Earliest European Mention of Japan // Marco Polo Describes Mongol Invasion of 'Chipangu' (1281)

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4 жыл бұрын

Here we have Marco Polo telling the Mongol side of the invasion of 1281, and the catastrophes that followed - and the first European mention of the mysterious island of 'Chipangu'.
Taken from the translation by Henry Yule.
Video actor and editor: David Kelly
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Thanks to:
A. Omer Karamollaoglu
Kublai Khanそらみみ / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Hideyuki KAMON / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
James St. John Pearls
By Copyright © National Land Image Information (Color Aerial Photographs), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Attribution, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Kyushu University: web.archive.org/web/201310191...

Пікірлер: 360

@Argacyan 4 жыл бұрын

Marco Polo a couple seconds into the account: "They have, like, so much gold dude"

@Xishnik94 4 жыл бұрын

@@wdsftygt are you talking about yourself?

@MarcoDM1571 4 жыл бұрын

@@Xishnik94 nope

@toxi87 4 жыл бұрын

@@wdsftygt Wow, dude calm down. He did seem to have a one track mind.

@ElBandito 4 жыл бұрын

Japan did have a lot of Gold. Hideyoshi gave literal tons of it away to his subordinates.

@sujaykrishnanath82 3 жыл бұрын

GOOOOOOLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDS

@25usd94 4 жыл бұрын

Marco Polo: "Ghost of Tsushima was so cool they made it into a thing lmao"

@Chestyfriend 4 жыл бұрын

Chapter 1: Marco Polo trying to get more funding to make a journey to Japan himself.

@ElBandito 4 жыл бұрын

Japan did have a lot of Gold. Hideyoshi gave literal tons of it away to his subordinates.

@kaijukojin4371 3 жыл бұрын

Because there was no actual international trade, the gold they kept producing became as common as copper and held little to no value. They had so much, and they kept mining for more so the emperors can get elaborate gold ceilings and brick houses...

@julsd6009 3 жыл бұрын

first weeb in history lmao

@arya31ful 3 жыл бұрын

@@julsd6009 21st cent weebs : Go to Japan to get merchandise. 13th cent weeb : Went to Japan to get "merchandise". Yup, Marco "Gold Gold" Polo is a big weeb.

@thispodcastisnotimportant6667 4 жыл бұрын

I had no idea Marco Polo wrote about the Mongol invasions of Japan.

@emilianozapata2530 4 жыл бұрын

Well if you know that the Khan who he served was one of Kublai,then its not hard to assume such thing 🙂

@robrn9069 4 жыл бұрын

Take books, that’s not even surprising

@erictheguapo 4 жыл бұрын

There is a really good show on Netflix that is about Marco Pollo and the Mongols.

@deathsheadknight2137 4 жыл бұрын

@@erictheguapo I'm sorry but the terms "really good" and "Netflix show" rarely belong together.

@erictheguapo 4 жыл бұрын

@@deathsheadknight2137 Check it out and decide for yourself

@AlexanderosD 4 жыл бұрын

"Oh forgot to mention some dudes with stones in their bodies and couldn't be cut" Uh....what? Yeah that's quite the side note Marco!

@NayrGamingHD 4 жыл бұрын

Cheers Marco for glossing over the 13th century Japanese mechsuits

@claywoodral7587 4 жыл бұрын

I think he was just misunderstanding layered armor.

@aguilacahc000 4 жыл бұрын

@@NayrGamingHD lmao this is hilarious

@givemeurhats 4 жыл бұрын

@@claywoodral7587 I agree

@EthanDyTioco 4 жыл бұрын

Clay Woodral nah, the secret mech suits are not to hidden any longer!

@murmurrrr 4 жыл бұрын

"Hi, my name is Marco Polo. Gold. I come from Europe. Gold. Today, gold, I went for a walk. Gold. How, gold, are, gold, you, gold, doing?"

@Quazi-moto 4 жыл бұрын

Why, I'm quite gold, thank you.

@alexdemoya2119 4 жыл бұрын

This comment is comedy gold

@alohathaxted 4 жыл бұрын

A U right.

@yoshilorak5897 4 жыл бұрын

Europe has every mineral resources known to man, but it lacks gold unfortunately.

