Marco Polo’s Crouching Dragons and Hidden Tigers

Hans Ulrich Vogel and Ulrich Theobald (Eds.) Marco Polo Research Past, Present, Future MARCO POLO RESEARCH Hans Ulrich Vogel and Ulrich Theobald (Eds.) MARCO POLO RESEARCH: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie, detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. Dieses Werk ist lizenziert unter einer Creative Commons Namensnennung - Keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International Lizenz. Um eine Kopie dieser Lizenz einzusehen, konsultieren Sie https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/legalcode oder wenden Sie sich brieflich an Creative Commons, Postfach 1866, Mountain View, California, 94042, USA. Die Online-Version dieser Publikation ist auf dem Repositorium der Universität Tübingen frei verfügbar (Open Access). http://hdl.handle.net/10900/151266 http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:21-dspace-1512662 http://dx.doi.org/10.15496/publikation-92606 Tübingen Library Publishing 2024 Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen Wilhelmstraße 32 72074 Tübingen druckdienste@ub.uni-tuebingen.de https://tlp.uni-tuebingen.de ISBN (Hard/Softcover): 978-3-98944-006-7 ISBN (PDF): 978-3-98944-007-4 Umschlaggestaltung: Sandra Binder, Universität Tübingen Coverabbildung: Tebetans offering their unmarried daughters to by-passing strangers, « ... por ce qu'il en faicent lor voluntés et qu'il gigent con ells ». Source: Livre des merveilles, around 1400, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Français 2810, f. 52v, gallica.bnf.fr / BnF. Satz: Ulrich Theobald Herstellung: BoD – Books on Demand, Norderstedt Printed in Germany Table of Contents Ulrich Theobald and Hans Ulrich Vogel Preface ........................................................................................................ ix Le Devisement dou monde: History and Digitization of the Text(s) Philippe Ménard Recherches passées, travaux récents et investigations futures sur le Devisement du monde de Marco Polo ............................................ 3 Alvise Andreose The Textual Transmission of the Devisement dou monde: Old Problems and New Insights ............................................................. 53 Samuela Simion, Mario Eusebi and Eugenio Burgio On the Way to an Integral Edition of the Book of Marco Polo: A First Attempt to Create a Digital Edition ............................................ 91 Giuseppe Mascherpa The Description of the City of Quinsai in the Early Tradition of the Devisement dou monde ..........................133 Michel Quereuil Le Tibet dans les principales versions du Devisement du monde .....155 Reception and Styles of the Book, and the Literary Field Marcello Ciccuto The Illuminated Manuscripts of the Devisement: Words and Images in Establishing a Late Medieval Pattern of Perception for the Topic of Travelling to the Far East .......................................... 187 Christine Gadrat-Ouerfelli Who Read Marco Polo’s Book and Why? ............................................ 201 Sharon Kinoshita Translating Marco Polo’s Le Devisement du monde ............................ 215 Danièle James-Raoul La poétique du voyage dans le Devisement du monde: Éléments de style ................................................................................... 249 Dominique Boutet L’exotisme dans le Devisement du monde, en particulier dans le « Livre d’Inde ».................................................. 299 Michèle Guéret-Laferté Persia, a Strategical Place in the Devisement du monde: Order and Disorder in the Progress of the Narrative ...................... 315 Marco Polo’s Reports and the World He Witnessed Li TANG Marco Polo’s Description on “Nestorians” and other Christian Groups in Yuan China ........................................ 335 DANG Baohai Two Mongolian Toponyms in Marco Polo’s Account: The Green Mound and Cacciar Modun............................................... 361 LUO Wei On Some Designations Used in the Description of the World and the Political Attitude of Marco Polo ............................................. 385 Ulrich Theobald Marco Polo on Military Affairs of the Yuan Dynasty ..........................417 Stephen G. Haw Marco Polo and the kešig, with a Further Note on the Toponym “Singui” ...................................451 Hans Ulrich Vogel Marco Polo’s Crouching Dragons and Hidden Tigers ........................477 Marco Polo’s Crouching Dragons and Hidden Tigers 1 Hans Ulrich Vogel In this paper I will present a first discussion of Marco Polo’s references to dragons and tigers, and with a focus on China. For reasons that will be explained, Marco Polo said little about dragons, but much about “lions”, i.e. tigers. Hence, this article will mainly deal with Panthera tigris. As has been remarked already by other scholars, the Venetian’s observations of “lions” in Asia mostly refer to tigers. 2 By taking into account Western and Chinese primary sources and secondary literature, I will show by means of a few selected examples that no contradictions at all exist between the indications in Polo’s account and the data obtained from Chinese primary sources and general research literature about tigers in China. The Venetian was probably the first European who provided substantial information about the tigers of East Asia and especially those of China which – though hard for many people nowadays to imagine – is the cradle and original habitat of the Panthera tigris specie. From the point of view of Chinese cultural history, it makes sense to approach these two “animals” together, because, for instance, during the flourishing period of cosmological thought in the Han dynasty (206 BC1 This is a revised version of an article which was published under the title “I draghi accovacciate e le tigri camufate di Marco Polo” in Andreose (ed.) (2019), 47-71. 2 Follow, e.g., the entries on “tigers” in the index of Yule (1903/1993), vol. 2, 657. See also Olschki (1960), 152n14 (“… With the term ‘lion’ Marco and his contemporaries also designated tigers, which were better known in China than lions.” …) and 16 (“… tigers (always called ‘lions’) …), and Haw (2020), 287 (… “Clearly, at least as far as ‘lions’ in China are concerned, he really meant ‘tigers’. …”). Strangely, Brunello (1986), 63, thinks that Marco referred to the Panthera leo persica, a lion specie whose habitat reached as far as Bengal in the nineteenth century. For this specie cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_lion (accessed 17/06/2023). 478 VOGEL 220 AD) centring on Five Phases (wuxing 五行) and yin/yang (陰陽) concepts dragon and tiger were two of the Four Divine Animals (si shenshou 四神獸) symbolizing the Four Directions (Azure Dragon for the east, White Tiger for the west, Scarlet Bird for the south, and Sombre Tortoise for the north). 