This section talks and analyzes Marco Polo’s return from China. The analysis will focus on the stories that happened during Marco Polo’s return journey and the authenticity of these stories in his travel notes The Description of the World and will use different sources (including historical, modern, primary, and secondary sources) to examine whether Marco Polo has been to China. The Description of the World emphasized the event of Marco Polo escorting the princess Kökečin to Arghun, Ilkhan of Persia, in his return journey, which was also his motivation to leave China and go back to Venice. This happened when Arghun’s wife Queen Bulughan died in 1286. So, Arghun sent three envoys to Qubilai Khan to ask for a lady of the lineage of Queen Bulughan to be his new wife. Three Polos then left China with three envoys to complete this mission. In the book Did Marco Polo go to China, Dr. Frances Wood questions the authenticity of the incident of escorting the princess to Persia by Marco Polo, and thus casts doubt on the reliability of Marco Polo’s trip to China. But at the same time there are many other sources that refute Dr. Frances Wood’s argument. Did Marco Polo escort the princess Kökečin to Persia with the three envoys? How can this affair be used to verify whether Marco Polo has been to China? Let's take a look at how different sources are presented and analyzed.
Detail of the Topic & Sources Finding
¨ The Description of the World
This book was written by Rustichello da Pisa, a Romance writer who set out to write the narrative that he had heard from Marco Polo when they were imprisoned together in Genoa. In the Prologue, the author mentioned that there were many times that three Polos wanted to ask the permission of Qubilai Khan to leave China, but Qubilai Khan did not want them to leave because of his great favor towards them. It was not until Queen Bulughan’s – Arghun’s wife’s – death that three Polos got the opportunity to leave China with the mission of escorting a new lady to Arghun. Why could three Polos go on the mission of escorting the princess to Iran? Because the three envoys of Arghun saw three Polos were Latin and wise, they asked if three Polos wanted to go with them by sea. Then, they together to ask the permission of the Great Khan to leave. Qubilai Khan granted this favor and prepared lots of ships, people, and expanses to go with them. Three Polos left Yuan and sailed to Persia. But once they arrived, they found that Arghun Khan had been dead, so the lady was given to Ghanzan, Arghun’s son.
¨ The Book of Ser Marco Polo (Volume I)
This is a different translated version of Marco Polo’s travel notes (The Description of the World)by Henry Yule. The story of escorting the princess is basically the same as it is in The Description of the World but with more detailed descriptions. Serving as a primary source, the book starts the story of escorting princess by telling the death of Arghun Khan’s wife in 1286. On the right side of the paragraph, the author wrote “Circumstances of the Departure of the Polos from the Kaan’s Court” to mark this incident as the reason why Marco Polo left China and went back to Venice.Princess Kökečin was chosen to fill Queen Bulughan’s place. The route to Iran (from Peking to Tabriz) was “not only of portentous length for such a tender charge, but was imperilled by war” (p.23), so the three envoys of Arghun decided to return by sea. However, Tartars in general was not good at navigation. Thus, the three envoys asked Qubilai Khan for taking three Polos with them to help them to navigate and safely escort the princess. Qubilai Khan, even though held great reluctance, for the safety of the princess, agreed to send three Polos with three envoys together to complete this mission. They took about two years to arrive in Persia. The three Polos and the princess all safely reached the destination; however, two of the three envoys had perished by the way, and Arghun Khan also had been dead even before they left China. So, Arghun’s son Ghazan married the princess, and his brother Kaikhatu inherited his position.
¨ Did Marco Polo go to China by Frances Wood
This book is written by Frances Wood, a British scholar and historian who studies Chinese history. The main theme of the book is to question the authenticity of Marco Polo’s trip to China from different perspectives, and the credibility of the storytelling of China in The Description of the World by Marco Polo’s “ghost writer” Rustichello da Pisa. In her book, Dr. Frances Wood questioned the event of Marco Polo escorting the princess Kökečin to Persia when he wanted to return to Venice by saying that in any historical documentaries with related events, such as World History of Rashid al-Din or official Chinese text Yongle dadian, even if the same incident included in these books, there is no mention of the matter of escorting the princess and the name of Marco Polo, or any Europeans or Italians accompanying the princess (p.32 & p.137). So, from this perspective, she argued that Marco Polo did not accompany the princess to Persia and the story was reconstructed by him. Thus, Dr. Frances Wood used this point as a part of the evidence to prove that Marco Polo has never been to China.
