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Before Orientalism
THE MIDDLE AGES SERIES
Ruth Mazo Karras, Series Editor
Edward Peters, Founding Editor
A complete list of books in the series
is available from the publisher.
Before Orientalism
Asian Peoples and Cultures
in European Travel Writing, 1245–1510
Kim M. Phillips
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS
PHILADELPHIA
Copyright © 2014 University of Pennsylvania Press
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for
purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book
may be reproduced in any form by any means without
written permission from the publisher.
Published by
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Phillips, Kim M.
Before Orientalism : Asian peoples and cultures in European travel writing, 1245–1510 / Kim M. Phillips. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (The Middle Ages series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8122-4548-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Travel, Medieval—Asia—History—Sources. 2. Travelers’ writings, European—History and criticism. 3. Asia—Description and travel—Early works to 1800. 4. Asia—Foreign public opinion, Western—History. I. Title. II. Series: Middle Ages series.
GT5240.P55 2014
303.48'209—dc23
2013019443
For John, Heloise, and Sylvie
Contents
PART I. THEORY, PEOPLE, GENRES
Chapter 2. Travelers, Tales, Audiences
Chapter 3. Travel Writing and the Making of Europe
Afterword: For a Precolonial Middle Ages
Note on the Text
All English-speaking authors in this field find themselves compromised by the problem of spelling proper nouns. As a broad guide, I generally follow the forms employed in John Block Friedman and Kristen Mossler Figg, eds., with Scott D. Westrem, associate editor, and Gregory G. Guzman, collaborating editor, Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia (New York: Garland, 2000). Chinese places and names are given in Pinyin without tone marks. Where there is potential for confusion, especially with regard to place-names, the medieval author’s spelling is included as well as a currently accepted form. No doubt some readers will be dissatisfied with the results, but I hope that all will be able to recognize the people and locations mentioned or find them in a reference work or map.
When using abbreviated forms of medieval European authors’ names I include only the most distinctive part of the name (usually Anglicized). Christian names are generally preferred over bynames, but not surnames, except where the Christian name is too common to avert confusion: thus: Carpini rather than John, Rubruck rather than William, but Ricold and Jordan rather than Monte Croce and Catala. When an author is infrequently referred to or no part of his name is memorable, the whole is preferred (for example, Benedict the Pole, Andrew of Perugia).
In the text, quotes are generally given in English translation. The translations have been compared with the original text in the edition named in the endnotes and modified in some instances. To save space, the original Latin, French, Franco-Italian, or other wording is only briefly quoted, whether in the text or endnotes, when likely to be of special interest. References to the main primary