3 According to Daoist thought, dragon and tiger were the two divine animals in charge of the yang (Heaven and Fire) and the yin (Earth and Water) world respectively.4 Dragon and tiger were also emblematic symbols in Chinese practical laboratory alchemy, as represented by a key text written between the eighth and tenth centuries, the “Scripture on the Golden Elixir of the Dragon and Tiger” (Jindan longhu jing 金丹龍虎經). There, for instance, a passage centers on amalgamating refined forms of lead and mercury as the key alchemical process for the production of an elixir, with Dragon and Tiger as two corporeal counterparts for lead and mercury respectively, linking them moreover to the most fundamental aspects of the cosmos, namely yang and yin and their manifold correlates.5 This all helps us to understand why the dragon-tiger pair became an important decorative theme in Daoist and other temples, and which also explains why painters specialized in the subjects of dragon and tiger. 6 1 Dragons When taking a look at Marco Polo’s report, one will notice that the topics of dragon and tiger are treated differently, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. In entries related to China, dragons are mentioned only in four places, that is, as an artistic as well as architectonical element of the columns of the Great Khan’s bamboo palace in Ciandu (Shangdu 上都), 7 as decorative elements of the walls of the Great Khan’s palace in Canbalu 3 As has been shown by Pankenier (2013), 76-77, 212-213, this cosmological-correlative concept was already well established by the end of the second millennium BC. 4 Sung Hou-mei (1998), 1-16. 5 Skar (2005), 429-432. 6 Sung Hou-mei (1998), 1-2. 7 Not mentioned in F, but in R, Libro Primo, 55, “dragone”, and in L, 65, “draco”. For these redactions see the excellent “Digital Ramusio” (hereafter: DR), i.e. Simion and Burgio, eds. (2015). For toponyms, I use the basic spellings in the F manuscript, as they are indicated in Burgio (2018), 321-325. For the identification of place names, I refer to Haw (2006), ch. 6-8. MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 479 (Dadu 大都) 8 (cf. Fig. 1), as a cyclical sign used for the designation of years by astrologers in Canbalu, 9 and together with “lions” as one of the tattoo designs of the people in the province of Caugigu (Jiaozhi Guo 交趾 國, i.e. Annam, the northern part of today’s Vietnam). 10 Figure 1: The Great Khan’s Palace in Canbalu, with Detail Showing Wall Decorations Source: Le livre des merveilles, fifteenth century, f. 37r, BNF, F 2810; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, gallica.bnf.fr / BnF. 8 See, e.g., F, i.e. the edition of Eusebi (2018), 104, “dragons”. F is also available in DR. Moreover, there is now available its English translation by Kinoshita (2016). 9 Not in F, but only in Z, 43, “dracone”, and R, Libro Secondo, 25, “dragone”. See DR. 10 See, e.g., F in Eusebi (2018), 150, “drag”. 480 VOGEL Figure 2: Body-tattoos of Dai 傣 People in Mengding 孟定, Southwestern Yunnan, 1936 Source: Photo made by Yong Shiheng 勇士衡, February 1936; courtesy of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, Republic of China; URL http://ndweb.iis.sinica. edu.tw/race_public/System/frame_1.htm (accessed 17/08/2023). That dragons were used as decorative elements on columns (known e.g. as “dragon columns” (longzhu 龍柱) or “columns with entwining dragons” (panlongzhu 盤龍柱)) of Chinese palaces and temples is a well-documented feature, though so far I could not find an arrangement exactly in the way described by Marco Polo. Dragon paintings or carvings were, and still are, very often used for the decoration of all kinds of walls in temples and palaces. MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 481 Another artistic but at the same time apotropaic use of dragon depiction is for tattooing mentioned by the Venetian for the province of Caugigu. Tattoos covering large parts of the body are well documented, for instance, for the Dai 傣 people living in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture 西双版纳傣族自治州 (cf. Fig. 2), but also for Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar. 11 And finally, it is well known that the dragon was one of the twelve animals of the zoomorphical cycle which had a long history in China and which was also taken over by the Mongols. Already Yule noted that Marco Polo’s sequence of “Lion”, Ox, Dragon, Dog, etc. is not correct, but should run as follows: 1. Rat; 2. Ox; 3. Tiger; 4. Hare; 5. Dragon; 6. Serpent; 7. Horse; 8. Sheep; 9. Ape; 10. Cock; 11. Dog; 12. Swine. 12 Compared with the case of the “lion” (i.e. tiger), Marco Polo’s mentionings of dragons are rare, and they do not crop up as real animals in his book. Even the “great serpents” of Carajan, probably crocodiles,13 were not designated by the Venetian as “dragons”, though they might have come nearest to the perception of those mythical and divine animals. Thus, Marco Polo never thought he had ever seen an animal resembling a dragon, and hence there was no need for him to differentiate between the real and the legendary, as he did in the case of the unicorn, salamander, and musk deer. Moreover, dragons were familiar to him from Europe and therefore he might have not seen the need to dwell on them. Although he was aware of artistic, decorative, apotropaic and astrological depictions, he was – as it seems – not interested in, or had no further access to, the rich iconography and lore of this mythical animal in China. Yet, at least in two instances he shows some, though rather unconscious, awareness of the pairing of dragons with “lions”. This holds true for the tattooing passage as well as for the one on the zoomorphic cycle. In both cases the “lions” mentioned there are clearly tigers. But also in the use of the dragon as artistic and decorative elements for adorning the walls of the Great Khan’s palace in 11 See the index in Yule (1903/1993), vol. 2, 656, “tattooing”. Yule (1903/1993), vol. 1, 454. 13 Cf. Haw (2006), 135-137. 12 482 VOGEL Canbalu we may assume that lions and/or tigers belonged to the set of animals used for this purpose. While, the F version only points in this direction (“… et autres deverses jenerasion des bestes …” 14), the V redaction speaks explicitly also of “lioni”. 