Lesson 10: The Rise of the Mongols and the Establishment of the Yuan Dynasty

Genghis Khan's Unification of Mongolia

The Mongols are an ancient people of northern China, originally living in the northern part of the Daxingan Mountains, but later migrating westward into the steppe region. In the 12th century, there were many tribes on the Mongolian grasslands, and there were frequent wars over population, pasture, water and livestock. People wanted the unification of the steppe and the end of war.

The unification of the Mongolian tribes was done by Temujin. When he was young, Temujin, because his father died in the tribal strife, experienced a lot of hardships, and realized that only the unification of the various tribes on the grassland, in order to bring peace to the grassland, so that the people live a stable life. Temujin led many conquests and defeated the various powerful forces on the grasslands one by one, and in 1206, he completed the unification of the Mongolian grasslands and established the Mongolian regime, he was embraced as the Great Khan and was honored as Genghis Khan.

Mongol extermination of Western Xia and Jin

Genghis Khan led the Mongol army to attack Western Xia first, which asked for help from the Jin Dynasty. Since Western Xia had been at war with Jin, the Emperor of Jin Dynasty refused to support Western Xia. Under the Mongol army's attack, the Western Xia fell in 1227.

Genghis Khan died at Mount Liupan when he led his army to attack the Western Xia. Before he died, he left his last words to attack the Jin Dynasty by way of Song territory. After that, Mongolia and Southern Song allied with each other to attack the Jin Dynasty from the north to the south, and in 1234, Mongolia destroyed Jin.

After the fall of the Jin Dynasty, a direct confrontation between Southern Song and Mongolia was formed. The Mongolian army attacked the Southern Song in the south, and the war between the two sides lasted for more than 40 years.

Establishment and unification of the Yuan Dynasty

Kublai was the grandson of Genghis Khan, who succeeded to the throne in 1260. Kublai was enthusiastic about the advanced culture of the Central Plains, and after his accession, he accepted the advice of Han Confucian ministers to "practice Han law", "practice benevolent government" and "refrain from killing", and implemented After his reign, he accepted the advice of Han Confucian ministers to "practice Han law", "practice benevolent rule" and "not to kill", and to implement the strategy of "ruling the country and keeping the people safe". In 1271, Kublai changed the name of his country to Yuan and set the capital at Dadu in the following year.

After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, he continued to attack the Southern Song Dynasty and in 1276, the Yuan army invaded Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the Southern Song Dynasty fell. In 1279, the Yuan army destroyed the remnants of the Southern Song Dynasty. The destruction of the Southern Song by the Yuan completed the unification of the whole country, ending a long period of division and fragmentation in China's history and laying the foundation for the further development of a unified multi-ethnic state.（543words）