Marco Polo Modernism

Modernism in Chinese Culture
Marco Polo the great explorer of the 13th and 14th century set out on a journey through the Mongol Empire during which he wrote The Book of Ser Marco Polo. During his journey he documented the marvels of his travels such as the city of Kinsay(Hangchow), a large city inherited by the Yuan Dynasty after great conquests. Polo expressed the city as a “City of Heaven” because of its modernism and elegance while traveling through the city. The significance of The Book of Ser Marco Polo is that he describes one of the first modern cities of the east that set a precedent for modern cities in Europe to follow. The city of Kinsay as Marco Polo describes it, could be the basis of modernism in European cities because of the
As well as bringing up the eloquent structures, Polo also explains the layout, architecture and the benefits the layout of the city of Kinsay provided. In the document Polo goes over how all the “market squares are a mile to the side and along their front passes the main street, which is 40 paces in width, and runs straight from end to end of the city crossing many bridges of easy commodious approach, so that you can ride and travel in every direction to a market ease”(Polo 4). This is important because the Chinese architects wanted every citizen to have accesses to at least one market within a mile radius of their house, making it easy for supplies to be bought. As a result, the city of Kinsay based the economy off buying, selling, and trading
Frances Wood question whether Marco Polo ever traveled through China. “He states that Marco's descriptions have a ‘guide-book nature’ and ‘suggests’ that they are copied, not personal records. In fact, his descriptions of the postal system, Beijing, Hangzhou, Ahmad's career and death, Khubilai's personality, Shangdu, feasts, and banquets reveal tremendous first-hand knowledge of the Mongol court and its policies and tally with Chinese and Persian primary sources”(Rossabi 1). Other critics of Polo’s book say Polo exaggerated many things such as his importance to Kublai Khan because he wanted be well known in Europe and no one could disprove him because he was the only European there at the time. Whether Marco Polo actual traveled to China is still up for debate, the significance of The Book of Ser Marco Polo is not. It gave Europeans its first real look at the cities in East Asia and the lifestyle that came along with it. This book set precedent for what a modern city could be classified as because Polo, a great traveler and explorer, describes many qualities and innovations that the Chinese had that the Europeans did not have. He described it as “ a city of heaven full of culture and pride” that would go on to inspire many other cities in Europe in the