15 2 Lions But let us turn now gradually to the topic of tigers, which, though under a different name, are frequently mentioned and described by our traveller as real, though savage and wild, animals. In reference to the Great Khan’s dominion, I found in the most important redactions twenty-two passages referring to “lions”, of which eighteen for certain meant tigers. One clearcut exception is surely the passage about the Pulinsanghin bridge, where the decorative marble lions (“lion de marbre”) 16 were certainly meant to be lions (cf. Fig. 3). Apart from this one exception of the Pulisanghin Bridge, there are three cases with an ambiguous nature. Two concern the use of lions and/or tigers as artistic decoration, one together with dragons and other animals as decorative elements of the walls of the Great Khan’s palace in Canbalu, 17 the other in the context of the New Year’s festivities, when there took place a procession of 5,000 elephants which were covered with beautiful cloths embroidered with birds, “lions” and other animals. 18 Another instance of inconclusive nature is in the chapter which describes how the “twelve thousand barons” are presenting themselves with precious robes during the feast days. There, Marco Polo mentions that during festivals a great tame and unchained “lion” is led to the emperor’s presence and lies down before him as soon as it sees him, with every sign of veneration and as if it acknowledged him as lord: 14 Eusebi (2018), 104. See V, 41, in DR. On the relatively high position of the V redaction in the stemma codicum cf. the contribution of Simion, Eusebi and Burgio in this volume. 16 Eusebi (2018), 126. 17 Only mentioned in V, 41, “lioni”. See DR. 18 “Lioni” are again mentioned only in V, 43. See DR. 15 MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 483 … car sachiés qe un grant lion est moiné devant le Gran Sire; et le lion tantost{o} qu’il le voit, se jete a jecir devant lui et fait seingne <de> grant humilité et senble qu’il le conoisse por seingnor. Il demore devant lui sanç nulle chaene … 19 Figure 3: The Pulisanghin Bridge, with Details of the Marble Lions Adorning the Railings Sources: Le livre des merveilles, fifteenth century, f. 49r, BNF F 2810; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, gallica.bnf.fr / BnF. Photo of a stone lion of the Marco Polo Bridge taken by the author of this article in August 2014. Also Odorico de Pardenone describes a similar scene when writing the following: “… Then come mummers leading lions, which they cause to salute the Lord with reverence. …” 20 19 20 Eusebi (2018), 111. Yule (1913), 143. 484 VOGEL Thomas T. Allsen opines that it was rather a lion than a tiger that laid down reverently and submissively in front of Qubilai, 21 though I think that this cannot be taken for granted. Lions had no natural habitat in China, but were indeed imported into the Middle Kingdom already in the early centuries of the Common Era. After the fall of the Han dynasty, the traffic of lions from Persia was continued to be reported during the Northern Wei period (386-535), and during the Tang period (617-907) they were presented as tributes from Samarkand, the Tocharians, Persia, and from the Arabs. 22 During the Song period (960-1279) lions came from India. Imports continued in the Yuan period, during which the Mongol rulers over China received them, together with tigers, from their ally, the Mongolian court of Iran. 23 At any rate, the presence of both tigers and lions at the Yuan court is testified by the mid-fourteenth-century Nancun chuogeng lu 南村輟耕錄 (Records of Nancun while Ceasing Farm Work) of Tao Zongyi 陶宗儀 (1329-1410), who mentions that it was the custom of the Mongol emperors to give feasts in honour of the Princes and High Officials at the Ten Thousand Years’ Hill (Wanshoushan 萬壽山; i.e. the Green Mound 24). On these occasions all the beasts, that is tigers, leopards, bears, and elephants, were first paraded in front of the guests, followed thereafter by lions, being described as small and short in body. However, when all the other animals saw them, they were terrified and did not dear to look up at them. 25 Not only in China, but elsewhere too, the lion was firmly associated with kingship. Therefore, tamed lions, together with tigers and other felines, served as court pets already in ancient Egypt and at many other courts thereafter. A “lion” which showed himself reverent and submissive in front of a ruler, as this was the case in Marco Polo’s description, was a clear political message in the sense that the king or emperor was not only lord 21 Allsen (2006), 150. Schafer (1963), 85. 23 Allsen (2006), 236. 24 On this location see the contribution of Dang Baohai in this volume. 25 Nancun chuogeng lu, ch. 24, 1b; Collier (1921), 134. 22 MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 485 over humans, but by his spiritual and magical powers even controlled animals and thus wild nature. 26 3 Tigers Apart from the exception of the Pulisanghin Bridge and the three inconclusive passages mentioned above, in all the remaining eighteen mentionings of “lions” in China proper the Venetian did not refer to Panthera leo but actually to tigers. By means of comparison, differentiation and clarification, the Venetian makes it crystal-clear in two passages that he had another beast in mind than the lion. The first time he does so is in the chapter on “des lionç et des liopars et de leus curvier” used by the Great Khan for hunting. For instance, in the F redaction we can read that these “lions” are bigger than those of Babylonia and have a most beautiful colored skin, striped all along the sides with black, red and white: … Il ha plosors lyons grandisme, greingnors aseç que celz de Babilonie: il sunt de mout biaus poil et de mout biaus coleor, car il sunt tout vergés por lonc noir et vermoil et blance; … 27 The second time is when describing the Great Khan’s hunting at Cacciar Modun 28 together with the two audience tents and the tent for sleeping he used there. These tents were covered with “cuir de lionz” of the same pattern and colors. 29 In other words, in both passages the pattern and colours of the skin make clear that we have to do it with tigers. 3.1 Classification of Marco Polo’s Passages on Tigers Marco Polo’s passages about tigers in China can be classified as belonging to three main categories, namely, depictions and designs of cosmological, magical, artistic and political meanings related to tigers, artificial presence of tigers, and natural occurrences of tigers. 26 Allsen (2006), 148-150. Eusebi (2018), 112. 28 On Cacciar Modun see the contribution of Dang Baohai in this volume. 29 Eusebi (2018), 115. 