Mongolian Interlude -- Yuan Dynasty 1271 -- 1368 99 Years

In 1206 an assembly of all Mongol tribes convened in Outer Mongolia to confirm Mongol unity under the leadership of Genghis Khan. In China the alien Jin Dynasty fell to the Mongol armies. He captured the Jin capital in 1215 and extended his power over all of North China. The conquest of the Southern Song was not completed until 1279, after Kublai Khan, his grandson, had succeeded to Mongol leadership. Kublai moved the capital to Beijing, adopted much of the Chinese administrative machinery that existed under the Song. They ruled as Chinese monarchs under the dynastic title of Yuan (1279-1368 - 90 years). Communications were vastly improved. The Central Asian trade routes were secured. Traffic from West to East increased. Missionaries and traders came to China, bringing new ideas, techniques, foods, and medicines. Marco Polo arrives to write about the splendor of the Mongol Empire of the West. However, discontent was growing in China.

The Chinese resented Mongol proscription against the Chinese holding important offices. Inflation and oppressive taxes alienated Chinese peasants. The 1330s and 1340s were marked by crop failure and famine in North China and by flooding in the Yellow River. Uprising occurred in every province during the 1340s. By the 1350s several major rebel leaders had emerged, and in the 1360s a former Buddhist monk was successful in extending his power throughout the Yangtze Valley. In 1371, while the Mongol commanders were paralyzed by internal rivalries, he marched north and seized Beijing. The Mongols withdrew to Mongolia and from there continued to harass the Chinese.