Chapter La Cina scopre Marco Polo

Overview & Synopsis

The paper recalls the various phases in the diffusion of knowledge about Marco Polo’s journey. It especially highlights his later discovery in China, which occurred only during the eighteenth century and was made by Protestant missionaries. At the same time, also in Italy his name began to be remembered again, thanks to our first Ambassador to China, who indicated Marco Polo as a champion of the Italian presence in East Asia. Thus, it contributed to the spreading of his fame also in Italy. We can thus appreciate a few episodes of such a history, in Italy and in China, rich in misunderstandings, which, however, turned the Venetian into the symbol of the modern traveler.