Transcript The Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire
Chapter 8. 2
Ghengis Khan
The Mongol Empire
• The Mongols came from present-day Mongolia. They were
organized loosely into clans. Temujin gradually unified the
Mongols. In 1206 he was elected Genghis Khan (“strong
ruler”) at a massive meeting in the Gobi. He devoted himself
to conquest.
• The Mongols created the largest land empire in history
comprising much of the Eurasian landmass. Its capital at
Karakorum.
• In attacking the Song, the Mongols first experienced
gunpowder and the fire-lance. The latter evolved into more
effective handguns and cannons. By the early fourteenth
century foreigners in the employ of Mongol ruler brought
gunpowder and firearms to Europe.
The Mongol Empire
Genghis Khan
• Mongol leader Genghis Khan (1162-1227) rose
from humble beginnings to establish the largest
land empire in history. After uniting the
nomadic tribes of the Mongolian plateau, he
conquered huge chunks of central Asia and
China. His descendants expanded the empire
even further, advancing to such far-off places as
Poland, Vietnam, Syria and Korea. At their peak,
the Mongols controlled between 11 and 12
million contiguous square miles, an area about
the size of Africa.
Genghis Khan
• Many people were slaughtered in the course
of Genghis Khan’s invasions, but he also
granted religious freedom to his subjects,
abolished torture, encouraged trade and
created the first international postal system.
Genghis Khan died in 1227 during a military
campaign against the Chinese kingdom of Xi
Xia. His final resting place remains unknown.
Genghis Khan
• Genghis Khan used homing pigeons as
messengers for military and political
instructions. As he expanded his territory, he
set up pigeon relay posts across Asia and
much of eastern Europe; the pigeons
transmitted instructions to his capital for the
governing of his distant dominions.
The Mongol Dynasty in China
• In 1279 Kublai Khan completed conquering the
Song. He established the Yuan dynasty in China.
He established the capital at Khanbaliq (“the city
of the Khan”) now known as Beijing.
• Under Kublai Khan, Mongol forces advanced
against Vietnam, Java, Sumatra, and Japan.
Mongol military tactics, such as Calvary charges
and siege warfare, were not effective in these
largely tropical, hilly regions. These Mongol
campaigns failed.
The Mongol Dynasty in China
• The Mongols were successful at ruling China.
They adapted to the Chinese political system
and used Chinese bureaucrats. The Mongols
formed their own class, however, staffing the
highest positions in the bureaucracy.
• Over time, the Mongol dynasty won the
support of the Chinese people, in part due to
the economic prosperity and social stability
the Mongols brought.
Religion and Government in Mongolia
• By the time of the Sui and Tang dynasties,
Buddhism and Daoism had emerged to rival
Confucianism. Confucianism reemerged
during the Song dynasty, and held its
dominance until the early twentieth century.
• Early Tang rulers supported monasteries, and
Buddhists became advisers at the imperial
court. Ultimately, however, Buddhism was
criticized and attacked.
Religion and Government
• Buddhism was attacked for being a foreign
religion. Also, the Buddhist monasteries held
lands and serfs, and with these holdings came
corruption.
• During the late Tang period, the government
destroyed many Buddhist temples and forced
more than 260,000 monk and nuns to return
to secular life. Buddhism no longer enjoyed
state support.
Religion and Government
• Official support went to a revived Confucianism, NeoConfucianism. It differs from the original Confucianism. It
differs from the original Confucianism. It teaches that the
world is real, not illusory, and that fulfillment comes from
participation in the world.
• Neo-Confucianists divide the world into material and
spiritual worlds. Humans link the two. We live in the
material world but are linked with the Supreme Ultimate.
The goal of humans is to unify with the Supreme
Ultimate, through a careful examination of the moral
principles that rule the universe.
A Golden Age in Literature and Art
• The invention of printing during the Tang dynasty
helped make literature available and popular. The
period between the Tang and Ming dynasties was a
great age of Chinese literature. Art also flourished.
• Poetry was the highest literary art of the time. Some
2,200 authors wrote at least 48,000 poems. They
celebrated the beauty of nature, the changes of
seasons, and the joys of friendship. They expressed
the sadness of parting of life’s brevity.
A Golden Age in Literature and Art
• Landscape painting reached its height during the Song and
Mongol dynasties. Painters went into the mountains to paint
and find the Dao, or Way, in nature. The word for landscape in
Chinese means “mountain-water” and reflects the Daoist
search for balance between Earth and water.
• Chinese artists tried to depict the idea of the landscape.
Empty spaces were left in the paintings because Daoists
believe one cannot know the whole truth. Daoist influence
also caused the people to be quite small in these landscapes,
not dominating but living within nature.
• Ceramics, and especially Tang-period porcelain, a ceramic
made of find clay baked at very high temperatures, flourished.