China in the Early Fourteenth Century

CLIMATE CHANGE and PLAGUE in the FOURTEENTH CENTURY HIST 1301 | History China in the Early Fourteenth Century By the start of the fourteenth century, the Mongol empire had essentially taken over the whole of Eurasia, making it the biggest land-based empire in history. In order to extend their rule beyond their native region, the Mongols first brought their tribes together to form a unified combat army. From 1212 to 1213, they crossed the North China plain and conquered China, destroying several towns along the way. But it wasn't until Kublai Khan, the grandson of Chinggis Khan, assumed leadership that the Mongol invasion of southern Kublai Khan started his conquest of China in 1271, naming his kingdom Yuan after moving his headquarters from Karakorum in Mongolia to what is now Beijing in 1264. The title Yuan, which means "origin," strengthened the Mongols' claim to political legitimacy in China by tying them to the Mandate of Heaven, an antiquated political theory emphasising the heavenly source of governing power. Following his complete overthrow of the Song dynasty in 1279, Kublai Khan made history by being the first non-Chinese ruler of all of China. Despite the fact that the Mongols had provincial khans in charge of their respective regions, he asserted his dominance over the whole Mongol Empire by claiming the title of "great khan" in addition to his position as Yuan emperor. China was not only included in the enormous Mongol dominion under the Yuan dynasty, but it also became the official capital of the empire. The Mongols have long sought to conquer China. A prefect base for Mongol rule was supplied by its advantageous location at the intersection of the Silk Roads, which united Eurasian trade networks, its bountiful croplands, and its well developed administration. Due to their long history of nomadic living, the Mongols lacked expertise in sedentary agriculture. As a result, they started by incorporating numerous Chinese administrative and taxing techniques into their government, which they filled mostly with foreigners rather than Chinese citizens. Mongols and non-Chinese outsiders controlled the most important and profitable roles, however some Chinese officials continued to hold their positions at the municipal level. The Mongol rulers promoted the ethnic and religious variety of Yuan China, especially in the cities, but they also showed tolerance for those they saw as foreigners and gave preference to people of Mongolian heritage. Through the implementation of tradefriendly laws, the adoption of Buddhism, and the widespread use of paper money, the Mongol leadership promoted economic growth and a global mindset that drew numerous foreign businessmen to China. Yuan rulers attempted to keep their cultural distance from their Chinese subjects by forbidding them from dressing like Mongols or learning their language, even though they had adopted some aspects of Chinese political culture into their system of government, such as the Confucian emphasis on filial piety and the veneration of ancestors. They imposed strict hierarchies on the basis of ethnicity and submission to their authority. Mongols occupied the highest rung of their four-tiered social system, followed by nonMongol foreigners referred to as Semu ren. The two lowest groups of their ethnic Chinese subordinates were the Han Chinese in the north, who had previously succumbed to Mongol domination, and the southerners who had persisted longer. While the Mongols' social policy caused a significant deal of animosity among their ethnic Chinese people, the Yuan emperors implemented more charitable measures in other areas. Mongol emperors probably made many of their subjects' lives easier by building granaries that supplied food during famines, easing the tax burden for villages affected by natural disasters, and lowering the number of crimes that had previously resulted in the death penalty. They also increased trade, enhanced the lives and fortunes of merchants, and decreased banditry, especially along the Silk Roads. Kublai Khan ruled over China, although his efforts to maintain the unity of the Mongol Empire were mainly ineffective. When he became leadership of China, the realm had already started to fall apart. The Mongol empire had split into four distinct regions known as khanates, each headed by a military leader or governor known as a khan who traced his descent to the sons of Chinggis. This was in addition to the obvious division that resulted from some Mongols converting to Islam. Chinese people were another source of instability for the Yuan rulers. This was especially true after Kublai Khan's death in 1294, when a succession issue left the Yuan government open to overthrow. While taxes helped merchants and artists, many Chinese peasants and farmers had experienced financial devastation as a result of Mongol taxing methods and the confiscation of agricultural land. The Mongol initiatives to improve infrastructure failed to lessen the hatred of their Chinese subjects, despite modest efforts to shore up roads, support the postal service, and restore the Grand Canal, which offered a method of trade and transit between northern and southern parts of China. Chinese subjects were insulted by the idea of foreign authority, in addition to the adoption of certain beneficial economic and social policies. They were also upset by the Mongols' eating and bathing customs. The fact that many Chinese were subjected to a population they would have considered inferior due to their drastically different cultural customs probably offended a lot of them. Aversion to Mongol authority by the middle of the fourteenth century resulted in several local uprisings, which in turn accelerated the fall of the Yuan dynasty. Additional factors included the catastrophic effects of the bubonic plague, rapid inflation, and growing Mongol factionalism. The Yuan dynasty was overthrown by rebel troops in 1368, who overthrew the Mongol rulers and installed the Ming dynasty in its place.