Marco Polo’s Kinsay – Amazing Technology from the PastAmazing Technology from the PastMarco Polo’s Kinsay – Amazing Technology from the Past

Posted on September 9, 2025 by JimS

By Jim Shimabukuro
Editor

Introduction: I’m republishing this description from the Yule-Cordier edition (1903, 1920) of The Travels of Marco Polo, chapters 76-78 (The Project Gutenberg Ebook 12410) as a startling example of ancient technology. Today, in 2025, it hasn’t lost any of its power to amaze. Marco Polo visited the great city of Kinsay, which is now known as Hangzhou, between 1276 and 1291, during the 17 years he spent in Kublai Khan’s empire in China. Kinsay meant “City of Heaven” at the time, which was a corrupted transliteration of the Chinese word Xingszai, which means “temporary capital.” I omitted the footnotes from the original to keep the length down, but I’d strongly urge you to click to the original copy and read the narrative with the notes. Modern technology grabs our attention, but we tend to forget that technology in our distant past can be just as fascinating. -js

“Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” a handscroll painting by the Song dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145).
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