Mongols 1206-1368

How did Genghis Khan change the Mongol War machine? Reorganized the military to unit to provide loyalty to the Khan Ultimate goal: Conquest Broke his army into units of 10,000 then broken down further within each unit Expert cartography Weapons: flaming/exploding arrows, gunpowder, cannons All of this relied on the value Mongol culture placed on warfare and military honor

How did the Mongols rule such a large empire? Practiced tolerance Adopted learning from conquered civilizations Confucian scholars helped govern China Muslim engineers aided in weapons making Organized law codes, strict punishments

Pax Mongolica Comparable to Pax Romana Secure Eurasian trade routes re-opened Cosmopolitan cities grew Postal system created ease of communication Comes to end as plague begins to spread

Golden Horde Russian princes fall to tribute status, after cities such as Kiev and Vladimir resisted and are destroyed. (Novgorod saved) Moscow re-builds, able to grow BECAUSE OF tribute status as princes require submission from territories that fail to make payments Negative impact: Russia cut off from W. Europe for 200 years during “Renaissance”, helped Tsarist rule emerge, reduced peasants to serfdom lasting until the 19th century Positive: military organization, independent growth

Yuan Dynasty Led by Kubilai Khan Divisions between Mongols and ethnic Chinese Chinese not allowed to learn Mongolian Chinese women not permitted in harem Military forces kept separate Friendships/Marriage discouraged Chinese participated in bureaucracy only at regional or local level Mongol culture maintained: tent cities, religion

Assimilation of Chinese culture Buddhist/Daoist teachings Chinese ceremonial rituals Music Chinese calendar

Gender Roles For the MAJORITY of the dynasty Mongol women retained the following rights: Right to property Control within the household Freedom to move throughout the country Hunting Chabi: Kubilai’s favorite wife, exemplified independence of Mongol women Growth of Neo-Confucianism leads to diminishing power of women

Tolerance and Foreign influence Foreigners given placement within government: influenced policies for their own people or lands and advised Kubilai Muslims social status fell just under the Mongols Engineered public works Organized tax collection Introduced Middle Eastern inventions Persian doctors administered medicinal advice Tolerance for all religions: encouraged visitation from around the “world”, created diverse city centers and extended Chinese learning and innovation to west.

Society under the Mongols Merchants and artisans gained in social status: Cities flourished Traditional Chinese art (poetry, essays) fell out of favor Entertainment (dramas, plays) grew: actors, “mean people” achieved new status Intended to establish elementary education system IMPACT: upset the elite, scholar-gentry.

Fall of the Yuan Song revolts Hostility to foreign over-lords Idea of military invincibility lost Kubilai’s successors lacked capacity for leadership Emergence of rebellious sects: White Lotus Society Chaos among factions vying for power: emergence of Ming Dynasty