Kin-Sai outline
Physical characteristics
-Situated between a lake of fresh and very clear water
-Canals run through the city
-12,000 bridges
-10 market places surrounded by high dwelling-houses
-Public bathing houses
-Offices buildings throughout
Political/Religious leadership
-Idolaters
-Great Khan
-Many patrol/police men acting as clocks, firefighters, watchmen, curfew attendant.
-Police guard when there were cases of tumult.
Workings Trade and Its Relative Importance
-The canals were key to communication and ultimately to trade
-Market places were central and they were led by merchants
-Traded everything from fruits and vegetables to pearls and drugs.
-Market place brought in 30-40 thousand people per day.
Social Organization
- Different kinds of power were distributed—different ‘social control’
-Market places provided much of the interactions and merchants are very central in this part of society. Merchants thus take much pride in their trade.
-Bathing houses
-Women were respected by their husbands and there was a completely different quarter for the courtesans.
-The natural disposition of the residents was a peaceful one.
Comments
Just a couple insights that our group had in addition to this layout:
by reading about all of the fresh water and trade, we can guess that fishing may have been a big source of commerce or at least food for locals?
we also don't read much about religion from marco polo's viewpoint, but I wonder if we can attribute some of the seemingly peaceful qualities of these people to a religion. Perhaps Buddhist, but more generally a belief based on natural philosophies and an emphasis on health and cleanliness?
Just something to think about!
Posted by: Anonymous | January 25, 2007 02:12 PM
I'll throw in some more. The bridges and canals seemed to be an extensive system to increase the inter-connectedness of the entire city. The paper money that they used seemed to be unique at the time, I would assume that this would increase the mobility of trade in general due to its convenience and light weight. My group also noticed that the traveling merchants were highly welcomed.
Allison
Posted by: Allison | January 29, 2007 10:59 PM