The Yuan dynasty (; Chinese: 元朝; pinyin:
Yuán Cháo), officially the Great Yuan (Chinese:
大元; pinyin: Dà Yuán; Yehe Yuan Ulus),
was the empire or ruling dynasty of China
established by Kublai Khan, leader of the
Mongolian Borjigin clan. It followed the Song
dynasty and preceded the Ming dynasty. Although
the Mongols had ruled territories including
modern-day North China for decades, it was
not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially
proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional
Chinese style, and the conquest was not complete
until 1279. His realm was, by this point,
isolated from the other khanates and controlled
most of modern-day China and its surrounding
areas, including modern Mongolia. It was the
first foreign dynasty to rule all of China
and lasted until 1368, after which the rebuked
Genghisid rulers retreated to their Mongolian
homeland and continued to rule the Northern
Yuan dynasty. Some of the Mongolian Emperors
of the Yuan mastered the Chinese language,
while others only used their native language
(i.e. Mongolian) and the 'Phags-pa script.The
Yuan dynasty was the khanate ruled by the
successors of Möngke Khan after the division
of the Mongol Empire. In official Chinese
histories, the Yuan dynasty bore the Mandate
of Heaven. The dynasty was established by
Kublai Khan, yet he placed his grandfather
Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the
official founder of the dynasty as Taizu.
In the Proclamation of the Dynastic Name,
Kublai announced the name of the new dynasty
as Great Yuan and claimed the succession of
former Chinese dynasties from the Three Sovereigns
and Five Emperors to the Tang dynasty.In addition
to Emperor of China, Kublai Khan also claimed
the title of Great Khan, supreme over the
other successor khanates: the Chagatai, the
Golden Horde, and the Ilkhanate. As such,
the Yuan was also sometimes referred to as
the Empire of the Great Khan. However, while
the claim of supremacy by the Yuan emperors
was at times recognized by the western khans,
their subservience was nominal and each continued
its own separate development.
== Name ==
In 1271, Kublai Khan imposed the name Great
Yuan (Chinese: 大元; pinyin: Dà Yuán;
Wade–Giles: Ta-Yüan), establishing the
Yuan dynasty. "Dà Yuán" (大元) is from
the clause "大哉乾元" (dà zai Qián Yuán
/ "Great is Qián, the Primal") in the Commentaries
on the Classic of Changes section regarding
the first hexagram Qián (乾) The counterpart
in the Mongolian language was Dai Ön Ulus,
also rendered as Ikh Yuan Üls or Yekhe Yuan
Ulus. In Mongolian, Dai Ön (Great Yuan) is
often used in conjunction with the "Yeke Mongghul
Ulus" (lit. "Great Mongol State"), resulting
in Dai Ön Yeke Mongghul Ulus (Mongolian script:
), meaning "Great Mongol State". The Yuan
dynasty is also known by westerners as the
"Mongol dynasty" or "Mongol Dynasty of China",
similar to the names "Manchu dynasty" or "Manchu
Dynasty of China" which were used by westerners
for the Qing dynasty. Furthermore, the Yuan
is sometimes known as the "Empire of the Great
Khan" or "Khanate of the Great Khan", which
particularly appeared on some Yuan maps, since
Yuan emperors held the nominal title of Great
Khan. Nevertheless, both terms can also refer
to the khanate within the Mongol Empire directly
ruled by Great Khans before the actual establishment
of the Yuan dynasty by Kublai Khan in 1271.
== History ==
=== Background ===
Genghis Khan united the Mongol tribes of the
steppes and became Great Khan in 1206. He
and his successors expanded the Mongol empire
across Asia. Under the reign of Genghis' third
son, Ögedei Khan, the Mongols destroyed the
weakened Jin dynasty in 1234, conquering most
of northern China. Ögedei offered his nephew
Kublai a position in Xingzhou, Hebei. Kublai
was unable to read Chinese but had several
Han teachers attached to him since his early
years by his mother Sorghaghtani. He sought
the counsel of Chinese Buddhist and Confucian
advisers. Möngke Khan succeeded Ögedei's
son, Güyük, as Great Khan in 1251. He granted
his brother Kublai control over Mongol held
territories in China. Kublai built schools
for Confucian scholars, issued paper money,
revived Chinese rituals, and endorsed policies
that stimulated agricultural and commercial
growth. He adopted as his capital city Kaiping
in Inner Mongolia, later renamed Shangdu.
Many Han Chinese and Khitan defected to the
Mongols to fight against the Jin. Two Han
Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima (劉黑馬,
Liu Ni), and the Khitan Xiao Zhala (蕭札剌)
defected and commanded the 3 Tumens in the
Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served
Ogödei Khan. Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang
led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols.
There were 4 Han Tumens and 3 Khitan Tumens,
with each Tumen consisting of 10,000 troops.
The three Khitan Generals Shimobeidier (石抹孛迭兒),
Tabuyir (塔不已兒) and Xiaozhacizhizizhongxi
(蕭札刺之子重喜) commanded the three
Khitan Tumens and the four Han Generals Zhang
Rou, Yan Shi, Shi Tianze, and Liu Heima commanded
the four Han tumens under Ogödei Khan.Shi
Tianze was a Han Chinese who lived in the
Jin dynasty. Interethnic marriage between
Han and Jurchen became common at this time.
His father was Shi Bingzhi (史秉直, Shih
Ping-chih). Shi Bingzhi was married to a Jurchen
woman (surname Na-ho) and a Han Chinese woman
(surname Chang); it is unknown which of them
was Shi Tianze's mother. Shi Tianze was married
to two Jurchen women, a Han Chinese woman,
and a Korean woman, and his son Shi Gang was
born to one of his Jurchen wives. The surnames
of his Jurchen wives were Mo-nien and Na-ho;
the surname of his Korean wife was Li; and
the surname of his Han Chinese wife was Shi.
Shi Tianze defected to Mongol forces upon
their invasion of the Jin dynasty. His son
Shi Gang married a Kerait woman; the Kerait
were Mongolified Turkic people and were considered
part of the "Mongol nation". Shi Tianze (Shih
T'ien-tse), Zhang Rou (Chang Jou, 張柔),
and Yan Shi (Yen Shih, 嚴實) and other high
ranking Chinese who served in the Jin dynasty
and defected to the Mongols helped build the
structure for the administration of the new
state. Chagaan (Tsagaan) and Zhang Rou jointly
launched an attack on the Song dynasty ordered
by Töregene Khatun.