27 486 VOGEL 3.2 Depictions and Designs of Cosmological, Magical, Artistic and Political Meanings Related to Tigers This category of Marco Polo’s tiger descriptions can be subdivided into seven items: • • • • • • • the tiger as one of the twelve animals of the zoomorphical cycle used for the designation of years by astrologers in Canbalu tigers depicted in tattoos of indigenous people in Caugigu province tigers (and/or lions) depicted in paintings on the walls of the Great Khan’s palace in Canbalu tiger (and/or lion) embroideries on the beautiful cloths which covered the elephants that were paraded in front of guests during the New Year’s festivities the tiger design on tablets of authority tiger skins covering the wooden chamber in which Qubilai is carried by four elephants on his hunting expedition in direction to the Ocean Sea the tiger skin tent set up during the Great Khan’s hunting activities in Cacciar Modun As the first item was already discussed above in the context of the dragon, let us shortly dwell on the second item, the description of the custom of the Caugigu people tattooing their bodies with “lions”, dragons, birds and other things as a token of elegance evoking admiration amongst themselves. Given the existence of tigers in this region, we can be sure that these were images of tigers, and not lions. Apart from being an expression of elegance, we may assume that the motive of the Caugigu people for tattooing tigers on their bodies was derived from experiences with these fierce animals within their own living environment. In view of the powerful image of the tiger, these depictions doubtless had religious, magical and apotropaic functions. The third and fourth topic relates to the depiction of tigers in works of art and decoration. That Marco Polo was aware of animal images in oriental art is highlighted by Brian J. Lévy who refers to numerous passages in MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 487 the work of the Venetian. 30 We have already mentioned above that at least in the V rendering “lioni”, i.e. either tigers or lions or both, are indicated as being depicted on the palace walls of the Great Khan in Canbalu as well as on the embroidered cloths covering the elephants of the New Year’s parade. Let us now shortly discuss the fifth item, i.e. the tiger design on tablets of authority. At least for the Chinese tablets we can state with confidence that those depicting a feline were intended to refer to tigers. This is also the reason why in Chinese sources the paizi 牌子 are called hufu 虎符 or “tiger tallies”, and not shifu 獅符, “lion tallies”. Under the Yuan dynasty tablets for official positions, especially for military officials were as follows: The myriarchs, chiliarchs and centurions are divided into superior, middle and inferior categories. The myriarch girds a tiger tablet of gold. There is a figure of a crouching tiger engraved in the lower part of the tablet and glittering pearls encrusted in the upper part. And these tablets stand out by one, two or three pearls encrusted on them. … 31 Another question is whether it was possible for Marco Polo to draw a clear difference between tiger and lion because the tigers depicted on the Chinese paizi may have been highly stylized. The sixth and seventh mentionings refer to tiger skins, in the one case used as cover for Qubilai’s wooden travel chamber in which four elephants carried him to the hunting grounds at the Ocean Sea, the other the tiger skin tent set up during the Great Khan’s hunting activities in Cacciar Modun. With regard to the latter topic, we may refer to a, though smaller, tent of that kind exhibited in the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing in 2014. It is said that its history can be dated back to around 600 years ago, i.e. indeed almost to the Yuan dynasty. The top of this splendid and noble craftwork is circular, and its top and sides consist of 108 pieces of pure tiger skins (cf. Fig. 4). Apart from impressing by their beauty (and, we may add, being a sign of emperorship), the Venetian highlights the practical side of tiger skins, in the sense that the cover of the Cacciar Modun tent 30 31 See Lévy (1997), 170-171. See Dang Baohai (2001), 41. 488 VOGEL was so well arranged that neither wind nor rain could cause harm or damage. 32 Figure 4. Six-hundred-year Old Tiger Skin Tent Given to the Third Dalai Lama Sonam Gyatso (1543-1588) by the Mongol King at Lithang (Litang 理塘), Eastern Tibet in Sichuan Province, Exhibited in the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing, 2014 Source: Tenzin Woebom, 11 November 2014, China Tibet Online; URL http:// www.vtibet.com/en/calture/popular/201411/t20141116_255987.html (accessed 07/07/2019). 3.3 Artificial Presence of Tigers Apart from the possibility that the “lion” that was made to present and bow itself in front of the Great Khan may have been a tiger, this category of tiger description concentrates on the topic related to hunting with the help of Panthera tigris: 32 Eusebi (2018), 115. MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS • • 489 during festivals a great tame and unchained “lion” is led to the Great Khan’s presence and lies down before him as soon as it sees him tigers, together with cheetas and caracals, were used for the Great Khan’s hunting expeditions; comparison in size and skin pattern with the lions of Babylon; trained to catch boars and wild cattle, bears, wild asses, stags, and other great or fierce beasts; taken out in a covered cart, each tiger being accompanied by a little doggie; hunting against the wind In a prominent chapter of his report, the Venetian enumerates and describes the use of felines for Qubilai’s hunting parties. Apart from cheetas and caracals also unambigiously tigers with their typical striped and coloured skin were employed. They made a special impression on Marco as tigers are said to have brought down large beasts, such as bears, wild cattle, asses, deers, and boars: … il sunt afaités a prandre sengler sauvajes et les buef sauvajes et orses et asnes sauvajes et cerf et cavriolz et autres bestes. … 33 In the wild, tigers mostly feed on large and medium-sized animals, preferring native ungulates weighing at least 90 kg (200 lb). 34 Prey species of Siberian tigers include Manchurian wapiti, Siberian musk deer, long-tailed goral, moose, Siberian roe deer, Manchurian sika deer, wild boar, even sometimes small size Asian black bear and Ussuri brown bear, also smaller species like hares, rabbits, pikas and salmon. 35 In the former range of the South China tiger possible tiger prey species comprised muntjac, wild pig, serow, tufted deer and sambar. 36 Sambar deer, wild pigs, serow, and large bovids such as banteng and juvenile gaur constitute the majority of the Indochinese tiger’s diet. 37 33 Eusebi (2018), 112. See URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger#Hunting_and_diet (accessed 25/10/2023). 35 URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_tiger#Feeding_ecology (accessed 25/10/2023). 