Whose Silk Road Travels Opened China to Europe?

Venetian merchant Marco Polo set out for China in 1271 with his father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo, arriving at the court of Kublai Khan around 1275. He reportedly spent 17 years in the Mongol Empire, serving as a diplomat and administrator, before returning to Venice in 1295. His book (dictated to writer Rustichello da Pisa while both were imprisoned in Genoa) described paper money, coal, the Grand Canal, the postal relay system, and the vast wealth of Cathay (China) in vivid detail that many Europeans initially dismissed as fantasy. Whether Polo actually visited all the places he described is debated by historians — critics note he never mentioned the Great Wall, tea, or Chinese characters — but his book profoundly influenced European understanding of the East. Christopher Columbus owned and heavily annotated a copy, and its descriptions of Asian riches motivated the Age of Exploration.