Mongolian EmpireConquest of China and Central Asia

Pre-Mongolian China• Tang Dynasty (618-907 C.E.)

– Spread of Buddhism in China– Golden Age of art and literature– Block printing presses

• Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960)

• Song Dynasty (960-1279)– Zhu Xi, Neo-Confucian philosopher– Synthesis of Confucianism, Buddhism, and

Taoism

Rise of the Mongols

• Originally called Xiongnu by the Chinese, the Mongols had no name for themselves until twelfth century C.E.

• Nomadic peoples organized by clans.• Livelihood came from grazing animals

(especially horses).• Population increases in 1100s led to

increased conflicts between clans over grazing land.

Temuchin (1162-1227)

• Son of a poor noble family.

• Unified Mongolian tribes, elected Genghis Khan (“universal ruler”), 1206.

• Reorganized Mongol political structure and military.

Genghis Khan’s Changes

• All Mongol nomads forced to pay taxes.

• All Mongol men subject to military conscription; 130,000 men in 1227.

• Military culture:– “Man’s highest joy is in victory: to conquer

one’s enemies, to pursue them, to deprive them of their possessions, to make their beloved weep, to ride on their horses, and to embrace their wives and daughters.”

Mongolian Conquests

• Military tactics, horsemanship, compound bow allowed Mongols to conquer territory swiftly; merciless invaders.– Song China and Korea (attempted Japan)– Central Asia and India– Persia– Abbasid Empire (Baghdad)– Eastern Europe

Mongolian Empire, thirteenth century

1260s

12311258

1223

Mongolian Empire

• To administer a large empire, Mongolians had to change their lifestyle. How so?

• Genghis Khan originally prohibited his people from practicing sedentary occupations or living in cities.

• Unsuccessful

• “Inherited his empire on horseback, cannot rule it from that position.”

Establishment of Khanates

• Upon Genghis Khan’s death, the Empire is divided into Khanates among his heirs.

• Many Mongols convert to Buddhism or Islam.– Khanate of the Great Khan (China and

Mongolia)– Khanate of Chaghadai (Central Asia)– Khanate of Persia– Khanate of Kipchak (“Golden Horde”; Eastern

Europe and modern-day Russia)

Mongolian China

• Khublilai Khan (1215-1294)

• Founded Yuan Dynasty in China

• Capital moved to Khanbaliq (Beijing)

• Drama and literature.• Religious toleration

(except Daoists).

Contacts with the West

• Silk Road thrived under Yuan Dynasty– Muslims merchants from Central Asia– Increased contact with the Western Europe

• Marco Polo arrives in Yuan China, 1266.• Acts as advisor to Khubilai Khan for 17

years• Returns to Italy and tells of stay in China,

no one believes him. – "I have not told half of what I saw!"

Page from Marco Polo’s Il Milione (The Million; Travels of Marco Polo) depicting the repression of a rebellion led by the King of Burma against Khubilai Khan.

Fall of the Yuan Dynasty

• Khubilai Khan’s successor were inept.

• Country goes bankrupt because of constant unsuccessful military invasions of Japan, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

• Government corruption

• Famine in 1340s.

• Zhu Yuanzhang, leader of peasant revolt, established Ming Dynasty in 1369.

Before 1500

• Most of world revolved around the Indian Ocean (1300s-1500).

• East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia.

• Commonalities: spread of Islam, oceanic navigation, cross-cultural encounters, trade.

• Zheng He and Chinese Treasure Fleet (1405-1433).

Zheng He

• Muslim eunuch, close friend of the Ming emperor.

• Sailed throughout Indian Ocean: Sumatra, Java, Ceylon, India, Persia, Persian Gulf, Arabia, Red Sea, and E. Africa.

• Fleet of 300 ships (63 massive junks); 30,000 men.

(Left) Giraffe brought from Africa to China by Zheng He in 1414.

Zheng He also traded for spices (nutmeg, pepper, cinnamon), and gems (pearls, rubies). These were both ground up and used for medicines.

A growing number of historians are even arguing that the Chinese actually landed in North America around 1421 and have found “evidence” near modern-day Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Charleston, Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago, and Milwaukee.

What about Europe?

• What was going on in Europe during the fifteenth century?

• End of the Medieval Period (450-1450).• What did Europe have to offer the

Chinese?• Wool. Do people in China need wool? No!• Chinese trade silk and porcelain, but have

no need for European products.• Circumstances are soon going to change,

however.