Kublai Khan

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Kublai Khan

Birth and death:	September 23, 1215–February 18, 1294
Clan name (obogh):	Borjigin (Боржигин) Bei'erzhijin (孛兒只斤) or Bo'erjijite (博爾濟吉特)
Sublineage name: (yasun)	Khiyad (Хиад) Qiwowen (奇渥溫) or Qiyan (乞顏)
Given name:	Khubilai (Хубилай) Hubilie (忽必烈)
Khan of the Mongols
Dates of reign:	May 5, 1260–Dec. 17, 1271
Emperor of Yuan China
Dates of reign:	Dec. 18, 1271–Feb. 18, 1294
Era Names:	Zhongtong, Zhiyuan
Dynasty:	Ön, now Yüanh (Юань) Yuan (元)
Khan name:	Setsen Khan (Сэцэн хаан) Xuechan Han (薛禪汗)
Temple name:	(Mongolian name to be added) Shizu (世祖)
Posthumous name: (short)	Never used short
Posthumous name: (full)	(Mongolian name to be added) Emperor Shengde Shengong Wenwu (聖德神功文武皇帝)
General note: Names given in Mongolian, then in Chinese. See Notes''

Kublai or Khubilai Khan (September 23, 1215 - February 18, 1294) (Mongolian: Хубилай хаан, ), was the fifth and last Khagan (1260–1294) of the Mongol Empire. In 1271, he founded the Yuan Dynasty, and became the first Yuan emperor.

He was the second son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki and a grandson of Genghis Khan. The civil war between him and his younger brother Ariq Böke over the succession of their older brother Möngke (died in 1259) essentially marked the end of a unified Mongol empire.

Early years

Kublai studied Chinese culture and became enamored of it. In 1251, his elder brother Möngke became Khan of the Mongol Empire, and Kublai became the governor of the southern territories of the Mongol Empire. During his years as governor, Kublai managed his territory well, boosting the agricultural output of Henan and increasing social welfare spendings after receiving Xi'an. These acts received great acclaim from the Chinese warlords and were essential to the building of the Yuan Dynasty.

In 1253, Kublai was ordered to attack Yunnan, and he destroyed the Kingdom of Dali. In 1258, Möngke put Kublai in command of the Eastern Army and summoned him to assist with attacks on Sichuan and, again, Yunnan. Before Kublai could arrive in 1259, word reached him that Möngke had died. Kublai continued to attack Wuhan, but soon received news that his younger brother Arik Boke had held a kurultai at the Mongolian imperial capital of Karakorum and was pronounced Great Khan. Most of Genghis Khan's descendants favored Arik Boke as Great Khan; however, his two brothers Kublai and Hulegu were in opposition.

Kublai quickly reached a peace agreement with Song troops and returned north to the Mongolian plains, in order to oppose Arik Boke's claim to the title of Great Khan.

Upon returning to his own territories, Kublai summoned a kurultai of his own, and was proclaimed Great Khan. Only a small number of the royal family supported Kublai's claims to the title, however the small number of attendees still proclaimed him Great Khan.

This subsequently led to warfare between Kublai and his younger brother Arik Boke, which resulted in the eventual destruction of the Mongolian capital at Karakorum.

Both his brother and Kublai crowned themselves Khan in 1260, and the two brothers battled for three years before Kublai finally won. However, during this civil war, Yizhou governor Li revolted against Mongol rule. The revolt was swiftly crushed by Kublai, but this incident instilled in him a strong distrust of ethnic Hans. After he became emperor, Kublai instituted several anti-Han laws, such as banning the titles of and tithes to Han Chinese warlords.

Mongol Empire

The empire was separated into four khanates, each ruled by a separate khan and overseen by the Great Khan. The Kipchak Khanate (also called the Golden Horde) ruled Russia; the Ilkhanate ruled the Middle East, the Chagatai Khanate ruled over central Asia, and the Great Khanate controlled Mongolia and eventually the whole of China. The empire reached its greatest extent under Kublai with his conquest of the Song Dynasty, which was completed by his final victory in 1279.

Emperor of Yuan

As emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan worked to minimize the influences of regional lords who had held immense power before and during the Song Dynasty. His mistrust of ethnic Han Chinese caused him to hire other ethnic group members as officials more often than Han Chinese.

At the Eighth Year of Zhiyuan (1271), Kublai Khan officially declared the creation of the Yuan Dynasty, and proclaimed the capital to be at Dadu (Beijing, China) in the following year. To unify China, Kublai Khan began a massive offensive against the remnants of the southern Song Dynasty in the 11th year of Zhiyuan, and finally destroyed the Song Dynasty in the 16th year of Zhiyuan, unifying the country at last.

He ruled better than his predecessors, promoting economic growth with the rebuilding of the Grand Canal, repairing public buildings, and extending highways. However, Kublai Khan's domestic policy also included some aspects of the old Mongol living traditions, and as Kublai Khan continued his reign, these traditions would clash more and more frequently with traditional Chinese economic and social culture.

He also introduced paper currency, although eventually a lack of fiscal discipline and inflation turned this move into an economic disaster. He encouraged Chinese arts and demonstrated religious tolerance, except in regards to Taoism. His capital was at Beijing (then Cambuluc or Dadu 大都 lit. big capital). The empire was visited by several Europeans, notably Marco Polo in the 1270s who may have seen the summer capital in Shangdu (上都 lit. upper capital or Xanadu).

