Blog Post 4

We danced. We laughed. We celebrated. In our minds, that is. Kublai Khan wanted us. I think we were going to become Mongols.

“Yeah, I guess that’s cool,” stammered Chao.

“Pfff, Chao you sound like my grandma when I ask her what she does for work. “Oh you know...I get around. Um, listen I have to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” Yup she grew up rich. Never had to work a day in her life, but she’s gone now. Fey got a far away look in her eyes. I snap in front of her face to get her into the present again. My gosh,  I think, you think you’d pay attention when Marco Polo was standing in front of you. We knew all the people associated with Kublai Khan, and Marco Polo was one of them. He spoke again:

“Alright then. It’s settled. You will pack your things and follow me to where you will be introduced to Kublai Khan.”

“It sure is settled sir,” I said dumbfounded.

“Please call me Marco, young thief”

“Um, okay. Well, what are you waiting for boys, let’s get packing,” said Fey.

“I leave you three to it. I will be back in five minutes. Be ready or stay home.”

We all chatted excitedly about what was in store for us at the palace of the Great Khan.

“What do you think we will be doing guys. Personal thieves, spies, or even Mongols. We could become Mongols!” said Chao. Fey calmed him down, and we finished gathering our very small assortment of possessions and clothing. We exited our home with minutes to spare, but Marco Polo was there nonetheless. We silently followed him until we made it to a chariot. We passed an awful lot on the way there, but I am going to fast forward a while to when we made it to the palace. WHen we got there Marco Polo signaled the guards at the entrance in some way, and we entered. Kublai Khan was sitting on the throne.  Marco Polo introduced us and all three of us almost fainted. Three dusters were thrust into our hands. We laughed thinking it was a joke, but we were then ordered to start on the fifth floor, and dust all the rooms going up by nightfall in three hours. The reality of his words suddenly dawned on all of our faces. And so it goes. We all sighed and started planning our escape from the horrid palace. Looking back. I realize how really laughable the whole thing really was.

Blog Post 3

When we walked home (at least that’s what we called it) after and find a mysterious man walking next to us. He has a hooded jacket over his face and is walking next to us in unison. We think he must be just going our way, but that idea seem foolish by the time he is walking all the way to the road where our home was just a bush jump away. We lingered outside the bushes, but the man stopped with us. 
“What the hell. I really don’t care,” Fey said, “You wanna see inside our house Mr. Mysterious Man? Come on in. If you’re one of the watchers, don’t think too much of where all our stuff came from.” But I think we all knew that he wasn’t a watcher. Watchers were people that watch for crime in our city. The Mongols did a fine job, but our riverside city was “slightly neglected” according to the rich snobs in our town. The man stepped in to the bushes with us and stopped.
“This is our crib. We didn’t really expect any visitors. So sorry if our mess is bothering you,” Chao said sarcastically. Our house was made up of a fence of sticks (or rather 7 ft. tree pieces) with a roof of side by side sticks. It was cozy even though it wasn’t the most durable. Inside we had a lot of stolen goods. There were linen blankets on the ground, for silk was too expensive. It was our masterpiece and it was the closest place to home for all of us.
“What Chao meant to say was welcome to our home,” I said, giving Chao a look.
“Geez Cheng! He’s the one barging into our house uninvited!” I rolled my eyes. The mysterious man had not said one word, or acknowledged any of us at all. We waited. Fey spoke up:
“Hey! Mr. Mysterious. You followed us to our home. Now what. Do. You. Want?! The mystery man looks at her and takes a long look at her with his eyes barely showing from under his hood.
“I am here to take you away,” he said in a raspy voice. 
“Um, seriously who are you?” Fey asked in a snarky tone.
“Supporter, friend, and ambassador of Kublai Khan and the Mongols.”
“Okay. I might like you a bit more, but can you please tell us your name,” I said in an irritated tone.
“My name is Marco Polo.” He took off his hood and we all gasped and stared.

Blog post 2

Turns out that the cellar I was in, I wasn’t invited into. Lets just say there was some hitting (them) and some running (me) involved. I ran. On, and on, and on before finally resting with my back against a hard Taiwania tree. The bark smelling so natural and fresh that I just wanted to drift off...no! I will not drift off. I am not going to drift off. I do not want to be late to meet my friends! I wish that the China that was conquered by the Mongols, would be just like the China it was before the Mongols took over. As my mother used to say: Those 懊惱 Mongols, (those annoying mongols...well, maybe she didn’t say exactly that). Some time later I wake up back against the tree, and I realize I haven’t eaten in 2 days! That shows how poor I am. I walk for a while until I feel gravel crunching beneath my feet. Now you might be pondering those “friends” I have, and I don’t blame you. I live with those friends, actually. One might say we are almost like family. A family of thieves that is. I walk to the side of the road and dive into the bushes when I think nobody is watching. I see Chao walking toward me. We exchange hellos, and set off to find Fen. We find her and start our trek to the silk road. It didn’t take long. Fen said if we kept living like this, we would become soft. Chao and I laughed and said that she would never be soft, ever. We made it to the main road, and found the first merchant selling food. We bought the three bowls of rice with the money we just recently stole from an innocent passerby. We ate our rice in companionable silence.

