The Mongols China The Mongols were a pastoral

The Mongols & China • The Mongols were a pastoral culture from the area now known as Mongolia. • Temujin united the Mongolians and was elected Genghis Khan in 1206 AD. • He conquered much of Eurasia establishing the largest land empire ever in history.

Genghis Khan • Died in 1227 • His heirs split up the empire so that each got a piece of it. • The empire was divided into several smaller khanates. • Conquests continued, but Europe was spared. • Mongols attacked the Song around 1260

Kublai Khan • Genghis’ grandson • Conquered the Song in 1279 • Established the Yuan Dynasty in China • Conquered Vietnam for a short time • Marco Polo (the same one who visited the Song) lived in China during much of Kublai Khan’s reign. • Ruled until he died in 1294

End of the Yuan Dynasty • Eventually the Yuan Dynasty suffered the same fate as all previous large empires 1. Overextended resources 2. Corruption 3. Instability caused by discontent citizens • In 1368 a peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang gathered an army to overthrow the Yuan, and established the Ming Dynasty

Religion & Government • The Han Dynasty was founded upon the principals of Confucianism • By the time China was reunited under the Sui Dynasty, Buddhism had been introduced by missionaries from India. • During the Sui and early Tang Dynasties Buddhist institutions were supported by the government.

The Tang Withdraw Government Support of Buddhism • By the later Tang Dynasty there was a movement against Buddhism because: 1. The wealthy monasteries were corrupt, being misused by people who were in it for the money not the religion. 2. Buddhism was a foreign religion.