Marco Polo's Legacy

Marco Polo Marco Polo left a legacy after his life, that of which includes the well-known water game, Marco Polo and the record of his inspiring voyages, The Travels of Marco Polo. His life started around 1254 in Venice, Italy where he was born. His mother died when he was still young and his father was a very successful jewelry merchant with Marco’s uncle, who often spent most of his time in Asia. On one of his father’s and uncle’s journeys to China, they took Marco along and they stayed there for 17 years, before moving back to Venice.
In 1271, Marco went back to China and became one of the first Europeans to travel to Asia during the Middle Ages. Polo became favored by Kublai Khan, who was the Mongolian leader that conquered and became the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. Khan eventually hired Polo as a special envoy and was sent out in …show more content…
During this, he was captured and was taken to a Genoese prison for a year. In the prison, Marco met a man named Rustichello. Rustichello heard about Marco’s voyages and encouraged him to document them. This record of Marco’s journeys was later published into the book, The Travels of Marco Polo. Marco was released from prison in 1299, and his book was published into a variety of languages. The book became very popular in Europe and caused Marco to become famous.
The voyages of Marco Polo even lead to the creation of the water game called Marco Polo. There is no clear connection between the two, but many people have come up with their own theories. Some say that the person chosen as “it” in the game, is representing how Marco did not know where his journeys were going and what he was heading towards. The person is closing their eyes while trying to find their way around blindly. Some people also say that the game was introduced to be played in the water because that is where Marco spent the majority of his