Everything about The Yuan Dynasty totally explained
The
Yuan Dynasty (;
pinyin: Yuáncháo; ) was a dynasty founded by the
Mongols that ruled
China,
Mongolia and some adjacent territories from
1271 to
1368. In
Chinese history, the Yuan Dynasty followed the
Song Dynasty and preceded the
Ming Dynasty. The dynasty was established by
Kublai Khan, although Kublai Khan had his grandfather
Genghis Khan placed on the official record as the founder of the dynasty. Kublai Khan had also claimed the title of
Khagan or Great Khan, for example supremacy over the other Mongol khanates (
Chagatai Khanate,
Golden Horde,
Ilkhanate), however this claim was only really recognized by the Il-Khanids.
Yuan Dynasty
Kublai Khan and Ariq Boke
In 1259 the Great Khan
Möngke died while
Kublai Khan, his brother, was campaigning against the
Song empire and
Ariq Boke, his other brother commanded the Mongol homelands. After Möngke's demise, Ariq Boke decided to attempt to make himself Khan. Hearing of this, Kublai aborted his Chinese expedition and had himself elected as Khan in April of 1260. Still, Ariq Boke had his supporters and was elected as a rival khan to Kublai at
Karakorum, then the capital of
Mongol Empire. The brothers then engaged in a series of battles, ending with Ariq Boke's capture in 1264. Kublai held him prisoner until he died two years later. The khans of the
Golden Horde and of the
Chagatai Khanate didn't recognize Kublai khan as the great khan. The conflict between Kublai Khan and the khanates in
Central Asia led by
Kaidu (Qaidu) had lasted for a few decades, until the beginning of the 14th century, when both of them had died.
Hülegü, another brother of Kublai khan, ruled his
Ilkhanate and paid homage to the Great khan but actually established a separate khanate, and in 1295,
Ilkhan Ghazan was converted to Islam and renounced all allegiance to the Great Khan. The four major successor khanates never came again under one rule.
Rule of Kublai Khan
After winning the war against Ariq Boke, Kublai Khan began his reign over his
khanate with great aspirations and self-confidence — in
1266 he ordered the construction of his new capital at the modern city of
Beijing. The city had been called Zhongdu (lit. "Central Capital") during the
Jin Dynasty, and in 1272 it came to be known as
Dadu ("Great Capital") in Chinese, Daidu to the Mongols, and Khanbalikh ("City of the Khans") to the Turks. Kublai began his drive against the
Southern Song who were finally defeated in 1279. In
1271 he established the Yuan Dynasty, which wold proceed to be the first non-Han dynasty to rule all of China. Its official title, Da Yuan ("Great Yuan"), originates from
I Ching, "大哉乾元" (da zai qian yuan). Yuan is the first
dynasty in China to use Da ("Great") in its official title.
In
1272, Dadu officially became the capital of the Yuan Dynasty. In
1279,
Guangzhou was conquered by the Yuan army led by the Chinese general
Zhang Hongfan in
Battle of Yamen, which marks the end of the Southern Song and the onset of China under the Yuan. During Kublai Khan's reign he was put under pressure by many of his advisers to further expand the territory of the Yuan through the traditional
Sinocentric tributary system. However, they were rebuffed and expeditions to
Japan (twice),
Myanmar,
Vietnam (twice during Kublai's rule), and
Java, would all later fail (see
Mongol invasions of Japan,
Mongol invasions of Vietnam).
Kublai Khan's early rule involved widespread plunder. As if expecting to lose the country, the Mongols attempted to remove as much money and resources as was possible. The Mongol conquest never affected China's trade with other countries. In fact the Yuan Dynasty strongly supported the Silk Road trade network, allowing the transfer of Chinese technologies to the west. Though many reforms were made during Kublai Khan's life, and despite his notable warming to the populace, the Yuan was a relatively short lived dynasty.
