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Marco Polo

The Poles of Pluralism

"The Travels of Marco Polo" can be said to be one of the symbols of pluralism in the Mongol Yuan dynasty. This record of the experiences by a Venetian merchant in his travels to the East was a milestone in cultural interaction between the East and the West during the Middle Ages. Because Chinese people sometimes take aspects of their culture for granted, as most people in their own society do, it is occasionally difficult for the Chinese people to understand how a European like Marco Polo might have felt when he visited China in the Yuan dynasty. However, if you are a person steeped in your own culture and society, you can visit a completely foreign country to get an idea of what Marco Polo might have felt when he first stepped foot on Chinese soil. However, the more you know and understand about another culture, the more pluralistic and global the world becomes.

 
 

The Venetian merchant Marco Polo once traveled all the way to China

 
 

and saw the Great Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler who the Europeans had only heard about.

 

 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

This powerful, official image of the Great Khan was deep-rooted in China.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Marco Polo

The Poles of Pluralism

"The Travels of Marco Polo" can be said to be one of the symbols of pluralism in the Mongol Yuan dynasty. This record of the experiences by a Venetian merchant in his travels to the East was a milestone in cultural interaction between the East and the West during the Middle Ages. Because Chinese people sometimes take aspects of their culture for granted, as most people in their own society do, it is occasionally difficult for the Chinese people to understand how a European like Marco Polo might have felt when he visited China in the Yuan dynasty. However, if you are a person steeped in your own culture and society, you can visit a completely foreign country to get an idea of what Marco Polo might have felt when he first stepped foot on Chinese soil. However, the more you know and understand about another culture, the more pluralistic and global the world becomes.

 

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