Dynasties of ChinaLiao, Song, Xia, Jin & Yuan · Coexisting states
11 Yuan emperors · AD 1271-1368 · 5 generations of succession
Mongol conquests created an immense empire. Yuan provincial administration influenced later governments, while drama, science and technology flourished.
Dynastic color · Porcelain blue
Yuan dynasty is a unified dynasty established by the Mongolian people. In 1206, Genghis Khan (Temüjin) unified all Mongolian tribes, was revered as Cheng Jisihan, and established the Great Mongolian Kingdom. After that, the Mongolian army successively destroyed Western Xia and Jin Dynasty, and conducted many Western expeditions. In 1260, Kublai Khan ascended the throne in Kaiping and established the central government of the Yuan Dynasty. In 1271, he adopted the meaning of "Great Qianyuan" in the "Book of Changes" and named the country Dayuan. The following year, Dadu (today's Beijing) was made the capital, and all of them were Xia capitals. The emperor traveled between the two capitals every year.
In 1279, the Yuan army eliminated the remaining Southern Song forces in Yashan, ending the long-term split and coexistence since the late Tang Dynasty. The territory of Yuan Dynasty was unprecedentedly vast. The central government established Zhongshu Province, and the local governments implemented a provincial system. The Xuanzheng Yuan was established to govern Tibet, and an inspection department was established in Penghu. Stations are connected in all directions, shipping and the Grand Canal are connected to the N&S. Quanzhou has become a major port in the world. Foreigners such as Marco Polo have come to China one after another, and exchanges between China and foreign countries are very frequent.
After Shizu, the competition for the throne became fierce. In the more than 20 years after Chengzong's death, eight emperors ascended the throne, and palace coups occurred one after another. In Yuan dynasty, there were political inequalities among ethnic groups. In the later period, officials were corrupt and banknotes were issued indiscriminately. In addition, the Yellow River overflowed and famines continued for many years, and social conflicts became increasingly acute. In 1351, the Red Scarf Army uprising broke out, and all the heroes came together. In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Yingtian and established the Ming dynasty. In the same year, the Ming army conquered Dadu. Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty went north to the capital. Yuan dynasty's rule in the Central Plains ended, and its remaining forces were known as the Northern Yuan Dynasty in history.
Zhongshu Province directly governs the "belly" surrounding the capital, and the remaining areas are divided into ten Xingzhongshu provinces including Lingbei, Liaoyang, Henan Jiangbei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Yunnan, Jiangsu-Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang. The provincial system was followed by Ming & Qing and became the source of the provincial system in later generations.
The central government established the Xuanzheng Yuan to govern the Tubo region, and Tibet officially became the administrative region of Yuan Dynasty; the Lingbei Province governed Mobei; and the Inspection Department was set up in Penghu to govern Penghu and Liuqiu (today's Taiwan). Academic circles have different opinions on the specific date range of the establishment.
With Dadu as the center, a wide range of post stations (Zhanchi) were set up to connect the whole country and Mobei; sea transportation was opened to connect the Huitong River and Tonghui River, and grain could be transported directly to Dadu. Yuan dynasty uses banknotes such as Zhongtong banknotes and Zhiyuan banknotes as its main currency, which are circulated throughout the country.
Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Qingyuan and other ports have established municipal shipping departments. Quanzhou (Citong) is known as "the largest port in the East". Wang Dayuan went to sea twice with merchant ships, and his "Dao Yi Zhi Lue" recorded the customs and products of many countries and regions in Asia and Africa.
Yuan opera includes Zaju and Sanqu. Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan, Zheng Guangzu, and Bai Pu are collectively known as the "Four Masters of Yuan Opera". "The Injustice of Dou E", "The Romance of the West Chamber" and "The Orphan of Zhao" have become opera classics. Yuan opera is also known as Tang poetry and Song lyrics.
Guo Shoujing compiled a time calendar with a year of 365.2425 days, which is the same as the current Gregorian calendar; Wang Zhen's "Agricultural Book" recorded the wooden movable type and wheel typesetting method; Huang Daopo taught advanced cotton textile technology, which promoted the rise of the cotton textile industry in Jiangnan.
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Genghis Khan (Temüjin) unified all the tribes on the Mongolian plateau, held a conference at the source of the Onan River, and was elected Cheng Jisihan to establish the Great Mongolian Kingdom. After that, the Mongolian army destroyed Western Xia and Jin Dynasty, and carried out three western expeditions, reaching as far as eastern Europe.
