The Yuan Dynasty actually ruled in China for a century and a half. It was Mongolian in its ethnic composition, which greatly affected the traditional Chinese governance structure and socio-political structure of the country. It is customary to consider the time of her reign as a period of stagnation of the empire, since a foreign invasion extremely negatively affected its internal development.
Mongols
For several centuries, China has been in constant contact with its steppe neighbors, who, on the one hand, borrowed the achievements of their highly developed neighbor, and, on the other hand, put strong pressure on him. Foreign dynasties were quite common in the history of the country. One of the steppe peoples who wandered on the Chinese borders was Mongolian. Initially, the Mongols were part of the Siberian Tatars, and although they stood out linguistically and ethnically, nevertheless, they were not finally formed racially until the 12th century.
Military organization
The situation changed at the beginning of the next century, when Genghis Khan was proclaimed the general ruler of this people in the Mongolian Kurultai. He created a well-organized, trained army, which, in essence, constituted the backbone of the military-political structure. Strict centralization, iron discipline allowed this relatively small ethnic group to gain a number of major victories in the Asian region and create its own state.
China in the XII-XIII centuries
The Yuan Dynasty began its rule under rather difficult conditions. The fact is that the country was actually divided into two parts. This was due to the conquests of the warlike tribe of the Jurchen, who captured its northern part. In the south, the Suna Empire existed, which continued to function according to traditional Chinese norms and traditions. In fact, this part of the state has become a cultural center, where Confucianism continued to dominate, a familiar administrative system based on the old system of examinations for hiring officials.
In the north, the Jin empire existed, the rulers of which were never able to completely subjugate the southern regions. They obtained only tribute from them in the form of silver and silk. But, despite this rather difficult treaty for southern China, the economy, culture, and administrative system continued to develop in these territories. The famous traveler M. Polo traveled to southern China, which impressed him with his art, wealth, efficient economy. Thus, the founding of the Jin Dynasty did not ruin the country, which managed to preserve its cultural values and traditions.
Conquest
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongols began their campaigns. L. Gumilev considered their rapid movement as one of the most striking manifestations of passionarity among peoples. This warlike tribe conquered the Central Asian region, defeated the state of the Khorezm Shahs, then moved to Russian lands and defeated the coalition of specific princes. After that, they captured the Chinese state. The grandson of Genghis Khan acted both by military and diplomatic means: so, he sought to enlist the support of the Suna nobility. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the south of the state resisted for quite some time, for forty years. Its emperors, until the last, restrained the onslaught of the invaders, so that only by 1289 all of China fell under their rule.
The first decades of domination
The new Yuan Dynasty at first brutally began to crack down on resistance. Mass executions and killings began, many residents were enslaved. After some time, it was decided to exterminate the representatives of the most ancient Chinese clans and families. The population was saved from complete destruction by the fact that the new rulers took into account that it is more profitable to keep the bulk of the taxpayers in the treasury. In addition, the invaders needed quality personnel to rule this large country. One of the Khitan advisers advised the new ruler to maintain local governance potential. The Yuan Dynasty lasted about one and a half centuries, and the first decades of its reign were marked by the economic crisis in the country: cities, trade, agriculture, and also such an important irrigation system fell into decay . A significant part of the population was either destroyed, or enslaved, or was in an inferior, degraded position. Nevertheless, after two or three decades, the country began to gradually recover from the blow that hit it.
First emperor
The founder of the new dynasty was Khubilai Khan. Having conquered the country, he carried out a series of transformations in order to somehow adapt to the management of his empire. He divided the country into twelve provinces and attracted many representatives of other ethnic groups and religions to the administration. So, at his court, the Venetian merchant and traveler Marco Polo held a rather high position, thanks to which the state established contacts with Europeans. In addition, he attracted not only Christians, but also Muslims, Buddhists. Kublai Khan patronized the representatives of the last religion, which quickly spread throughout the country. In addition to government affairs, he was engaged in literature, for example, it is known that he wrote poetry, of which, however, only one remained.
Cultural gap
The first emperor also took care of introducing the Mongolian language into official office work. By his order, a Buddhist monk began to compile a special alphabet, which formed the basis of the so-called square letter, which was included in the state administrative routine. This measure can be explained by the fact that the representatives of the new dynasty found themselves in a rather difficult situation due to the cultural barrier between them and the indigenous population. The well-established, for centuries functioning socio-political system of the empire, based on traditional Confucianism, turned out to be completely alien in spirit to the invaders. They could not bridge this gap, although they took some steps for this. However, their main efforts, especially during the first reign, were aimed at putting the Chinese in a dependent position. First, the Mongolian language acquired the status of the state, then the traditional exam system, which ensured effective management, was canceled. All these measures had an extremely negative effect on the internal political climate of the empire.
