Great Yuan

  General Description   After a series of military campaigns, Kublai Khan, leader of the large and powerful Mongolian empire, took control of China and established a new Mongolian dynasty based in the territory of the former Jin empire. This polity, ruling from China, was to be known as the Yuan Dynasty, and lasted from 1271 CE until its eventual demise in 1368. ^[1]
The Yuan Dynasty was a continuation of the Mongolian Empire. However, Genghis Khan’s empire had by this time fractured into rival Khanates, including the Chagatai Khanate, the Ilkhanate, and the Golden Horde. Although the Yuan Emperor was the nominal overlord of these regions, the Khanates were effectively independent. ^[1] The Yuan’s core territory covered North China, Manchuria, and the Inner Mongolian steppe, ^[1] but military campaigns saw it expand over most of China, Tibet and into Korea. ^[2] However, their attempt to conquer Japan was thwarted by a typhoon. ^[3] Eventually, internal dissensions between the various ordos (political units) and local rebellions dissolved the fabric of the empire and led to its disaggregation. ^[4]
Population and political organization
The Yuan Empire was a sociopolitical blend of Chinese and Mongolian features. At the top of the administrative, religious and military hierarchy sat the emperor, ruling under the traditional Chinese ’Mandate of Heaven’. ^[5] Kublai Khan was the embodiment of a strong central authority, but the balance he created was only maintained for about 30 years after his death before emperors started to lose internal and external control over the Yuan dominion. ^[6] Administratively, the empire was modelled on its Jin predecessor, and ruled through a variety of entities such as the Secretariat, the Military Affairs Bureau, and the Censorate. ^[7] However, it also retained Mongolian institutions, such as the keshig (imperial guard) and the ordos, which corresponded to the palace-tents, household and staff of various princes and lords. ^[7] These ordos acted as separate vassal states under nominal imperial control. ^[4] In terms of territorial administration, the Yuan Dynasty comprised 12 provinces. ^[8] In total, the population of Yuan China may have been between 60 ^[9] and 85 million. ^[10]
Communications across the vast empire were facilitated by an elaborate postal system, described in detail by Marco Polo. There were 1,400 relay stations located every 25 to 50 kilometres along the main axes of communication, and messengers could cover up to 400 kilometres a day to relay urgent news. ^[11] Resources could be controlled by the state thanks to the use of paper currency, issued in proportion to silver reserves, and a commercial tax on the government-sponsored ortoq merchant class. ^[7] Another significant source of wealth was the salt monopoly, which had reached 80 percent of the government’s income by 1320. ^[7]
Kublai oversaw the construction of a new capital, known as Dadu to the Chinese, Khanbalik to the Turks and Daidu to the Mongols, on the site of modern Beijing. ^[12] At its height, Dadu may have had 600,000 inhabitants. ^[13] The location of this city in the vicinity of the northern frontier enabled Kublai to retain control over the Mongolian homeland. ^[12] Its architecture and design embodied the syncretism of Mongolian and Chinese influences: it featured two inner walls and an imperial city, but also had avenues wide enough for nine horsemen to gallop abreast, and Mongolian yurts flourished in its parks. ^[12] The court was cosmopolitan and although Kublai followed Tantric Buddhism, he also had Confucian advisors ^[14] and welcomed foreigners such as the Polo family. The Yuan were patrons of education through state schools and temples; state organizations sponsored the study of Confucianism, astronomy, historiography and medicine. ^[7]
Yuan China encompassed a territory that fluctuated between roughly 11 and 24 million square kilometres, supporting a population of between 60 and 85 million people. ^{[15] [16]}

[1]: (Atwood 2004, 603) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts on File.

[2]: (Atwood 2004, 604) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts on File.

[3]: (Morgan 2007, 107) David Morgan. 2007. The Mongols. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.

[4]: (Franke and Twitchett 1994, 26) Herbert Franke and Denis Crispin Twitchett. 1994. ’Introduction’, in The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 414-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[5]: Connie Cook, Seshat North China Workshop, 2016.

[6]: (Buell 2003, 62) Paul D. Buell. 2003. Historical Dictionary of the Mongol World Empire. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

[7]: (Atwood 2004, 606) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts on File.

[8]: (Buell 2003, 60) Paul D. Buell. 2003. Historical Dictionary of the Mongol World Empire. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

[9]: (Mote 1994, 618) Frederick W. Mote. 1994. ’Chinese Society under Mongol Rule, 1215-1368’, in The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 616-64. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[10]: 《中國人口史》（第三卷）遼宋金元時期.第390頁.吳松弟.復旦大學出版社.2000年12月出版.《中國人口史》共六卷，由葛劍雄教授主編.

[11]: (Rossabi 1994, 450) Morris Rossabi. 1994. ’The Reign of Khubilai Khan’, in The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 414-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[12]: (Rossabi 1994, 454) Morris Rossabi. 1994. ’The Reign of Khubilai Khan’, in The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 414-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[13]: (Atwood 2004, 123) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts on File.

[14]: Vesna Wallace 2017, personal communication.

[15]: 《元史‧卷五八‧志第十‧地理一》，記載：「十三年，平宋，全有版圖。二十七年，又籍之，得戶一千一百八十四萬八百有奇。於是南北之戶總書於策者，一千三百一十九萬六千二百有六，口五千八百八十三萬四千七百一十有一，而山澤溪洞之民不與焉。」

[16]: 《中國人口史》（第三卷）遼宋金元時期.第390頁.吳松弟.復旦大學出版社.2000年12月出版.《中國人口史》共六卷，由葛劍雄教授主編。