@suprcrzy 4 жыл бұрын

*rolls window down in Japan* Pardon me Sir, but do you have any grey GuGold?

@EvantheBrown 4 жыл бұрын

Marco Polo: “...and then everybody died. The End.”

@StudioArtFX 4 жыл бұрын

LOL! That's pretty much it, isn't it? Even the guy that escaped dies at the end.

@grillodofus 4 жыл бұрын

And then everybody died...very painfully. Fin!

@MahsaKaerra 4 жыл бұрын

@@StudioArtFX Even the eight people who couldn't be killed were killed!

@alohathaxted 4 жыл бұрын

Of gold poisoning.

@oldfrend 4 жыл бұрын

polo was the first pissed off dnd dm huh? 'rocks fall everybody dies'

@mancamiatipoola 3 жыл бұрын

I imagine the great Kublai Khan having one of his concubines read Master Polo's book and laughing his ass off at these colorful descriptions of his army, while also shedding a tear in remembrance of the clever venetian man that had delighted him with his tales for 25 years while in his service. Marco Polo truly was a gentleman, scholar and explorer of a higher breed.

@DB-pt6zj 4 жыл бұрын

8:16 Are we just going to ignore the fact that apparently Japan was building mech soldiers in the 1200s?

@moogiibat5845 4 жыл бұрын

And was beaten to death with clubs.

@barbarianjk2355 4 жыл бұрын

Anthony Y yeah and who knows who the translator was xD

@benkai343434 4 жыл бұрын

@@imdumberthanthepersonimrep9134 no need to dismiss it out of hand either. if there happens to be some measure by which this is possible, then I'd say it warrants looking into. after all, the truth doesn't fear investigation.

@DB-pt6zj 4 жыл бұрын

@@benkai343434 I think it all sounds like he was just giving offhand information, he even says something like "oh, I almost forgot..." Who ALMOST FORGETS invincible warriors with rocks under their skin?

@Adam-bq2vw 4 жыл бұрын

As in “mechanized?”

@therealrooster 4 жыл бұрын

"Oh emperor, a huge part of the enemy army has stranded on a desert island where they will perish from hunger." "Cool, let's bring them all our ships!"

@MrCantStopTheRobot 4 жыл бұрын

"I came here to laugh at you." If only

@yastreb. 4 жыл бұрын

The storm that sunk the invasion fleet came to be know as "the divine wind", or "kamikaze" in Japanese.

@samuraijackoff5354 4 жыл бұрын

Or also known as, “Jin Sakai” or “The Ghost”

@Leo-us4wd 4 жыл бұрын

He thought about making a video game

@niller88 4 жыл бұрын

"...except for the pretty women which they took for themselves." What a way of phrasing "mass rape".

@luxborealis 4 жыл бұрын

Well, technically concubinage, but yes, probably significant amounts of rape too.

@Konoronn 4 жыл бұрын

@Clark Gable There's always someone who has to bring up American politics.

@7superdaimajin 4 жыл бұрын

I wouldn't pass up some cute Japanese girls either. ;D

@acharonim4659 4 жыл бұрын

Konoron Whether we like it or not, America is a preeminent power and is always gonna be brought up in discussion from time to time.

@GODOBER 4 жыл бұрын

@@Konoronn Sensible people like to draw parallels between history and modernity instead of autistically memorizing it for no other purpose.

@gutar5675 4 жыл бұрын

This is such a gem of a channel. I am so glad that I came across it some months ago. It also led me down a long list of other channels that I've grown to be fascinated with like History Time and all the similar channels to it through recommendations. I just want to say Thank You, that's all

@frydog4217 4 жыл бұрын

These a really good to fall asleep to and not in a bad way. Your voice is extremely relaxing. Also you are really good at narration the way you speak makes it sound like the person telling us a story rather than you directly reading their accounts.

@LordRoku- 4 жыл бұрын

perfect, i just finished playing ghost of tsushima a few days ago

@rodrigorivers2469 4 жыл бұрын

How was it? No spoilers please

@LucidFL 4 жыл бұрын

Are people capable of doing anything without referencing a product they consume?

@danielr.5331 4 жыл бұрын

@@rodrigorivers2469 one of the best games of the decade

@VoxRationisSum 4 жыл бұрын

@@LucidFL im14andthisisdeep

@barbarianjk2355 4 жыл бұрын

Lucid it's as if, if I don't tell anyone that today I'm going to eat Torrejitas, I won't be able to finish cleaning the house. Jk.

