Mr.Huaqi Huang's Marco Polo and the Chinese Princess is a historical novel created between the imaginative and the real, which describes "the encounter of the East and the West", and demonstrates before the readers the world scenery more than 800 years ago.
Set in the 13th century, the story tells of Marco Polo, who has come to China from Italy, as the special envoy of Kublai Khan, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty of China, escorting Princess Kokachin to Ilkhanate to get married. In terms of time, it has taken two years and two months; and in terms of geography, this is a long and lonely sea journey from China to Iran, during which all have to stay onboard apart from landing for supplies and completing the tasks delivered by Kublai Khan. However, it is just onboard the ship that one fantastic story after another, as well as the romantic story of the lovers, have come into being.
The whole fleet is composed of 12 sea ships. The huge fleet sets out from Port of Quanzhou and takes the "Maritime Silk Road". It goes successively through battling birds on Taiping island in South China Sea, treating eye diseases for aborigines on the Natuna island, fighting wild dogs in the Strait of Malacca, the throat of the Indian Ocean, killing the one eyed shark in Chittagong, Bangladesh, watching whale dance in Galle, Sri Lanka, encountering with a black bear in Bombay, exploring the sea monster in Karachi, skiing down Jebel Shams in Oman, and the snake stampede in Abbas mosque in West Asia. Finally in September 1294, Marco Polo's sea journey came to an end in Ilkhanate where Princess Kokachin married the son of Khan Arghun, and Marco Polo returned to Venice and married a merchant's daughter Donata.
In addition to the adventures at every stop along the journey, the attraction of the whole novel lies in the jolly, interesting, and sometimes absurd chat between Marco Polo and Princess Kokachin. They have talked about Chinese characters, calligraphy, poetry, and art of lovemaking, Venetian gondolas, monkeys on the Basman Island in Indonesia, pearls in the Gulf of Aden, Somalia, yoga and pirates in India, and assuredly love between men and women. It is in these conversations and interactions that Marco Polo and Princess Kokachin have developed deep affections for each other, and eventually consummated their love, leaving fascinating tales to be told in the future.
The vivid demonstration of the different episode and scenes not only presents the traditional Chinese culture and urban landscape in front of the readers, but also transports them to the South China Sea, to the South Asian subcontinent, to the Indian Ocean, to the West Asia and to the Persian Gulf, with the charming sceneries along the ancient maritime silk road which has connected China with the western world more than 800 years ago.
In short, taking the journey as the line, the stops as the node, and love as the pivot, the novel tells a travel story with clear context, vivid details, and a fusion of feelings and sceneries, presenting a dazzling and moving scene which is different in tone from the world popular The Travels of Marco Polo.