Blog post 1

Tuesday, April 19, 1266

I am not in despair or grieving the people of my past, for they will not be in my future. My present is my life, but the future is always unknown. That must be what I love about it. I am not proud of my past, and I am trying to make my future something to be proud of. Where I am going in this spontaneous life of mine? I woke up in a dank, empty cellar of which I had no recollection at all. Today was already off to a bad start. I stand up and I have a painful throbbing in my head, but I know I am happy, for Genghis Khan had lead the Mongols to take over China in its entirety. I don’t understand the fuss. It was going to happen unquestionably. The thing is Genghis couldn’t live forever, so his grandson Kublai Khan eventually became our leader. Dictator one might say, but what do I care, I am not perfect either. Kublai Khan is actually a great ruler, why else would he be called “Great Khan.” -He asked to be called that you say? Yeah, but so did five family members before him. What difference does it make?- The people of China are divided into two main groups. The supporters and the protesters. I don’t know why the supporters only consist of my friends and me, but I know there are assorted people across China whom are too obsessed with what their peers will think of them to come out and say they wish they were one of the Mongols. Poor, opinion deprived people. Being safe in no fun! I say all hail Kublai Khan, but that might just be because I secretly hope I will be accepted to join their revolt. Wait, it isn’t rebellion if it’s legal is it? Well, what does it matter? Me and my childish dreams. Why am I so entwined in my thoughts when I should be living my life like a normal Mongol-loving, lazy, aloof, sullen teenage boy who has lost everything he loved, and it’s all his fault. Too bad there is only one of those in our world. And his hand is moving the ink over these very pages you are now reading.

Yuan Dynasty Puppet Pilgrimage Blog Post #4

I have finally arrived in Nanjing! Oh sorry I forgot to introduce myself, I am Puff the magic dragon from America. I’m traveling up a portion of the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Nanjing. It is short and sweet. But now back to the point. I am in Nanjing! I have made it to my friend’s house that had prepared food for me in advance. I was so hungry I ate all of it. There were lots of fruits, nuts and things that were grown because of the improved agriculture. Then I went to bed because I was so tired from the walk. Now it is the next morning I am going to see the sights. The first place I am going to is the Sarira pagoda in Qixia Temple it was built in AD 601. The Sarira pagoda looks really cool and the whole temple does too. My next stop is a bixie sculpture at Xiao Xiu’s tomb it was built in AD 518. The stone sculpture of the southern dynasties is considered as the cities icon. I thought it was superb but it was just a statue. Now I am eating lunch at my friends house it is just as good as the food before because of obvious reasons. It is because of the economy uplift and the agriculture blah blah blah. After I eat I will then have to go home. It is sad but now it is time to go back to America. My travels have been fun. Puff the magic dragon leaving.

Yuan Dynasty Puppet Pilgrimage Blog Post #3

I am Puff the magic dragon and this is my 3rd journal entry. I am traveling up a portion of the Yangtze River to see the sights and learn new things. Right now I am walking all the way to Nanjing, from Shanghai. I know it seems like a long way but I am ready for it plus it will give me time to think. If my calculations are right then I will arrive in Nanjing in 6 days. It is morning now so I shall leave. I will sadly not be walking up the river for time reasons but I will see it once I get to Nanjing. On my way I will see people who trade. First I am traveling to Kunshan, when I get there I will stay where I can. I think there will plenty of places to stay because of the advances in economy that were made. The next day I will walk to Suzhou, I can only stop for one night though. I would kind of like to stay longer to understand the culture. But I can’t I must make it to Nanjing. My only problem is money I may not have enough to make it all of the to Nanjing because everything is more expensive to the rich. I guess I’m rich. Did you know they started printing paper money? It is so cool. My next stop will be Wuxi. I will try to be cheap on wear I stay. Then I will go to Changzhou by then my feet will probably be killing me. But I have to push on because I want to see Nanjing. My final stop before I go to Nanjing will be in Danyang it will be the longest walk yet. It will be probably more than a full day. I am so excited. I shall arrive in Nanjing on the sixth night with practically no money. But I do have a place to stay, with an old friend from America. Now I must start my very long journey to Nanjing!

All About Daily Life (Puppets Pilgrimage)

Daily Life:

First of all, we are going to talk about the rich people. The main part of a wealthy Mongol woman’s dress was the tall “gugu” headdress. It was usually worn with a fancy robe also with shiny bands at the neck and wrists. An assistant carried these for the rich Mongol women. At court, they also wore less fancy things like decorated overcoats. Now, on to the men. They would wear a signature garment with cummerbund waist. They were made of fabrics associated with specific ethnic groups. For special events, they would wear robes usually of cloth of gold, also called nasij, and had pearls and expensive stones. On casual days, men would wear less formal long garments with colorful badges on their chest and back. Also causal everyday belts for activities such as hunting. Chinese theater developed the most in the Yuan Dynasty. There were short plays, skits, and monologues. They Yuan Dynasty drama become a very popular and well seen form of entertainment. Being social was a big part of daily life in China in the Yuan Dynasty. Because the Chinese emperor was from Mongolia, Mongols were always high up in the social class. I want to be at the top of the social class too! At the second social class level were foreigners and people with government jobs. At the bottom were architects, military engineers, poets, musicians, etc. Dinner was the most important meal of the day for the Yuan people. They sat at a round table with a round bowl in the center. I guess they like round stuff! The bowl had boiling water that they would all dip pieces of mutton and vegetables in the water in the round bowl until the mutton and vegetable were fully cooked. Sounds like fondue! It is interesting to compare our daily life to theirs!    

-Karliel/Karl