Leading in

Additional Notes                                     

1) Buddhism: 佛教；佛学

2) Vienna: 维也纳（奥地利首都，同时也是州的名字）

3) silk machinery: 丝绸设备

4) Eurasia: 欧亚大陆

 

Additional Reading Material                          

Globalizationis mainly a socio-economic term which is nowadays synonymous with the economicdevelopment of a country. In simple terms, it is a continuous process throughwhich different societies, economies, traditions and culture integrate witheach other on a global scale through the means of communication and interchangeof ideas. So it is necessary to introduce Marco Polo who played an importantrole in the communication with foreign countries in the long history ofChina.

MarcoPolo (c.1254 - 1324)                  

Polo was a Venetian traveller andwriter who was one of the first westerners to visitChina.

Marco Polo was born in around1254 into a wealthy merchant family. Polo's father and uncle, Niccolò andMaffeo Polo, were jewel merchants. In 1260, they left Veniceto travel to the Black Sea, moving onwards to central Asia and joining adiplomatic mission to the court of Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler ofChina. Khanasked the Polo brothers to return to Europeand persuade the pope to send scholars to explain Christianity to him. Theyarrived back in Venicein 1269.

In 1271, they set off again,accompanied by two missionaries and Marco, and in 1275 reached Khan's summercourt. For the next 17 years the Polos lived in the emperor's lands. Little isknown of these years, but Marco Polo was obviously popular with the Mongolruler and was sent on various diplomatic missions which gave him theopportunity to see many parts ofChina.

Around 1292, the Polos offered toaccompany a Mongol princess who was to become the consort of Arghun Khan inPersia. Theparty sailed from a southern Chinese port via Sumatra,Ceylon(nowSri Lanka), southernIndia,and the Persian Gulf. After leaving theprincess inIran, the Polostravelled overland to Constantinople and then to Venice, arriving home in 1295.

The Polos eventually departed forEurope and reached Venicein 1295. Marco became involved in a naval conflict between Veniceand Genoa andin 1298 was captured by the Genoese. In prison, his stories attracted theattention of a writer from Pisa,who began to write them down, frequently embellishing them as he went. Theresulting book was extremely popular and was translated into many languagesunder a number of titles, including TheMillion and Travels of Marco Polo.After Polo was released he returned to Venice,where he remained for the rest of his life. He died on 8 January 1324.