After the death of Möngke Khan, Kublai Khan became the Great Khan in Kaiping, established the Zhongtong of the Yuan Dynasty, and established the Zhongshu Province in imitation of the Han system. His younger brother A Libuge fought for the throne in Mobei, and the two sides fought for four years. In 1264, A Libuge was defeated and surrendered.
Kublai Khan established the General Council, led by the state master Ba Siba, to take charge of national Buddhist affairs and military affairs in the Tubo region; in 1288, it was renamed the Xuanzang Council. Tibet has since been officially placed under the administrative jurisdiction of the central government.
Kublai Khan adopted the suggestions of Liu Bingzhong and others and took the meaning of "Great Qianyuan" from the "Book of Changes" and named the country "Dayuan". The following year, Zhongdu was renamed Dadu and served as the capital, while Kaiping Prefecture (Shangdu) became the summer capital.
Saidianchi Gansiding took up the post of Pingzhang political affairs officer of Yunnan Province, moved his administrative office to Zhongqing (now Kunming), promoted commanderies and counties, built water conservancy projects, and established Confucianism. Since then, the Xingzhongshu Province has gradually become the permanent highest local administrative agency.
Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant, arrived in Xanadu by land with his father and uncle, and lived in Yuan Dynasty for seventeen years. His oral travel notes described the prosperity and prosperity of the East and inspired Europeans to yearn for China.
The Yuan army invaded Lin'an, and the Southern Song Emperor Gong surrendered; in 1279, Yuan general Zhang Hongfan defeated the remnants of the Song army at Yashan, and Lu Xiufu threw the young emperor into the sea. Yuan dynasty ended the long-term situation of division and coexistence since the late Tang Dynasty.
Guo Shoujing, Wang Xun and others set up 27 observation points across the country to conduct the "Four Seas Test" and compiled the "Time Calendar". A year is 365.2425 days, which is the same as the current Gregorian calendar. It was promulgated the following year and has been in use for more than 360 years.
Zhu Qing and Zhang Xuan opened sea routes to transport grain from Jiangnan to Dadu by sea. The Huitong River was excavated in 1289, and the Tonghui River under the leadership of Guo Shoujing was completed in 1293. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal realized direct N & S navigation and no longer detoured to Luoyang.
With Dadu as the center, the creation of Zaju flourished. Guan Hanqing wrote more than 60 kinds of plays including "The Injustice of Dou E", Wang Shifu wrote "The Romance of the West Chamber", calligraphers and artists worked closely together, and Zaju became popular in urban and rural areas.
Renzong issued an edict to resume the long-interrupted imperial examination, and in 1315 the subject was opened for the first time to obtain scholars, with Zhu Xi's "Collected Annotations of Four Books on Chapters and Sentences" as the examination standard. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism thus became the official doctrine until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Yingzong and Prime Minister Bai Zhu implemented the New Deal, eliminated redundant officials and reorganized finances, which violated the interests of the Mongolian nobles. Tie Shi, the imperial censor, and others assassinated Yingzong and Bai Zhu on the southern slope near Xanadu. From then on, Yuan Dynasty fell into the turmoil of frequent changes in the throne.
Prime Minister Tuo Tuo served as the chief official of the capital, and presided over the compilation of "History of the Song Dynasty", "History of the Liao Dynasty" and "History of the Jin Dynasty". He treated the three dynasties equally based on the principle of "each with orthodoxy", and the three histories were completed one after another within two or three years.
The Yuan Dynasty recruited hundreds of thousands of people to control the Yellow River, and also changed the banknote laws, causing public resentment. Han Shantong and Liu Futong buried the one-eyed stone man in advance and called for an uprising with the slogan "The stone man's one eye will stir up rebellion across the Yellow River", and the heads of the insurgents were wrapped in red scarves.
Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Yingtian, established the Ming dynasty, and immediately sent Xu Da and Chang Yuchun to the northern expedition. In the same year, the Ming army captured Dadu, and Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty went north to the capital. Yuan Dynasty's rule in the Central Plains ended, and the remaining forces were known as the Northern Yuan Dynasty in history.
