Marco Polo e la 'grant peitere' per il vino del Gran Can

In 1298 Marco Polo (Devisement dou monde, LXXXV 11–12) described a jar distributing wine to guests at Qubilai’s court in Dadu (present Beijing). This object was also noticed by the Franciscan friar Odoric from Pordenone in the palace of Tëmur around 1325. The Minor Friar noted with amazement a huge tank located in the middle of the most important hall of the palace, which was called “Sea of jade”. This statement allows us to identify the object described by Odoric as the container erected by Qubilai in 1266, to hold the wine for the court and which was then placed in the so–called “Hall of the Moon”. The latter is named by Chinese sources Dushan dayuhai “The Big Jade–Sea of Du mountains”. It is interesting to compare Marco Polo’s and Odoric’s description of the jade tank, with the account reported by the Yuanshi.