Möngke Khan commenced a military campaign
against the Chinese Song dynasty in southern
China. The Mongol force that invaded southern
China was far greater than the force they
sent to invade the Middle East in 1256. He
died in 1259 without a successor. Kublai returned
from fighting the Song in 1260 when he learned
that his brother, Ariq Böke, was challenging
his claim to the throne. Kublai convened a
kurultai in Kaiping that elected him Great
Khan. A rival kurultai in Mongolia proclaimed
Ariq Böke Great Khan, beginning a civil war.
Kublai depended on the cooperation of his
Chinese subjects to ensure that his army received
ample resources. He bolstered his popularity
among his subjects by modeling his government
on the bureaucracy of traditional Chinese
dynasties and adopting the Chinese era name
of Zhongtong. Ariq Böke was hampered by inadequate
supplies and surrendered in 1264. All of the
three western khanates (Golden Horde, Chagatai
Khanate and Ilkhanate) became functionally
autonomous, although only the Ilkhans truly
recognized Kublai as Great Khan. Civil strife
had permanently divided the Mongol Empire.
=== Rule of Kublai Khan ===
==== Early years ====
Instability troubled the early years of Kublai
Khan's reign. Ögedei's grandson Kaidu refused
to submit to Kublai and threatened the western
frontier of Kublai's domain. The hostile but
weakened Song dynasty remained an obstacle
in the south. Kublai secured the northeast
border in 1259 by installing the hostage prince
Wonjong as the ruler of Korea, making it a
Mongol tributary state. Kublai was also threatened
by domestic unrest. Li Tan, the son-in-law
of a powerful official, instigated a revolt
against Mongol rule in 1262. After successfully
suppressing the revolt, Kublai curbed the
influence of the Han advisers in his court.
He feared that his dependence on Chinese officials
left him vulnerable to future revolts and
defections to the Song.Kublai's government
after 1262 was a compromise between preserving
Mongol interests in China and satisfying the
demands of his Chinese subjects. He instituted
the reforms proposed by his Chinese advisers
by centralizing the bureaucracy, expanding
the circulation of paper money, and maintaining
the traditional monopolies on salt and iron.
He restored the Imperial Secretariat and left
the local administrative structure of past
Chinese dynasties unchanged. However, Kublai
rejected plans to revive the Confucian imperial
examinations and divided Yuan society into
three, later four, classes with the Han occupying
the lowest rank. Kublai's Chinese advisers
still wielded significant power in the government,
but their official rank was nebulous.
==== Founding the dynasty ====
Kublai readied the move of the Mongol capital
from Karakorum in Mongolia to Khanbaliq in
1264, constructing a new city near the former
Jurchen capital Zhongdu, now modern Beijing,
in 1266. In 1271, Kublai formally claimed
the Mandate of Heaven and declared that 1272
was the first year of the Great Yuan (Chinese:
大元) in the style of a traditional Chinese
dynasty. The name of the dynasty originated
from the I Ching and describes the "origin
of the universe" or a "primal force". Kublai
proclaimed Khanbaliq the "Great Capital" or
Daidu (Dadu, Chinese: 大都 in Chinese) of
the dynasty. The era name was changed to Zhiyuan
to herald a new era of Chinese history. The
adoption of a dynastic name legitimized Mongol
rule by integrating the government into the
narrative of traditional Chinese political
succession. Khublai evoked his public image
as a sage emperor by following the rituals
of Confucian propriety and ancestor veneration,
while simultaneously retaining his roots as
a leader from the steppes.Kublai Khan promoted
commercial, scientific, and cultural growth.
He supported the merchants of the Silk Road
trade network by protecting the Mongol postal
system, constructing infrastructure, providing
loans that financed trade caravans, and encouraging
the circulation of paper banknotes (鈔, Chao).
During the beginning of the Yuan dynasty,
the Mongols continued issuing coins; however,
under Külüg Khan coins were completely replaced
by paper money. It wasn't until the reign
of Toghon Temür that the government of the
Yuan dynasty would attempt to reintroduce
copper coinage for circulation.. Pax Mongolica,
Mongol peace, enabled the spread of technologies,
commodities, and culture between China and
the West. Kublai expanded the Grand Canal
from southern China to Daidu in the north.
Mongol rule was cosmopolitan under Kublai
Khan. He welcomed foreign visitors to his
court, such as the Venetian merchant Marco
Polo, who wrote the most influential European
account of Yuan China. Marco Polo's travels
would later inspire many others like Christopher
Columbus to chart a passage to the Far East
in search of its legendary wealth.
==== Military conquests and campaigns ====
After strengthening his government in northern
China, Kublai pursued an expansionist policy
in line with the tradition of Mongol and Chinese
imperialism. He renewed a massive drive against
the Song dynasty to the south. Kublai besieged
Xiangyang between 1268 and 1273, the last
obstacle in his way to capture the rich Yangzi
River basin. An unsuccessful naval expedition
was undertaken against Japan in 1274. Kublai
captured the Song capital of Hangzhou in 1276,
the wealthiest city of China. Song loyalists
escaped from the capital and enthroned a young
child as Emperor Bing of Song. The Mongols
defeated the loyalists at the battle of Yamen
in 1279. The last Song emperor drowned, bringing
an end to the Song dynasty. The conquest of
the Song reunited northern and southern China
for the first time in three hundred years.The
Yuan dynasty created a "Han Army" (漢軍)
out of defected Jin troops and an army of
defected Song troops called the "Newly Submitted
Army" (新附軍).Kublai's government faced
financial difficulties after 1279. Wars and
construction projects had drained the Mongol
treasury. Efforts to raise and collect tax
revenues were plagued by corruption and political
scandals. Mishandled military expeditions
followed the financial problems. Kublai's
second invasion of Japan in 1281 failed because
of an inauspicious typhoon. Kublai botched
his campaigns against Annam, Champa, and Java,
but won a Pyrrhic victory against Burma. The
expeditions were hampered by disease, an inhospitable
climate, and a tropical terrain unsuitable
for the mounted warfare of the Mongols. The
Trần dynasty which ruled Annam (Đại Việt)
defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Bạch
Đằng (1288). Annam, Burma, and Champa recognized
Mongol hegemony and established tributary
relations with the Yuan dynasty.Internal strife
threatened Kublai within his empire. Kublai
Khan suppressed rebellions challenging his
rule in Tibet and the northeast. His favorite
wife died in 1281 and so did his chosen heir
in 1285. Kublai grew despondent and retreated
from his duties as emperor. He fell ill in
1293, and died on 18 February 1294.