Named Genghis Khan (Temüjin), he lost his father when he was young. After many hardships, he relied on his extraordinary courage to unify all Mongolian tribes and established the Great Mongolian Kingdom in 1206. He implemented the thousand-household system, promulgated the "Da Zhasa", and led the army to the Western Expedition. He died on the way to Western Xia in 1227.
A descendant of the Khitan royal family, he is knowledgeable and talented. He assisted Cheng Jisihan and Ögedei Khan and served as the Secretary of the Central Plains. He discouraged the idea of converting farmland in the Central Plains into pastures, established a tax system, selected Confucian scholars, and protected the economy and culture of the Central Plains.
The fourth son of Tuo Lei opened a mansion in Jinlianchuan in his early years and recruited Han Confucian scholars. He ascended the throne as Khan in 1260, founded the country under the name Dayuan in 1271, and destroyed Southern Song in 1279. The implementation of the provincial system and the emphasis on agriculture and mulberry laid the foundation for Yuan Dynasty's ruling pattern.
Originally a monk, his Buddhist name was Zicong. After entering the Kublai Khan shogunate, he participated in formulating the founding regulations and systems. He presided over the planning and construction of Xanadu and Dadu, and proposed to use "Dayuan" as the country's name, which laid the foundation for the scale of Yuan Dynasty's founding.
The leader of the Tubo Sakya Sect was respected as the national teacher and the emperor's teacher by Kublai Khan. He led the General Council, commanded national Buddhism and managed Tubo affairs. He was ordered to create a new Mongolian character (Ba Siba character), which was promulgated nationwide in 1269.
A native of Xingtai, Shunde, he created more than ten kinds of astronomical instruments such as simple instruments and high-grade watches. He presided over the "Sihai Test" and compiled a time-telling calendar with Wang Xun and others. He also presided over the excavation of the Tonghui River, allowing the canal boats to reach Jishuitan in Dadu. He was an outstanding scientist in the Yuan Dynasty.
No. Ji Zhaisou, a native of Dadu, was active in the late Jin Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty. He created more than 60 kinds of dramas in his life. The representative work "The Injustice of Dou E" accuses the darkness of society, and the power of tragedy moves the world; there are also famous works such as "Save Feng Chen" and "Single Sword Club".
A native of Dadu, he was a playwright of the Yuan Dynasty. The representative work "The Romance of the West Chamber" tells the story of Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying who broke through the ethics and finally got married, proclaiming "May all the lovers in the world become married". The music and lyrics are gorgeous, and it is known as "the best in the world".
In 1275, he arrived in Xanadu with his father and uncle, and was appointed by Kublai Khan. He lived in China for seventeen years. In 1291, he set off from Quanzhou to return to China. His oral travel notes praised China's prosperity and inspired Europeans to yearn for the East.
The descendant of King of Qin Zhao Defang, the son of Taizu in the Song Dynasty, became an official in the Yuan Dynasty and became a scholar in the Hanlin Academy. His calligraphy is round and elegant, and he is known as "Zhao Ti" in the world. Together with Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan, he is also known as the four masters of regular script. In painting, he advocates "the same origin of calligraphy and painting".
A native of Wunijing, Songjiang, he lived in Yazhou (now Hainan) in his early years and learned cotton spinning technology from Li women. During the Yuanzhen period, he returned to his hometown and taught and improved the pulley, slingshot and three-spindle pedal spinning wheel, which led to the rise of the cotton textile industry in Songjiang area.
A native of Nanchang, he took two long voyages from Quanzhou on merchant ships in his youth, traveling throughout Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia, and in some cases as far away as the coast of East Africa. His "Dao Yi Zhi Lue" records the mountains, rivers, customs and products of many areas along the way.
A member of the Mierqi tribe, he twice served as the right prime minister of Zhongshu. He promoted the "Zhizheng reform", restored the imperial examination, and presided over the compilation of the histories of the Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties. In 1354, when he led an army to besiege Zhang Shicheng in Gaoyou, he was dismissed from office and exiled. Later, he was poisoned to death by the imperial edict of Hamajiao, a powerful minister.
He was born in poverty in Zhongli, Haozhou, and once entered Huangjue Temple as a monk. In 1352, he defected to Guo Zixing's Red Scarf Army. He later captured Jiqing and renamed it Yingtian. He successively eliminated Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng. In 1368, he proclaimed himself emperor and established Ming Dynasty. In the same year, he conquered Dadu.