...Marco Polo’s Terrific Journey Through Asia Imagine becoming the governor of China when you’re from Italy, that’s what Marco Polo did on his journey through Asia. When one hears the name Marco Polo he or she thinks of the game, but Marco Polo was much more than a game. Marco Polo’s journey through Asia made him the most well known traveler of the Middle Ages. According to Diana Childress in her book, Marco Polo’s Journey to China, Marco Polo’s journey didn’t start with him; it actually started with his father and grandfather. They arrived at Sudak being Venetian merchants. In 1254 when they arrived in Venice, Italy Marco Polo was born (Marco Polo). In her book Marco Polo’s Journey to China, Diana Childress states that Marco went with his father and grandfather on their journey. As Marco Polo grew older his adventures began. At a young age, Marco Polo was already very interested in exploring. According to Dale Anderson in his book...
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...Marco Polo was an explorer and traveler who experienced many adventures. When Marco Polo was six, his dad and uncle set out on an adventure to China. His Mom had already passed away, so he was taken care of by extended family. He was fifteen when his dad and uncle returned to Venice. They decided to take him back to China with them. They used the Silk Road to travel. The Silk Road was a trade route or route for travel that brought goods like silk from China to the Roman Empire, and then to the rest of the Western World. It was over 4,000 miles long. The Silk Road helped to create ideas, inventions, new cultures, and unique products. Most of the trade was very expensive. This was mostly because it was such a long route and most people did...
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...ago, when transportations were undeveloped, travelers would need to travel through long, harsh, and dangerous journey to get to where they need to be. Not knowing what the next day will bring, travelers takes on the risk to finish what their mission was no matter what unpredictable events lies ahead. John of Plano Carpini, William of Rubruck, Rabban Sauma, and Marco Polo were four of these explorers in 1200s. Each of these travelers had different agenda but what made them important and famous were the different stories they brought back home and the knowledge gain from these trips. Each mission was different and some of them didn’t even have missions or an agenda, it was just to travel. This paper illustrates the travel of the four explorers and whether or not they succeed on what they were told to do or if the mission was just a waste of years of traveling. John of Plano Carpini was chosen by Pope Innocent IV to head the mission of convincing the Mongols to not attack and conquering Europe as they had with many other countries due to their strong army. John already sixty-five at this time wasn’t the likely candidate to go on this mission but with his good Christian background, the Pope believes he was the one that can stop the Mongols. John’s political incentive was to stop the Mongol from invading any more of Europe. John wanted to form some type of treaty that would allow the two sides to not fight against one another but rather fight against the Holy Roman Emperor who the Pope...
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...Sails on boats, instead of the excruciating maneuvers of manpower let ships flow more freely efficiently.The impact that The Travels of Marco Polo had on European readers was that it gave a new insight to other cultures, their customs, geography, and transportation. The regions of China and Asia were once only brought together with Europe for the hope of economic profits, but this book opened...
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...China (traditional Chinese: 中國; simplified Chinese: 中国) is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and a nation in East Asia. The last Chinese Civil War has resulted in two nations: The People's Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, has control over mainland China and the largely self-governing territories of Hong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999). The Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, has control over the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. China has one of the world's oldest civilizations and has the oldest continuous civilization.[1] It has archaeological evidence over 5,000 years old. It also has one of the world's oldest writing systems, and is viewed as the source of many major inventions. The first recorded use of the word "China" is dated 1555.[nb 1][3] It is derived from Cin, a Persian name for China popularized in Europe by Marco Polo. History of China Ancient China was one of the first civilizations. Chinese civilization was also one of the few to invent writing,[2] the others being Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley civilization, the Maya civilization, the Minoan civilization of ancient Greece, and Ancient Egypt.[5] It reached its golden age during the Tang Dynasty (about A.D. 10th century). China is home to some of the oldest artwork in the world. Statues and pottery, as well as decorations made of jade, are some classic examples. China's economy and military weakened during the Qing Dynasty (around the 17th...
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...around the world which makes Buddhism the fourth largest of the world's religions. It has its origins about 2,500 years ago and Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who lived about 25 centuries ago in what is now Nepal and northeastern India. He came to be called “the Buddha”, which means “awakened one”, after he experienced a profound realization of the nature of life, death and existence. In English, the Buddha was said to be enlightened, although in Sanskrit it is ‘Bodhi’ means "awakened." Buddhism is divided into two major branches: Theravada, the Way of the Elders, and Mahayana, the Great Vehicle. Buddhism is now prevalent in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and in China, Japan, Taiwan, Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, Korea, and Vietnam, and India. As the time go, the number of Buddhists is increasing everyday. Origin of Buddhism Buddhism is a popular religion. Many people in many countries practice it. Buddhism has a long history. 2500 years ago,Buddhism originated from north-east India.It became the most important religious parts of Asia. Buddhisms’ spread to most countries in the world in the 20th centry. It is very helpful to understand the beginning view of the development of the Buddhism,especially to know the aspects of 5 periods of each difficult 500 years(Leukel,2006). As time goes by,Buddhism has changed a lot. There are many kinds of different Buddhism forms appearing in the long history. Buddhism is also very popular to the Asia. Original...