@bjdickman27 4 жыл бұрын

I feel so lucky to hear these, after a long day of work cracking a beer and relaxing to your channel. Thanks

@galenusv7831 4 жыл бұрын

Maybe Polo was repeating the rumors the mongols heard about Japan? I don't think he was at Japan at all, but just repeating the false rumors about the land.

@sparky6086 4 жыл бұрын

I'd call them "overly embellished rumors" rather than false rumors.

@alessandronavone6731 4 жыл бұрын

He never said he'd personally been in Japan. He reported what was said about it at the Khan's court.

@posteador 4 жыл бұрын

Correct. Second, third hand accounts.

@allenlutins 4 жыл бұрын

@@posteador Maybe even fourth-hand. Marco Polo never wrote of his adventures; instead they were dictated to his cellmate Rustichello da Pisa (while incarcerated during Venice's war with Genoa), who ultimately wrote down what he recalled of his conversations with Polo.

@gabem3251 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, when he wrote about the Mongols reaching the capital it became obvious that he was repeating stories.

@bluntbangs 9 ай бұрын

An interesting thought I had when listening to the description of Japanese lacquered armor is that it likely was exceptionally effective against the Mongols. Reason being, the armor was designed specifically against the bow and arrow, and suited for mounted combat, very similar to the Mongol style of fighting. This likely made the armor, despite being weaker than plate armor, very effective against the Mongol calvary archers.

@hisunrelentingquest3290 4 жыл бұрын

I love it! I especially like how you divide the account in succinct parts. Well done!

@rodom303 4 жыл бұрын

It almost seems like he has a sense of humor

@UFBMusic 4 жыл бұрын

5:40 The ol' Tartar Switcheroo.

@moritzh5168 4 жыл бұрын

Uploaded today Nice, thanks a lot Very interesting topic

@PartyFlorida 4 жыл бұрын

These videos fantastic. Thank you!

@nessmess500 4 жыл бұрын

The music in the beginning is absolutely gorgeous!

@petert4269 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this! Marcos Polo had such an interesting life

@thomasmarren2354 4 жыл бұрын

I requested this. Thank you.

@Eshanas 4 жыл бұрын

Here's my question, why did polo report this, the gold, etc? Was he just regurgitating yuan rumors and gossip, or...?

@axelpatrickb.pingol3228 4 жыл бұрын

Because that is pretty much what he knows of or heard from? Plato's cave cones to mind...

@morganrobinson8042 4 жыл бұрын

He knew what people who were asking for a report on the other side of the world would actually care about.

@sclair2854 4 жыл бұрын

With Marko Polo a lot has to be taken with a grain of salt. He didnt write the works attributed to him himself, he dictated them in later life to an arthurian fiction writer while they were in prison together. A lot of people doubt his accounts (for instance chinese records talk about his relatives but not Polo himself, despite the fact Polo allegedly knew Khublai himself) So Polo himself might be repeating what other traders told him, which is then getting further embellished by the book. There was a golden temple in Japan completed in the late 1300s, but that would have been completed long after Polos travels. But something similar coild have sparked rumors maybe? Its probably just something similar to the Roc he claims existed. Complete mythology

@neutronalchemist3241 4 жыл бұрын

@@sclair2854 The absence of Chinese records should be taken with a grain of salt either. People tend to talk of them like they are a complete set of records dating back to millennia BC. In reality they are extremely fragmentary, and that's especially true for the ones of the early Yuan dinasty. IE, the Chinese record that talks of the voyage (and of the entire existence for that matter) of the Princess Kököchin, had been written more than one century after the event, and that's the only Chinese report confirming Polo's account of the fact (that's much closer to the events). Without that single record, historians would have concluded that Polo probably invented the whole story.

@manofchange832 4 жыл бұрын

Marco Polo likes to spice up his stories.

@Jesse__H 4 жыл бұрын

Marco Polo sure liked to embellish! Temples roofed and floored in two finger-thick plates of gold; subdermal stone armor that makes one invincible to steel blades and beheading. Maybe that Netflix show about him isn't so far fetched after all ;)

@christosvoskresye 4 жыл бұрын

He had never been to Japan.

