In search of new goods to trade, Marco Polo encountered many items and ideas not found in Europe at the time. Register to explore the whole course here: https://school.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive?WT.mc_id=Slideshare12202017

1. TEACHER MATERIALS
WORLD TRAVELERS
Purpose
Students will use their critical thinking skills to try to figure out what Marco Polo was describing in each of the excerpts from his book. This will allow students to
imagine what it must have been like for Europeans who were reading about Polo’s “discoveries” in Asia for the first time.
Process
Divide students into small groups and have them read each of the four passages from the writings of Marco Polo. In each passage Polo describes a food, object,
or habit that he observed in China but was unknown to Europeans. Students should explain what Polo was describing in each passage and how they came to that
conclusion. When all groups are finished, have each group share their answers with the class.
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 8.1 ACTIVITY

2. TEACHER MATERIALS
WORLD TRAVELERS(ANSWER KEY)
Directions: Read the following four passages, and then discuss with your partner or group. Working as a team, decide what Polo is describing in the passage and
how you came to that conclusion.
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 8.1 ACTIVITY
Passage One
“It is a fact that all over the country of Cathay there is a kind of black
stone existing in beds in the mountains, which they dig out and burn
like firewood. If you supply the fire with them at night, and see that
they are well kindled, you will find them still alight in the morning;
and they make such capital fuel that no other is used throughout the
country. It is true that they have plenty of wood also, but they do not
burn it, because those stones burn better and cost less.”
What are the “stones” Polo is describing?
What clues convinced you?
Coal
Coal is made from dead vegetation that sank underground and
carbonized over millions of years. It looks like a black stone and it is
mined from the ground. When coal is burned, it glows (like charcoal) and
can give off heat for hours.

3. TEACHER MATERIALS
WORLD TRAVELERS(ANSWER KEY)
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 8.1 ACTIVITY
Passage Two
“When these sheets have been prepared they are cut up into pieces
of different sizes.... All these pieces of paper are issued with as much
solemnity and authority as if they were of pure gold or silver; and on
every piece a variety of officials, whose duty it is, have to write their
names, and to put their seals. And when all is prepared duly, the chief
officer deputed by the Khan smears the Seal entrusted to him with
vermilion, and impresses it on the paper, so that the form of the Seal
remains printed upon it in red; [it] is then authentic.... and he makes
them to pass current universally over all his kingdoms and provinces
and territories, and whithersoever his power and sovereignty extends.
And nobody, however important he may think himself, dares to refuse
them on pain of death. And indeed everybody takes them readily, for
wheresoever a person may go throughout the Great Khan’s dominions
he shall find these pieces of paper current, and shall be able to
transact all sales and purchases of goods by means of them….”
What are the “paper” Polo is describing?
What clues convinced you?
Paper currency / money
Government officials had to sign their names and put official seals on it
in order to make it accepted as currency. These officers all work for the
Khan (ruler) and therefore, all paper with these markings is accepted
as payment for “sales and purchases of goods.”Also, no one refuses to
accept these pieces of paper as payment because “nobody, however
important he may think himself, dares to refuse them on pain of death”
because refusing them would be akin to questioning the power of the
ruler.

4. TEACHER MATERIALS
WORLD TRAVELERS(ANSWER KEY)
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 8.1 ACTIVITY
Passage Three
“Now you must know that from this city of Cambaluc proceed
many roads and highways leading to a variety of provinces, one to
one province, another to another.... [and] every twenty-five miles
of the journey [there is] a station which they call Yamb, or, as we
should say, the “Horse-Post-House.” And at each of those stations…
there is a large and handsome building… in which they find all the
rooms furnished with fine beds and all other necessary articles....
At some of these stations, moreover, there shall be posted some
four hundred horses standing ready.... at others there shall be two
hundred, according to the requirements, and to what the Emperor
has established in each case.... Even...through a roadless tract where
neither house nor hostel exists, still there the station-houses have
been established just the same....
But they are provided with horses and all the other necessaries just
like those we have described, so that the Emperor’s messengers,
come they from what region they may, find everything ready for
them.... And in this way the Emperor, who has an immense number
of these runners, receives dispatches with news from places ten
days’ journey off in one day and night; or, if need be, news from a
hundred days off in ten days and nights; and that is no small matter!”
What kind of “system” is Polo describing in this passage?
What clues convinced you?
A postal system
There are roads and highways connecting the provinces together and
there are stations along the way. Each of these stations has a “Horse-
Post-House” where messengers and horses can stop to rest, refuel, and
exchange messages. These station houses exist even in the middle of
nowhere so that the emperor can know what is happening throughout
his entire empire. There are “an immense number of these runners,” or
messengers, so that the emperor receives “news from places ten days’
journey off in one day and night; or, if need be, news from a hundred
days off in ten days and nights”.

5. TEACHER MATERIALS
WORLD TRAVELERS(ANSWER KEY)
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 8.1 ACTIVITY
Passage Four
“There are wild elephants in the country, and numerous unicorns,
which are very nearly as big. They have hair like that of a buffalo, feet
like those of an elephant, and a horn in the middle of the forehead,
which is black and very thick. They do no mischief, however, with
the horn, but with the tongue alone; for this is covered all over with
long and strong prickles and when savage with anyone they crush
him under their knees and then rasp him with their tongue. The head
resembles that of a wild boar, and they carry it ever bent towards the
ground. They delight much to abide in mire and mud.”
What animals are the “unicorns” that Polo is describing in this passage?
What clues convinced you?
Sources:
Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa, The Travels of Marco Polo, Volumes 1 and 2. Trans. Henry Yule.
Ed. Henri Cordier. A Project Gutenberg EBook. Release Date 1 January 2004. EBook-No. 10636.
Accessed 3 July 2013. http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10636/pg10636.txt
Passage 1: Volume 1, Book II, Part I, Chapter XXX
Passage 2: Volume 1, Book II, Part I, Chapter XXIV
Passage 3: Volume 1, Book II, Part I, Chapters XXVI-XXVII
Passage 4: Volume II, Book III, Chapter IX
Rhinoceros
Rhinos resemble elephants and buffalo in that they are large, slightly
hairy, and grey. However, like a unicorn, most have a single horn in
the middle of their head. The description of the animals’ behavior is in
keeping with what we know of them.

