Polo, Marco (mär`kō pō`lō), 1254?–1324?, Venetian traveler in China. His father, Niccolò Polo, and his uncle, Maffeo Polo, had made (1253–60) a trading expedition to Constantinople. A war blocked their return, and they journeyed eastward to reach Kublai Khan's eastern capital at Kaifeng in 1266. They returned to Venice in 1269, and in 1271 they left with Marco for Kublai's court. The party reached Cambuluc (modern Beijing) in 1275. Marco Polo became a favorite of the khan, who employed him on business in central and N China and in the states of SE Asia, including India. For three years he apparently ruled a Chinese city (Yangchow). In 1292 the travelers, acting as escort for a wife of the khan of Persia, left Kublai's realm and were back in Venice in 1295. Marco Polo soon joined the Venetian forces fighting Genoa and was taken prisoner (1296). During his two-year captivity he dictated an account of his travels. The prologue of the work tells of Polo's life. The remainder of the book describes places he had visited and heard of and recounts the customs of the inhabitants. Polo made reference to much of Asia, including the Arab world, Persia, Japan, Sumatra, and the Andaman Islands, and to E Africa as far south as Zanzibar. He told of paper currency, asbestos, coal, and other phenomena virtually unknown in Europe. Polo was wonder-struck at Asian splendors and was sometimes credulous of exaggerated accounts, but scholars agree that his accurate reports of the events he witnessed and people he met are of great value. During the Renaissance it was the chief—almost the sole—Western source of information on the East, and until the late 19th cent. there was no other European material on many parts of central Asia. Of the annotated translations of his book the most useful is that by Sir Henry Yule (3d ed. 1903).

Bibliography

See studies by M. S. Collis (1960), H. H. Hart (1967), C. A. Burland (1970), and J. Larner (1999).

Polo, Marco

Marco Polo, title page of the first printed edition of The Travels of Marco Polo, 1477.

(credit: Courtesy of the Columbia University Libraries, New York)

(born c. 1254, Venice [Italy]—died Jan. 8, 1324, Venice) Venetian merchant and traveler who journeyed from Europe to Asia (1271–95). Born into a Venetian merchant family, he joined his father and uncle on a journey to China, traveling along the Silk Road and reaching the court of Kublai Khan c. 1274. The Polos remained in China for about 17 years, and the Mongol emperor sent Marco on several fact-finding missions to distant lands. Marco may also have governed the city of Yangzhou (1282–87). The Polos returned to Venice in 1295, after sailing from eastern China to Persia and then journeying overland through Turkey. Captured by the Genoese soon after his return, Marco was imprisoned along with a writer, Rustichello, who helped him to write the tale of his travels. The book, Il milione, was an instant success, though most medieval readers considered it an extravagant romance rather than a true story.

Polo, Marco

13th-century Venetian merchant; brought Oriental wonders to Europe. [Eur. Hist.: Bishop, 222–224]

See : Adventurousness

Polo, Marco

(1254–1324) Venetian traveler in China. [Ital. Hist.: NCE, 1695]

See : Exploration

Polo, Marco

(1254–1324) Venetian traveler in central Asia and China. [World Hist.: WB, 15: 572–573; Ital. Lit.: Travels of Marco Polo]

See : Journey