How did Marco Polo communicate with Mongolian Khan?

Oral reports to the Great Khan had to be translated by interpreters into Mongol, although he could at least read Uighur. At any rate, all this shows that Marco Polo's linguistic competency was up to the standard required for non-Chinese officials in the service of the Mongolian empire. read more

Marco Polo may not have communicated with the khan at all. At the very least, it seems very likely that he exaggerated his importance to the Chinese. Whoever he spoke to, khan or not, there are any number of languages which he might have used to communicate (Mongolian, Turkic, Persian, etc.) to which he would have had better access to learn before he got there. read more

At the height of the Mongol Empire, Marco Polo served Emperor Kublai Khan in China and returned to Venice to write an account of his experiences that would give Europeans some of their earliest information about China. read more

The cast of Marco Polo includes Lorenzo Richelmy as Marco Polo; Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan; Zhu Zhu as Kokachi, a mysterious woman who immediately catches Marco's eye; and Joan Chen as Empress Chabi, Kublai Khan's wife and adviser. read more