amassed a fortune in his office. Why did he not tell his readers about this?<\/p>\n

First, there was the influence of Rustichello who needed for the hero\u2019s part of the text a glorious knight at Kublai Khan\u2019s Round Table, and by no means a middle level civil servant. More important however was the stigma resting on the tax collector in the Middle Ages, which precluded Marco Polo from confessing to his profession. Christianity considered the \u201cpublican\u201d, as well as the moneychangers, usurers, pawnbrokers and other professions involved in financial transactions, to be dishonorable.66<\/a><\/sup> The New Testament, in the Middle Ages the supreme authority in matters of ethics, told the story of the forgiving Jesus, who, sitting at a table with publicans and other sinners, becomes the scorn of his enemies. In the famous parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, the Pharisee considers the tax collector worse than the extortioners, the unrighteous <\/span><\/span>and the adulterers.67<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

This explains why the travel<\/span><\/span>l<\/span><\/span>er <\/span><\/span>writes <\/span><\/span>explicitly <\/span><\/span>about <\/span><\/span>salt, the salt<\/span><\/span> tax, <\/span><\/span>general finance and the monetary policy, and seems to be quite <\/span><\/span>un<\/span><\/span>involv<\/span><\/span>ed<\/span><\/span>, as if he had received this information by chance<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> s<\/span><\/span>uch as when he reported from <\/span><\/span>Quinsai<\/span><\/span> (Hangzhou): \u201cThe account being made up in the presence of Marco Polo, he had an opportunity of seeing that the revenue of his majesty, exclusively of that arising from salt, already stated, amounted in the year to the sum of two hundred and ten <\/span><\/span>tomans<\/span><\/span> (each <\/span><\/span>toman<\/span><\/span> being eighty thousand <\/span><\/span>saggi<\/span><\/span> of gold), or sixteen million eight hundred thousand ducats.\u201d<\/span><\/span>68<\/a><\/sup> He boasts about his firsthand knowledge, and maintains he acquired it accidently.<\/p>\n

The Chinese bureaucracy was never reputed to give outsiders an opportunity to add up its figures. Here speaks a man who was involved in the operation. The image of the famous traveller may now lose a bit of its lustre. He was not a famous court official of Kublai Khan. He was not involved in important state affairs. However, there can be no doubt that he was in China.<\/p>\n

Beijing, June 2012\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>
\n
English version: Berlin, November 2016 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2016 Ulrich Neininger\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>u.neininger@hotmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Readers of his book often called Marco Polo’s credibility into question.1 How could he have been in China, they asked, when he failed to report on so many conspicuous things? He did not mention the Great Wall, which nobody can … Weiterlesen →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Wjv0-EQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":363,"url":"http:\/\/ulrichneininger.de\/?p=363","url_meta":{"origin":2532,"position":0},"title":"Die Legende vom venezianischen Ritter am Hof des Kublai Khan, nebst der wahren Geschichte vom wackeren Beamten Marco Polo, wie er in China reich wurde und was er seinen Lesern verschwieg","date":"18. 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