As The Travels by Marco Polo has been transcribed and translated into various manuscripts and early printed editions, there are several variations in the location names mentioned in the text. To ensure clarity, our website has referred to three sources for displaying the location names:

Cliff: From the translation of "The Travels" by Nigel Cliff, published by Penguin Classics in 2015.
Haw: From the book "Marco Polo's China: A Venetian in the Realm of Khubilai Khan" by Stephen G. Haw, first published in 2006 by Routledge.
中文: From modern China map.

Please select the version you prefer in the map section.

A Study on

Marco Polo's View of China

Image from Wikimedia: Mosaic of Marco Polo, Municipal Palace of Genoa: Palazzo Grimaldi Doria-Tursi by Salviati, 1867. Public Domain.

Marco Polo(1254—1324), was an Italian merchant and traveler.At the age of 17, he embarked on a journey to the Orient with his father and uncle. During his 17-year stay in China, he explored many regions, including southwest mountain area and the southeastern coastal area. Upon his return to Italy, Marco Polo was captured in a battle and imprisoned. While in prison, he recounted his experiences and adventures during his travels. With the assistance of his cellmate Rustichello, he documented his travels in the famous book ——The Travels.
The Objective of this project is to utilize ancient cartographic maps of China, dating back to the time of Marco Polo, to showcase the locations he visited during his travels in China and the concerns he expressed about them in his narratives. Unlike the travelogues of Chinese literati of the same period, Marco Polo's preoccupations were unique. As a merchant, he was naturally interested in local industries and specialties, and meticulously recorded the prices of goods in his books. Additionally, as a devout religious believer, he was also concerned about the state of faith of the local people. Therefore, we decided to present the cities mentioned in Marco Polo's travels in three areas: religion, specialties and economic activities, which he frequently mentioned in his accounts. The website will provide an interactive and informative experience for users, enabling them to explore and comprehend the historical routes of Marco Polo's travels in China, while also gaining insight into the local customs he described.

《九域守令圖》 曹婉如. 中國古代地图集. 第1集. 北京: 文物出版社, 1990.

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Image source: Tea house in Hangzhou by David Veksler under Unsplash License


    In his narrative, Marco calls Xingzai "the city of Heaven". This may have been influenced by the Chinese proverb "There is a paradise above, and a Suzhou-Hangzhou below," which suggests that there are earthly paradises that are just as beautiful as heaven.At the same time he gives a direct justification for the notation of Xingzai,"it is well worth recording, because this is without doubt the finest and noblest city in the world."
    Marco Polo offers a comprehensive description of the city of xingzai, including its architecture, the arrangement of its streets, the state of its commerce and handicrafts, the wedding and funeral customs of its inhabitants, the city's fire protection system, and even the income of the Great Khan.

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Remarks

To ensure that our audience can fully immerse themselves in the historical context, we have placed significant emphasis on the historical maps. We understand that the precise locations may not always be available on the historical maps, so we have adopted a two-fold approach:

Pinpointing Locations on Historical Maps: Whenever possible, we have identified and marked the exact locations on the historical maps using blue markers. This allows our audience to visualize the geographical aspects of each historical site accurately.

Referring to Real Maps for Missing Locations: In cases where specific locations are not depicted on the historical maps, we marked the points using grey markers with reference to the modern geography.

List of Locations involved in this Project (Haw, Cliff, 中文):

Due to the limited scope of the map, the geographic location and information of Daidu, Tibet, Jiandu, Qarajang (kingdom), Yachi, Qarajang (city), Zardandan, Yongchang cannot be shown on the map.

[1]As the two locations was identified with the same name in Haw's definition, we deifnded it with other names on edition F so as to clssify them.

[2]As the city does not appear on modern China Map's definition, it is named by Haw's edition.



References

Markers and Banner Images:

Markers on map designed by Freepik

Along the River During the Qingming Festival Season (Qing Court Version) by Chen Mei (陳枚), Sun Hu (孫祜), Jin Kun (金昆), Dai Hong (戴洪) and Cheng Zhidao (程志道), 1736, Public Domain

Sculptural bust of traveler Marco Polo by Egor Myznik under License



Text & Books:

Backus, Charles. The Nan-Chao Kingdom and T'ang China's Southwestern Frontier. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.

Haw, Stephen G. Marco Polo's China a Venetian in the Realm of Khubilai Khan. London; Routledge, 2006.

Jackson, Peter. Marco Polo and His 'Travels.' Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 61, no. 1 (1998): 82-101. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00015779.

Pelliot, Paul. Notes on Marco Polo. Paris: Impr. nationale, 1959.

Polo, Marco. The Travels. Translated by Nigel Cliff. London: Penguin Classics, 2015.

Vogel, Hans Ulrich. Marco Polo Was in China: New Evidence from Currencies, Salts and Revenues. Leiden: Brill, 2013.

曹婉如. 中國古代地图集. 第1集., 文物出版社, 1990.

曹胜高. “古代宵禁的缘由及变通.” 人民论坛, no. 7 (2021): 110-12.

Drège, Jean Pierre. 絲綢之路: 東方和西方的交流傳奇. 初版. 台北: 時報文化出版企業有限公司, 1994.

方国瑜, and 林超民. 《马可波罗行纪》云南史地丛考. 第1版. 北京: 民族出版社, 1994.

姬庆红. 马可·波罗来华问题研究 = Marco Polo. 第1版. 北京: 中国社会科学出版社, 2019.

梁庚堯(Ken-Yao Liang). 從南北到東西－宋代真州轉運地位的轉變.” 臺大歷史學報, no. 52 (2013): 053-143. https://doi.org/10.6253/ntuhistory.2013.52.02.

刘振宁. “《马可波罗行纪》西南民俗述造解义.” 贵州师范大学学报（社会科学版）, no. 4 (2022): 118-29.

纳西族简史. 第1版. 昆明市: 云南人民出版社, 1984.

欧阳哲生. “马可波罗眼中的元大都.” 中国高校社会科学, no. 1 (2016): 102-16.

宋濂. 元史. 第1版. 北京: 中華書局, 1976.

天一阁藏明代方志选刊续编. 第71册. 上海：上海书店出版社,1990.

杨志玖. 马可波罗在中国 = Marco Polo in China. 第1版. 天津市: 南开大学出版社, 1999.

严沛, and 范成大. 桂海虞衡志校注. 第1版. 南宁市: 广西人民出版社, 1986.

永宁纳西族社会及母系制调查. 第1版. 昆明市: 云南人民出版社, 1986.

邹重华. “马可·波罗成都之行考辨.” 四川文物, no. 3 (1990): 11-14.