Author: emilye (Page 2 of 2)

In his account of Zanzibar, a location of which Polo did not actually visit, but provides his written account of, Polo begins with basic information about their nation and their culture. He notes their practice of idolatry, having a king, having their own language, and paying tributary to no one. Polo writes of their goods that would be of interest to traveling merchants. He talks about their abundance of elephants and the profitable trade of their tusks. As well, he mentions the many lions, lynxes, sheep, giraffes, and leopards that these people have for trade and food services. The diet of this group of people consists of rice, meat, milk, and dates. Additionally, they are written to be good fighters. Polo explains how the people of Zanzibar will ride into battle on elephants with no arms, but with leather shields, lances, and swords.

For most of his account of Zanzibar, Polo focuses on the appearances of this group of people. He describes them as having the stature of giants, and are abnormally strong due to their immense size and claims they can carry the load big enough for five men. These people are of a big built race and are stout and large limbed. According to Polo, they have big mouths, flattened noses, and lips and eyes so big they’re horrible to look at. He also notes that these people go completely naked in their daily lives. Further in his account, Polo dedicates a separate passage to the physical description of the women of Zanzibar. According to him, the women are also “very ugly to look at”. They too have huge mouths, eyes, and noses, and have breasts four times as big as other women. 

Most notably in this section is the rare appearance of Polo’s notation of race in the people of Zanzibar. In his account of this nation, Polo mentions that the people here are “quite black”, an infrequent occasion when Polo notes the skin color of the people he visits and reveals his negative opinion based on it. He describes that “altogether their appearance is quite repulsive” and concludes his narrative of the people of Zanzibar with the comment that “anyone who saw them in another country would say they were devils.”

Polo’s account of Zanzibar showcases one of the few instances where he mentions and shares his opinion on the race of one of the groups of people that he visits on his travels. On the one hand, it suggests the lack of importance of a group’s race to Marco, given how the very few times where he notes race at all in his physical descriptions of groups of people. However, he seems to use race in this situation as a means of warning future travelers of the ugliness of this group. Polo writes extensively about the unpleasant appearance of this group, including their dark skin color as one of the reasons for their “quite repulsive” appearance, even though he usually does not make note of the specific race of the groups he visits. His long-winded negative physical description of this group suggests Polo’s appalled reaction and urgency to other travelers of how ugly these people are. Additionally, it is worthy to note that Polo creates a separate section in his writing to discuss the unpleasant appearance of the women of this group. In this description, he uses similar terms to describe their big noses, mouths, and breasts. In giving the physical description of women a separate paragraph, Polo indicates he feels it more abhorrent for the women to be just as ugly as the men, implying beauty standards within his own culture.

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Categories:

Shopping Bag: Focused on descriptions of trade/merchant opportunity

Star: Focused on descriptions of miracles

Locations noted: Ayas, Turkey, Georgia, Mosul, Baghdad, Tabriz, Saveh, Kala Atashparastan (current name: Kashan), Yazd, Kerman.

Marco arrived in a city called Kan-chau, the capital of the province of Tangut which lies in the Cathay region. Marco notes the people’s perception of the lunar cycle is similar to his own interpretation of how to distinguish months. He further explains how there is a five-day period during the cycle where idolaters do not kill anything or eat any meat and these people live most virtuously during this period. He mentions that the laity does not participate in this practice.

Marco continues his telling of his experience in this city by focusing on the religious affiliations and practices of these inhabitants. He notes that most are idolaters, but some are Christians and Mahometans. These pious folk erected large monasteries, churches, and an elaborate display of their many idols. The larger idols, some that were “ten paces in length”, were laid down with smaller ones set circularly around them in positions to look as though they are “paying their respects”. In particular, in Marco’s discussion of the religious practices of the people of Kan-chau, he claims that even the idolaters living under religious rule have more virtuous lifestyles. 

