And then, towards the end of the twelfth century, began to rise to great power in Asia a people called the Mongols. Huns, Tartars, and Mongols we have to look on as closely related; and to some degree the last two names are interchangeable. They were divided into tribes under the rule of chieftains called Khans; and over the whole was a chosen ruler named the Khakan—the Khan of Khans. Their numbers grew. They led the pastoral life. As conquerors they were as ruthless as the Huns from whom they were descended, and at length, under the famous Kublai Khan, they possessed by far the greater portion of Asia and Europe as far as the boundaries of Poland. Before the end of the thirteenth century Kublai Khan, with his palace at Peking, dominated the whole of China, and a vast portion of the earth's surface besides. It was to his court that the famous Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, made his way. He lived there no less than seventeen years in all, and probably at no other time was it so easy for a western traveller to go to China overland, because at no other time has there been a single power which could ensure his safety on so long a journey through lands in possession of such lawless people.
On land, Kublai and his Mongols were irresistible, but they failed entirely by sea in two expeditions sent out to attempt the conquest of Japan.
Kublai's successors had little of what must have been his very extraordinary genius, both for government and war. In the middle of the fourteenth century a Buddhist monk headed a revolution in China which was completely successful, and ended with the expulsion of the Mongol conquerors and the establishment of the monk on the throne as Emperor, the first of the great Ming dynasty which lasted till 1626. It was the last native dynasty to rule in China, for in that year, 1626, the Manchus came in as conquerors, and are there still.
The first of the Mings not only drove the Mongols out of China, but defeated their principal armies so decisively that it was the beginning of the end of their power in other parts of Asia and in Europe. The tribes broke away from their dependence on the Khakan, or central ruler, and with that loss of union their military predominance was lost and they ceased to take nearly so large a part in our story.
Japan
In striking contrast with China, Japan is a land of no ancient story, and of recent civilisation. It was not until near the end of the third century A.D. that Chinese writing and letters were brought into the islands. They were brought in from the independent kingdom of Korea which we may see on the map running down southward from Manchuria, that northern province from which the Manchus came to conquer China. It shows how little we really know of Japanese history, that though there is a legend that Korea was conquered by Japan about the beginning of the third century, modern historians are in much doubt whether any such conquest actually occurred. It was, at all events, but temporary, and Korea soon regained independence. Its fortunes, or misfortunes, however, play a very small part in this Greatest Story.
Thus Chinese civilisation came to Japan, and was followed by Buddhism replacing the ancient religion of Shinto in which ancestor worship was the principal element.
Buddhism was essentially a religion of peace, and all the teaching of Chinese civilisation was opposed to war. The Chinese held the profession of arms, the military caste, in the lowest esteem. Therefore it is very singular that Japan, in spite of Buddhism and of this Chinese civilisation, gave highest possible honour to her soldiers. The Japanese had the greatest reverence for their aristocracy, moreover—-for their highly born—and the real government was in the hands of one or other of the noble families. The country was distracted for years and years by perpetual fighting between two of these great families and their followers. It is a story which may recall our Wars of the Roses.
The conclusion of that long conflict was brought about in what certainly was the greatest of naval battles ever fought up to that time in any Asiatic sea. It is called the Battle of Dannoura and its date is 1188. More than a thousand junks, as the native vessels are still called, took part in it, and by the slaughter, both in the actual fighting and afterwards, the defeated clan was all but wiped out of existence.
It was cruel work, but it opened the way for a period of comparative peace. The mode of government was reformed. There was the Mikado, the Emperor, by whom all power was supposed to be wielded, and there was also an official called the Shogun, the head of the army. Perhaps we may best designate his powers by calling him Commander-in-Chief. But his authority was far more independent than that of our highest military officer. For centuries the Shogun appears as the real power in the land, although in theory his power is derived from the Mikado.