CCOT China from 600-1450

The separation of Genghis Khan’s children and the creation of many new territories created political and economic change and continuity. From 600 C.E. to 1450 C.E., China was taken over by the Mongols and submitted to their rule; however, the Mongols kept the bureaucratic political system in play throughout their rule in China. Economically, Chinese involvement and production with trade increased majorly, but the Silk Road trade route was used continuously throughout the time period. As the changes and continuities appeared, they citizens of China could direct them back to only one group, the mighty Mongols.

After Genghis Khan’s rule ended, his sons broke into separate areas, one being the China. The then Song Empire submitted to Kublai Khan, and Mongol rule and the Da Yuan Empire created. As the Mongol Presence grew greater in China, the government positions changed. The Mongols came in and over took the government system by taking the high positions through control. The Mongol presence also changed the division of the Empire. Before the Mongols, the Chinese territories were separated into provinces. After the Mongols took power they separated into only North and South China.

After this division, social divisions were also made. The Mongols in China also influenced political aspects of Religion. Mongol rule did not directly change religion but the presence of them influenced neo-Confucianism, along with both Daoism, and Buddhism. These changes over the Mongol Rule were directly traced back to the expansion of the Mongol people and the introduction of the Khanates to China and related territories. With the Mongol influence, changes over the Chinese became present during the rule of the Mongols which influenced political changes throughout the Mongol Rule.

Although the Mongols had a strong influence in changes throughout the rule, they also played an important role in the continuity of political systems and ideas. When the Mongols gained control they over took the government however they only took control of the positions in the Chinese system. The Mongols did not make changes to the Dynastic Cycle that had been going on for centuries in China, but instead preserved it, creating a new Dynasty, Da Yuan. The Mongols gained the control by using the previous idea of Mandate of Heaven. This idea was preserved throughout the many Dynasties previously in China.

Through this idea, the Mongols were able to easily capture China but also kept the idea to show their loyalty to the Chinese. Bureaucracy in China during Mongol also remained the same. The govt. officials did not make executive decisions by himself rather than with the help of the Khanates. The Mongols kept these important political ideas to not disrupt the Chinese culture while still using the power and might of the territories. These continuities in China can be traced back to the Mongols and their ideas of governmental and Dynastical uninterruption. The same ideas of political continuity appear in Eastern Europe and the Middle East around the same time because of the failure of govt. change had in the attempt to take over Russia.

Throughout this time frame in China, the Mongols implemented massive trade of the commodities that the Chinese could easily produce and sell for a high price. Because of the Mongol changing the amount of communications through the Silk Road trade route, the status of merchants changed, making the production of simple lifestyle items in Chinese culture increase. One way this was done is through the foreign merchants brought in by Kublai Khan. These people were skilled in trading and knowing how to get the correct price, or more, for items. These merchants brought their techniques to the untrained Chinese merchants.

With these factors of increased trade came the mass production of Chinese goods. Things like silk and other Chinese crops were in high demand in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. This allowed the Chinese to get materials that they needed without losing much. However, as the farming became more necessary, the taxes became lower but the price of the crops rose. The Mongols were very keen on getting rich, and these changes benefited the Mongols because it brought economic growth and money to the Mongol Empire.

Mongol rule brought massive change to Chinese trade but before the Mongol rule in China, trade was still present though not as massive. Throughout the Dynasties of China, Silk Road trade was necessary. The need for trade was always present in China due to the demand of product the west of China; however it only gained major importance after the Mongol rule. Through the Silk Road trade Route came the spread of religious ideas. This trade spread Confucianism, Islam, and Buddhism along the Silk Road’s major places. This continued throughout the Mongol Rule in China but began before they even arrived there which effected China economically because of how well traders and other people communicated.

The continuation of problem spreading also relates back to the Silk Road. Before the Mongols came what little involvement China had with trading still brought problems. After the Mongol arrival and the trade increase, drastic problems arose along the Silk Road and in China itself. The trade eventually led to the economic downfall of China because of the price rise of many items and crops. As all of these reasons are based on trade, and so was the reason the Mongols kept them. The Mongol presence helped trade in China increase; Just like the Mongol presence in Islamic territories in the Middle East helped trading through regions all over Eurasia.

In the Chinese lands from 600-1450, the presence of the Mongols and their dominance in China was shown; however they were culturally captivated and kept governmental systems. The Mongol dominance in China was also shown through the increased involvement in trade after the Mongols took rule, but the idea of Silk Road trade was kept from previous time periods before the Mongols came to power in China. The Mongol presence in China greatly affected the Chinese people in both good and bad ways. Because of the Mongols, history in China was changed forever.