东西方知识的交汇：和德理所记元代矮人传说 (The Confluence of Eastern and Western Knowledge: The Myth of the Pygmies in Yuan China Related by Odorico da Pordenone)

Odorico da Pordenone, as one of the earliest European travelers to China, reached the Yuan Dynasty in the 1320s. His travel account Relatio is an important testimony in the history of Sino-Western exchanges. Compared with other travelogues of the Middle Ages, the oriental knowledge transmitted by Odorico has a unique value in combining historical facts and accounts at the confluence of Eastern and Western traditions. A typical example is Odorico’s narrative of the Pygmies in south China. It blends Eastern and Western sources, which can be confirmed respectively in Chinese and Western classical and medieval literatures. Odorico’s attitude towards reality is completely different from the usual medieval European image of the Orient. It is the forerunner of the modern worldview.