The Yuan Dynasty actually ruled China inone and a half centuries. It was Mongolian in its ethnic composition, which greatly affected the traditional Chinese structure of governance and the country's socio-political structure. The time of her rule is usually regarded as a period of stagnation of the empire, since the foreign invasion had a very negative impact on its internal development.
Mongols
На протяжении нескольких столетий Китай постоянно contacted his steppe neighbors, who, on the one hand, borrowed the achievements of their highly developed neighbor, and on the other hand, exerted strong pressure on him. Foreign dynasties were quite common in the history of the country. One of the steppe peoples who roamed the Chinese borders was Mongolian. At first, the Mongols were part of the Siberian Tatars, and although they stood out in linguistic and ethnic terms, nevertheless, racially, they were not completely formed until the 12th century.
Military organization
The situation changed at the beginning of the next century,when on the all-Mongolian kurultai, Genghis Khan was proclaimed the general ruler of this people. He created a well-organized, trained army, which, in fact, was the backbone of the military-political structure. Hard centralization, iron discipline allowed this relatively small ethnic group to win a number of major victories in the Asian region and create their own state.
China in the XII-XIII centuries
The Yuan Dynasty began its rule in a ratherdifficult conditions. The fact is that the country was actually divided into two parts. This was due to the conquests of the warlike Jurchen tribe, who seized its northern part. In the south, the Sun Empire existed, which continued to function according to traditional Chinese norms and traditions. In fact, this part of the state became a cultural center where Confucianism still dominated, the usual administrative system based on the old system of examinations for the recruitment of officials.
In the north, the Jin empire existedthe rulers of which were never able to finally subdue the southern regions. They only achieved a tribute from them in the form of silver and silk. But, despite this rather difficult contract for South Sung China, the economy, culture, and administrative system continued to develop in these territories. The famous traveler M. Polo visited southern China, which made a great impression on him with his art, wealth, and efficient economy. Thus, the foundation of the Jin dynasty did not lead to the ruin of a country that was able to preserve its cultural values and traditions.
Conquests
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongols began their campaigns. L.Gumilyov considered their rapid movement as one of the most vivid manifestations of drive among nations. This warlike tribe conquered the Central Asian region, defeated the state of the Khorezm Shahs, then moved into the Russian lands and defeated the coalition of princes. After that, they seized the Chinese state. The grandson of Genghis Khan acted both by military and diplomatic means: so, he sought to enlist the support of the Sung aristocracy. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the south of the state resisted for quite a long time, for forty years. His emperors to the last held back the onslaught of the invaders, so that only by 1289 the whole of China was under their authority.
First decades of domination
New Yuan Dynasty brutally began at firstcracking 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 total annihilation by the fact that the new rulers took into account that it is more profitable to save the bulk of taxpayers to the treasury. In addition, the invaders needed quality personnel to control this big country. One of the Khitan advisers advised the new ruler to maintain the local management capacity. The Yuan dynasty existed for about a century and a half, and the first decades of its rule 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 turned into slavery, or was in an incomplete, degraded situation. Nevertheless, after two or three decades, the country began to gradually recover from the blow that befell it.
First emperor
The founder of the new dynasty was Khubilai Khan.Having conquered the country, he conducted a series of transformations in order to somehow adapt to the management of his empire. He divided the country into twelve provinces and attracted to the management of many representatives of other ethnic groups and religions. So, at his court a rather high position was occupied by a Venetian merchant and traveler Marco Polo, thanks to whom the state established contacts with Europeans. In addition, he attracted to his surroundings not only Christians, but also Muslims, Buddhists. Khubilai Khan patronized the representatives of the latest religion, which quickly spread throughout the country. In addition to public affairs, he was engaged in literature, for example, it is known that he wrote poetry, of which, by the way, only one was preserved.