=== Successors after Kublai ===
==== Temür Khan ====
Following the conquest of Dali in 1253, the
former ruling Duan dynasty were appointed
as Maharajah. Local chieftains were appointed
as Tusi, recognized as imperial officials
by the Yuan, Ming, and Qing-era governments,
principally in the province of Yunnan. Succession
for the Yuan dynasty, however, was an intractable
problem, later causing much strife and internal
struggle. This emerged as early as the end
of Kublai's reign. Kublai originally named
his eldest son, Zhenjin, as the Crown Prince,
but he died before Kublai in 1285. Thus, Zhenjin's
third son, with the support of his mother
Kökejin and the minister Bayan, succeeded
the throne and ruled as Temür Khan, or Emperor
Chengzong, from 1294 to 1307. Temür Khan
decided to maintain and continue much of the
work begun by his grandfather. He also made
peace with the western Mongol khanates as
well as neighboring countries such as Vietnam,
which recognized his nominal suzerainty and
paid tributes for a few decades. However,
the corruption in the Yuan dynasty began during
the reign of Temür Khan.
==== Külüg Khan ====
Külüg Khan (Emperor Wuzong) came to the
throne after the death of Temür Khan. Unlike
his predecessor, he did not continue Kublai's
work, largely rejecting his objectives. Most
significantly he introduced a policy called
"New Deals", focused on monetary reforms.
During his short reign (1307–11), the government
fell into financial difficulties, partly due
to bad decisions made by Külüg. By the time
he died, China was in severe debt and the
Yuan court faced popular discontent.
==== Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan ====
The fourth Yuan emperor, Buyantu Khan (Ayurbarwada),
was a competent emperor. He was the first
Yuan emperor to actively support and adopt
mainstream Chinese culture after the reign
of Kublai, 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 (Chinese: 尚書省), which
resulted in the execution of five of the highest-ranking
officials. Starting in 1313 the traditional
imperial examinations were reintroduced for
prospective officials, testing their knowledge
on significant historical works. Also, he
codified much of the law, as well as publishing
or translating a number of Chinese books and
works.
==== Gegeen Khan and Yesün Temür ====
Emperor Gegeen Khan, Ayurbarwada's son and
successor, ruled for only two years, from
1321 to 1323. He continued his father's policies
to reform the government based on the Confucian
principles, with the help of his newly appointed
grand chancellor Baiju. During his reign,
the Da Yuan Tong Zhi (Chinese: 大元通制,
"the comprehensive institutions of the Great
Yuan"), a huge collection of codes and regulations
of the Yuan dynasty begun by his father, was
formally promulgated. Gegeen was assassinated
in a coup involving five princes from a rival
faction, perhaps steppe elite opposed to Confucian
reforms. They placed Yesün Temür (or Taidingdi)
on the throne, and, after an unsuccessful
attempt to calm the princes, he also succumbed
to regicide.
Before Yesün Temür's reign, China had been
relatively free from popular rebellions after
the reign of Kublai. Yuan control, however,
began to break down in those regions inhabited
by ethnic minorities. The occurrence of these
revolts and the subsequent suppression aggravated
the financial difficulties of the Yuan government.
The government had to adopt some measure to
increase revenue, such as selling offices,
as well as curtailing its spending on some
items.
==== Jayaatu Khan Tugh Temür ====
When Yesün Temür died in Shangdu in 1328,
Tugh Temür was recalled to Khanbaliq by the
Qipchaq commander El Temür. He was installed
as the emperor (Emperor Wenzong) in Khanbaliq,
while Yesün Temür's son Ragibagh succeeded
to the throne in Shangdu with the support
of Yesün Temür's favorite retainer Dawlat
Shah. Gaining support from princes and officers
in Northern China and some other parts of
the dynasty, Khanbaliq-based Tugh Temür eventually
won the civil war against Ragibagh known as
the War of the Two Capitals. Afterwards, Tugh
Temür abdicated in favour of his brother
Kusala, who was backed by Chagatai Khan Eljigidey,
and announced Khanbaliq's intent to welcome
him. However, Kusala suddenly died only four
days after a banquet with Tugh Temür. He
was supposedly killed with poison by El Temür,
and Tugh Temür then remounted the throne.
Tugh Temür also managed to send delegates
to the western Mongol khanates such as Golden
Horde and Ilkhanate to be accepted as the
suzerain of Mongol world. However, he was
mainly a puppet of the powerful official El
Temür during his latter three-year reign.
El Temür purged pro-Kusala officials and
brought power to warlords, whose despotic
rule clearly marked the decline of the dynasty.
Due to the fact that the bureaucracy was dominated
by El Temür, Tugh Temür is known for his
cultural contribution instead. He adopted
many measures honoring Confucianism and promoting
Chinese cultural values. His most concrete
effort to patronize Chinese learning was founding
the Academy of the Pavilion of the Star of
Literature (Chinese: 奎章閣學士院),
first established in the spring of 1329 and
designed to undertake "a number of tasks relating
to the transmission of Confucian high culture
to the Mongolian imperial establishment".
The academy was responsible for compiling
and publishing a number of books, but its
most important achievement was its compilation
of a vast institutional compendium named Jingshi
Dadian (Chinese: 經世大典). Tugh Temür
supported Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism and also
devoted himself in Buddhism.
==== Toghon Temür ====
After the death of Tugh Temür in 1332 and
subsequent death of Rinchinbal (Emperor Ningzong)
the same year, the 13-year-old Toghun Temür
(Emperor Huizong), the last of the nine successors
of Kublai Khan, was summoned back from Guangxi
and succeeded to the throne. After El Temür's
death, Bayan became as powerful an official
as El Temür had been in the beginning of
his long reign. As Toghun Temür grew, he
came to disapprove of Bayan's autocratic rule.