36 URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_China_tiger#Ecology_and_behavior (accessed 25/ 10/2023). 37 URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indochinese_tiger (accessed 25/10/2023). 34 490 VOGEL From Ramusio’s version we learn that tigers approach the game against the wind as otherwise the beasts would scent them. Compare this to the following statement: “If the prey catches wind of the tiger’s presence before this, the tiger usually abandons the hunt rather than chase prey or battle it head-on.” 38 Marco Polo also noted that the tigers were taken along in a covered cart, each “lion” being accompanied by a small dog. As we are not given more details on how the hunting with tigers was carried out, we do not know what the function of the small dogs was. Perhaps they had to support the tiger in hunting by chasing the game into the direction of it. Or they were trained in such a way as to guide the tiger back to his master hunter. Figure 5: The Great Khan Hunting with “lionç”, “liopars” and “leus curvier” Source: Le livre des merveilles, fifteenth century, f. 42r, BNF F 2810; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, gallica.bnf.fr / BnF. Although Allsen appears to harbour some doubt about the accurateness of the Venetian’s account, he nonetheless writes that if it was truly historical, then hunting with tigers was of demonstrative purpose, i.e. to show that 38 URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger#Hunting_and_diet (accessed 25/10/2023). MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 491 such a thing could be done. Moreover, it also points to the degree of experimentation so often found among royal hunters. 39 At any rate, the early fifteenth-century French illustrator commits the usual “error” in the relevant picture, as with other relevant illustrations related to Asia, of depicting tigers as lions (cf. Fig. 5). The passage of the tigers as hunting partners as well as the one on the tame “lion” and the use of tiger skins for Qubilai’s tents during his hunting expeditions belong to those extensive passages in Marco Polo’s book in which the amazing wealth and lifestyle of the Mongol emperor are described. Among the Hundred Beasts that occurred naturally in China the tiger was their king (baishou zhi wang 百獸之王), an image that in correlative terms symbolized the rule of the Mongols’ Great Khan over the hundred nations. In almost identical terms as the lion, the tiger stood for powerful political and fierce military authority and was often used in literary expressions in those senses, like hushi 虎士, huchen 虎臣 or hujiang 虎將, for describing brave scholar-officials or emminent generals. 40 We can also find similar patterns of symbolism in other parts of Asia. For instance, the Muslim Sultans of Java kept live tigers at their court. By this they intended to show that they, the lords of the land and of civilisation, were superior to the lord of the forest or, in other words, of wilderness and chaos. Tigers were seen as captive rivals that should be treated well, because they were equals in rank to the sultan. 41 3.4 Natural Occurrences of Tigers The natural occurrence of “lions” is frequently mentioned in the Venetian’s report. 42 We may distinguish a first group of entries which are rather short and in which “lions” are very often listed together with other wild animals, and a second group specifically dedicated to tigers and thus providing 39 Allsen (2006), 271. Sung Hou-mei (1998a), 23. 41 P. Boomgard, Frontiers of Fear: Tigers and People in the Malay World, 1600-1950 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2001), 105-106, quoted by Marks (2006), 73. 42 Most of the following references can be easily found in F when entering “lion” or “lyon” in the F transcription available on DR. See also Burgio (2018), 187, “lion”. 40 492 VOGEL much more details, namely those of Tebet province, Ciugiu province and Fugiu city, dealing with deterring, catching and/or killing these beasts: • • • • provinces of Cuncun, 43 Acbalec Mangi, 44 Sindinfu, 45 Gaindu, 46 and Nanghin, 47 the regions southeast of Chingiu/Chiugiu city 48 and south of Cugiu city, 49 and Fugiu kingdom 50: with the exception of Sindinfu province existence of tigers more or less explicitly related to hunting activities of the population, especially Cuncun, Acbalec Mangi and Cugiu region around Canbalu 51: in January and February grand animals, including tigers, 52 have to be hunted down by the population within a radius of a 40 days’ journey from Canbalu, with skin and meat – the latter only within 20 to 30 days’ journey – to be delivered to the Great Khan who has the skins used for army equipment Carajan province 53: tigers as prey of great snakes or serpents (possibly crocodiles) west of Quenlifu city 54: tigers as dangers for travellers overland Atwood (2020), 436-438, argues for the region around Gongchang 鞏昌 (i.e. modern-day Longxi 陇西 in today’s Gansu province), while Pelliot (1959-1973), vol. 1, 574, thinks that this perhaps referred to the Hanzhong Surveillance Commission (Hanzhong lianfangsi 漢中廉訪 司) with its seat in Fengxiang Prefecture 鳳翔府 in today’s western Shaanxi. Haw (2006), 98, writes that this denoted Hanzhong 漢中, a commandery (jun 郡) of the Northern Song period. Chinese administrative designations refer to the jurisdictional territory, but also to the seat of the respective governmental seat. 44 The region around modern-day Hanzhong city 汉中市 in southwestern Shaanxi, i.e. Xingyuan Route 興元路 of the Yuan period. 45 Chengdu Route 成都路 in central Sichuan. 46 Jiandu 建都, that is, Jianchang Route 建昌路 or the region around modern-day Xichang 西昌 in southern Sichuan. 47 Anqing Route 安慶路 in southwestern Anhui. 48 Quzhou Route 衢州路 in western Zhejiang. 49 Chuzhou Route 處州路, i.e. the area around modern-day Lishui City 丽水市 in southern Zhejiang. 50 Yuan-period Fujian Province 福建行省. 51 Beijing. 52 “Lyons” are only explicitly mentioned in the Fr redactions, while other versions, like e.g. F, speak of “other beasts”, besides wild boars, different types of deer, and bears. 53 Region of Dali 大理 in western Yunnan. 54 Jianning Route 建寧路 in central Fujian. 