Transcript 12.3 The Mongol Empire

Do Now – Correct your 7.4 Assessment
• 1a. Genghis Khan was the leader of the Mongols who
conquered a large part of Asia.
• 1b. The Mongols gained control of China by attacking
and terrorizing Chinese towns and ruining farmland.
• 1c. Opinion + Evidence = Point
– The statement the “The Mongols should never have tried to
invade Japan” is valid because attacking Japan contributed
to the Yan dynasty’s failure as they overextended their
army.
• 2a. Zheng He was the greatest sailor of the Ming
dynasty. He led voyages of exploration to Asia and
Africa.
• 3a. Isolationism is the act of removing, or isolating, a
country from contract with other countries.
Topic: The Yuan Dynasty
1279-1368 CE
How did the Mongols come to rule
China? What factors caused the end
of their rule?
I. Nomads of the Asian Steppe
• Geography of the Steppe
– Steppe—dry grassland of Eurasia (Europe
and Asia —provides home for nomads.
– Dry arid climate with extreme temperatures.
– Steppe nomads are pastoralists—herd
domesticated animals.
– Way of life teaches Asian nomads to be
skilled horse riders.
Visual 1 of Asian steppes
Visual 2 nomadic tents
II. Role of the Horse
• Mongols have a reputation for being the best horsemen on
Earth.
• Mongols could travel up to 80 miles a day
• Invention of the stirrup allowed riders to stand and shoot
arrows at a full gallop.
– Mongol archers were very deadly and accurate Their
arrows could kill enemies at 200 meters (656 feet)
• The Mongols were oriented around extreme mobility. They
carried their houses with them, drank their own horse's blood
to stay alive, and could travel up to 80 miles per day.
• The administration and consolidation of the vast Mongol
empire was closely tied to the use of the horse.
– They had an elaborate priority-mail-system which allowed
orders to be transmitted rapidly across Eurasia
III. Genghis Khan: “The Universal Ruler”
• Genghis Khan Unites the Mongols
– About 1200, Genghis Khan
(universal ruler) unites
Mongols.
– A brilliant organizer and
strategist, uses brutality to
terrorize his enemies.
– By 1225, Genghis Khan
controls central Asia.
– Genghis Khan dies in 1227 and
his successors continue
conquests for 50 years.
– The Mongols conquer territory
from China to Eastern Europe
IV. The Khanates
• A.Mongols ruled a huge empire and
divided them into 4 areas:
– Khanate of the Great Khan (Mongolia & China)
– Khanate of the Golden Horde (Russia)
– Chagatai Khanate (Central Asia)
– Ilkhanate (Persia)
B. Kublai Khan
• A New Emperor
– Kublai Khan, grandson
of Genghis, conquers
China by 1279.
– Kublai established the
Yuan Dynasty (12791368), a period of
peace and relative
prosperity.
– Kublai adopts Chinese
ways, and builds
capital at Beijing.
C. Mongol Rule
– Mongol rulers are tolerant of other peoples
and their cultures.
• Kublai is tolerant and does not force the Chinese
to adopt Mongol ways.
– Some Mongols adopt local ways, leading to a
split among khanates.
• Some Mongols adopt aspects of Chinese culture,
like Confucianism.
– Still, Chinese are resentful of rule by
foreigners, whom they saw as rude and
uncivilized.
Mongol Rule in China
Mongols live separately from Chinese and
follow own laws.
Mongols keep control by preventing scholar
officials from gaining too much power and
levying heavy taxes.
Taxes used to expand public works projects
 Kublai extends Grand Canal to Beijing, and builds
a highway.
D. Growth of Trade
 The Yuan dynasty
favored a policy of nonisolationism
 Mongol soldier
presence, kept overland
trade routes (Silk Road)
safe for Merchants,
increasing overland
trade
 Mongol Emperors
welcome foreign traders
at Chinese ports,
increasing overseas
trade.
E. Marco Polo at the Mongol Court
– Venetian trader, Marco Polo, visits
China in 1275.
– Polo returns to Venice in 1292; tells
stories of what he saw in China.
• Fabulous cities, fantastic wealth
• Burning “black stones (coal) to heat
Chinese homes
• Kublai Khan’s government and trade
in Beijing
– These stories were gathered in a
book, but most readers doubt its
truth
V. Factors of the Fall of the
Yuan Dynasty
1. Chinese resentment of foreign rule and
heavy taxes.
2. Extensive public works projects
weakened the economy.
3. Two failed invasions of Japan weaken the
Mongol Military.
 Bent on conquest, Kublai tries and fails to Conquer
Japan in 1274 and 1281.
 In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang leads a rebellion and
reunifies China under the Ming Dynasty.
4. Decline of the Mongol Empire
– Mongol rule collapses in Persia in the 1330s;
in Central Asia in the 1370s.
– By the end of the 1300s, only Mongol rule in
Russia remains, the Golden Horde.