In 1340 he allied himself with Bayan's nephew
Toqto'a, who was in discord with Bayan, and
banished Bayan by coup. With the dismissal
of Bayan, Toqto'a seized the power of the
court. His first administration clearly exhibited
fresh new spirit. He also gave a few early
signs of a new and positive direction in central
government. One of his successful projects
was to finish the long-stalled official histories
of the Liao, Jin, and Song dynasties, which
were eventually completed in 1345. Yet, Toqto'a
resigned his office with the approval of Toghun
Temür, marking the end of his first administration,
and he was not called back until 1349.
=== Decline of the empire ===
The final years of the Yuan dynasty were marked
by struggle, famine, and bitterness among
the populace. In time, Kublai Khan's successors
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 marked by intrigues and rivalries. Uninterested
in administration, they were separated from
both the army and the populace, and China
was torn by dissension and unrest. Outlaws
ravaged the country without interference from
the weakening Yuan armies.
From the late 1340s onwards, people in the
countryside suffered from frequent natural
disasters such as droughts, floods and the
resulting famines, and the government's lack
of effective policy led to a loss of popular
support. In 1351, the Red Turban Rebellion
started and grew into a nationwide uprising.
In 1354, when Toghtogha led a large army to
crush the Red Turban rebels, Toghun Temür
suddenly dismissed him for fear of betrayal.
This resulted in Toghun Temür's restoration
of power on the one hand and a rapid weakening
of the central government on the other. He
had no choice but to rely on local warlords'
military power, and gradually lost his interest
in politics and ceased to intervene in political
struggles. He fled north to Shangdu from Khanbaliq
(present-day Beijing) in 1368 after the approach
of the forces of the Míng dynasty (1368–1644),
founded by Zhu Yuanzhang in the south. He
had tried to regain Khanbaliq, which eventually
failed; he died in Yingchang (located in present-day
Inner Mongolia) two years later (1370). Yingchang
was seized by the Ming shortly after his death.
Some royal family members still lived in Henan
today.The Prince of Liang, 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. By
1387 the remaining Yuan forces in Manchuria
under Naghachu had also surrendered to the
Ming dynasty. The Yuan remnants retreated
to Mongolia after the fall of Yingchang to
the Ming in 1370, where the name Great Yuan
(大元) was formally carried on, and is known
as the Northern Yuan dynasty.
== 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. The other cultures and peoples in
the Mongol World Empire also very much influenced
China. It had significantly eased trade and
commerce across Asia until its decline; the
communications between Yuan dynasty and its
ally and subordinate in Persia, the Ilkhanate,
encouraged this development. Buddhism had
a great influence in the Yuan government,
and the Tibetan-rite Tantric Buddhism had
significantly influenced China during this
period. The Muslims of the Yuan dynasty introduced
Middle Eastern cartography, astronomy, medicine,
clothing, and diet in East Asia. Eastern crops
such as carrots, turnips, new varieties of
lemons, eggplants, and melons, high-quality
granulated sugar, and cotton were all either
introduced or successfully popularized during
the Yuan dynasty.Western musical instruments
were introduced to enrich 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. Buddhism (especially
Tibetan Buddhism) flourished, although Taoism
endured certain persecutions in favor of Buddhism
from the Yuan government. 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 Yuan court, probably 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 Yuan exercised
a profound influence on the Chinese Ming dynasty.
The Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (1368–97)
admired the Mongols' unification of China
and adopted its garrison system.Aside from
the ancient Roman embassies, 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 capital
of the Great Khan, 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. Some doubted the accuracy of
Marco Polo's accounts due to the lack of mentioning
the Great Wall of China, tea houses, which
would have been a prominent sight since Europeans
had yet to adopt a tea culture, as well the
practice of foot binding by the women in capital
of the Great Khan. Recent studies however
show that Polo's account are largely accurate
and unique.The Yuan undertook extensive public
works. Among Kublai Khan's top engineers and
scientists was the astronomer Guo Shoujing,
who was tasked with many public works projects
and helped the Yuan reform the lunisolar calendar
to provide an accuracy of 365.2425 days of
the year, which was only 26 seconds off the
modern Gregorian calendar's measurement. 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.
The Yuan dynasty was the first time that non-native
Chinese people ruled all of China. In the
historiography of Mongolia, it is generally
considered to be the continuation of the Mongol
Empire. Mongols are widely known to worship
the Eternal Heaven, and according to the traditional
Mongolian ideology Yuan is considered to be
"the beginning of an infinite number of beings,
the foundation of peace and happiness, state
power, the dream of many peoples, besides
it there is nothing great or precious." In
traditional historiography of China, on the
other hand, the Yuan dynasty is usually considered
to be the legitimate dynasty between the Song
dynasty and the Ming dynasty. Note, however,
Yuan dynasty is traditionally often extended
to cover the Mongol Empire before Kublai Khan's
formal establishment of the Yuan in 1271,
partly because Kublai had his grandfather
Genghis Khan placed on the official record
as the founder of the dynasty or Taizu (Chinese:
太祖). Despite the traditional historiography
as well as the official views (including the
government of the Ming dynasty which overthrew
the Yuan dynasty), there also exist Chinese
people who did not consider the Yuan dynasty
as a legitimate dynasty of China, but rather
as a period of foreign domination. The latter
believe that Hans were treated as second-class
citizens, and that China stagnated economically
and scientifically.
The dynasty chose white as its imperial color,
which corresponds to the Metal element according
to the theory of the Five Elements (wuxing).
Note that the Metal element does not follow
from the Song's dynastic element Five in the
creation sequence of the five elements. Instead,
it follows from the Jin Dynast's dynastic
element Earth. Although the Yuan did not openly
announce it, its choice of white as its imperial
color suggests that it considered Jin, another
conquest dynasty, rather than the Han-Chinese
Song dynasty, as its rightful predecessor.The
dragon clothing of Imperial China was used
by the Ilkhanids, the Chinese Huangdi (Emperor)
title was used by the Ilkhanids due to heavy
clout upon the Mongols of the Chinese system
of politics. Seals with Chinese characters
were created by the Ilkhanids themselves besides
the seals they received from the Yuan dynasty
which contain references to a Chinese government
organization.
== Government ==
The structure of the Yuan government took
shape during the reign of Kublai Khan (1260–1294).
While some changes took place such as the
functions of certain institutions, the essential
components of the government bureaucracy remained
intact from the beginning to the end of the
dynasty in 1368.
