马可波罗游记背后的真相:他真的来到过中国吗?

几年前看过一个网飞出品的美剧，叫《马可波罗》。剧情的主线是蒙元和南宋之间的战争。所以剧集的反派就是南宋著名的蟋蟀宰相贾似道。网飞关于中国题材的美剧非常的稀少，当时看了之后，感觉还是比较别扭的。有很多西方人对中国的刻板印象。比如作为宰相的贾似道，居然还是武林高手，会使用螳螂拳之类的。虽然在南宋方面表现的比较抽象，但是对蒙元的描写还是比较细致的。然后第一季的末尾的高潮就是著名的襄阳之战，而蒙元攻克襄阳的头号功臣，就是马可波罗帮助制造出来的回回炮，也就是重力投石机，砸塌了襄阳的城墙。而且剧中马可波罗还和一位婢女冒充的蒙古公主阔阔珍发展了一段恋情。

当时看的时候，感觉这部讲中国历史的美剧比号称戏说的国产古装剧还要戏说。不过昨天听了一个介绍《马可波罗游记》的网络视频发现这部剧中有很多情节，虽然经过演绎和夸张，但基本上都能在《马可波罗游记》这本书中找到对应的描述。

马可波罗是威尼斯人，当时还没有意大利，威尼斯只是一个城邦，但却是一个非常厉害的角色。他是地中海的商业霸主和海上强权。当时威尼斯控制着一个海外贸易据点。在黑海的北边，大概就在现在的乌克兰吧，这也是古代丝绸之路的一个中枢。从这里再往东到中国的贸易路线，一般都是由波斯人和阿拉伯人控制的。所以真正去到中国的威尼斯人并不多，他们都只在这个地方和波斯人进行贸易，换取从中国运来的商品。但是，马可波罗和他的父亲叔叔沿着丝绸之路继续东行到达了中国。

当时正是元朝开国皇帝忽必烈统治时期，南宋还没有投降。按照马可波罗的记述，他到了中国之后，还见到了忽必烈，受到了忽必烈的器重，并且帮助蒙古人建造了回回炮，才攻陷了坚固的襄阳城。在南宋灭亡之后，他还被忽必烈委任为扬州的地方长官，管理原来由南宋统治的江南富庶之地。他还参与了忽必烈对日本的两次远征。最后，他们一家人受忽必烈的指派，护送大元的公主阔阔珍前往伊尔汗国和亲。伊尔汗国是蒙古帝国分裂之后统治伊朗高原和和两河流域的四大汗国之一。并获准在完成这项任务之后就可以顺道回到威尼斯。

后来在威尼斯和热那亚之间爆发的一场海战当中，马可波罗被敌人俘虏关在了监狱里面，而他的狱友正好是一位有文化的人，马可波罗本人是个文盲，于是由他口述，他的狱友给他记录，就写成了《马可波罗游记》这本书。这本书面世之后自然引起了轰动，因为他把中国描述成了一个遍地黄金美好的地方。而且很多地方描述得非常的夸张，所以也引起了很多的争议，认为马可波罗这本游记纯粹是他编造出来的。其中的一些细节和内容都是他在黑海北部那个贸易据点，从来往的波斯商人那里道听途说得来的。而且有很多疑点，因为他完全没有提到古代中国的很多非常明显的特征。比如现在已经成为中国象征的万里长城，他在里面只字未提。还有中国古代一直到近代都非常普遍的妇女缠足的现象，也没有在游记中记载。而蒙古人使用的回回炮在历史上有明确的记载，是由波斯人为蒙古大汗设计建造的。他关于忽必烈两次跨海远征日本的描述也与史实不符，他说忽必烈第一次远征的时候就碰上了台风，船队损失惨重。这实际上是第二次远征时的事件。那么马可波罗到底有没有真的来过中国呢?

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A few years ago I watched an American TV series produced by Netflix called Marco Polo. The main plot is the war between the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty. So the villain of the series is Jia Sidao, the famous cricket minister of the Southern Song Dynasty. Netflix about the Chinese theme of the US TV series is very rare, at that time after watching, I feel more awkward. There are many Western stereotypes about China. For example, as a prime minister Jia Sidao, actually is still a martial arts master, can use praying mantis boxing and so on. Although the performance of the Southern Song Dynasty is more abstract, but the description of the Mongolian Yuan is still more detailed. Then the climax at the end of the first season is the famous Battle of Xiangyang, and the number one credit for the Mongolian Yuan's capture of Xiangyang is the return cannon that Marco Polo helped build, the gravity trebuchet, which brought down the walls of Xiangyang. Marco Polo also has an affair with a Mongolian princess, Kuwa-chan, who is impersonated by a handmaid.

When I watched it at that time, I felt that this American drama about Chinese history was even more dramatic than the domestic costume drama known as drama. However, yesterday I listened to a network video introducing the Travels of Marco Polo and found that there are many plots in this play, although they have been interpreted and exaggerated, but basically they can be found in the corresponding description of the Travels of Marco Polo.

Marco Polo was a Venetian, there was no Italy at the time, Venice was just a city-state, but it was a very powerful character. He was a commercial overlord and maritime power in the Mediterranean. At the time Venice controlled an overseas trading post. North of the Black Sea, probably in what is now Ukraine, it was also a hub of the ancient Silk Road. The trade routes from here east to China were generally controlled by Persians and Arabs. So not many Venetians actually went to China, and they only traded with the Persians in this place in exchange for goods shipped from China. But Marco Polo and his father and uncle continued east along the Silk Road to China.

It was during the reign of Kublai Khan, the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, and the Southern Song had not yet surrendered. According to Marco Polo's account, after his arrival in China, he also met Kublai Khan, was highly regarded by Kublai Khan, and helped the Mongols build a return artillery, which captured the fortified city of Xiangyang. After the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, he was also appointed by Kublai Khan as the governor of Yangzhou, administering the wealthy Jiangnan region formerly ruled by the Southern Song Dynasty. He also participated in Kublai Khan's two expeditions to Japan. Finally, the family was assigned by Kublai Khan to escort the princess of Dayuan, Kuwa-chan, to the Ilkhanate. The Ilkhanate was one of the four major Khanates that ruled the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia after the breakup of the Mongol Empire. He was allowed to return to Venice after completing this mission.

Later, during a naval battle between Venice and Genoa, Marco Polo was captured by the enemy and locked in prison, and his cellmate happened to be a literate person, Marco Polo himself was illiterate, so he dictated, his cellmate gave him records, and wrote the book "Marco Polo's Travels". Naturally, the book caused a stir when it appeared, because he portrayed China as a land of gold and beauty. And many of the descriptions are very exaggerated, so it has also caused a lot of controversy, that Marco Polo's travel notes are purely made up by him. Some of the details and contents of the book were obtained by hearsay from Persian merchants who came and went from his trading post north of the Black Sea. And there is a lot of doubt because he completely fails to mention many of the very obvious features of ancient China. For example, the Great Wall, which has become a symbol of China, is not mentioned at all. There is also the phenomenon of women's foot binding, which was very common in ancient China until modern times, and it is not recorded in the travel notes. The artillery used by the Mongols is clearly recorded in history and was designed and built by the Persians for the Mongol Khan. His account of Kublai Khan's two sea expeditions to Japan is also inconsistent with historical facts, saying that Kublai Khan's first expedition was hit by a typhoon and the fleet was badly damaged. This was actually an incident during the second expedition. So did Marco Polo ever really come to China?