43 MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS • • • 493 Tebet province 55: region damaged by war, tigers as danger for merchants or other travellers overland, and the deterrence of tigers by means of bonfires fed with green bamboo canes serving as fuel and as explosive and thus noisy crackers 56 along the [Wujiang 乌江] river on the way to Sinugul city 57: tigers as danger for inhabitants and even travellers on waterways; horseman hunting tiger with the help of two dogs and killing the beast with bow and arrow near Fugiu city 58: catching a tiger in a pit trap with a small white dog as bait, killing then the trapped tiger or taking it out alive; meat is good and is eaten, while skins are expensive and are sold For Westerners travelling now in East Asia it often comes as a surprise that once tigers lived in China. This even holds true for Chinese themselves, as is assured by Huang Hongzhao writing about records of tiger disasters in the region of Xiangshan 香山 near Macau. As hundreds of other places Xiangshan has a record of sightings of tigers, “sudden tiger ravages” (hubao 虎暴), “tiger harms” (huhai 虎害) or “tiger calamities” (huhuan 虎患), in Xiangshan’s case with reports dating from the mid-fifteenth up to the early twentieth centuries. 59 China is indeed tigerland (cf. Map 1). On the basis of genetic analyses it has been argued that the Middle Kingdom is the center of tiger evolution. 60 The oldest remains of an extinct tiger relative living about 2 million years ago at the beginning of the Pleistocene and considered to be a sister 55 Western Sichuan. See also Quereuil’s article in this volume. 57 Eusebi (2018), 152, in his transcription of F has Ciugiu, but indeed F has Sinugul, which is identified by Haw (2020), 450-454, as Fuzhou 涪州, i.e. modern-day Fuling 涪陵, north-easteast of Chongqing. 58 Fuzhou Route 福州路 in eastern Fujian. 59 Huang Hongzhao (2013), 100-101. 60 Kang Aili et al. (2010), 335. 56 494 VOGEL taxon to the extant tigers was found in Gansu province in northwestern China. 61 Map 1: Historic and Current Distribution of Tiger Subspecies Source: Luo Shu-Jin et al. (2004), 2276. That China was tigerland is clearly demonstrated in Map 2 which gives a spatial distribution of historical tiger records from 604 BC to 1990 AD. It represents a total of 2635 tiger records, 85 percent of them reporting about tiger tracks, 9 percent tiger attacks, and 6 percent tiger hunting. Most of the historical records come from central, east-central and south-east China. 62 In view of such a huge amount of historical data, it is not surprising that Marco Polo’s much more selective entries about tiger localities can be easily integrated into this general picture (cf. Map 2). 61 62 Mazák et al. (2011). Kang Aili et al. (2010), 337. MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 495 Map 2: Spatial Distribution of Historical Tiger Records in China, 604 BC-1990 AD, with Marco Polo’s Tiger Localities Marked with Large Black Squares Source: Based on Kang Aili et al. (2010), 336. Large black squares representing Polo’s indications added by the author of this article. Due to the limitation of space, I will only present a limited number of examples with a nice fit between entries in the Le Devisement dou monde and information obtained from other primary sources: Tiger Hunting in the region around Canbalu: Although only the Fr redactions mention explicitly “lions” among the beasts hunted in winter by the population on order of Qubilai, we have an account in Odorico da Pordenone’s early fourteenth-century report that confirms that, of course, tigers were one of the targets of hunting activities, though within a completely different social and organisational context: When the Great Khan goes a hunting ‘tis thus ordered. At some twenty days’ journey from Cambalech, there is a fine forest of eight days’ journey in compass; and in it are such multitudes and varieties of animals as are truly wonderful. All round this forest there be keepers posted on 496 VOGEL account of the Khan, to take diligent charge thereof; and every third or fourth year he goeth with his people to this forest. On such occasions they first surround the whole forest with beaters, and let slip the dogs [and lions and lionesses and other tamed beasts trained to this business] 63 and the hawks trained to this sport, and then gradually closing in upon the game, they drive it to a certain fine open spot that there is in the middle of the wood. Here there becomes massed together an extraordinary multitude of wild beasts, such as lions, wild oxen, bears, stags, and a great variety of others, and all in a state of the greatest alarm. For there is such a prodigious noise and uproar raised by the birds and the dogs that have been let slip into the wood, that a person cannot hear what his neighbour says; and all the [unfortunate] wild beasts quiver with terror at the disturbance. And when they have all been driven together into that open glade, the Great Khan comes up on three elephants and shoots five arrows at the game. As soon as he has shot, the whole of his retinue do likewise. And when all have shot their arrows (each man’s arrows having a token by which they may be discerned), then the Great Emperor causeth to be called out “Syo!” which is to say as it were Quarter! to the beasts (to wit) that have been driven from the wood. Then [the huntsmen sound the recall, and call in the dogs and hawks from the prey and] the animals which have escaped with life are allowed to go back into the forest, and all the barons come forward to view the game that has been killed and to recover the arrows that they have shot (which they can well do by the marks on them); and everyone has what his arrow has stuck. And such is the order of the Khan’s hunting. 64 Tiger hunting in the province of Acbalec Mangi: Towards the end of the Song dynasty, when Li Xin 李新, a scholar from Sichuan, travelled on the gallery roads between Hanzhong and Meixian 眉 縣 in Shaanxi, he came across several hundred people hunting tigers. They 63 64 “Lions” and “lionesses” only mentioned in the Ramusian redaction. Yule (1913), 234-236. MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 497 were equipped with weapons, gongs and drums, banners and flags, and the noise of killing rushed against cliffs and valleys. 65 Bonfires fed with green bamboo to deter tigers in Tebet: The degree of noise created by exploding bamboo crackers was certainly exaggerated by Marco Polo, but if we assume that large canes of maozhu 毛竹 bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla (Carr.) Mitford cv. Pubescens) were used, then we can be sure that the noise was more impressive than that created by smaller types of bamboo canes. So far I have not yet found a historical record in Chinese or other sources reporting the use of such bonfires with exploding bamboo crackers, but we have accounts that tell us about the use of fires and noises for deterring and chasing away tigers. One example comes from a place near Hanzhong 漢中, i.e. Acbalec Mangi, in modern-day Shaanxi from the beginning of the Qing period (1644-1911): Whenever it became dark, tigers strolled through the markets and terrorized the streets and highways, injuring [and killing] people and domestic animals. One had to beat gongs and make fires, and this the whole night, as only then they would leave. 