Walking, starting from the Pamirs: Tracing the footsteps of Marco Polo

Author: Weng Yi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-01-01
Features: 700 years ago, a book titled The Travels of Marco Polo became the earliest work in the West to introduce the East and China, with its content being extensive and rich in knowledge, covering the human geography of five major regions in China: Northwest, North China, Southwest, East China, and South China. Out of admiration for Marco Polo, the pioneer, author Weng Yi embarked on the journey Walking from the Pamirs: Tracing the Footprints of Marco Polo, starting in 1980. He traveled through 18 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions—Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, Beijing, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Fujian, Sichuan, and Yunnan—passing through 146 counties and covering a distance of 26,636 kilometers. He visited the places mentioned in The Travels of Marco Polo and took 10,086 photos, breaking through the limitations Marco Polo faced at the time and vividly depicting the human geography from the Pamir Plateau to the coast of the East China Sea, thereby verifying the authenticity of most of the content in The Travels of Marco Polo.
"Life is fleeting, but the earth endures." The history recorded by predecessors in books and the footprints imprinted on the land are never completely erased. History always leaves its rightful echo. The prosperous Eastern—China—described in The Travels of Marco Polo still exists, with the Gansu-Ningxia mountains and deserts and the Yangtze River untouched by time. Historical records and remaining relics bear witness to the fact that everything recorded by Marco Polo remains traceable. This will allow us to follow the explorer and measure this ancient path with our own feet once again.
722 years ago, the Venetian merchant Marco Polo and his party traveled along the Eurasian route opened by Genghis Khan’s westward conquest and made their way eastward. Marco Polo stayed in China for 17 years, serving the Yuan Dynasty and often being sent on inspections across the country, his footsteps stretching from the Yangtze to the Yellow River. Today, 700 years after Marco Polo’s arrival in China, a Chinese explorer, Weng Yi, resolved to follow the route Marco Polo described for entering China and conduct a field investigation. For this, he spent more time than Marco Polo’s party—20 years. Starting in 1980, he revisited Marco Polo’s journey through 18 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions—Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and others. He passed through 146 counties, traveled 26,636 kilometers, and took 10,086 photos. He meticulously explored, examined, compared, and analyzed the content of The Travels of Marco Polo on a site-by-site basis. This achievement is one of the pioneering efforts in the history of world exploration. In 2004, Weng Yi’s research findings, Walking from the Pamirs: Tracing the Footprints of Marco Polo, were published. This book holds significant scientific, reading, and visual value.
The question of whether Marco Polo ever visited China has been debated by historians for many years. Those who believe he did argue that many of the accounts in The Travels of Marco Polo can be verified by historical and geographical evidence, proving their authenticity. Skeptics, however, point out that The History of the Yuan Dynasty does not record Marco Polo’s activities and question the accuracy of some of the book’s descriptions. Most of these debates have centered on historical documents and textual research, moving from book to book. But Weng Yi, as a geographer and explorer, took a unique approach, adopting field investigation as his research method: revisiting the routes and places mentioned in The Travels of Marco Polo to seek verification. He not only revisited places with clear historical records and well-documented name changes but also, for those places with vague descriptions and uncertain historical names, used records from The Travels of Marco Polo, local historical chronicles, and existing research to make his own judgments and speculations, conducting field investigations based on these hypotheses.
After 20 years of field investigation and analysis, Weng Yi concluded that most of the content in The Travels of Marco Polo is "authentic." From the perspectives of geography and exploration, his work has advanced the study of The Travels of Marco Polo, undoubtedly holding great scientific value. Weng Yi’s rigorous scientific spirit is evident throughout the book. Where conclusions can be drawn, he presents them; where doubts remain, he records them; where Marco Polo omitted details—such as food, lodging, post stations, and transportation after entering China—he supplements them; and where he believes Marco Polo’s accounts were inaccurate or exaggerated, he points them out one by one. This is a testament to his pragmatism. His spirit of inquiry and exploration is also remarkable and precious.
When Weng Yi began this expedition in 1980, he was already 46 years old. By the time he completed the book, he was 69. The book is also a special travelogue of a modern person—a humanistic historical geographical travelogue. With 20 years of effort, Weng Yi used his own feet to revisit the path of Marco Polo across the vast land of China. Without a strong desire for knowledge and an indomitable spirit of exploration, such a feat would have been impossible. The publication of this book is sure to inspire more people to delve deeper into the unknown, allowing them to "experience the greatest release of life energy."
For general readers, reading this book will bring a sense of wonder, as if they have stepped into a time tunnel of history and often encounter Marco Polo in various places. When you travel to a certain location, you may discover that 700 years ago, Marco Polo had also been there, engaging in business, serving in office, or conducting inspections. The numerous color photographs in the book bear witness to the fact that Marco Polo’s journey was not in vain: ancient Chinese civilization was truly splendid, and they also prove that Weng Yi’s journey was equally meaningful. Modern China has not only preserved so many historical relics but also remains vibrant and captivating.
Whoever wants to make their life meaningful must learn to "walk, starting from China."