Kublai Khan began to serve as a true emperor, reforming much of China and its institutions, a process that would take decades to complete. For example, he consolidated his rule by centralizing the government of China — making himself (unlike his predecessors) an
absolute monarch. He reformed many other governmental and economic institutions, especially the tax system. Although the Yuan rulers sought to govern China through traditional institutions, using
Han Chinese bureaucrats, they were not up to the task initially. The Hans were discriminated against politically. Almost all important central posts were monopolized by Mongols, who also preferred employing non-Hans from other parts of the Mongol domain in those positions for which no Mongol could be found. Hans were more often employed in non-Chinese regions of the empire. In essence, society was divided into four classes in order of privilege: Mongols, "Color-eyed" (Central Asians, mostly Uyghurs and Tibetans), Han (Han Chinese in northern China, Manchus, and Jurchens), and Southerners (Han Chinese within Southern Song and other ethnic groups). During his lifetime, Kublai Khan built the capital of the Yuan,
Dadu, which is present-day Beijing, and made
Shangdu ("Upper Capital", known to
Marco Polo as Xanadu) the summer capital. He also improved the agriculture of China, extending the Grand Canal, highways and public granaries. Marco Polo described his rule as benevolent: relieving the populace of taxes in times of hardship; building hospitals and orphanages; distributing food among the abjectly poor. He also promoted science and religion.
Like other emperors of non-Han dynasties, Kublai Khan considered himself a legitimate Chinese emperor. While he'd nominal rule over the rest of the Mongol Empire, his interest was clearly in China. From the beginning of his reign, the other three khanates of the Mongol Empire became de facto independent and only one recognized him as
Khagan. By the time of Kublai Khan’s death in
1294, the Mongol Empire had broken up into four independent Khanates, with Yuan Dynasty being one of them.
Early rule
Succession was a problem for the Yuan Dynasty, later causing much strife and internal struggle. This emerged as early as the end of Kublai's reign. His original choice was his son,
Zhenjin — but he died before Kublai in
1285. Thus, Zhenjin's son ruled as
Emperor Chengzong for approximately 10 years following Kublai's death (between
1294 and
1307). Chengzong decided to maintain and continue much of the work begun by his grandfather. However, the corruption in the Yuan Dynasty began during the reign of Chengzong.
Wuzong became
Emperor of China after the death of Chengzong. Unlike his predecessor, he didn't continue Kublai's work, but largely rejected it. During his short reign (
1307 to
1311), China fell into financial difficulties, partly due to bad decisions made by Wuzong. By the time he died, China was in severe debt and the Yuan Dynasty faced popular discontent.
The fourth Yuan emperor,
Renzong is seen as the last competent emperor. He stood out among the Mongol rulers of China as an adopter of mainstream
Chinese culture, to the discontent of some Mongol elite. He had been mentored by
Li Meng, a
Confucian academic. He made many reforms, including the liquidation of the Department of State Affairs (resulting in the execution of 5 of the highest ranking officials). Starting in
1313 examinations were introduced for prospective officials, testing their knowledge on significant historical works. Also, he codified much of the law.
Impact
A rich cultural diversity developed during the Yuan dynasty. The major cultural achievements were the development of
drama and the
novel and the increased use of the
written vernacular. The political unity of China and much of central Asia promoted trade between East and West. The Mongols' extensive West Asian and European contacts produced a fair amount of cultural exchange.
Western musical instruments were introduced to enrich the Chinese performing arts. From this period dates the conversion to
Islam, by Muslims of Central Asia, of growing numbers of Chinese in the northwest and southwest.
Nestorianism and
Roman Catholicism also enjoyed a period of toleration.
Tibetan Buddhism flourished, although native
Taoism endured Mongol persecutions.
Confucian governmental practices and examinations based on the
Classics, which had fallen into disuse in north China during the period of disunity, were reinstated by the Mongols in the hope of maintaining order over Han society. Advances were realized in the fields of travel literature,
cartography,
geography, and scientific education.
Certain Chinese innovations and products, such as purified
saltpetre, printing techniques,
porcelain,
playing cards and medical literature, were exported to Europe and Western Asia, while the production of thin
glass and
cloisonné became popular in China.
