Page | 25The Yuan Dynasty
In 1271, eight years prior to the final defeat of the Southern
Song, Khubilai Khan declared himself founder of the Yuan
Dynasty. It was the latest in a long string of Chinese dynasties.
Breaking from traditional practice, the Mongols appointed
foreigners from many of their Central Asian lands as the
governmental administrators and privileged officials. Members
of the Chinese Confucian civil service in turn found themselves
politically and socially marginalized.122,^123
Over time, these foreigners increasingly used their positions for
personal profit. As the authority of the Mongol army lessened,
dissension increased and peasant uprisings became increasingly
common.
124, (^125) During the 14th century, floods, earthquakes, and
a loss of agricultural land given over to pasturelands contributed
to famines and disease outbreaks. As a result, instability increased within China.^126
In 1368, the rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang (and ultimately founder of the Ming Dynasty)
led his army to the north toward the Mongol capital of Daidu. The last Yuan emperor,
Toghon Temür, fled northward from the Daidu palace toward Karakorum, the original
Mongol capital during the reign of Genghis Khan.
(^127) Never again would the Mongols
have a significant presence in China. They would, however, continue to pose a threat to
future Ming emperors. Much of the Great Wall of China, still observable today, is a
lasting testament to the seriousness with which the Ming rulers viewed the Mongol
threat.^128
(^122) Robert L. Worden, “Chapter 1: Historical Setting: Khubilai Khan and the Yuan Dynasty, 1261–1368:
The Yuan Dynasty,” in Mongolia: A Country Study, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1991), 26.
(^123) Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Kublai Khan: Unification of China: Social and Administrative
Policy,” 2011, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/324254/Kublai-Khan/3993/Unification-of-
China?anchor=ref67148
(^124) Robert L. Worden, “Chapter 1: Historical Setting: Khubilai Khan and the Yuan Dynasty, 1261–1368:
The Yuan Dynasty,” in Mongolia: A Country Study, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1991), 26.
(^125) Thomas Streissguth, “Chapter 6: The Decline of the Mongol Empire,” in Genghis Khan’s Mongol
Empire (Detroit, MI: Lucent Books, 2005), 88.
(^126) Thomas Streissguth, “Chapter 6: The Decline of the Mongol Empire,” in Genghis Khan’s Mongol
Empire (Detroit, MI: Lucent Books, 2005), 86.
(^127) Thomas Streissguth, “Chapter 6: The Decline of the Mongol Empire,” in Genghis Khan’s Mongol
Empire (Detroit, MI: Lucent Books, 2005), 86.
(^128) David Morgan, “The Mongols in China,” in The Mongols (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1990),
135.