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...Night has fallen over the massive crowd while patriotic music plays softly on stage. American flags can be seen waiving in the dim light cast by children playing with sparklers. As the music softens, the children become excited with anticipation. A dull thud is heard in the distance, it is the mortar which propels the first rocket high into the air, with a tail of silver sparks which fall gently back to the ground, and for a moment, all is quiet. Then a deep, loud boom can be heard and felt, and the explosion of multi-colored sparks brightens up the sky. The lone rocket signals to the crowd; the Independence Day celebration fireworks show has began. More rockets are propelled into the sky in different combinations; two, three, five rockets fired into the air, each vary in size, shape, and color. The crowd “oohs” and “ahhs” with the beauty of the fireworks. A brief pause silences the crowd again. Thuds ring out from the motors again, to many to count, and the sky is as bright as day, as the countless explosions fill the vision entirely. The grand finale signals the end of the yearly celebration of a tradition that has been passed on since 1777. While many countries still argue over the origin of fireworks, most seem to agree, it was a happy accident by a Chinese cook over 2000 years ago, which brought the world such a beautiful and dangerous technology to the world. Fireworks can be dangerous, and in many countries their use is prohibited, however, production...
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...Why did China fall behind Europe in the 15th century? In my opinion, the main reason that China fell behind Europe in the 15th century is the closing down of itself with other civilizations and the banned international trades strategies which severed the communication and connection of the Chinese people with the outside world. And in the same time the rapid growth of the European countries had boosted those civilizations in the other direction thanks to the newly discovered resources on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I would like to explain these ideas from the following aspects: The early developments of China: China has gone through a period of rapid technological advances in the first centuries of human history thanks to its particular geographical location and the early coming together of the nations within its boundary. Although there were lots of nations fighting wars against each other, aiming to control all the territory on the land of the so-called East Asia nowadays, the Chinese empire was finally founded by the Qin and the united nation has adopted lots of governing strategies to develop the livelihood of its people not only in literature but also in science. Because of these factors, the Chinese people have invented ways to preserve the cultural and technological achievements and also have developed ways to explore the 1/7 outside world. Such decisions have been made since the Han dynasty when the empire opened up the Silk Road to the west, connecting...
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...The Printing Press and how it shaped our modern world To center a line in Microsoft Word, select Format | Paragraph from the main toolbar, and then on the Indents and Spacing tab beside the word Alignment choose Center from the drop-down list. Introduction to the Humanities Professor You can insert the date in Microsoft Word by selecting Insert | Date and Time… from the main toolbar and selecting a style. Date 05/14/2011 Prior to 1440 everything read in Europe was copied by hand or copied from wooden blocks carved by hand. This was very expensive and time consuming. The only people who were literate were those of the church and a small percentage of nobility. That all changed with Johanes Gutenber’s creation of the printing press. Johann Gutenberg managed to bring together technologies known for centuries before him, adding the idea for movable metal type. This led to the mass production of books, being them more available to the general public. The invention of the printing press helped ideas spread quickly making things easier for the reform of the Church and the development of modern sciences. "Renaissance" means "rebirth" in French and stands for the cultural, intellectual and economic changes that occurred in Europe from the fourteenth century and lasted through the sixteenth century. However, the Renaissance was not the first rebirth of learning during the Middle Ages since many beautiful cathedrals had previously been built using classical styles: universities...
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...commodities, furthermore, to generate a complete view of the globalized trade during that period of time. In this article, I will start with identifying two major arguments the author raises, with explanation from book contents: globalization takes form early in 17th century and China plays a major role in such trend. What follows is an analysis on the writing method. Then I will focus on the evaluation of the two arguments, talking about the favorable related theories as well as objections or complements. Central arguments: emergence of globalization in 17th century & China’s role in it The first argument conveyed in the book is, early as 17th century, the world was already closely connected together and the effect of connection penetrated into daily life. Using the metaphor of Indra’s net3, Timothy introduces multiple pearls, which weave and string the entire world together. One shining pearl is the objects he finds in the paintings. In officer and laughing girl, an extravagant beaver hat discloses its route from Native American tribes to European household in exchange for firearms. A china dish in Woman reading a letter let out the fanatic china mania around Europe and its ensuing massive trading with China. Several coins in Woman holding a balance provides clue of the world-wide...
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...Pearl Harbor, the Beginning of the End of the Rising Sun As I flew in from the north of Oahu, the sunburst broke through the clouds off the horizon of the ocean in front of us. I couldn’t help to think to myself what a beautiful site for us to see. The gods must be looking upon us. Letting us know of a successful and glorious mission. It took all of about 2 hours to fly our 360 planes that consisted of dive and high level bombers, fighters and torpedo planes the 230 miles to the harbor of pearl. It was 8:05 when my bomb pierced its target. The bomb had hit the forward powder magazine of the USS Arizona. The mighty explosion split the great ship in half, taking only nine minutes for her to sink (A Summary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, 2012). Now that we are out of the box looking in, this is what a Japanese pilot might have felt as he flew his plane on that haunting yet unforgettable mission to that bay at Pearl; for he was on his way of creating history from the destruction of an entire fleet in anchor. This Japanese warrior and his culture of war would not know the consequences of his emperor’s actions; for it would only unite an entire country in a fit of rage from this horrific and unprovoked act initiated by the rising sun nation of Japan. This battle would not only be the beginning of WWII for the United States, but it would be the beginning of the end of a military force in Japan. It was this mission and Japan’s cultural importance of war that...