@gj1234567899999 4 жыл бұрын

There’s a temple in Kyoto entirely covered in gold leaf. If people saw it they may have thought it was solid gold

@sclair2854 4 жыл бұрын

@@gj1234567899999 that temple was completed almost a full century after he travelled

@sclair2854 4 жыл бұрын

@LagiNaLangAko23 or what other merchants told him. Polos personal connections to high ranking Mongols are doubted by historians.

@neutronalchemist3241 4 жыл бұрын

@@sclair2854 Without personal connections to high ranking Mongols, he should hardly have been part of the expedition of Princess Kököchin in Persia (and we know that part of his accounts to be true).

@nousername3887 4 жыл бұрын

Bro your channel is perfect, keep it up

@MadAtreides1 4 жыл бұрын

my grandfather from Venice still calls Japan "Cipango"

@grungeguy97 4 жыл бұрын

"On these eight, they found it impossible to inflict any wound. Now, this was by virtue of certain stones which they had in their arms inserted between the skin and the flesh." Marco Polo confirms the existence of the Shikon jewel shards from Inuyasha

@garygardener2138 4 жыл бұрын

Liked before I even watch/listen 👌🏻

@jordankamelleri5137 4 жыл бұрын

It would be amazing if you subtitled the text of the original language as you speak it, even if it doesn't align 100% because of the way its translated

@Polymathically 4 жыл бұрын

Man, can you imagine what Kublai Khan's reaction to hearing about this must've been like? "Okay, so there was a typhoon, we'll just have to regroup try again later. ...What do you _mean_ a bunch of our men were left stranded on an island?! Why didn't anyone pick them up?! That petty little baron..."

@chocolatechipcookies6320 4 жыл бұрын

That folks is how you do a commentary on ancient warfare

@germanshepherd2701 4 жыл бұрын

Nice, watching now

@boy1da81 4 жыл бұрын

"KHOTUN KHAN! I am Jin Sakai, nephew of Lord Shimura. I have come to avenge his Honor."

@pikeshotBattles 4 жыл бұрын

Brilliant video, brilliant channel! Actually the Japanese had a LOT of silver. As for the gold I'm not sure. The European trading empires (save for the Spanish) often stopped in Chipangu just to get silver, that they would then exchange for Chinese or Indian goods.

@azorahai7837 4 жыл бұрын

This is a rumor about a rumor that Marco Polo reimagined.

@istvansipos9940 4 жыл бұрын

06:40 :- ) They were an army with no internet or weekend leaves. Trust me, they kept the not-so-pretty women, too. and never forget this, kids! When you write an account of history, ALWAYS support your credibility with a brief story of magical stones. Always!

@t.wcharles2171 4 жыл бұрын

Nice

@indocartoon 4 жыл бұрын

This remembering me with the island of wak-wak (waq-waq), it's an island possibly, even more than one island in medieval Arabic geographical and imaginative literature. in the Arab versions, in the sea of China, there is also the famous island of Waq-Waq as reported by most medieval Arab geographers. This island is ruled by a queen and the population is only female (Although there are also people stated it located in Madagascar or Sumatra/java). Ibn khordabeb said "East of China are the lands of Waqwaq, which are so rich in gold that the inhabitants make the chains for their dogs and the collars for their monkeys of this metal. They manufacture tunics woven with gold. Excellent ebony wood is found there. And again: Gold and ebony are exported from Waqwaq." I read an article about Wakwak (I forgot what it is, but I get it from clicking one of the reference links in Wikipedia) that said Wakwak comes from a miss pronounce for Cantonese name of Japan, which is Wo-Kuo, which translated to "the country of Wo".

@nni9310 4 жыл бұрын

Somewhere I read that "Wak-Wak" is the Iranian word for Japan, and it came about when Persian emissaries went to Korea during the Middle Ages. In Korean (at least at that time), Japan was known as "Wak-Wo", meaning "land of the small" for the Japanese were shorter than Koreans, and in the Farsi of the time, the Persians took the name as "Wak-Wak".

@NeuenschwanderPride 4 жыл бұрын

There is no way they had that much Gold. “Hi, my name is Marco and I love to exaggerate.”

