• Painting, poetry and calligraphy flourished as well. A group of painters known as the literati depicted nature as they experienced it and were very influential on future artists. • The court was a vibrant place, welcoming of visitors and the khan encouraged free exchange of ideas, making it quite multicultural and tolerant for its time. 10.9 Was there peace under Mongol rule? • Western scholars refer to the period of the Mongol dynasty as Pax Mongolica (Mongolian Peace), because the period of relative peace allowed the barrier between the East and the West to be crossed by trade and an exchange of ideas. • Under the rule of the khan, different ideas were tolerated and many different belief systems were brought together. • Ideas from China were passed to Europe, such as printing, new methods of paper-making, the magnetic compass, gunpowder and porcelain, as well as the concept of paper money. • The Mongol Empire flourished in many ways, but there were still many Chinese people who suffered under the Mongol rule, with the Chinese population dropping from 120 million at the start of the Yuan dynasty to 85 million by the end of it. 10.10 How did the empire end? • In the years following Kublai Khan’s death, the Yuan leadership was constantly changing, and this weakened the empire. • The Mongols thought the Yuan leaders too Chinese and the Chinese thought them too Mongol. • The leaders became corrupt and weak. With the leadership weakening, the Mongol clans began fighting with each other again. • China was also hit by a series of natural disasters that led to great suffering for the Chinese peasants. As the Chinese hatred of the Mongols grew, there was a growth in planned rebellions. • A peasant rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang began a takeover of strategically important cities, eventually capturing Beijing and declaring himself the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, meaning ‘brilliance’. • The mighty Mongol Empire had fallen only a century after the death of Genghis Khan. 10.11 Inquiry: How did the Mongolian armies conquer and control societies? • As the Mongolians engaged with different cultures, they came across many new forms of warfare and weaponry. • Many European nations were terrified of invasion by the Mongols who were seen as an unstoppable force. 10.12.2 Key terms
ambassador an authorised messenger or representative barbarians ToCome blockade the shutting off of a location to prevent entry or exit chador a dark dress or cloak that covers the body and face below the eyes civil servant a person who works for the public courier a messenger, often carrying important government documents distillation the purification or concentration of a substance dyke a barrier or bank of earth for controlling water of the sea or river dynasty a sequence of rulers from the same family imperial the rule of an emperor or something belonging to an empire literacy the ability to read and write magistrate a court official who hears cases in the lowest court in the legal system mandate a command or order from a superior power mercenary soldier who fights for money rather than for ideals or patriotism mutton the flesh of a mature sheep used as food occupation invasion, conquest and control of a nation or territory by foreign armed forces
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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