SOURCE3 Despite the positive achievements of the Yuan dynasty, the population of China plummeted due to the harsh conditions imposed upon it by Mongol rule. This Yuan dynasty painting by a Chinese artist shows death luring a baby away from his sister. His mother is powerless to save him.
In 1269, Kublai Khan established a printing office so that pamphlets could be published to communicate government decrees to the people. He also encouraged the printing of books on a wide range of subjects including agriculture, law, medicine, mathematics, art and history. Yuan dynasty printing presses were so widespread that books were mass produced and cheap to buy. Paper money was printed with such success that, for the first time in human history, paper money became the main form of currency. Kublai Khan built himself a magnificent palace on the site of the ancient city of Chung-tu, and a summer palace in Mongolia in Xanadu. 10.7.3 Westerners in the khan’s court Kublai Khan was fascinated by two brothers, Nicolo and Maffeo Polo, who visited his court to trade goods from their homeland of Venice, Italy. They arrived in 1266 and took messages from the khan, requesting missionaries and European scholars, back to the pope in Venice. When they returned to the khan, they were accompanied by Nicolo’s son, Marco.
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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