@threestepssideways1202 3 жыл бұрын

I doubt it was his exaggeration and that he was just acting as a mouthpiece for a rumour that had long existed, though never confirmed, given Japans self imposed isolation. More likely it was an exaggeration that was pervasive amongst the court of Kublai and perhaps amongst the populace at large. So I'd posit that Marco was inclined to take the rumour of the gold and it's exaggeration at face value and just relayed what he'd been told. Given the fact that all the things he had seen in the orient up to that point were so removed from the norms of his own culture, then it would be entirely understandable.

@achikahmedamine7101 3 жыл бұрын

Not really arab source said that they have house made in gold

@ivercingetorix1367 4 жыл бұрын

You like Ghost of Tsushima... Don't you, Squidward

@deathsheadknight2137 4 жыл бұрын

Every European's first impression of a foreign nation: "THEY LIVE, BREATHE, AND EAT GOLD!"

@NIDELLANEUM 4 жыл бұрын

Even the Arabs talked about how Japan was so rich "they had homes made out of gold"

@deathsheadknight2137 4 жыл бұрын

@@NIDELLANEUM I have this book called The African Dream which describes many of the earliest European expeditions into the African continent. Interestingly, most of the explorers hoped to find this advanced civilization with a city made entirely of gold (Timbuktu) that they would be able to trade with and become wealthy themselves. What followed were a series of disappointed arrivals at a dusty little slave post and not much civilization to speak of.

@NIDELLANEUM 4 жыл бұрын

@@deathsheadknight2137 sounds like El Dorado but in Africa

@deathsheadknight2137 4 жыл бұрын

@@NIDELLANEUM which is why I made such a generalized statement to begin with. It seems like a pattern to me.

@htoodoh5770 4 жыл бұрын

@@deathsheadknight2137 Wrong time I supposed. The Mali empire were quite advance and wealthy.

@rexyboyoo7281 4 жыл бұрын

By 1:20 Marco establishes’ that everything is gold

@nni9310 3 жыл бұрын

What do the local sources (Chinese, Korean, Japanese and any others) say about the invasion?

@inthefade 4 жыл бұрын

Stones under their skin? I think it is important to remember that history is often embellished! I'd love to hear the Japanese account.

@Latro84 4 жыл бұрын

Yaas!!

@paweandonisgawralidisdobrz2522 4 жыл бұрын

Gotta get that ghost of tsushima hype

@garygrinkevich6971 4 жыл бұрын

Those amrita stones have shown up alot in games.

@colinhay1666 3 жыл бұрын

If Marco Polo was alive today, he would definitely be one of those people that says "like" a lot.

@greedgod5827 2 жыл бұрын

He would go uhm more than certain politicians like trudeau

@giovannisantostasi9615 2 жыл бұрын

Any far away place in the middle ages: "They have so much gold people walk on it".

@PacmanBonez 2 жыл бұрын

I must know the music that the video starts off with. Can anyone help?

@bruhistantv9806 4 жыл бұрын

"s-sir! We cannot kill this man! He can't be harmed by sword!" "fine. Bludgeon him to death."

@RichMitch 4 жыл бұрын

Hello, I left a comment on the American perspective of first contact with Japan asking about a picture you used. Could you get back to me about it?

@VoicesofthePast 4 жыл бұрын

Hi Rich, its a postcard from about 1911. Google "postcard japanese painting"

@RichMitch 4 жыл бұрын

@@VoicesofthePast thank you mate. Have you seen "david bull" on KZfaq? He has a wood block print business in Japan, the videos are great and so are the prints. Look him up

@chaddixon5725 4 жыл бұрын

Stones in their flesh? Never heard of this. Anyone have anything to add?

@ardnaif552 3 жыл бұрын

Layered armor?

@sebastianprimomija8375 3 жыл бұрын

Marco Polo is really adding to the Stereotype of European Explorers and Conquistadors being obsessed with Gold.

@diegoyuiop 6 сағат бұрын

Well he was first and foremost a merchant

@dontcorrectthis2827 3 жыл бұрын

and their sky was a topping of thick gold

@may-ky6jl 2 жыл бұрын

You could visit to see old ancient building made of gold at north of Japan in Honshu island.

@dracodistortion9447 4 жыл бұрын

MARCO!

@petrilofberg1758 4 жыл бұрын

POLO!