His emphasis on his preference for religious folk and judgment of those who do not practice the same morals as him reveals his partial identity as a religious messenger for Christianity. Additionally, his focused interest in their religious practices also suggests devout religious faith as well. Many of his comments about the practices of the people in this city carry a tone of judgment, not exclusively negative or positive, as he seems to compare their practices to his own and praises them for the devoutness that compelled them to create so many idols. 

Marco also writes about the marital and sexual practices of the people of Kan-chau. He notes that “their principle conduct” is that if a woman makes sexual advances towards a man it is acceptable. However, if the man makes the first move then it is a sin, and if people find out the man had made the first move, they condemn him to death. He details how usually the man is able to take up as many wives as he pleases, so long as he can afford to provide for all of them. If any of his wives displease him, he is able to do as he wishes in discipline, whether it be putting her away or another form of punishment he sees fit. Marco also notes that the first wife a man may take up is customarily treated with the highest status out of all the other wives. He explains these polygamous relationships as the people living like “beasts” (92). 

The aspects of the marital/sexual practices that Marco chooses to include in his account of this group’s culture denotes a tone of disapproving judgment on Marco’s part. His description of their practices is framed in the perception that Marco believes the men in this city will marry and have sexual relations with anything. Marco’s advocation for greater chastity is revealed in describing the people of Kan-chau as “living like beasts”. This comment carries a tone of Marco’s confusion with their crude sexual practices, which reveals his egotistical demeanor. His equation of these people’s marital practices and moral standards to wild animals shows Marco’s self-perception of him living a life of higher virtue in comparison.

Marco Polo arrives in the land of Armenia, a country which he describes as being two separate countries, the Lesser Armenia and the Greater Armenia, and Turkey. The majority of Polo’s descriptions of these countries that he visits are centered around their economic success and potential due to the variety and abundance of natural resources at their disposal. 

Polo spends extensive time detailing the expansive and varied quantity of commodities available to the Armenians to sell to traveling merchants. He mainly describes the people of Lesser Armenia in the context of their sellable resources and rarely mentions further details about the type of people they are, what they look like, or how they live. Though he does not speak much of it, Polo does mention the Lesser Armenians “live off their flock” and notes the sweltering climate of the country (47). He comments on the excruciating heat of the climate as being “far from healthy”, which he then attributes to the inappropriate, “craven and “mean-spirited” behavior, and the excessive drinking of these people (46). Marco also mentions how the Turks breed good quality horses and mules and the Armenians have a large silver mine available to them (47). Additionally, the Turks are able to weave the “choicest and most beautiful carpets in the world” so they make a living by selling their crafts (47). 

Most of the observations Polo includes in his account of his visit to the Armenians are related to the potential merchant interest in what products the country offers.  He makes particular note of the abundance of goods the countries have due to their flourishing environmental surroundings. Polo describes a very tall mountain in the “heart” of Greater Armenia, which fertilizes their fields (48). At the mountain, which the Armenians call the Mountain of Noah’s Ark due to its cube shape, Noah’s ark is said to have once rested at its top, the “snow lies so deep all the year round that no one can ever climb it” and never fully melts (48). However, the lower slopes on the mountains gather the moisture from the higher slopes creating such luscious vegetation that animals flock to their land so the people are never low on supply of food and create the “best summer pasturage for beasts” (48). 

Given Marco Polo’s family background of wealthy, well-respected merchants, it would be expected that most of his observations were directed towards the commerce and craftsmanship of the countries he visits. His comments in this passage focus on how the varying resources at the disposal of the Armenians and the Turks would be of interest to a merchant, like himself and his family. He frequently details the quality or abundance of different goods provided by the countries’ citizens, as a merchant would judge potential purchases. As well, his notes about the way the Lesser Armenians react to their hot climate showcases his privilege as a young merchant growing up under the wing of a widely successful merchant, his father. His father had achieved such a high status that royalty respected them enough to treat them better than some of their own citizens when they would make their travels. Marco’s description of the Lesser Armenians reaction to the heat, depicting them as uncivilized alcoholics, reveals his negative interpretation of impoverished individuals due to his inherited wealth and status.