The system of bureaucracy created by Kublai
Khan reflected various cultures in the empire,
including that of the Hans, Khitans, Jurchens,
Mongols, and Tibetan Buddhists. While the
official terminology of the institutions may
indicate the government structure was almost
purely that of native Chinese dynasties, the
Yuan bureaucracy actually consisted of a mix
of elements from different cultures. The Chinese-style
elements of the bureaucracy mainly came from
the native Tang, Song, as well as Khitan Liao
and Jurchen Jin dynasties. Chinese advisers
such as Liu Bingzhong and Yao Shu gave strong
influence to Kublai's early court, and the
central government administration was established
within the first decade of Kublai's reign.
This government adopted the traditional Chinese
tripartite division of authority among civil,
military, and censorial offices, including
the Central Secretariat (Zhongshu Sheng) to
manage civil affairs, the Privy Council (pinyin:
shū mì yuàn) to manage military affairs,
and the Censorate to conduct internal surveillance
and inspection. The actual functions of both
central and local government institutions,
however, showed a major overlap between the
civil and military jurisdictions, due to the
Mongol traditional reliance on military institutions
and offices as the core of governance. Nevertheless,
such a civilian bureaucracy, with the Central
Secretariat as the top institution that was
(directly or indirectly) responsible for most
other governmental agencies (such as the traditional
Chinese-style Six Ministries), was created
in China. At various times another central
government institution called the Department
of State Affairs (Shangshu Sheng) that mainly
dealt with finance was established (such as
during the reign of Külüg Khan or Emperor
Wuzong), but was usually abandoned shortly
afterwards.
While the existence of these central government
departments and the Six Ministries (which
had been introduced since the Sui and Tang
dynasties) gave a Sinicized image in the Yuan
administration, the actual functions of these
ministries also reflected how Mongolian priorities
and policies reshaped and redirected those
institutions. For example, the authority of
the Yuan legal system, the Ministry of Justice,
did not extend to legal cases involving Mongols
and Semuren, who had separate courts of justice.
Cases involving members of more than one ethnic
group were decided by a mixed board consisting
of Chinese and Mongols. Another example was
the insignificance of the Ministry of War
compared with native Chinese dynasties, as
the real military authority in Yuan times
resided in the Privy Council.
== Science and technology ==
=== 
Mathematics ===
Advances in polynomial algebra were made by
mathematicians during the Yuan era. The mathematician
Zhu Shijie (1249–1314) solved simultaneous
equations with up to four unknowns using a
rectangular array of coefficients, equivalent
to modern matrices. Zhu used a method of elimination
to reduce the simultaneous equations to a
single equation with only one unknown. His
method is described in the Jade Mirror of
the Four Unknowns, written in 1303. The opening
pages contain a diagram of Pascal's triangle.
The summation of a finite arithmetic series
is also covered in the book.Guo Shoujing applied
mathematics to the construction of calendars.
He was one of the first mathematicians in
China to work on spherical trigonometry. Gou
derived a cubic interpolation formula for
his astronomical calculations. His calendar,
the Shoushi Li (授時暦) or Calendar for
Fixing the Seasons, was disseminated in 1281
as the official calendar of the Yuan dynasty.
The calendar may have been influenced solely
by the work of Song dynasty astronomer Shen
Kuo or possibly by the work of Arab astronomers.
There are no explicit signs of Muslim influences
in the Shoushi calendar, but Mongol rulers
were known to be interested in Muslim calendars.
Mathematical knowledge from the Middle East
was introduced to China under the Mongols,
and Muslim astronomers brought Arabic numerals
to China in the 13th century.
=== Medicine ===
The physicians of the Yuan court came from
diverse cultures. Healers were divided into
non-Mongol physicians called otachi and traditional
Mongol shamans. The Mongols characterized
otachi doctors by their use of herbal remedies,
which was distinguished from the spiritual
cures of Mongol shamanism. Physicians received
official support from the Yuan government
and were given special legal privileges. Kublai
created the Imperial Academy of Medicine to
manage medical treatises and the education
of new doctors. Confucian scholars were attracted
to the medical profession because it ensured
a high income and medical ethics were compatible
with Confucian virtues.The Chinese medical
tradition of the Yuan had "Four Great Schools"
that the Yuan inherited from the Jin dynasty.
All four schools were based on the same intellectual
foundation, but advocated different theoretical
approaches toward medicine. Under the Mongols,
the practice of Chinese medicine spread to
other parts of the empire. Chinese physicians
were brought along military campaigns by the
Mongols as they expanded towards the west.
Chinese medical techniques such as acupuncture,
moxibustion, pulse diagnosis, and various
herbal drugs and elixirs were transmitted
westward to the Middle East and the rest of
the empire. Several medical advances were
made in the Yuan period. The physician Wei
Yilin (1277–1347) invented a suspension
method for reducing dislocated joints, which
he performed using anesthetics. The Mongol
physician Hu Sihui described the importance
of a healthy diet in a 1330 medical treatise.Western
medicine was also practiced in China by the
Nestorian Christians of the Yuan court, where
it was sometimes labeled as huihui or Muslim
medicine. The Nestorian physician Jesus the
Interpreter founded the Office of Western
Medicine in 1263 during the reign of Kublai.
Huihui doctors staffed at two imperial hospitals
were responsible for treating the imperial
family and members of the court. Chinese physicians
opposed Western medicine because its humoral
system contradicted the yin-yang and wuxing
philosophy underlying traditional Chinese
medicine. No Chinese translation of Western
medical works is known, but it is possible
that the Chinese had access to Avicenna's
The Canon of Medicine.
=== Printing and publishing ===
The Mongol rulers patronized the Yuan printing
industry. Chinese printing technology was
transferred to the Mongols through Kingdom
of Qocho and Tibetan intermediaries. Some
Yuan documents such as Wang Zhen's Nong Shu
were printed with earthenware movable type,
a technology invented in the 12th century.
However, most published works were still produced
through traditional block printing techniques.
The publication of a Taoist text inscribed
with the name of Töregene Khatun, Ögedei's
wife, is one of the first printed works sponsored
by the Mongols. In 1273, the Mongols created
the Imperial Library Directorate, a government-sponsored
printing office. The Yuan government established
centers for printing throughout China. Local
schools and government agencies were funded
to support the publishing of books.Private
printing businesses also flourished under
the Yuan. They published a diverse range of
works, and printed educational, literary,
medical, religious, and historical texts.
The volume of printed materials was vast.
In 1312, 1,000 copies of a Buddhist text commented
by Cosgi Odsir were printed just within Beijing.