66 Tiger hunting with dogs along the [Wujiang 乌江] river on the way to Sinugul city: The Venetian describes with quite some details how along the river on the way to Sinugul city in Ciugiu province (Kuizhoulu 夔州路) a horseman accompanied by two large dogs would hunt down and kill a tiger with bow and arrows (cf. Fig. 6). We are informed that these ferocious animals were considered dangerous for both inhabitants and even for travellers on waterways. From the passage of Odorico da Pordenone quoted above we know that dogs were used in the Great Khan’s mass hunting of tigers and other beasts, but we may also mention that hunting with dogs was one of Li Xin 李新, Kua’ao ji 跨螯集 (Collected Writings of [Li] Kua’ao), ch. 30, “Chihu wen” 痴 虎文, quoted by Cheng Minsheng (2010), 65. 66 Yao Xiaoxian 姚效先, Xixiang shengji lu 西鄉勝跡錄 (Records of Scenic Beauties of Xixiang), quoted by Tao Yuzhi (1997), 51. 65 498 VOGEL the methods practiced later by the Manchus, as is testified by a painting from the eighteenth century showing two dogs pursueing a tiger in the hunting grounds near the summer palace at Rehe 熱河 in northwestern China (cf. Fig. 7). In that case it probably was a Siberian tiger, and not one from South China, like in the Devisement. The dogs of Ciugiu belonged perhaps to the tugou 土狗 or “indigenous dog” stock, a diverse group of various dog breeds kept by non-Han ethnic groups of China. 67 Figure 6: Hunting “Lions” with the Help of Dogs in Ciugiu Province Source: Le livre des merveilles, fifteenth century, f. 61r, BNF F 2810; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, gallica.bnf.fr / BnF. Tigers attacking travellers in the provinces of Chingiu/Chiugiu and Quenlifu: Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200), the great synthesizer of Neo-Confucianism, reports the following from his travels through western Zhejiang: 67 Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugou (accessed 20/10/2023). MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 499 When travelling successive days through the region of Qu[zhou] 衢[州], Xin[zhou] 信[州] and Jianning 建寧, I also heard that groups of wild tigers are going around in broad daylight and that many inhabitants along the roads are eaten by them. The people are weeping and crying to each other as they have no place to go to complain. 68 Figure 7: Dogs Pursuing a Tiger in the Imperial Hunting Grounds near Rehe 熱河, Qianlong Period (1736-1795) Source: Collier (1921), 78ff. Tiger trap used near Fugiu city: Fujian province was especially famous for its tiger population. The Venetian reports from there how with a small white dog serving as bait a tiger 68 Zhu Xi ji 朱熹集 (Collected Writings of Zhu Xi), ch. 27, “Yu Zhou chengxiang shu” 與周丞 相書, quoted by Cheng Minsheng (2010), 68. 500 VOGEL was caught in a pit trap, which was then killed or taken out alive, and that the good meat was eaten and the expensive skins sold. Compare this with a regulation that was granted in Sept./Oct. 1284: At all places which suffer harm by tigers and leopards the authorities have strictly to enforce that governmental soldiers and [professional tiger] catchers catch [and kill] them by means of various methods. If among them are people that are not obligated to catch them, but who by themselves are able to set up contrivences (she ji 設機) and catch them, then skin and meat have not to be handed over to the officials, but should be given them as a reward. … 69 4 Some Preliminary Conclusions Tigers are often mentioned by Marco Polo though only shortly and following a standard pattern, i.e. within the framework of the description of places, landscapes, peoples, and products. However, besides the topics of abundance of resources and of animals as commodities and as causes for the interruption of circulation of men and products, there are four passages which are longer and contain much more detailed information. All of them were not accidentally selected by our traveller, but are artificial or natural tiger hotspots for different reasons and thus represent a hidden and rather systematic agenda. One certainly can say that the Venetian has his own autonomous position in the description of tigers. His account of these animals is neutral, objective, realistic, and correct. Tigers are for him a natural phenomenon to be described with some precision and therefore his entries on this topic do not contain much hyperbole with regard to number, size, kinds and colours. No anthropomorphisation, demystification or refutation is at play, and no moral, didactic or religious meanings and symbolisms are attributed to tigers, as this was current with respects to tigers and other fierce felines both in China and the West. 69 See Yuanshi 元史, 2686. MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 501 Like in the case of other topics, Polo’s book provides us only with glimpses of the tigers’ political, economic, social and cultural dimensions in Yuan China. While his account contains some information on tiger hotspots, measures against tigers, and their cosmological, magical, artistic, political and economic meanings, he is mute with respect to the rich tiger themes in Chinese myths, legends, folklore, fables, fiction, historical writing and art. This certainly had to do with his own preferences in the selection and treatment of themes, but also with the fact that he was mainly allied with the Mongol powerholders and their political trustees and may have had fewer contact and access to their Chinese subjects. It is therefore hardly surprising that he missed another important tiger topic that arose in Chinese literature and art during the Yuan period, namely, that tigers became a metaphor for the Mongols’ atrocities. Sung Hou-mei informs us that during the Yuan period tiger paintings in China underwent drastic changes. Without imperial patronage tiger painting declined, like many other painting subjects of the Song period. Moreover, Yuan scholar-painters incorporated in tiger paintings a new political symbolism which served to vent their indignation and frustration with Mongol rule. Thus, tigers typically came to represent the harsh and cruel rule of the Mongols and the machinations of their barbarian allies of “evil foxes” (yaohu 妖狐) serving them. A clear cut example of this political metaphor alluding to the Mongols’ destructive force is found in a poem authored by Wang Xu 王旭 (1245-1310): Against the green cliff, the [tiger’s] body appears like a brocade screen, its eyes shine like golden stars shooting from the bright sun. Wherever it passes, the paths are marked with disturbed hoofprints, wherever it roars, the wind is tinged with the smell of blood. The ignorant “ghosts of the tiger’s victims” (changgui 倀鬼) are at its service, and the “evil foxes” (yaohu) learn to borrow from its authority 502 VOGEL When will it cease guarding the celestial gate, and let me pass through the clouds to visit the imperial court? 