The Mongol and Ming Empires

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The Mongol and Ming Empires
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Mongol Armies Build an Empire

• About 1200 the Mongols burst out of Central
  Asia
• They conquered an area stretching across Asia to
  Europe
• In the process, they overran Song China imposed
  Mongol rule on its people

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• Nomadic
• Horse culture from the steppes (vast, treeless,
  plains of Central Asia)
• Before 1200s spent most of their time warring
  with each other
• Starting in the early 1200s, a brilliant Mongol
  chieftain united these warring tribes
• Chieftain took the name of Genghis Kahn or
  Universal Ruler

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Genghis Kahn1162 A.D. 1227A.D.

• Originally called Temujin
• Renowned for being ruthless, determined,
  courageous
• At the age of 9, a rival Mongol clan poisoned his
  father
• By 15 he was taken prisoner
• Never forgot the humiliation of being locked in a
  wooden collar and paraded before his enemies
• Once he regained his freedom, wandered among the
  clans
• Takes his revenge

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Genghis Kahn
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Mongols Invade China

• Imposed strict military discipline
• Demanded absolute loyalty
• Mobile and highly skilled army
• Best horsemen in the world
• Fierce massacre a city or be very generous
• Taught how to use cannons (tubes filled with gun
  powder)
• Died during the conquest his heirs followed
  after him

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Mongol Horseman
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Cannons
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Rulers Establish Peace and Order

• Mongols were not oppressive rulers
• Toleration and justice
• Live and let live so long as conquered peoples
  paid a tribute to the Mongols
• He respected scholars, artists and artisans
• Listened to the ideas of Confucians, Buddhists,
  Christians, Muslims, Jews and Zoroastrians

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1200s 1300s

• Sons and grandsons establish peace and order with
  in their domains
• Pax Mongolica or Mongol Peace
• Political stability economic growth
• Control of the Silk Roads
• Trade flourished
• Mongol rule meant the people enjoyed such a
  peace that a man might have journeyed from the
  land of sunrise to the land of sunset with a
  golden platter upon his head without suffering
  the least violence from anyone.
• Cultural exchanges increased food, tools,
  inventions, and ideas spread along the protected
  trade routes.
• From China gun powder, porcelain, playing card
  and paper making techniques moved westward to
  Europe

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Silk Road
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China Under Mongol Rule

• Although Genghis Kahn subdued northern China
• It would take 70 more years for his grandson
  Kublai Kahn to conquer southern China
• Song Empire conquered in 1279
• Made his capital Beijing, renamed Khanbaliq

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Kublai Kahn
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An All Mongol Government

• Kublai Kahn tried to prevent the Mongols from
  being absorbed into Chinese civilization
• Decreed that only Mongols could serve in the
  military
• Reserved highest government jobs for Mongols
• Problem Too few Mongols and China too big

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Yuan Dynasty1279-1294

• Uneasy mix of Chinese and foreign customs
  developed
• Kublai adopted a Chinese name for his dynasty
• Turned Beijing into a walled city
• Arab architects designed his palace to reflect a
  steppe dwelling
• Extended the Grand Canal to his new capital
• Made the shipment of rice and other goods easier
• Brought many foreigners to his court from African
  Muslim Ibn Battuta, Pope sends Christian
  missionaries, Muslim set up their own communities

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Marco Polo1254-1324

• Traveler adventurer from Venice, Italy
• 1271 reached China with his father and uncle
• Returned 25 years later in 1295
• Spent 17 of those years with Kublai Kahn
• Writes a book entitled The Adventures of Marco
  Polo
• Vivid account in which he describes the royal
  palace, an efficient mail system, well kept
  roads, and cities like Hangzhou as 10-12 times
  larger than Venice
• Centuries after Polos reports sparked interest
  in the riches of Asia

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The Polo Brothers
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The Ming Restores Chinese Rule1368

• Yuan Dynasty declined after the death of Kublai
  Kahn in 1294
• Most Chinese despised Mongol rulers
• Confucian scholars retreated into their own
  world, high taxes, corruptions, natural
  disasters, and uprisings
• Zhu Yuanzhang, a peasant leader, forged a rebel
  army and pushed back the Mongols back beyond The
  Great Wall
• Founded a new dynasty called the Ming, which he
  called Ming, meaning brilliant

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Culture Flourishes

• Restores the civil service system and Confucian
  learning
• Revival of arts and literature
• Landscape painting
• Porcelain vases
• Classical poetry

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Chinese Fleet Sails the Seas

• Early Ming rulers proudly sent Chinese fleets
  into distant waters to show glory of government
• 1405 Admiral Zheng He commanded the first of
  seven expeditions
• 62 huge ships
• 200 smaller ones
• Largest ship 400 feet long
• Goal promote trade and collect tribute from
  lesser powers
• 1405-1433 Zheng He explored the coasts of
  Southeast Asia and India

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Zheng He
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Zheng Hes Course
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A Replica of Zheng Hes Boat
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Boat
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Fleet
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Exploration Ends

• 1435 Zheng He dies
• The Ming also mysteriously banned the building of
  seagoing ships
• Ships with two masts were outlawed
• Costly and did not produce profit?
• Confucian scholars had little interest in
  overseas adventure and commerce
• Ancient traditions were the source of stability
• Rigid loyalty to tradition would eventually
  weaken China and leave it prey to foreign
  invasion
• 60 years later Christopher Columbus would
  discover the new world

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Recall

• 1216 Hulagu, grandson of Genghis Kahn, burned
  and looted Baghdad ending the Abbasid Empire
• 1398 Tamerlane invades India
• 1526 Babur established the Mughal Empire in
  India
• 1556-1605 Akbar the Great rules India
• 1857 - Mughals defeated in India by the British