Introduced in the 19th century, Marco Polo’s Devisement dou monde was utilized by Chinese historians to reconstruct China’s past and Silk Road history. This paper surveys the evolution of Chinese scholarship on it over the past century through three stages: early efforts (pre-1983) focused on translations and initial verifications; the middle phase (1983–2010) addressed skepticism with rigorous historical-geographic analyses; and the current era (post-2011) integrates philology, archaeology, and multilingual sources, fostering global collaborations. The study underscores China’s shift from reliance on Western translations to critical engagement with manuscripts and calls for deeper synergy between Asian historical expertise and European textual criticism to advance Polo studies worldwide.
Nankai University, China - ORCID: 0000-0002-9762-1668
Chapter Title
Chinese Research on Marco Polo’s Devisement dou monde: an overview
Authors
Xiaolin Ma
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0883-3.12
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Il Milione nel tempo tra Asia ed Europa: Marco Polo nelle letterature medievali e contemporanee
Book Subtitle
Atti del Convegno Internazionale (Siena, 7–8 novembre 2024) e del Seminario “700 anni di Marco Polo” (Firenze, 11 dicembre 2024)
Editors
Paola Mocella
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
178
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0883-3
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0882-6
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0883-3
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-0884-0
Series Title
ConTesti medievali. Studi, ricerche e fonti