Management issues
Khubilai, the grandson of Genghis Khan, expanded the borders of the state by joining a number of neighboring regions. However, his campaigns in Japanese and Vietnamese lands ended in failure. In the first years of his reign, he took a number of measures in order to streamline the governance of the country. Nevertheless, during the years of Mongol domination, the Chinese administration was in a rather difficult and difficult situation due to the fact that Confucian intellectuals were excluded from doing business: all the most important state and military posts were occupied by representatives of the new nobility, who were unable to adapt to cultural norms and the traditions of the conquered people. This led to the fact that the area of the capital and the adjoining northeastern regions were actually under the direct control of the Mongols, while in the remaining regions it was necessary to rely on the local authorities, whose powers, however, were limited to the capital's officials sent from the center.
Population division
The Yuan Dynasty in China was not the first foreign power in this country. However, while others managed to adapt to the traditions of this country, learn the language, culture and finally merge completely with the local population, the Mongols did not manage to do this. Perhaps this is due to the fact that they (especially at first) in every possible way oppressed the Chinese, not allowing them to enter the administration. In addition, they officially divided the population into four groups according to religious and ethnic principles. The main, privileged layer were the Mongols, as well as foreign representatives who were part of their troops. The bulk of the population remained incomplete, and the inhabitants of the south were generally reduced to a lower degree. All this extremely deplorably affected the management, which lost its best personnel. In addition, representatives of the Mongol dynasty in every possible way divided the southerners and northerners, between which significant differences were already observed. The state also abolished the exam system, banned the Chinese from studying military art, and learning foreign languages.
Rapprochement
The Mongol period in the history of China could not rest solely on violence. This was understood by the emperors of the new dynasty, who after a while began to pursue a policy of rapprochement with the Chinese population. The first important step in this direction was the restoration of the exam system for the recruitment of officials to the service. In addition, at the end of the 13th century, public schools began to appear for staffing. The academies were restored, in which books were stored and South Sung scholars worked. It should be noted that the restoration of the institute of exams met rather fierce resistance among the Mongol nobility, which wanted to maintain a leading position in all areas of social and political life. Nevertheless, Chinese culture had a great influence on Mongolian historical writing. Statesmen and nobles began to compile their chronicles, which subsequently formed the basis of "Yuan-shi."
Historiography
This historical collection was compiled at the beginning of the next Ming Dynasty in the 14th century. It took quite a long time to write it, about forty years. The latter circumstance is explained by the fact that at first it was drawn up in a hurry, but the new emperor did not like it, so he had to redo it. Nevertheless, despite reservations, repetitions, and editorial errors, this source is a unique monument to the history of the Yuan Dynasty. It is especially valuable in that it includes many original documents, written monuments, decrees and orders of rulers. For some manuscripts, the compilers even traveled to Mongolia. In addition, they attracted local chronicles of childbirth, families, tombstones and writings of writers. Thus, "Yuan-shi" is one of the most interesting monuments of the studied era.
The crisis
The fall of the dynasty is due to the fact that the rulers of the empire were not able to adopt the Chinese culture and adapt to the traditional methods of governing the country. Due to the lack of Confucian intellectuals on the ground, provincial affairs were neglected. The last emperor Togon Temur did not take an active part in the administration. Under him, all power was actually in the hands of his chancellors. The situation worsened also due to the fact that conflicts among the Mongol nobility escalated. The immediate impetus for the explosion of popular outrage was the breakthrough of the dam on the Yellow River. The river overflowed and flooded the fields, killing tens of thousands of lives.
The fall of Mongol rule
Under these conditions, the bulk of the peasant population rose to fight the invaders. Secret societies that actually led the movement intensified. It arose and expanded under the religious slogans of Buddhism, but in its essence it was national-patriotic, as the rebels sought to overthrow foreign domination. This riot went down in history under the name of “red blindfolds”. In 1368, the Mongol dynasty ceased to exist in the empire, and its last ruler Togon Temur fled to Mongolia, where he died two years later. The main reason for the fall was a deep domestic crisis, which arose due to the inability of the Mongols to assimilate the traditional Chinese management system. The new emperor founded the Ming dynasty and restored traditional Confucianism in the country. The founder of the new dynasty returned to the old management system based on traditional Chinese ethics.