Chapter 17 Section 3 The Communication between China and Western Europe in the Yuan Dynasty

During the Western Expedition of Mongolia, the Mongols began to have contact with Western Europe.Although Nestorianism, a branch of Christianity, was banned in mainland China in the 9th century, it is still active in minority areas in Northwest China.When the Mongolian tribes rose, some tribes believed in Nestorianism.Later, through the marriage relationship, many Mongolian princes, nobles, concubines and royal relatives also converted.For example, the eldest son of Genghis Khan, Jochi, the princess of the fourth son, Tuolei, and a son-in-law are all Nestorians.After the Yuan Dynasty unified China, Nestorianism naturally became one of the popular religions in the country.It was under such circumstances that the Holy See tried to use the power of Christianity to influence the Mongols, and in 1245 sent the Italian Puran Carbin as an envoy to Mongolia.Following Calpin came the papal envoy, the Italian Ascilin.He was ordered to go to the Ilkhanate as an envoy, and in May 1247 he arrived at the camp where the commander of the Ilkhanate lived, and submitted a letter from the Pope.But only got an arrogant letter from Baizhu.

In addition to the Holy See, the rulers of France, the main Christian kingdom in Western Europe, also tried to communicate with Mongolia. In 1248, when King Louis IX of France led the Eighth Crusade in the West, he sent envoys to the Ilkhanate in Cyprus, and the envoy was Andre Langjium.At this time, Ijigatai, the commander of the Ilkhanate, was a Nestorian.He sent envoys David and Mark to meet the French king and asked France to send troops to Egypt to cooperate with the Mongolian army's plan to attack Baghdad, and the two sides cooperated to fight against Muslims.Andre Langjium went to see the Mongolian Khan with David and Mark.Unfortunately, when Guiyou Khan died of illness, they were received by the ruling queen Hai Misuo. In 1253, France sent priest Lubrook to Helin in the name of a missionary.The French Franciscan priest set off from the city of Accra on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea (north of Haifa in Palestine today), crossed the Caspian Sea, and first went to the Volga River to meet Batu.Batu ordered him to see Mengge, the Great Khan of Mongolia. At the end of 1253, Lubrook arrived at Mengge's winter camp near the Wangji River (now the Wengjin River in Mongolia), and at the beginning of the next year he followed Mengge to Helin, the capital of Mongolia.He lived there for more than five months and met many French, Russians, British and Hungarians who served in the Khan's court, and then returned to Europe with Meng Ge's reply to Louis IX.Although Lubrook's mission was not completed, "Journey to the East" written by him based on his own knowledge is another important material about Mongolia and Central Asia.He provided information about China to Europe half a century before the Italian Marco Polo.

European envoys continued to come east, and Mongolia also sent envoys to the west.The earliest and most accomplished of them was Tui Lieban Saoma.Lieban, which means "teacher" in Syriac, is the title of a Nestorian priest, and Saoma is his name.Lieban Saoma was born in Yuan Dadu (now Beijing), and was born in a Uyghur Nestorian family.When he was in his 20s, he abandoned his family and practiced spiritual practice. He first lived in seclusion in the mountains near Beijing, and later went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with Marcus, another Nestorian. In 1278, they set off from Dadu, traveled westward with the caravan, passed through Ningxia, Khotan, Kashgar and other places, and arrived at the city of Mirala in the Ilkhanate (now Malaq, Azerbaijan, Iran). shy together.Because there were many bandits and wars on the roads in northern Syria at that time, he could not go to the holy city of Jerusalem, so he had to stay in Baghdad.Later, Marcus was appointed bishop and archbishop of Nestorianism.Saw Ma was also appointed as the inspector of the church. In 1287, the Ilkhanate wanted to unite European Christian countries to attack Jerusalem and Syria, so it sent a horse sweeper who was proficient in Latin to Europe.Sweeping horses passed through Constantinople, Naples, and arrived in Rome.Coinciding with the death of the Pope, he continued westward and arrived in Paris. He handed over letters and gifts from Aruhun, the ruler of the Ilkhanate, to King Philip IV of France, and was received grandly by the King of France.The King of France expressed his willingness to assist the Ilkhanate.After that, Saoma went to meet King Edward I of England, and the King also promised to form an alliance with the Ilkhanate.After completing the above mission, Saoma visited Rome again on his way home, had an audience with the new Pope Nicholas IV, presented his credentials, and received a generous gift from the Pope.After returning from a mission to Europe, Saoma wrote "Travel Notes".The book vividly records the customs of Europe.

Saoma's mission made the Holy See believe that the time was ripe for extensive missionary work in China. In 1289, the Franciscan priest John Mengovino was ordered to carry the Pope's letter to the Mongolian Khans and came to China to preach.Meng Govino first went to the capital of the Ilkhanate, then turned to India, and came to China by sea.Became the first European envoy to officially go to the Yuan Dynasty. In 1294, Montgovino arrived in Dadu, submitted the Pope's letter to Yuan Chengzong, and was allowed to preach in Dadu.He established China's first Roman Catholic church near the imperial palace and baptized thousands of people. In 1307, he was appointed by the Pope as the first archbishop of the diocese of China.At that time, Pope Clement V also sent seven priests to China to assist Montgovino.Three of them arrived in Dadu, and later served as bishops in the Quanzhou diocese.

At the same time as Montgovino, another Italian missionary, Odoric, also came to China to preach in the early 14th century.Odoric passed through Constantinople, Tabriz, and India, and then went through Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Java and other places to Guangzhou.After that, he went to Quanzhou and Fuzhou, went to Jinhua via Xianxialing, then went to Hangzhou along the Qiantang River, and then traced the canal north to Dadu from Nanjing and Yangzhou.After staying in Dadu for three years, Odoric traveled to the Qinghai-Tibet region via Shanxi and Shaanxi, and then from Kabul in present-day Afghanistan to Tabriz, all the way back to Venice.After returning to his hometown, Odoric sorted out his extensive knowledge and wrote it into the book "Journey to the East".Among them, he praised the various cities in China he visited.

The friendly relationship between China and the Holy See in the Yuan Dynasty was maintained until the end of the Yuan Dynasty.During the reign of Emperor Yuan Shun, Bishop Andre of Quanzhou and his entourage were sent to the Holy See with 16 people.They arrived in Avignon, France, where the Pope was staying in 1338, and were well received.Emperor Yuan Shun wrote to the Pope, expressing his willingness to make friends, and asked the Pope to buy Western horses and treasures for him.The Pope then sent dozens of people including John Marinori to form a huge mission to China.The mission departed from Avignon, passed through Constantinople, crossed the Black Sea, first met with Kipchak Khan in the capital of the Kipchak Khanate, then went to Alimari, the capital of the Chahatai Khanate, and then went to Dadu via Hami .When the mission arrived in Dadu in August 1342, the Yuan Dynasty arranged a grand ceremony and gave it a grand reception.Marinori and others presented the pope's reply letter and a western horse to Emperor Yuanshun.This horse was praised as "Pegasus Horse" at that time.Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty was overjoyed, and ordered the painting work "Picture of Tianma", and the civil servants to do "Praise of Tianma".Marinori stayed in Dadu for four years, then traveled by sea to India and Sri Lanka via Quanzhou, then returned to Italy via Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Cyprus, and returned to Avignon in 1353.He brought a letter to Pope Yuan Shundi, in which he expressed respect for Christianity and asked the Pope to continue to send missionaries to China to preach.Marinori later wrote a three-volume "History of Bohemia", including his experiences in China.