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...great. If it weren’t this written language, communication would have been slow and nothing would have been able to get done. No land would have been gained and the empire would not spread without communication. Communication, due to the creation of a written language is another reason why Genghis Khan’s empire was unique for his time. To continue, Genghis Khan was known for the terror he showed to his enemies even after battles were won. “Chinggis Khan is said to have remarked: The greatest joy a man can know is to conquer his enemies and drive them before him. To ride their horses and take away their possessions. To see the faces of those who were dear to them wet with tears, and to clasp their wives and daughters in his arms” (“Marco Polo in China 1271-1295”). The terror he showed to his enemies was really nerve-racking, and that’s why enemies tried not to lose battles, so they would fight very hard and very long so this terror would not be showed to their empire after the battle. One such example, includes the Battle of Yehuling from August 1211 to October 1211, in which the Mongols and the Jin Dynasty battled for a grueling three3 Months before the Mongols’ decisive victory. (“The Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire”). Showing terror to his enemies even after the battle is one of the things that makes Genghis Khan’s empire so unique. Genghis Khan was only able to win battles, such as the battle of Yehuling, because of his unique battle tactics. Since traditional Mongol weapons...
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...hard. You just want a break. You want something cool to eat. What do you choose? Voice 2 Well, millions of people around the world choose ice cream! Today's Spotlight is on the history of this special treat. Voice 1 No one knows exactly who invented ice cream. But many people have ideas. Some of these ideas even come from the Bible. The Bible says that King Solomon enjoyed iced drinks during the harvest time. Voice 2 Flavored ices were also popular in Roman culture in 4th century BC. People who study history believe that the Emperor Nero imported snow from the mountains. He enjoyed eating snow covered in fruit juices and honey. Voice 1 The kind of ice cream we eat today may have been invented in China. The Tang period in China was between 600 and 900 AD. People brought ice cream treats to King Tang. They heated buffalo, cow and goat milk together. Then they let it sit for a long time. After a time, the mix became thick like yogurt. They added flour to the mix. And they flavored it with camphor. People use camphor today to drive away insects! They refrigerated the mix until it was cold. Then they served it to the King. Voice 2...
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...UNIT# 2: TOURISM THROUGH THE AGES Introduction; Great Empires; The Middle Ages; The Renaissance; The Industrial Revolution and Tourism Today. Objectives of this unit: Recognize the antiquity of human travel over vast distances on both sea and land; Understand how these journeys have evolved from trips that were difficult and often dangerous, to mass travel for millions today. Introduction: People have always traveled, in search of food or animal skins for clothing, or for territorial expansion. Travel in these early days was time-consuming and dangerous. Indeed, our word travel comes from the French word TRAVAIL, which means work, and that is what it was, hard work. Most early travel was on foot, but later donkeys begun to be used. Waterways and seaways also frequently become paths for trade and commerce. 1. EARLY BEGINNINGS (THE GREAT EMPIRES): Organized travel in the West probably began during the great empires of Persians, Assyrians, Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans. This period began several millennia B.C. and continued to several hundred years A.D.1 (or C.E./Common Era). During the empire period, travel developed for military, trade, and government reasons, as well as for communication from the central government to its distant territories. (i) Travel Methods: For overland travel, ordinary people used donkeys or camels, but for military and government purposes, horses were used, along with wagons and chariots. Goods also had to be transported. In Persia between 500 and 400...
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...accepting that they killed hundreds of thousands Chinese people. Did the Japanese representative really mean to take all criticisms without anything to say? Not only the representative of Japan but also we, the Japanese people, have a problem about explaining historical facts in foreign language especially in English. There are the facts, which are not yet lifting the veil in Japanese historical records. We should provide and send those in English translation.” Hiromichi Moteki, the Deputy Chairman for Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact, has given a speech of the Nanjing Massacre history that it should be reexamined and proved there is no evidence that Japanese Imperial army killed 300,000 Nanjing people. Not only Moteki is trying to broaden the historical facts, but also many Japanese historical researchers delve into the matter. Even though Nazi Germany, where there were dreadful massacres during World War II and Millions of people were approached unwilling dead by hunger, heavy laboring, poison gas, human experimentations by soldiers and doctors, they are reexamining own responsibilities and investigates the atrocities without regard for any limitation. Unlike Germany under the Nazi political power, Nanjing incident is still globally denounced because of its complexity: Japanese side insists that they apologized but they mainly do not agree on the number of death that China has claimed. In contrast, China claimed the Japanese Imperial armies killed at least 300,000...
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