@magicmushroom7410 4 жыл бұрын

Really want to listen to the siege of tsushima

@grillodofus 4 жыл бұрын

Well, lets not forget that this is from the man who wrote that "rhynoceros defend themselves by scrapping the flesh of their enemies to the bone with their spike-covered thonges" if this happened it sound more like the mistake of a local daimyo since neither the emperor nor the shogun would have gone in such an expedition nor would have leaved their (quite far away) capital city unguarded. Also it doesn´t sound like thousands of mongol raiders could just stealtly escape on "some" of the japanise ships, more like a couple hundred at most. Still very interesting indeed!

@MrCantStopTheRobot 4 жыл бұрын

"Give me... stuff that totally happened for 1200, Alex."

@sunnyboy4553 4 жыл бұрын

I must have missed something. The Mongols who took over the city, but then surrendered...didn't the narrator say they had to STAY in Japan??? So how could their leader the Khan, back in Mongolia punish them for not behaving like soldiers??? DID they get back to Mongolia??? Can someone please enlighten me???

@FreddyBarbarossa 4 жыл бұрын

No it was the other soldiers under a different officer who ran away when the others were besieged who went back and were punished.

@Quazi-moto 4 жыл бұрын

Hmm, gotta wonder about those subdermal stones. Wanna know more, but can't find another source on it. Anyone else?

@95keat 4 жыл бұрын

It's very likely a false tale. Do you think you could fight a battle with stone shoved into cut wounds before the invention of anesthesia?

@Quazi-moto 4 жыл бұрын

@@95keat I first thought it to be BS too. And yeah, it would hurt like a mofo -- not only would they make the cut to slide the stone in, but also would have to insert a tool to raise the skin away from the flesh to form a pocket for the stone to sit in. But that's not to say it couldn't have ever happened. Body modification is an old, worldwide custom. Still today people put things under their skin for decoration. They'd have to have been mighty thin stones. Too thin to provide much protection, it seems. But the claim they could not be wounded is utter hogwash. Since Marco didn't see any of this with his own eyes, I'm gonna chalk it all up to exaggerated soldiers' tales.

@luxborealis 4 жыл бұрын

It’s probably a confused understanding of Japanese armor, their technique was quite different from what was used on the mainland.

@Kenshiroit 4 жыл бұрын

probably BS made up by the mongols....waaaaah they have stones under the skiiiiin

@HotZetiGer 4 жыл бұрын

movie material :)

@casanovaluis5996 4 жыл бұрын

Please do Pope Urban II speech at Clermont, the proclamation of the First Crusade (November 27th, 1095)

@arvidalexatsinch1163 4 жыл бұрын

This is the guy I've been looking for in my swimming pool all this time?

@arcticsnowfox2220 4 жыл бұрын

Its a little bit hard to imagine 30 thousand soldiers on a small island 🤔🤔🤔

@LeadenMarshmallow 4 жыл бұрын

Manhattan is a small island with a couple million people dawg

@arcticsnowfox2220 4 жыл бұрын

@@LeadenMarshmallow yeah because of modern infrastructure , imagine being shipwrecked on a tiny island with absolutley nothing on it with zero tools. The actual island might have been bigger but the image he used was a pretty small one. I"ve seen docs on how Manhatten was built and how the subway was made and bridges aswell , that shit was mind blowing to.

@LeadenMarshmallow 4 жыл бұрын

@@arcticsnowfox2220 I mean yeah I agree that probably didn't go well for them ... Just saying if they were sailing they were used to not having private space

@neutronalchemist3241 4 жыл бұрын

That part was confirmed in other accounts, even if the number of the men stranded varies.

@fartz3808 4 жыл бұрын

Marco Polo narrating the RL basis of the Ghost of Tsushima. How relevant!

@hisholinesslordpotato 4 жыл бұрын

Did Marco Polo's gold mouth started the invasion? Who would not tempted by such rumor

@gabem3251 3 жыл бұрын

I like how the Mongols encountered some guys that couldn't be cut, then they just beat them to death with clubs.

@GM-uq1xz 4 жыл бұрын

Whats up w the stones

@yoshilorak5897 4 жыл бұрын

It is true that Japan has a large deposit of gold, but gold isn't a boosting resource in modern society, manganese, zinc, and oil are more prevalent which Japan has zero.

