Odoric of Pordenone (c. 1275/85-1331), a Franciscan friar and one of the chief travelers to Asia during the later Middle Ages, traveled between 1314/131899 ab 1330 to the "eastern parts of the world" (orientalium partium), and on the return journey he may have visited Tibet (or some of its outlying areas). After his return in 1330, he dictated an account of his travels, which soon became a best-seller. Since it included many descriptions and facts not mentioned in Marco Polo´s "Il Milione", the text became an important source both for the fictious account of "John Mandeville" and the famous Catalan Atlas of 1375. There are many mysteries about Odoric and his travels, including some doubt as to whether he was actually in China. In addition, very little is known about his missionary activities in China and about his journey back to Europe. One of the everlasting questions is: Was he really in Tibet, as mentioned in his account?
The present text commemorates P. István Jaschkó (aka. Stephen Jaschko), a Slovak-born Hungarian missionary in China and Taiwan, who has died in March 2009 in Taipei at the age of almost 98 years. He came to China in 1936 with the largest group of Hungarian missionaries, but after the Communist take-over, he and his fellow missionaries were expelled in 1955. Then he came, via Hong Kong, to Taiwan. There he has consecrated more than fifty years to the cure of mentally and physically disabled children, for whom he has initiated centers of care in several cities in Taiwan.