Did Marco Polo Travel to China?

Did Marco Polo Travel to China?

Yuan Dynasty

To what degree did the
Chinese pursue an open or
closed-door policy with
foreigners?

Open-Door Policy

Definition

➔

The Chinese and China - as a
country - are OPEN TO
TRADE WITH FOREIGNERS.

➔

The Chinese WELCOME
FOREIGNERS from different
countries into China.

➔

The Chinese LIKE ideas and
goods FROM FOREIGNERS
and other countries.

Closed-Door Policy

Definition

➔

The Chinese and China - as a
country - are CLOSED TO
TRADE WITH FOREIGNERS.

➔

The Chinese are LESS
WELCOME OR DO NOT
ALLOW FOREIGNERS from
different countries into China.

➔

The Chinese DO NOT LIKE
ideas and goods FROM
FOREIGNERS and other
countries.

Multiple Choice

The Mongols conquered more land in 25 years than the ________ did in 400 years.

• Chinese

• Romans

• Greeks

• Muslims

Multiple Choice

Why did cities often surrender the moment the Mongols arrived?

• The Mongols were really nice and the cities wanted to be helpful so they surrendered!

• To avoid being slaughtered - the Mongols were vicious!

• The cities hoped that by surrendering, the Mongols would allow their citizens to join the Mongol army.

Multiple Choice

Why did the Mongols value trade?

• It gave them more power

• It made people more afraid of them

• because they could tax trade

• They liked exploring

Multiple Choice

Which food became a staple of the Persian diet, thanks to the Mongol system of trade?

• Beans

• Pork

• Sugar

• Rice

Multiple Select

Arguments for an Open-door policy for China during the Yuan Dynasty with foreign countries includes...

• Foreigners are made government officials over the Chinese, who are considered the lowest class.

• Knowledge and inventions that came to China like astronomical inventions

• Merchants brought perfumes and medicines and ivory from afar.

• Muslim knowledge of medicine and creation of hospitals

Multiple Select

Arguments for an Closed-door policy for China during the Yuan Dynasty with foreign countries includes... [Select ALL that APPLY]

• Foreigners are made government officials over the Chinese, who are considered the lowest class.

• Merchants don’t have to pay taxes without travel restrictions - “special treatment.”

• Trade secrets given away: printing techniques and gunpowder

• Muslim knowledge of medicine and creation of hospitals

Multiple Select

Sea trade flourished under the Yuan dynasty. Which 3 countries did diamonds, ginger, and black pepper come from? [Select ALL that APPLY]

• Korea

• India

• Sri Lanka

• Java (modern-day Indonesia)

Multiple Choice

Which group of foreigners skilled in architecture brought to China helped build Beijing (called Dadu by the Mongols)?

• Persians

• Muslims

• Indians

• Koreans

Multiple Choice

Jamal al-Din, a _________________, astronomer, introduced new and better astronomical instruments, helped to develop a new calendar, and set up an observatory,

• Persian

• Muslim

• Indian

• Korean

Multiple Select

Under the Yuan Dynasty (Mongols), skills and information flowed from China to other parts of the world. As a result, Europeans learned of these two inventions.... [Choose 2]

• magnetic compass

• gunpowder

• printing

• paddle boat

Multiple Select

Which of the following was true for how Chinese felt under the rule of the Kublai Khan and the Mongols? [Select ALL that APPLY]

• They disliked being ruled by foreigners since a few foreign government officials were harsh and dishonest.

• Resentment of foreigners built up under the Yuan dynasty, making Chinese suspicious of foreigners

• They resented being the lowest class and the restrictions put on them.

How large was
the Mongol
Empire?

Multiple Choice

Who wrote down Marco Polo's journey to China in a book "A Description of the World" after meeting and spending time in a Genoese prison with Marco Polo?

• Marco Polo

• Michelangelo

• Leonardo da Vinci

• Rustichello de Pisa

Multiple Choice

According to Marco Polo, he told Rustichello that he had worked for Kublai Khan for how long?

• 5 years

• 10 years

• 17 years

• 20 years

Multiple Choice

According to Marco Polo, he was fluent in how many different languages?

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

Multiple Choice

Which language does the TCI textbook and many historians say Marco Polo was unable to read and write?

• Chinese

• Spanish

• Indonesian

• Italian

Did Marco Polo
really travel to
China?

Multiple Choice

Dr. Francis Wood, who argues Marco Polo never made it past Constantinople and only learned about China from the Arabs and Persians. How many versions of Marco Polo's book are there?

• 10 versions

• 50 versions

• 100 versions

• 200 versions

Multiple Select

What are some of the problems that some historians, like Dr. Francis Wood, have with Marco Polo's story and his history? [Select ALL that APPLY]

• there are no eye-witnesses

• no one can corroborate his story

• there is no evidence in Chinese historical texts of Marco Polo

• There are many different versions of his book, "The Travels of Marco Polo."

In your opinion,

based on what we KNOW

about Marco Polo,

are his travels, book,

and stories

made up or real?

Marco Polo

Homesick, Marco Polo returned to Venice in
1295 and found the city at war with Genoa.
Polo acted as the commander of a Venetian
galley until he was captured by the Genoese
and put in prison. There among the
prisoners, jailers, and visitors he found an
audience for his stories of fantastic travels.
One of the inmates, Rustichello of Pisa,
copied the narrative from Marco's
dictation.

When the resulting book, A Description of
the World (now called The Travels of
Marco Polo), was completed in 1298, most
people refused to believe it was all true.
Marco received the nickname "Il Milione,"
or "Marco Millions," because people
thought his claims about Asia - its size, its
wealth, its population - were exaggerated.

Marco Polo

On his deathbed in 1324, a priest
begged Marco to admit that
much of A Description of the
World was false; otherwise he
would die a liar. Marco
allegedly replied, "I never told
half of what I saw!"

It was not until twentieth
century scholars confirmed
much of what appeared in his
book that it was recognized that
Polo had accurately described
the culture of Yuan China.

Did Marco Polo Really

Travel to China?

Are his stories, travels, and

book all made up?

(1)

Use evidence from the videos
and notes that you take to
answer the question.

(2)

Watch “Marco Polo Describes
the Mongols - 13th century
Primary Source” and take
notes.

(3)

Consider Dr. Francis’s
argument that Marco Polo
probably only went as far as
Constantinople.

(4)

Did he just make mistakes
and exaggerate?