Marco Polo Research Paper

1361 Words6 Pages
Marco Polo was born on September 15, 1254, in Venice, Italy. He traveled extensively with his family, journeying from Europe to Asia from 1271 to 1295. He remained in China for 17 of those years. Around 1292, he left China, acting as consort along the way to a Mongol princess who was being sent to Persia. His book, The Travels of Marco Polo describes his travels and experiences and influenced later adventurers and merchants. Marco Polo was born in the year 1254 to a wealthy Venetian merchant family. Much of his childhood was spent parentless, and he was raised by an extended family. Polo's mother died when he was young, and his father and uncle, successful jewel merchants Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, were in Asia for much of Polo's youth. Their…show more content…
Niccolo and Maffeo were granted important positions in the leader's Court. Marco, too, impressed Khan, who thought highly of the young man's abilities as a merchant. Marco's immersion into the Chinese culture resulted in him mastering four languages. Khan eventually employed Marco as a special envoy. As a result, he sent Marco into far-flung areas of Asia never before explored by Europeans. Burma, India, Tibet and other areas were among the places that Marco ventured into. With him, as always, was a stamped metal packet from Khan himself that served as his official credentials from the powerful leader. As the years wore on, Marco was promoted for his work. He served as governor of a Chinese city, then later, Khan appointed him as an official of the Privy Council. At one point, he was the tax inspector in the city of Yanzhou. From his travels, Marco amassed not only great knowledge about the Mongol empire, but incredible wonder. He marveled at the empire's use of paper money, an idea that had failed to reach Europe, and was in awe of its economy and scale of production. Marco's later stories showed him to be an early anthropologist and ethnographer. His reporting offers little about himself or his own thoughts, but instead gives the reader a dispassionate reporting about a culture he had clearly grown fond

More about Marco Polo Research Paper

Open Document