By 1328, annual sales of printed calendars
and almanacs reached over three million in
the Yuan dynasty.One of the more notable applications
of printing technology was the chao, the paper
money of the Yuan. Chao were made from the
bark of mulberry trees. The Yuan government
used woodblocks to print paper money, but
switched to bronze plates in 1275. The Mongols
experimented with establishing the Chinese-style
paper monetary system in Mongol-controlled
territories outside of China. The Yuan minister
Bolad was sent to Iran, where he explained
Yuan paper money to the Il-khanate court of
Gaykhatu. The Il-khanate government issued
paper money in 1294, but public distrust of
the exotic new currency doomed the experiment.Foreign
observers took note of Yuan printing technology.
Marco Polo documented the Yuan printing of
paper money and almanac pamphlets called tacuini.
The vizier Rashid-al-Din recognized that printing
was a valuable technological breakthrough,
and expressed regret that the Mongol experiment
with printing paper money had failed in the
Muslim world. Rashid-al-Din's view was not
shared by other chroniclers in the Middle
East, who were critical of the experiment's
disruptive impact on the Il-khanate.
=== Ceramics ===
In Chinese ceramics the period was one of
expansion, with the great innovation the development
in Jingdezhen ware of underglaze painted blue
and white pottery. This seems to have begun
in the early decades of the 14th century,
and by the end of the dynasty was mature and
well-established. Other major types of wares
continued without a sharp break in their development,
but there was a general trend to some larger
size pieces, and more decoration. This is
often seen as a decline from Song refinement.
Exports expanded considerably, especially
to the Islamic world.
== Society ==
=== Imperial lifestyle ===
Since its invention in 1269, the 'Phags-pa
script, a unified script for spelling Mongolian,
Tibetan, and Chinese languages, was preserved
in the court until the end of the dynasty.
Most of the Emperors could not master written
Chinese, but they could generally converse
well in the language. The Mongol custom of
long standing quda/marriage alliance with
Mongol clans, the Onggirat, and the Ikeres,
kept the imperial blood purely Mongol until
the reign of Tugh Temur (Emperor Wenzong),
whose mother was a Tangut concubine. The Mongol
Emperors had built large palaces and pavilions,
but some still continued to live as nomads
at times. Tugh Temür was an example of a
Yuan emperor who actively sponsored cultural
activities; including in his imperial capacity
and in his personal activities such as writing
poetry, painting, reading Chinese classical
texts, and ordering the compilation of books.The
average Mongol garrison family of the Yuan
dynasty seems to have lived a life of decaying
rural leisure, with income from the harvests
of their Chinese tenants eaten up by costs
of equipping and dispatching men for their
tours of duty. The Mongols practiced debt
slavery, and by 1290 in all parts of the Mongol
Empire commoners were selling their children
into slavery. Seeing this as damaging to the
Mongol nation, Kublai in 1291 forbade the
sale abroad of Mongols. Kublai wished to persuade
the Chinese that he was becoming increasingly
sinicized while maintaining his Mongolian
credentials with his own people. He set up
a civilian administration to rule, built a
capital within China, supported Chinese religions
and culture, and devised suitable economic
and political institutions for the court.
But at the same time he never abandoned his
Mongolian heritage.
=== Culture ===
In the China of the Yuan, or Mongol era, various
important developments in the arts occurred
or continued in their development, including
the areas of painting, mathematics, calligraphy,
poetry, and theater, with many great artists
and writers being famous today. Due to the
coming together of painting, poetry, and calligraphy
at this time many of the artists practicing
these different pursuits were the same individuals,
though perhaps more famed for one area of
their achievements than others. Often in terms
of the further development of landscape painting
as well as the classical joining together
of the arts of painting, poetry, and calligraphy,
the Song dynasty and the Yuan dynasty are
linked together.
In Chinese painting during the Yuan dynasty
there were many famous painters. In the area
of calligraphy many of the great calligraphers
were from the Yuan dynasty era. In Yuan poetry,
the main development was the qu, which was
used among other poetic forms by most of the
famous Yuan poets. Many of the poets were
also involved in the major developments in
the theater during this time, and the other
way around, with people important in the theater
becoming famous through the development of
the sanqu type of qu. One of the key factors
in the mix of the zaju variety show was the
incorporation of poetry both classical and
of the newer qu form. One of the important
cultural developments during the Yuan era
was the consolidation of poetry, painting,
and calligraphy into a unified piece of the
type that tends to come to mind when people
think of classical Chinese art. Another important
aspect of Yuan times is the increasing incorporation
of the then current, vernacular Chinese into
both the qu form of poetry and the zaju variety
show. Another important consideration regarding
Yuan dynasty arts and culture is that so much
of it has survived in China, relatively to
works from the Tang dynasty and Song dynasty,
which have often been better preserved in
places such as the Shōsōin, in Japan.
=== Religion ===
There were many religions practiced during
the Yuan dynasty, such as Buddhism, Islam,
Christianity and Manichaeism. The establishment
of the Yuan dynasty had dramatically increased
the number of Muslims in China. However, unlike
the western khanates, the Yuan dynasty never
converted to Islam. Instead, Kublai Khan,
the founder of the Yuan dynasty, favored Buddhism,
especially the Tibetan variants. As a result,
Tibetan Buddhism was established as the de
facto state religion. The top-level department
and government agency known as the Bureau
of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Xuanzheng
Yuan) was set up in Khanbaliq (modern Beijing)
to supervise Buddhist monks throughout the
empire. Since Kublai Khan only esteemed the
Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism, other religions
became less important. He and his successors
kept a Sakya Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at
court. Before the end of the Yuan dynasty,
14 leaders of the Sakya sect had held the
post of Imperial Preceptor, thereby enjoying
special power. Furthermore, Mongol patronage
of Buddhism resulted in a number of monuments
of Buddhist art. Mongolian Buddhist translations,
almost all from Tibetan originals, began on
a large scale after 1300. Many Mongols of
the upper class such as the Jalayir and the
Oronar nobles as well as the emperors also
patronized Confucian scholars and institutions.
A considerable number of Confucian and Chinese
historical works were translated into the
Mongolian language.
