The Yuan Dynasty Mongol Conquest of China Under the Rule ofKublai Khan Contributions to China Contributions to the World

1. Yuan Dynasty
(approx. 1280-1368)

2. Mongol Empire & Yuan Dynasty

3. The Yuan Dynasty
Capital:
 Dadu (Beijing)
Languages:
 Chinese, Mongolian
Religions:
 Buddhism, Taoism,
Confucianism, Chinese
folk religion, Tengriism,
Christianity, Islam

4. The Yuan Dynasty
Government:
 Monarchy
Currency:
 Paper Currency (Chao),
Chinese cash
Today part of:
 Burma, China, India, North
Korea, South Korea, Laos
Mongolia, Russia, Hong
Kong, Macao, Vietnam

5. Mongol Conquest of China
 Tiemuzhen/Genghis Khan (1162-1227)
 Founder and emperor of the
Mongol Empire.
 Placed in the imperial records as the
official founder of Yuan Dynasty by his
grandson, Kublai Khan.
 Assigned Ögedei Khan as his successor.
 Split his empire into khanates.
 Conquered many lands across
Asia and Europe:
North China in the East.
Turkey in the West.
Russia in the North.
Europe was saved from the Mongol invasion when
Genghis Khan died after defeating the Western Xia in
1227.

6. Founding of Yuan Dynasty
 Kublai Khan (1260-1294)
 Known as the Great Khan.
 True founder and emperor of the
Yuan Dynasty.
 First Mongol (non-Chinese) emperor
of China.
 Genghis Khan's grandson.
 Defeated his younger brother Ariq Böke
in a succession war.
 Invasions of Japan, in 1274 and 1281,
were failures.
 Invasion of Java in 1293 was also a failure.
 Transferred the Mongol capital from Karakorum to Peking.

7. Under the Rule of
Kublai Khan
 Introduced the Mongol customs in China and
at the same time the Mongols assimilated
themselves to the Chinese culture.
 Established a government with institutions
resembling the ones in earlier Chinese
dynasties and made reforms to maintain his
centralized rule.
 Centralized the government of China and
made himself an absolute monarch.
 Made Dadu, which is present-day Beijing, the
capital of Yuan.
 Made Shangdu the summer capital.
 Improved the agriculture of China, extending
the Grand Canal, highways, and public
granaries. The agricultural techniques used
were superior to those of the previous
dynasties and food output increased.

8.  Linked China to the east and west which
brought in further influx of various religious and
cultural influences.
 Supported the Silk Road trade network, allowing
the contacts between Chinese technologies
and the western ones.
 Promoted science and restored the schools,
invited scholars, scientists, and artists to his
court.
 Promoted religion and tolerated all foreign
religions and welcomed their missionaries.
 Christianity
 Islam
 Buddhism
 Carried on diplomatic relations with the
Vatican and the Western nations.
 Issued paper banknotes (made from mulberry
bark paper) known as Chao. The use of paper
currency stimulated the development of
commerce.
 Marco Polo described his rule as benevolent:
relieving the populace of taxes in times of
hardships; building hospitals and orphanages;
distributing food among the abjectly poor.

9.  Marco Polo
A Venetian traveler.
A good friend of Kublai Khan.
Worked as an envoy for Kublai Khan.
Messenger to the Western world.
Told the story of his travels in a book
entitled The Travels of Marco Polo.
 Catapulted the historical epoch called
the "Age of Discovery and Exploration".





father
Arrival of Marco Polo and his
and uncle at the court of Kublai
Khan at Peking.

10. Contributions to China &
to the World
 Paper money
 Magnetic compass
 Blue & white porcelain

11.  Guns
 Hand cannon
 Gunpowder
 Landscape painting
 Four Great Painters:
 Huang Gongwang
 Ni Zan
 Wu Zhen
 Wang Meng

12.  Theatre
 Opera
 Music
 Decimal numbers

13. Thank you!
Yuan Dynasty: China's History
Pumar, Korinna Kim S.