70 Yet, while on the one hand many aspects of Chinese tiger culture escaped the Venetian’s attention or was simply not accessible to him, it has to be highlighted that on the other hand his work contains some unique information not to be found elsewhere, such as the deterrence of tigers by means of burning bamboo canes or the use of tigers for hunting. What is also to be stressed is that Marco Polo was probably the first European providing substantial information about the natural, political, economic and cultural significance of Asian tigers. References Allsen, Thomas T. (2006). The Royal Hunt in Eurasian History (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press). Andreose, Alvise, ed. (2019). La strada per il Catai: Contatti tra Oriente e Occidente al tempo di Marco Polo (Milano: Guerini e Associati). Atwood, Christopher P. (2020). “Three Yuan Administrative Units in Marco Polo: Kinǰin Talas, Silingǰiu, and Kungčang”, Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, 49: 417442. Brunello, Franco (1986). Marco Polo e le merci dell’Oriente (Vincenza: Neri Pozza Editore). Burgio, Eugenio (2018). Marco Polo: Le Devisement dou monde; 2. Glossario (Venezia: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari). Cheng Minsheng 程民生 (2010). “Songdai laohu de dili fenbu” 宋代老虎的地理 分布 (Geographical Distribution of Tigers during the Song Period), Shehui kexue zhanxian 社会科学战线 (Social Sciences Frontline), 3: 64-73. Collier, V. W. F. (1921). Dogs of China and Japan in Nature and Art (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company). Dang Baohai 党宝海 (2001). “The Paizi of the Mongol Empire”, Zentralasiatische Studien, 31: 31-62. DR, i.e. “Digital Ramusio”, see Simion and Burgio, eds. (2015). 70 Sung Hou-mei (1999), 34. MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 503 Eusebi, Mario (2018). Marco Polo: Le Devisement dou monde; 1. Testo, secondo la lezione del codice fr. 1116 della Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Venezia: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari). Haw, Stephen G. (2006). Marco Polo’s China: A Venetian in the Realm of Khubilai Khan (London and New York: Routledge). Haw, Stephen G. (2020). “Some Problematic Animals in Marco Polo’s Description of the World”, Imago Temporis: Medium Aevum, 14: 277-295. Haw, Stephen G. (2020a). “Marco Polo in ‘Mangi’: Kuizhou, Fuling, Houguan, and the Pontoon Bridge at Fuzhou”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 170.2: 445-466. Huang Hongzhao 黃鴻釗 (2013). “Xiangshan guwenxian zhong guanyu huhuan de jizai” 香山古文獻中關於虎患的記載 (Records about Tiger Calamities in Ancient Documents from Xiangshan), Aomen wenxian xinxi xuekan 澳門文獻 信息學刊 (Journal of Macau Documentation and Information), 8: 99-101. 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Notes on Marco Polo: Ouvrage posthume, 3 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, Librairie Adrien-Maisonneuve). Schafer, Edward H. (1963). The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T’ang Exotics (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press). Simion, Samuela; Burgio, Eugenio, eds. (2015). Ramusio, Giovanni Battista: Dei viaggi di Messer Marco Polo; Edizione critica digitale progettata e coordinata da Eugenio Burgio, Marina Buzzoni, and Antonella Ghersetti (Venezia: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari); URL http://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/it/edizioni/libri/97888-6969-00-06/ (accessed 25/10/2023). Skar, Lowell (2005). “Dragons, Tigers, and Elixirs: Alchemy in Medieval China”, in Victor H. Mair, Nancy S. Steinhardt, and Paul R. Goldin (eds.). Hawai’i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press), 429-432. Sung Hou-mei (1998). “Chinese Tiger Painting and its Symbolic Meanings; Part I: Tiger Painting of the Sung Dynasty”, National Palace Museum Bulletin, 33.4: 1-16. Sung Hou-mei (1998a). “Chinese Tiger Painting and its Symbolic Meanings; Part I: Tiger Painting of the Sung Dynasty (Continued)”, National Palace Museum Bulletin, 33.5: 17-32. Sung Hou-mei (1999). “Chinese Tiger Painting and its Symbolic Meanings; Part II: Tiger Painting of the Yüan and Ming Dynasties (Continued)”, National Palace Museum Bulletin, 34.1: 45-60. Tao Yuzhi 陶喻之 (1997). “Hanzhong lidai huhuan gouchen” 汉中历代虎患钩 沉 (In Search of Tiger Calamities in Hanzhong through the Ages), Hanzhong shifan xueyuan xuebao (shehui kexue) 汉中师范学院学报 (社会科学) (Journal of Hanzhong Teachers College (Social Sciences)), 15.3: 62-65, 80. Vogel, Hans Ulrich (2019). “I draghi accovacciate e le tigri camufate di Marco Polo”, in Alvise Andreose, ed. La strada per il Catai: Contatti tra Oriente e Occidente al tempo di Marco Polo (Milano: Guerini e Associati), 47-71. MARCO POLO’S CROUCHING DRAGONS AND HIDDEN TIGERS 505 Yuanshi 元史 (History of the Yuan [Dynasty]), comp. by Song Lian 宋濂 et al. (ed. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1976). Yule, Henry (1903/1993). The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition, 2 vols. (repr. New York: Dover Publications, 1993). Yule, Henry (1913). Cathay and the Way thither, Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China; New Edition, Revised throughout in the Light of Recent Discoveries by Henri Cordier; Vol. II: Odoric of Pordenone (London: The Hakluyt Society). Marco Polo Research Past, Present, Future This collective volume on Marco Polo's (1254-1324) travels attempts to integrate the fragmented research landscape by bringing together individual disciplines which usually work separately, like philology, comparative literature, text and reception history, Romance linguistics, as well as geography, anthropology, the history of religion, science, military, economics, etc. It is thus one of but a few works that go beyond singular aspects of Marco Polo's journey and his observations and thus shows that Polo's Description of the World is much more than just a travelogue. The international contributors to this volume, who are leading scholars in their fields, make use of different, sometimes unique sources and thus help us better understand the Venetian's report and the times it was created, and also to verify and elucidate statements in the many versions and editions in which it came down to us. In addition, the essays published here are meant to be a contribution to the celebrations commemorating the 700 th anniversary of Marco Polo's death.