The first recorded travels by Europeans to China and back date from this time. The most famous traveler of the period was the
Venetian Marco Polo, whose account of his trip to "Cambaluc," the Great Khan's capital, and of life there astounded the people of Europe. The account of his travels,
Il milione (or,
The Million, known in English as the
Travels of Marco Polo), appeared about the year 1299.
The Mongols undertook extensive public works. Road and water communications were reorganized and improved. To provide against possible famines,
granaries were ordered built throughout the empire. The city of Beijing was rebuilt with new palace grounds that included artificial lakes, hills and mountains, and parks. During the Yuan period, Beijing became the terminus of the
Grand Canal of China, which was completely renovated. These commercially oriented improvements encouraged overland and maritime commerce throughout
Asia and facilitated direct Chinese contacts with Europe. Chinese travelers to the West were able to provide assistance in such areas as hydraulic engineering. Contacts with the West also brought the introduction to China of a major food crop,
sorghum, along with other foreign food products and methods of preparation.
Downfall
Civil unrest
The last years of the Yuan Dynasty were marked by struggle, famine, and bitterness among the populace. The dynasty was, significantly, one of the shortest-lived dynasties in the
history of China, covering just a century,
1271 to
1368. In time, Kublai Khan's successors became
sinicized, then lost all influence on other Mongol lands across Asia, while the Mongols beyond the Middle Kingdom saw them as too Chinese. Gradually, they lost influence in China as well. The reigns of the later Yuan emperors were short and were marked by intrigues and rivalries. Uninterested in administration, they were separated from both the army and the populace. China was torn by dissension and unrest;
outlaws ravaged the country without interference from the weakening Yuan armies.
Emperor Yingzong ruled for just two years (
1321 to
1323); his rule ended in a
coup at the hands of five princes. They placed
Taidingdi on the throne, and, after an unsuccessful attempt to calm the princes, he also succumbed to
regicide. The last of the nine successors of Kublai Khan was expelled from Dadu (present-day Beijing) in 1368 by
Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the
Míng Dynasty (1368–1644).
Basalawarmi established a separate pocket of resistance to the Ming in
Yunnan and
Guizhou, but his forces were decisively defeated by the Ming in 1381.
Northern Yuan
The Mongols retreated to Mongolia, where the Yuan Dynasty was formally carried on. It is now called the
Northern Yuan by modern historians. According to Chinese political orthodoxy, there could be only one legitimate empire, and so the Ming and the Yuan denied each other's legitimacy. (The Ming did consider the previous Yuan which it had succeeded a legitimate dynasty, however.) Historians generally regard the
Míng Dynasty as the legitimate dynasty.
The Ming army invaded Mongolia in 1380 and won a decisive victory in 1388. About 70,000 Mongols were taken prisoners, and
Karakorum (the Northern Yuan capital) was destroyed. Eight years later, the Northern Yuan throne was taken over by
Yesüder, a descendant of
Arigh Bugha, instad of the descendants of
Kublai Khan. The following centuries saw a succession of Chinggisid rulers, many of whom were mere figureheads put on the throne by those warlords who happened to be the most powerful. Periods of conflict with the Ming empire intermingled with periods of peaceful relations with border trade. In 1402,
Örüg Temür Khan (Guilichi) abolished the name Yuan Dynasty; he was however defeated by
Öljei Temür Khan (Bunyashiri) in 1403.
In the 17th century, the Mongols came under the influence of the
Manchu. In 1634,
Ligdan Khan, last Mongol khan of the
Borjigin dynasty, died on his way to
Tibet. His son,
Ejei Khan, surrendered to the Manchu and gave the great seal of the Yuan Emperor to its ruler,
Hong Taiji. As a result, Hong Taiji established the
Qing Dynasty as the successor of the Yuan Dynasty in 1636. (Some sources such as
Encyclopædia Britannica give the year as 1637).
Further Information
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