Yuan (Mongol) (1279 - 1368)
While time of Mongol rule is called a dynasty, it was in fact a government of occupation. While the
Mongols did use existing governmental structures for the duration, the language they used was Mongol,
and many of the officials they used were non-Chinese. Mongols, Uighurs from central Asia, some
Arabs and even an Italian named Marco Polo all served as officials for the Mongol government. One of
the more significant accomplishments of the Mongol tenure was the preservation of China as we know
it in that China wasn't turned into pastureland for the Mongolian ponies which not only was common
Mongolian practice for territories they'd overrun but had actually been advocated by some of the
conquering generals.
The Yuan dynasty also featured the famous Khubilai Khan, who,
among other things, extended the Grand Canal. While in many ways,
the Yuan was a disaster, the reluctance of the Mongols to hire educated
Chinese for governmental posts resulted in a remarkable cultural
flowering; for example, Beijing Opera was invented during the Yuan.
On the other hand, attempts to analyze the failure of the Song in
keeping barbarians out China led to the rise and dominance of Neo-Confucianism,
a notoriously conservative(if not outright reactionary) brand of
Confucianism that had originally developed during the Song.
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