Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Painted portrait of Khubilai Khan (Kubla Khan). (Courtesy Artdaily.org)
M¨ngke and Khubilai, however, had grown up near China and were
somewhat familiar with Chinese culture and history. They may have
wanted to replicate Tang Taizong's fate of becoming both emperor to
the Chinese and Grand Khan to the nomadic peoples. At any rate,
Khubilai took up the conquest of China with relish; however, China
was not conquered for almost another 20 years. China was the most
difficult, and also the last, of the great Mongol conquests. Khubilai
had named his regime in China the Yuan a few years before 1279, but
from the traditional Chinese point of view the Yuan dynasty did not
become legitimate until the last Song emperor died in 1279, after
drowning at sea near modern Hong Kong.
The Yuan dynasty lasted for less than a hundred years, and its
decline set in after Khubilai's death in 1294. Yuan China was adminis-
tratively unstable because some Khans after Khubilai favored a more
“native” or Chinese style of governance in China; others were more
“traditional” or Mongolian in their approach and sought to exploit
China for the good of the larger Mongol empire. This produced an
inconsistency and unpredictability in Yuan government that did not
bode well for its long-term longevity.
The Mongol conquerors of China seldom fully trusted Chinese offi-
cials and appointed Mongolian or Central Asian commissars to