At the same time the Mongols imported Central
Asian Muslims to serve as administrators in
China, the Mongols also sent Hans and Khitans
from China to serve as administrators over
the Muslim population in Bukhara in Central
Asia, using foreigners to curtail the power
of the local peoples of both lands.Genghis
Khan and the following Yuan emperors forbade
Islamic practices like Halal butchering, forcing
Mongol methods of butchering animals on Muslims,
and other restrictive degrees continued. Muslims
had to slaughter sheep in secret. Genghis
Khan directly called Muslims and Jews "slaves"
and demanded that they follow the Mongol method
of eating rather than the halal method. Circumcision
was also forbidden. Jews were also affected
and forbidden by the Mongols to eat Kosher.
Among all the [subject] alien peoples only
the Hui-hui say “we do not eat Mongol food”.
[Cinggis Qa’an replied:] “By the aid of
heaven we have pacified you; you are our slaves.
Yet you do not eat our food or drink. How
can this be right?” He thereupon made them
eat. “If you slaughter sheep, you will be
considered guilty of a crime.” He issued
a regulation to that effect ... [In 1279/1280
under Qubilai] all the Muslims say: “if
someone else slaughters [the animal] we do
not eat”. Because the poor people are upset
by this, from now on, Musuluman [Muslim] Huihui
and Zhuhu [Jewish] Huihui, no matter who kills
[the animal] will eat [it] and must cease
slaughtering sheep themselves, and cease the
rite of circumcision.
The Muslims in the semu class revolted against
the Yuan dynasty in the Ispah Rebellion, but
the rebellion was crushed and the Muslims
were massacred by the Yuan loyalist commander
Chen Youding. Some Muslim communities had
the name in Chinese meaning "barracks" and
also meaning "thanks"; many Hui Muslims claim
it is because that they played an important
role in overthrowing the Mongols and it was
named in thanks by the Hans for assisting
them.During the Ming conquest of Yunnan, Muslim
generals Mu Ying and Lan Yu led Muslim troops
loyal to the Ming dynasty against Mongol and
Muslim troops loyal to the Yuan dynasty.Hindu
statues were found in Quanzhou dating to the
Yuan period.
=== Social classes ===
Politically, the system of government created
by Kublai Khan was the product of a compromise
between Mongolian patrimonial feudalism and
the traditional Chinese autocratic-bureaucratic
system. Nevertheless, socially the educated
Chinese elite were in general not given the
degree of esteem that they had been accorded
previously under native Chinese dynasties.
Although the traditional Chinese elite were
not given their share of power, the Mongols
and the Semuren (various allied groups from
Central Asia and the western end of the empire)
largely remained strangers to the mainstream
Chinese culture, and this dichotomy gave the
Yuan regime a somewhat strong "colonial" coloration.
The unequal treatment is possibly due to the
fear of transferring power to the ethnic Chinese
under their rule. The Mongols and Semuren
were given certain advantages in the dynasty,
and this would last even after the restoration
of the imperial examination in the early 14th
century. In general there were very few North
Chinese or Southerners reaching the highest-post
in the government compared with the possibility
that Persians did so in the Ilkhanate. Later
the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty also
mentioned the discrimination that existed
during the Yuan dynasty. In response to an
objection against the use of "barbarians"
in his government, the Yongle Emperor answered:
"... Discrimination was used by the Mongols
during the Yuan dynasty, who employed only
"Mongols and Tartars" and discarded northern
and southern Chinese and this was precisely
the cause that brought disaster upon them".
The Mongols had employed foreigners long before
the reign of Kublai Khan, the founder of the
Yuan dynasty. But during Kublai's reign a
hierarchy of reliability was introduced in
China. The population was divided into the
following classes:
Mongols
Semu, consisting of non-Mongol foreigners
from the west and Central Asia, like Buddhist
Uyghurs from Turfan, Jews, Nestorian Christians,
and Muslims from Central Asia
"Han", or all subjects of the former Jin dynasty,
including Hans, Khitans, Jurchens in northern
China, and other peoples like Koreans,
Southerners, or all subjects of the former
Southern Song dynasty, including Hans and
minority native ethnic groups in southern
China, sometimes called "Manzi" during the
YuanPartner merchants and non-Mongol overseers
were usually either immigrants or local ethnic
groups. Thus, in China they were Uighur Buddhists,
Turkestani and Persian Muslims, and Christians.
Foreigners from outside the Mongol Empire
entirely, such as the Polo family, were everywhere
welcomed.
At the same time the Mongols imported Central
Asian Muslims to serve as administrators in
China, the Mongols also sent Hans and Khitans
from China to serve as administrators over
the Muslim population in Bukhara in Central
Asia, using foreigners to curtail the power
of the local peoples of both lands. Hans were
moved to Central Asian areas like Besh Baliq,
Almaliq, and Samarqand by the Mongols where
they worked as artisans and farmers. Alans
were recruited into the Mongol forces with
one unit called "Right Alan Guard" which was
combined with "recently surrendered" soldiers,
Mongols, and Chinese soldiers stationed in
the area of the former Kingdom of Qocho and
in Besh Balikh the Mongols established a Chinese
military colony led by Chinese general Qi
Kongzhi (Ch'i Kung-chih). After the Mongol
conquest of Central Asia by Genghis Khan,
foreigners were chosen as administrators and
co-management with Chinese and Qara-Khitays
(Khitans) of gardens and fields in Samarqand
was put upon the Muslims as a requirement
since Muslims were not allowed to manage without
them. The Mongol appointed Governor of Samarqand
was a Qara-Khitay (Khitan), held the title
Taishi, familiar with Chinese culture his
name was Ahai.Han officials and colonists
were sent by the Mongol Yuan dynasty to areas
of Lingbei province (和宁路 益蘭州 謙州).
Despite the high position given to Muslims,
some policies of the Yuan Emperors severely
discriminated against them, restricting Halal
slaughter and other Islamic practices like
circumcision, as well as Kosher butchering
for Jews, forcing them to eat food the Mongol
way. Toward the end, corruption and the persecution
became so severe that Muslim generals joined
Hans in rebelling against the Mongols. The
Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang had Muslim generals
like Lan Yu who rebelled against the Mongols
and defeated them in combat. Some Muslim communities
had a Chinese surname which meant "barracks"
and could also mean "thanks". Many Hui Muslims
claim this is because that they played an
important role in overthrowing the Mongols
and it was given in thanks by the Hans for
assisting them. During the war fighting the
Mongols, among the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's
armies was the Hui Muslim Feng Sheng. The
Muslims in the semu class also revolted against
the Yuan dynasty in the Ispah Rebellion but
the rebellion was crushed and the Muslims
were massacred by the Yuan loyalist commander
Chen Youding.