@JonDoeNeace 2 ай бұрын

He also described them as white. Meaning, when old explorers described people they saw, it was strictly a matter of skin tone, not modern phenotype. They called the Japanese " White " but that didn't mean Caucasian.

@diegoyuiop 6 сағат бұрын

I don't think Marco Polo would describe himself as "white", the Japanese looked quite pale to him

@G_Signer 3 жыл бұрын

never heard of gold in chipangu

@zollen123 3 жыл бұрын

Macro Polo: Fellow countrymen, Did I mention Japan has plenty of *GOLD*?

@paweandonisgawralidisdobrz2522 4 жыл бұрын

Conquistadors searching for golden cities: Its free real estate

@jacobellinger8027 4 жыл бұрын

wait there where people walking around with stones in their skin?! like seriously? this really happened?! I want to hear more about that!

@yoshilorak5897 4 жыл бұрын

It's false. Most of his accounts on Japan were second hand stories from survivors of the Japanese invasions who idolized the warriors of Japan as inhuman storm monsters.

@jacobellinger8027 4 жыл бұрын

@@yoshilorak5897 woh heavy

@joebonsaipoland 4 жыл бұрын

That's impossible soild gold palace?

@mikkelvarheim8620 4 жыл бұрын

Cmon where's that ghost guy from tsushima?

@StudioArtFX 4 жыл бұрын

Isn't this story where the term Kamikaze (wind of god) comes from? Surely he has to be making some of this stuff up! LOL!

@Quazi-moto 4 жыл бұрын

It is origin of kamikaze, or 'divine wind.'

@Quazi-moto 4 жыл бұрын

And yeah, some of it sounds like tales told by soldiers around the fire at night.

@munihmuni8814 3 жыл бұрын

That last part about the 8 who they couldn't cut because of stones under their skin..umm...what???

@dannya1854 2 жыл бұрын

"...a great island it is. The people are white, civilized, and well favored."

@diegoyuiop 6 сағат бұрын

Still true a millennium afterwards

@shanhussain6114 4 жыл бұрын

Marco Polo: Yo, they be blingin

@srita764 4 жыл бұрын

Yooo 3 minute gang

@operatorblack 2 жыл бұрын

So, in the last few lines of this, he mentioned the Japanese had surgically implanted stones under their skin to make them impervious to blade cuts? Uh WHAT?!

@xcvb3 4 жыл бұрын

Bling, bling, bling (medieval stile).

@marcopolo2395 4 жыл бұрын

Did I really say that? Hmm I dont remember.

@gardenlizard1586 4 жыл бұрын

Armour under the skin was interesting

@jackbudgen8858 4 жыл бұрын

Hey guys, it’s nichole

@makinapacal 4 жыл бұрын

This account of the Mongol Invasions of Japan is a really distorted version of what actually happened. In fact not that much is accurate. And the description of Japan especially it's distance from China is, well, wrong. As mentioned by others Polo's account was something that he dictated to someone else who we know added stuff to Polo's account. So it is not clear in this case has in many others who was the originator of the distortions.

@Kenshiroit 4 жыл бұрын

That would be Messer Rustichello who shared cell with Marco. By his own admission he embellished Marcos story

@videochemist 4 жыл бұрын

My knowledge of Japanese history mainly comes from their own literature and cinema (no, not anime), but it seems the Japanese account downplays the successes of the mongols, during the initial landing and the city siege. The impression I was given is that a mongol fleet was wrecked by a "divine" storm, with all the other details ignored.

@VoxRationisSum 4 жыл бұрын

i dont think there is anything that corroborates this siege story.

@debaucherypanda 4 жыл бұрын

You do realize this is mostly a fabricated story? The mongols did capture a couple of islands, but didn't even come close to the capital.

@katalystc1268 2 жыл бұрын

correct me if I'm wrong. so the Japanese emperor went after the stranded Mongols on the island to finish em off...but they had their ships hijacked??😂😅

@ReavinBlue 4 жыл бұрын

Aaaand its about the ghost of tsushima

@pbc_03 Жыл бұрын

Korean and Chinese ship builders who hated the ruling of the Khan purposely built rudimentary ships that would sink easily. Internal sabotage by the engineers and builders greatly helped the 2 failed attempts.