AP World History POD #8 – The Middle Kingdom Yuan & Ming Empires

Class Discussion Notes Bulliet et. al – “Mongol Domination in China, ”, pp

Collapse of Mongol Rule “After conquering northern China in the 1230s, Great Khan Ogodei told a Confucian adviser that he planned to turn the heavily populated North China Plain into a pasture for livestock. The adviser reacted calmly but argued that taxing the cities and villages would bring greater wealth. The Great Khan agreed, but he imposed an oppressive tax-farming system instead of the fixed rate method traditional in China.” (Bulliet, p. 352) China suffered under this system

Khubilai Khan Created the Yuan Empire in 1271 /Grandson of Genghis Secured trade routes / Exchange of experts between eastern and western Eurasia / Transmission of information, ideas, and skills He began to use Confucian ideas in the formation of laws but was always willing to listen to Buddhist and Daoist leaders and advisers

Tibetan Buddhist Monks Lamas – Tibetan Buddhist priests became popular with Mongol rulers Mongols liked their idea of a militant universal ruler bringing the whole world under control of the Buddha

Beijing Capital city of the Yuan Empire (the old capital of Karakorum was too geographically remote) Located at the eastern terminus of the caravan routes originating near Tabriz Forbidden City – a closed imperial complex with wide streets and a network of linked lakes and artificial islands “Xanadu” (ZAH-nah-doo) – the summer retreat of the Khan located in Inner Mongolia

Yuan Society According to the law of the land Mongols ranked highest followed by the Central Asians, Middle Easterners, the northern Chinese and finally the southern Chinese Mongols were the empire’s warriors Central Asians & Middle Easterners were the empire’s census takers and tax collectors Northern Chinese outranked the southern Chinese by way of being put under Mongol rule almost two generations earlier

Yuan Government Rulers stressed census taking and tax collecting (Persian, Arab & Uigher officials staffed these jobs, while Muslim scholars worked at calendar making) Organized China into provinces with central appointment of provincial governors, tax collectors and garrison commanders Systemized control of all parts of the empire

Yuan Economy Cities prospered by being on the caravan routes in the north and the Grand Canal in the interior Merchants were a privileged group Corporations shared the risk of doing business Agriculture could not keep up with the demands of empire as the lands were damaged by war and overtaxed Paper money was printed but was distrusted by the people and a copper coinage was created bringing stability to the economy The gentry began to move to the countryside as the city life no longer supported scholarship as the commercial life became supreme Cottage industries dotted the countryside

Population Loss It is estimated that approximately 40% of the population of China was lost during the Yuan Dynasty’s reign Causes are speculated to include – prolonged warfare, rural distress causing people to engage in female infanticide, bubonic plague, a southward flight of refugees and flooding on the Yellow River

Fall of the Yuan “In the 1340s strife broke out among the Mongol princes. Within twenty years farmer rebellions and inter-Mongol feuds engulfed the land. Amidst the chaos, a charismatic Chinese leader, Zhu Yuan-zhang (JOO yuwen-JAHNG), mounted a campaign that destroyed the Yuan Empire and brought China under control of his new empire, the Ming, in 1368” (Bulliet, p. 354)