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Met Museum Explores 'The World of Khubilai Khan'

A new exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum makes it easy to see why Marco Polo and other early European traders were dazzled by the treasures they saw in China.

"The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty" opens on Tuesday with an exhibit of 200 artifacts, most of them on loan from China.

Many of these treasures have never been exhibited before outside of China, including the 7-foot carved stone post which is the only architectural remnant from Xanadu, the palace immortalized in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan.”

The Met's show runs until January 2.

Khubilai Khan as the First Yuan Emperor, Shizu | Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
Khubilai Khan as the First Yuan Emperor, Shizu | Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum)
Cup and saucer | Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
Cup and saucer | Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum)
Arhat | Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
Arhat | Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum)
Lions with Palmettes | Central Asia, 13th century or earlier
Lions with Palmettes | Central Asia, 13th century or earlier (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum)
Khubilai Khan’s Consort, Chabi | Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
Khubilai Khan’s Consort, Chabi | Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum)
Noble Horse | Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
Noble Horse | Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum)
Model of a stage with five actors | Jin dynasty (1115-1234)
Model of a stage with five actors | Jin dynasty (1115-1234) (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum)
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in Water-Moon Manifestation | Yuan (1271-1368)-Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in Water-Moon Manifestation | Yuan (1271-1368)-Ming dynasty (1368-1644) (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum)
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