¨ Yongle Dadian (Yongle Encyclopedia)
¨ Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh (World History /史集) by Rashīd al-Dīn Hamadani
¨ 马可波罗与中国 by Yang Zhijiu (杨志玖)
Yang Zhijiu (杨志玖), a history professor who spent lots of time on studying Mongols and Yuan history, wrote the book 马可波罗与中国(Marco Polo and China) that uses different sources to prove the authenticity of Marco Polo’s visit to China. One of the sources Yang Zhijiu used is called Yongle Dadian, whichis a largely Chinese official encyclopedia that records the most inclusive stories of Chinese history. Professor Yang Zhijiu discovered that in section 19418 of the Yongle Dadian, the three envoys (who accompanied Marco Polo to escort the princess) mentioned in Marco Polo's accounts were also mentioned here: “上言今年三月奉㫖遣兀魯䚟阿必失呵火者” (卷19418). Professor Yang Zhijiu pointed out that comparing the content of the Yongle Dadian describing this event with that of Marco Polo, it can be seen that the two different descriptions are actually about the same thing. However, the Yongle Dadian did not mention the name of Marco Polo's family and the matter of escorting the princess. This is because the two books have different focuses. The paragraph in Yongle Dadian was to ask the government for instructions on the issue of distribution of the rations, so it was not necessary to mention the princess, Marco Polo and others. But Marco Polo’s opportunity of returning to Venice was due to the mission of escorting the princess, so Marco Polo needed to record the detailed plot in his book to explain the situation (p.128-129). Thus, from the two aspects that Marco Polo recorded the names of the three envoys and the details of what happened at that time so clearly and precisely and that there were no other documentaries related to the matter of escorting the princess that could be copied by Marco Polo, professor Yang Zhijiu believes that Marco Polo’s description is true, and he should have been to China.Moreover, professor Yang Zhijiu found the similar description of the event in Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh, a work of literature and history that was written by a well-known historian in Ilkhanate-ruled Iran named Rashīd al-Dīn Hamadani. Even the Marco Polo family was not mentioned in the relevant records, and among the three envoys, only one envoy named Coja (火者) was mentioned. But professor Yang Zhijiu believed that this is not an omission or evidence that can be used to prove Marco Polo's statement is not true. Because Marco Polo's travel notes clearly recorded that two of the three envoys had died before they arrived in Persia, and only the Coja (火者) was left. Then, the no mention of other two envoys in Rashīd al-Dīn Hamadani’s description becomes reasonable.
¨ Marco Polo went to China by Igor de Rachewiltz
Italian historian Igor de Rachewiltz analyzed and refuted Dr. Frances Wood's argument that Marco Polo had not been to China in his book Marco Polo went to China. Regarding the authenticity of Marco Polo escorting the princess to Persia, Igor de Rachewiltz made following points to reject Dr. Fracnes Wood's opinion on this matter: 1)There was no other written sources provided for Macro Polo to learn about this mission, as no former documentaries mentioned it, “and the only Persian souce that refers to it was not completed until 1310-11” (p.52); 2) Marco Polo described the name of three envoys, “whose name appear only in an internal administrative document in Chinese concerning rations and provision” (p.52), so accurately, so he must have been in close contact with these three envoys; 3) The deaths of the two envoys mentioned by Marco Polo were also indirectly proved by Rashīd al-Dīn in his later work; 4)The basic facts and the chronology told by Marco Polo could corroborate with each other that Marco Polo left China in the early 1291, and they took around 21 months to Persia, so they should be arrived in around early 1293, and it was true indeed (p.52).
¨ Marco Polo was in China by Hans Ulrich Vogel
In his book Marco Polo was in China, Professor Hans Vogel also responded to the critique that the story of escorting of the princess Kökečin by Marco Polo could have been borrowed from another source. Similar to the views of Professor Yang Zhijiu and historian Igor de Rachewiltz, Professor Hans Vogel also proposed that the princess Kökečin or Khubilai Khan's embassy to the Ilkahn Arghun was not recorded in the official Chinese historical documentary (Yuanshi) in 1290. At the same time, as mentioned before, in the Chinese encyclopedia Yongle Dadian, the names of Marco Polo's family, and even the incident of escorting the princess were not directly mentioned. Therefore, it was impossible for Marco Polo to use the description in these historical documentaries to make up his returning story.In Professor Hans Vogel’s subsequent explanation, in addition to providing proof similar to Igor de Rachewiltz's statement in Marco Polo went to China, he also told that Marco Polo and the princess Kökečin should arrive in Persia approximately in September or October of 1293. At that time Arghun was dead, so the princess married Arghun's son, Ghazan. This was also proven in The World History (史集) by Rashīd al-Dīn.
Conclusion
Through analyzing, comparing, and connecting the story in primary sources and secondary sources that Marco Polo left China and escorted the princess to Iran on his way back to Venice, it can be seen that most historians believe that Marco Polo has actually been to China and indeed escorted the princess to Persia with three envoys. The reasons are as follows: 1) The names of the three envoys who escorted the princess with Marco Polo were not disclosed in any documentary at that time. If Marco Polo had not been in close contact with the three envoys, it would be impossible for him to name them accurately; 2) At that time, there was no other sources provided to Marco Polo to make up the story of escorting the princess; 3) In the Chinese Encyclopedia Yongle Dadian, although the event of escorting the princess and the names of Marco Polo’s family were not mentioned, the names of the three envoys could be correspond to the names in Marco Polo’s travel notes one to one; 4) When they finally arrived in Persia, the two of the three envoys had already died on the way, only Coja had survived, and Arghun Khan had also died. The princess then married Arghun's son Ghazaz. These detailed stories, Marco Polo were also correct in his notes. Moreover, because the war blocked the land road, they did go to Persia by sea; 5) The basic facts and the chronology told by Marco Polo could corroborate with each other. Marco Polo left China in the early 1291, and they took around 21 months to Persia, so they should be arrived in around early 1293, and it was true and proved in Yongle Dadian. Overall, through various detailed descriptions of the important incident of Marco Polo escorting the princess Kökečin on the return journey, it can be inferred that Marco Polo has been to China and indeed participated in the trip of escorting the princess.
References
Polo, M. The Description of the World. Translated by Sharon Kinoshita. Hackett Publishing Company, 2016.Polo, M. The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian: Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East (Cambridge Library Collection - Travel and Exploration in Asia) (H. Yule, Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Wood, Frances. Did Marco Polo go to China. Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St. Ives plc, 1995.Yongle Dadian (Yongle Encyclopedia). Section 19418Rashīd al-Dīn Hamadani. Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh.Yang, Zhijiu.马可波罗与中国 .Igor de Rachewiltz. Marco Polo went to China.Ulrich Vogel, Hans. Marco Polo was in China by Hans Ulrich Vogel.