Great Lecture on Chinese History: A Brief History of the Yuan Dynasty

Author: Qiu Shusen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The Yuan Dynasty was a feudal regime established by Mongol rulers. In 1206, Genghis Khan unified the northern grasslands and established the Great Mongol Empire. In 1227, the Western Xia was conquered, and in 1234, the Jin Dynasty wased, completing the unification of northern China. In 1235, ?gedei Khan designated Karakorum (now southwest of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) as the capital. In 1260, Kublai Khan ascended the throne, making Kaiping (now Dong of Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia) the northern capital and Yanjing (now Beijing) the central capital, shifting the political center southward. In 1271, the dynasty was renamed the Great Yuan, and the central capital was upgraded to Dadu. In 1276, the Southern Song Dynasty wased, achieving national unification. The Great Mongol Empire had four khans, and after Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, there were a total of 10 emperors, making 14 emperors in total. In 1368, the Ming army attacked Dadu, and the Yuan Emperor abdicated and retreated from the Central Plains, marking the of the Yuan Dynasty. From the establishment of the Great Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan to the of the Yuan Dynasty, it spanned 162 years, commonly referred to as the Yuan Dynasty. Through continuous warfare, Mongol rulers controlled vast regions of Europe and Asia. They successively established the Chagatai Khanate, the Golden Horde, and the Ilkhanate in Central Asia. These khanates were nominally vassal states of the great khan but actually held independent status. The Yuan Dynasty was connected to these khanates via postal routes, facilitating convenient transportation and frequent exchanges in economic, political, and cultural aspects. The Yuan Dynasty was a relatively open era and a crucial historical period for the economic and cultural exchange between the East and the West.