February
02
/ 2015
"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, a stately pleasure-dome decree…" Thus begins one of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s three great poems, the unfinished “ Kubla Khan”. According to the poet, this poem was composed one night when he experienced an opium-induced dream after reading a work containing a description of Xanadu. This city was initially the capital of Kublai Khan’s Yuan dynasty when he conquered China. When the emperor moved his capital to Dadu, present day Beijing, Xanadu became the imperial summer city. Although Coleridge only saw Xanadu in his dream, one of the most famous Western voyagers actually visited the city during its heyday. This was the Venetian traveler, Marco Polo. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"8147","attributes":{"alt":"Marco Polo in a Tatar outfit.","class":"media-image","height":"551","style":"width: 392px; height: 551px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"392"}}]] Marco
