As we have seen, after losing the northern areas to the Jürcherns in 1126/7 CE, the Song dynasty maintained control of the souther regions for circa another 50 years. The emperors were continuously facing problems: pressures from the brother with the northern dynasty, growing internal economic problems in spite of Wang Anshi’s and, later, Jia Sidao’s 賈似道 (1213-1275 CE) attempts at ending corruption and improving the taxation system. After years of battling with the Mongols, the Souther Song’s capital Hangzhou fell in 1276. The conquest of the South, all the way to Guangzhou, was completed by 1279.

The Mongols

When studies the History of China, the Mongols enter the picture as the founders and the runners of the Yuan 元 dynasty (1271-1368). Yet the Mongol presence and ruling over the formerly Song dynasty’s territories are a small part of a much, much larger empire. In 1249 CE, the Mongol empire went from modern Kiev (today’s Ukraine) to the Korean Peninsula, extending North-South from the borders of Siberia to those of India.^[1] This is the largest empire ever created in history. When we study the Yuan dynasty, therefore, we must keep in mind that we are studying a very small fraction of a much more complex story.

First the Mongols conquered the Jin 金 dynasty, particularly with the help of Kithan officials who were fluent in Chinese and understood the administrative apparatus. The Kithans and their Liao dynasty had been defeated by the Jürcherns, and their resent served well the Mongols.^[2] Afterwards, they began to move south to submit the Souther Song dynasty.

The Yuan Dynasty

In the years preceding the conquering of the Southern Song’s capital, the Mongols engaged the people in the northern areas of today’s China. Chinggis Khan (Chinese name Genghis Khan 成吉思汗, 1162-1227 CE) and his third son Ögedei Khagan (1186-1242) are the leaders who most contributed to the expansion of the Mongol empire and to conquering the Chinese territories. It will be however Chinggis‘s grandson, Kublai, the one who found the Yuan Dynasty in 1271 and completed the conquering of the Southern Song’s capital in 1279. 

It is not a stretch to claim that it was the Mongols, with the Yuan dynasty, who started to create the China we know today. Their unification of north and south areas was more accomplished and would last until the end of the empires, in 1911/1912. Under the Yuan dynasty, the capital was in Beijing, shifting the center to the north.

Under the Yuan dynasty, society was divided into four classes: the Mongols 蒙古人, the “people of diverse kinds” 色目人, the Han people 漢人, and the Southerners 南人. At this point in time, Han does not refer to ethnically Chinese people, but to the people living in the northern area of today’s China; and Southerners referred to those living in the Southern lands. This is a long term consequence of the division between North and South that occurs during the Regional Regimes, and continues to determine cultural and political organizations. These classes had different legal statuses, and were taxed differently.^[3]

The Mongols were the only group with a military force. Some previous ruling practices were abandoned by the Mongols, who continued to see Mongolia as the most important area for their class. Kubilai discouraged Mongols from marryng with other classes, and conducted a lot of business in Mongol language. The Secret History of the Mongol 蒙古秘史, one of the most important sources of knowledge, was most likely written in Mongol. Unfortunately, editions in the Mongol language are lost, and only copies in Chinese language have survived.

No group was forced to adopt Mongol practices. The Mongols took a very practical approach: they rewarded anyone who served them loyally, regardless of their origins or cultures. This lead to immigrations and migratory movements throughout the empire. They also did not discriminate against any religions, letting regional aristocracies free to chose their patronage.^[4]

When the Russian Toghto 脫脫 (died 1356), one of the most accomplished historians in premodern history, passed the imperial exams, many literati who considered themselves to be the heirs of the Chinese culture saw this as a sign of corruption of the system. Many among the educated elite refused to seek a career in government, and dedicated themselves to the arts, which thus flourished under the Yuan dynasty. 

Eventually, the Mongol empire and the Yuan dynasty collapsed in the 14th century for a series of combined factors. In attempting to keep down rebellions within the empire, the Mongols were constantly at war, requiring very large resources. Some of the geographical areas they had conquered had been so devastated that for decades they were depopulated and agriculturally unproductive. Because different social classes were treated differently, suspicions and resentment grew, complicated their coexistence. This happened at the same time of climate changes, the plague battering European populations (thus affecting commerce), and droughts that affected food production and lead the population to rebel. The very founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋 (1328-1398 CE) saw his entire family die because of starvation, and rose to power in one of these rebellions.