The historian Frederick W. Mote wrote that
the usage of the term "social classes" for
this system was misleading and that the position
of people within the four-class system was
not an indication of their actual social power
and wealth, but just entailed "degrees of
privilege" to which they were entitled institutionally
and legally, so a person's standing within
the classes was not a guarantee of their standing,
since there were rich and well socially standing
Chinese while there were less rich Mongol
and Semu than there were Mongol and Semu who
lived in poverty and were ill-treated.The
reason for the order of the classes and the
reason why people were placed in a certain
class was the date they surrendered to the
Mongols, and had nothing to do with their
ethnicity. The earlier they surrendered to
the Mongols, the higher they were placed,
the more they held out, the lower they were
ranked. The Northern Chinese were ranked higher
and Southern Chinese were ranked lower because
southern China withstood and fought to the
last before caving in. Major commerce during
this era gave rise to favorable conditions
for private southern Chinese manufacturers
and merchants.When the Mongols placed the
Uighurs of the Kingdom of Qocho over the Koreans
at the court the Korean King objected, then
the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan rebuked the
Korean King, saying that the Uighur King of
Qocho was ranked higher than the Karluk Kara-Khanid
ruler, who in turn was ranked higher than
the Korean King, who was ranked last, because
the Uighurs surrendered to the Mongols first,
the Karluks surrendered after the Uighurs,
and the Koreans surrendered last, and that
the Uighurs surrendered peacefully without
violently resisting.Japanese historians like
Uematsu, Sugiyama and Morita criticized the
perception that a four class system existed
under Mongol rule and Funada Yoshiyuki questioned
the very existence of the Semu as a class.
== Administrative divisions ==
The territory of the Yuan dynasty was divided
into the Central Region (腹裏) governed
by the Central Secretariat and places under
control of various provinces (行省) or Branch
Secretariats (行中書省), as well as the
region under the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan
Affairs.
The Central Region, consisting of present-day
Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, the south-eastern
part of present-day Inner Mongolia and the
Henan areas to the north of the Yellow River,
was considered the most important region of
the dynasty and directly governed by the Central
Secretariat (or Zhongshu Sheng) at Khanbaliq
(modern Beijing); similarly, another top-level
administrative department called the Bureau
of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (or Xuanzheng
Yuan) held administrative rule over the whole
of modern-day Tibet and a part of Sichuan,
Qinghai and Kashmir.
Branch Secretariats or simply provinces, were
provincial-level administrative organizations
or institutions, though they were not exactly
provinces in modern sense. There were 11 "regular"
provinces in Yuan dynasty, and their administrations
were subordinated to the Central Secretariat.
Below the level of provinces, the largest
political division was the circuit (道),
followed by lù (路), fǔ (府) and zhōu
(州). These are three kinds of prefecture-like
divisions. The lowest political division was
the county (縣).
Basically, lù is higher than fǔ, and fǔ
is higher than zhōu.However, the actual relationship
between them could be very complicated. Both
lù, fǔ and zhōu could administer counties.
Some fǔ and zhōu are diretly administered
by the province, while some exist inside a
lù. A lù usually administers several counties,
along with several fǔ and zhōu, and the
fǔ or zhōu themselves could also administer
their own counties. As a result, it is impossible
to exactly define how many tiers of divisions
there are under a province.
This government structure at the provincial
level was later inherited and modified by
the Ming and Qing dynasties.
== Gallery ==
== See also ==
== Notes ==
== 
References ==
=== Citations ===
=== Sources ===
== Further reading ==
Birge, Bettine (1995). "Levirate marriage
and the revival of widow chastity in Yüan
China". Asia Major. 3rd series. 8 (2): 107–146.
JSTOR 41645519.
Chan, Hok-lam; de Bary, W.T., eds. (1982).
Yuan Thought: Chinese Thought and Religion
Under the Mongols. New York, NY: Columbia
University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-05324-2.
Cotterell, Arthur (2007). The Imperial Capitals
of China - An Inside View of the Celestial
Empire. London, England: Pimlico. ISBN 9781845950095.
Dardess, John (1994). "Shun-ti and the end
of Yuan rule in China". In Denis C. Twitchett;
Herbert Franke; John King Fairbank. The Cambridge
History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes
and Border States, 710–1368. Cambridge University
Press. pp. 561–586. ISBN 978-0-521-24331-5.
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (2009-11-24). Chinese
Civilization: A Sourcebook (2nd ed.). Simon
and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4391-8839-2.
Endicott-West, Elizabeth (1986). "Imperial
governance in Yüan times". Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies. 46 (2): 523–549. doi:10.2307/2719142.
JSTOR 2719142.
Endicott-West, Elizabeth (1994). "The Yuan
government and society". In Denis C. Twitchett;
Herbert Franke; John King Fairbank. The Cambridge
History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes
and Border States, 710–1368. Cambridge University
Press. pp. 587–615. ISBN 978-0-521-24331-5.
Langlois, John D. (1981). China Under Mongol
Rules. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
ISBN 978-0-691-10110-1.
Langlois, John D. (1977). "Report on the research
conference: The Impact of Mongol Domination
on Chinese Civilization". Sung Studies Newsletter.
13: 82–90. JSTOR 23497251.
Paludan, Ann (1998). Chronicle of the China
Emperors. London, England: Thames & Hudson.
ISBN 978-0-500-05090-3.
Saunders, John Joseph (2001) [1971]. The History
of the Mongol Conquests. University of Pennsylvania
Press. ISBN 978-0-812-21766-7.
Owen, Stephen, "The Yuan and Ming Dynasties,"
in Stephen Owen, ed. An Anthology of Chinese
Literature: Beginnings to 1911. New York:
W. W. Norton, 1997. p. 723-743 (Archive).
“Directory of Scholars Working in Sung,
Liao, Chin and Yüan”. 1987. “Directory
of Scholars Working in Sung, Liao, Chin and
Yüan”. Bulletin of Sung and Yüan Studies,
no. 19. Society for Song, Yuan, and Conquest
Dynasty Studies: 224–54. JSTOR 23497542.
== External links ==
Media related to Yuan Dynasty at Wikimedia
Commons
