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.