Cultural gap
The first emperor also took care ofintroduce the Mongolian language in official office work. According to his order, a Buddhist monk began to compose a special alphabet, which formed the basis of the so-called square letter, which entered into the state-administrative use. This measure can be explained by the fact that the representatives of the new dynasty found themselves in a rather difficult position because of the cultural barrier between them and the indigenous population. The empire's well-established, centuries-old social and political system, based on traditional Confucianism, turned out to be completely alien to the invaders. They could not bridge this gap, although they took some steps to do 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 system of examinations was abolished, which ensured effective management. All these measures have a very negative impact on the internal political climate of the empire.
Management problems
Хубилай, внук Чингисхана, расширил пределы States, attaching to it a number of neighboring areas. However, his campaigns in the Japanese and Vietnamese lands ended in failure. Already in the first years of his rule, he took a number of measures in order to streamline the administration of the country. Nevertheless, during the years of Mongol rule, the Chinese administration was in a rather difficult and difficult situation due to the fact that Confucian intellectuals were excluded from the conduct of business: all the most important government and military posts were occupied by representatives of the new nobility who could not adapt to cultural norms. and traditions of the conquered people. This led to the fact that under the immediate power of the Mongols, the district of the capital and the adjacent northeastern regions adjoined it, while in other areas it was necessary to rely on local authority, the powers of which, however, were limited to capital officials sent from the center.
Population division
The Yuan Dynasty in China was not the first foreignpower in this country. However, if others managed to adapt to the traditions of this country, learn the language, culture, and eventually completely merge with the local population, the Mongols failed to do so. Perhaps this is due to the fact that they (especially at first) in every way oppressed the Chinese, not allowing them to 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 is extremely deplorable impact on the management, which has lost its best personnel. In addition, representatives of the Mongolian dynasty in every way separated the southerners and northerners, between whom and so there were significant differences. The state also canceled the exam system, banned the Chinese from studying the art of war, learning foreign languages.
Convergence
Mongolian period in the history of China could notstick 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 examination system for the recruitment of civil servants. In addition, at the end of the 13th century, public schools for staffing began to appear. The academies in which books were stored and South Ossean scientists worked were restored. It should be noted that the restoration of the institute of examinations met with quite fierce resistance among the Mongolian nobility, who wanted to maintain leading positions in all areas of social and political life. Nevertheless, Chinese culture had a great influence on Mongolian historiography. Statesmen and nobles began to make their own chronicles, which later formed the basis of "Yuan-shih."
Historiography
Данный исторический сборник был составлен в 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 drafted in a hurry, but the new emperor did not like it, so it had to be redone. However, despite reservations, repetition and editorial errors, this source is a unique monument to the history of the Yuan dynasty. It is especially valuable because it includes many original documents, written records, decrees and orders of the rulers. For some manuscripts, the compilers even traveled to Mongolia. In addition, they attracted local chronicles of families, families, tomb inscriptions and writers. Thus, the "Yuan-shi" is one of the most interesting monuments of the studied era.
A crisis
The fall of the dynasty is due to the fact that the rulersthe empires could not adopt Chinese culture and adapt to the traditional methods of governing the country. Due to the lack of Confucian intellectuals on the ground, the affairs of the provinces were neglected. The last emperor Togon Tamur did not take an active part in the government. With him, all power was actually in the hands of his chancellors. The situation worsened also due to the fact that the conflicts among the Mongolian nobility became aggravated. The direct impetus to the explosion of popular indignation was the breaking of the dam on the Yellow River. The river overflowed and flooded the field, killing tens of thousands of lives.
The fall of the Mongol domination
In these conditions, the bulk of the peasantpopulation rose to fight the invaders. The secret societies that actually led the movement became more active. It arose and spread under the religious slogans of Buddhism, but in its essence was national-patriotic, since the rebels sought to overthrow foreign domination. This rebellion went down in history as the “red dressings”. 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 internal crisis, which arose due to the inability of the Mongols to absorb 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 order in management based on traditional Chinese ethics.