He conquered Dali (Yunnan) and Goryeo (Korea). Under pressure from his Mongolian advisors, Kublai attempted to conquer Japan, Myanmar, Vietnam and Java. All these failed attempts, costly expeditions, along with the introduction of paper currency caused inflation. However, Kublai Khan also forced warlords from the Northwest and Northeast to capitulate, ensuring stability for those regions. Kublai Khan died in the 31st year of Zhiyuan. (1294)

Invasions of Japan

Kublai Khan twice attempted to invade Japan in search of gold; however, both times, it is believed that bad weather, or a flaw in the design of the ships, destroyed the fleets. The first invasion attempt took place in 1274, with a fleet of 900 ships. The second invasion occurred in 1281, with a fleet of over 1,170 large war junks, each close to 240 feet long. The campaign was badly organized, and the Korean fleet reached Japan well ahead of the Chinese fleet. Overall, the Japanese fought very little in the invasion, but the times they did, they lost.

Dr. Kenzo Hayashida, the marine archaeologist, headed the investigation that discovered the wreckage of the second invasion fleet off the western coast of Takashima. His team's findings strongly indicate that Kublai Khan rushed to conquer Japan and attempted to construct his enormous fleet in only one year (a task that should have taken up to 5 years). This forced the Chinese to use any available ships, including river boats, in order to achieve readiness. Most importantly, the Chinese, then under the Khan's control, were forced to build many ships quickly in order to contribute to the fleet in both of the invasions. Hayashida theorizes that, had Kublai used standard, well-constructed ocean-going ships, which have a curved keel to prevent capsizing, his navy might have survived the journey to and from Japan and might have conquered it as intended.

John Pearson, author of Kublai Khan (2005), writes, "The cost of these defeats led the Khan to devalue the central currency, further exacerbating growing inflation. He also increased tax assessments. These economic problems lead to growing resentment of the Mongols, who paid no taxes, among the Chinese populace." David Nicole writes in The Mongol Conquerors that "these disastrous defeats shattered the myth of Mongol invincibility throughout Asia." He also wrote that Kublai Khan was determined to mount a third invasion, despite the horrendous cost to the economy and to his and Mongol prestige of the first two defeats, and only his death prevented such a third attempt, despite the unanimous agreement of his advisors against such an attempt."

Invasions of Vietnam

By 1225, the Mongols controlled most of northern China and Manchuria and were eyeing southern China, Vietnam, and Champa. In 1257, 1284, and 1287, the Mongol armies of Kublai Khan invaded Vietnam, sacking the capital at Thang Long (modern day Hanoi) on each occasion, only to find that the Vietnamese had anticipated their attacks and evacuated the city beforehand. Disease, shortage of supplies, the climate, and the Vietnamese strategy of harassment and scorched-earth tactics foiled the first two invasions. The third Mongol invasion, of 300,000 men and a vast fleet, was also defeated by the Vietnamese under the leadership of General Tran Hung Dao. Borrowing a tactic used by Ngo Quyen in 938 to defeat an invading Chinese fleet, the Vietnamese drove iron-tipped stakes into the bed of the Bach Dang River and then, with a small Vietnamese flotilla, lured the Mongol fleet into the river just as the tide was starting to ebb. Trapped or impaled by the iron-tipped stakes, the entire Mongol fleet of 400 craft was sunk, captured, or burned by Vietnamese fire arrows. The Mongol army retreated to China, harassed enroute by Tran Hung Dao's troops, as well as tribesmen from the Miao and Tai groups living in the northwest.

Dadu

On 5 May 1260 Kublai was elected Khan at his residence in Shangdu and he began to organize the country. Zhang Wenqian, who was a friend of Guo and like him was a central government official, was sent by Kublai Khan in 1260 to Daming where unrest had been reported in the local population. Guo accompanied Zhang on his mission. Guo was not only interested in engineering, but he was also an expert astronomer. In particular he was a skilled instrument maker and understood that good astronomical observations depended on expertly made instruments. He now began to construct astronomical instruments, including water clocks for accurate timing and armillary spheres which represent the celestial globe.

Zhang advised Kublai Khan that his friend Guo was a leading expert in hydraulic engineering. Kublai knew the importance of water management, for irrigation, transport of grain, and flood control, and he asked Guo to look at these aspects in the area between Dadu (now Beijing or Peking) and the Yellow River. To provide Dadu with a new supply of water, Guo found the Baifu spring in the Shenshan Mountain and had a 30 km channel built to bring the water to Dadu. He proposed connecting the water supply across different river basins, built new canals with many sluices to control the water level, and achieved great success with the improvements which he was able to make. This pleased Kublai Khan and led to Guo being asked to undertake similar projects in other parts of the country. In 1264 he was asked to go to Gansu province to repair the damage that had been caused to the irrigation systems by the years of war during the Mongul advance through the region. Guo travelled extensively along with his friend Zhang taking notes of the work which needed to be done to unblock damaged parts of the system and to make improvements to its efficiency. He sent his report directly to Kublai Khan.

Later life

In the later part of his life, Kublai developed severe gout. He also gained weight due to a fondness for eating animal organs and other delicacies. His overeating may have been related the recent deaths of not only his favorite wife, but also his chosen heir. This also more than likely increased the amount of purines in his blood, likely leading to his problems with gout, and ultimately to his death in 1294.

Notes

General note: Dates given here are in the Julian calendar. They are not in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.

External links

References

Morgan, David. The Mongols (Blackwell Publishers; Reprint edition, April 1990), ISBN 0-631-17563-6.
Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times (University of California Press (May 1, 1990)) ISBN 0-520-06740-1.
Saunders, J.J. The History of the Mongol Conquests (University of Pennsylvania Press (March 1, 2001)) ISBN 0-8122-1766-7.
Man, John. "Kublai Khan"
Man, John. "Genghis Khan"

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