6. STUDENT MATERIALS
WORLD TRAVELERS
Purpose
Imagine living in fourteenth-century Europe and reading The Travels of Marco Polo. Use your critical thinking skills to try to figure out what Marco Polo was
describing in each of the excerpts from his book. This will allow you to imagine what it must have been like for Europeans who were reading about Polo’s
“discoveries” in Asia for the first time.
Process
Your teacher will divide the class into small groups. All members of your group with read each of the four passages from the writings of Marco Polo. In each
passage, Polo describes a food, object, or habit that he observed in China but was unknown to Europeans. After reading, answer the following questions:
1. What’s Polo describing in each passage?
2. What made you come to that conclusion?
Once your group has finished, your teacher may call on you to share your group’s ideas with the whole class.
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 8.1 ACTIVITY

7. Name: Date:
STUDENT MATERIALS
WORLD TRAVELERS
Directions: Read the following four passages, and then discuss with your partner or group. Working as a team, decide what Polo is describing in the passage and
how you came to that conclusion.
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 8.1 ACTIVITY
Passage One
“It is a fact that all over the country of Cathay there is a kind of black
stone existing in beds in the mountains, which they dig out and burn
like firewood. If you supply the fire with them at night, and see that
they are well kindled, you will find them still alight in the morning;
and they make such capital fuel that no other is used throughout the
country. It is true that they have plenty of wood also, but they do not
burn it, because those stones burn better and cost less.”
What are the “stones” Polo is describing?
What clues convinced you?

8. Name: Date:
STUDENT MATERIALS
WORLD TRAVELERS
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 8.1 ACTIVITY
Passage Two
“When these sheets have been prepared they are cut up into pieces
of different sizes.... All these pieces of paper are issued with as much
solemnity and authority as if they were of pure gold or silver; and on
every piece a variety of officials, whose duty it is, have to write their
names, and to put their seals. And when all is prepared duly, the chief
officer deputed by the Khan smears the Seal entrusted to him with
vermilion, and impresses it on the paper, so that the form of the Seal
remains printed upon it in red; [it] is then authentic.... and he makes
them to pass current universally over all his kingdoms and provinces
and territories, and whithersoever his power and sovereignty extends.
And nobody, however important he may think himself, dares to refuse
them on pain of death. And indeed everybody takes them readily, for
wheresoever a person may go throughout the Great Khan’s dominions
he shall find these pieces of paper current, and shall be able to
transact all sales and purchases of goods by means of them….”
What are the “paper” Polo is describing?
What clues convinced you?

9. Name: Date:
STUDENT MATERIALS
WORLD TRAVELERS
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 8.1 ACTIVITY
Passage Three
“Now you must know that from this city of Cambaluc proceed
many roads and highways leading to a variety of provinces, one to
one province, another to another.... [and] every twenty-five miles
of the journey [there is] a station which they call Yamb, or, as we
should say, the “Horse-Post-House.” And at each of those stations…
there is a large and handsome building… in which they find all the
rooms furnished with fine beds and all other necessary articles....
At some of these stations, moreover, there shall be posted some
four hundred horses standing ready.... at others there shall be two
hundred, according to the requirements, and to what the Emperor
has established in each case.... Even...through a roadless tract where
neither house nor hostel exists, still there the station-houses have
been established just the same....
But they are provided with horses and all the other necessaries just
like those we have described, so that the Emperor’s messengers,
come they from what region they may, find everything ready for
them.... And in this way the Emperor, who has an immense number
of these runners, receives dispatches with news from places ten
days’ journey off in one day and night; or, if need be, news from a
hundred days off in ten days and nights; and that is no small matter!”
What kind of “system” is Polo describing in this passage?
What clues convinced you?

10. Name: Date:
STUDENT MATERIALS
WORLD TRAVELERS
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 8.1 ACTIVITY
Passage Four
“There are wild elephants in the country, and numerous unicorns,
which are very nearly as big. They have hair like that of a buffalo, feet
like those of an elephant, and a horn in the middle of the forehead,
which is black and very thick. They do no mischief, however, with
the horn, but with the tongue alone; for this is covered all over with
long and strong prickles and when savage with anyone they crush
him under their knees and then rasp him with their tongue. The head
resembles that of a wild boar, and they carry it ever bent towards the
ground. They delight much to abide in mire and mud.”
What animals are the “unicorns” that Polo is describing in this passage?
What clues convinced you?
Sources:
Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa, The Travels of Marco Polo, Volumes 1 and 2. Trans. Henry Yule.
Ed. Henri Cordier. A Project Gutenberg EBook. Release Date 1 January 2004. EBook-No. 10636.
Accessed 3 July 2013. http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10636/pg10636.txt
Passage 1: Volume 1, Book II, Part I, Chapter XXX
Passage 2: Volume 1, Book II, Part I, Chapter XXIV
Passage 3: Volume 1, Book II, Part I, Chapters XXVI-XXVII
Passage 4: Volume II, Book III, Chapter IX