{"id":547,"date":"2022-02-22T20:08:39","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T01:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/?p=547"},"modified":"2022-03-16T14:56:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T19:56:44","slug":"the-travels-of-marco-polo-kan-chau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/2022\/02\/22\/the-travels-of-marco-polo-kan-chau\/","title":{"rendered":"The Travels of Marco Polo: Kan-chau"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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 \u201cten paces in length\u201d, were laid down with smaller ones set circularly around them in positions to look as though they are \u201cpaying their respects\u201d. In particular, in Marco\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marco also writes about the marital and sexual practices of the people of Kan-chau. He notes that \u201ctheir principle conduct\u201d 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 \u201cbeasts\u201d (92).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The aspects of the marital\/sexual practices that Marco chooses to include in his account of this group\u2019s culture denotes a tone of disapproving judgment on Marco\u2019s 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\u2019s advocation for greater chastity is revealed in describing the people of Kan-chau as \u201cliving like beasts\u201d. This comment carries a tone of Marco\u2019s confusion with their crude sexual practices, which reveals his egotistical demeanor. His equation of these people\u2019s marital practices and moral standards to wild animals shows Marco\u2019s self-perception of him living a life of higher virtue in comparison.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4878,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[143611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marco-polo","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4878"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-the-middle-ages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}