During this period the Mongols began to acquire power in eastern Asia, and about the beginning of the 12th century the forces of Jenghiz Khan (q.v.) invaded the north-western frontier of China and the principality of Hia, which Mongol invasion: 12th century. at that time consisted of the modern provinces of Shen-si and Kan-suh. To purchase the good-will of the Mongols the king of Hia agreed to pay them a tribute, and gave a princess in marriage to their ruler. In consequence of a dispute with the Kin emperor Wei-shao Wang, Jenghiz Khan determined to invade Liao-tung. He was aided by the followers of the Khitán leader Yeh-lü Ts‘u-ts‘ai, and in alliance with this general he captured Liao-yang, the capital city.
After an unsuccessful invasion of China in 1212, Jenghiz Khan renewed the attack in 1213. He divided his armies into four divisions, and made a general advance southwards. His soldiers swept over Ho-nan, Chih-li and Shan-tung, destroying upwards of ninety cities. It was their boast that a horseman might ride without stumbling over the sites where those cities had stood. Panic-stricken, the emperor moved his court from Chung-tu to K‘ai-fêng Fu, much against the advice of his ministers, who foresaw the disastrous effect this retreat would have on the fortunes of Kin. The state of Sung, which up to this time had paid tribute, now declined to recognize Kin as its feudal chief, and a short time afterwards declared war against its quondam ally. Meanwhile, in 1215, Yeh-lü Ts‘u-ts‘ai advanced into China by the Shan-hai Kwan, and made himself master of Peking, one of the few cities in Chih-li which remained to Kin. After this victory his nobles wished him to proclaim himself emperor, but he refused, being mindful of an oath which he had sworn to Jenghiz Khan. In 1216 Tung-kwan, a mountain pass on the frontiers of Ho-nan and Shen-si, and the scene of numerous dynastic battles (as it is the only gateway between north-eastern and north-western China), was taken by the invaders. As the war dragged on the resistance offered by the Kin grew weaker and weaker. In 1220 Chi-nan Fu, the capital of Shan-tung, was taken, and five years later Jenghiz Khan marched an army westward into Hia and conquered the forces of the king. Two years later (1227) Jenghiz Khan died.
With the view to the complete conquest of China by the Mongols, Jenghiz declined to nominate either of the eldest two sons who had been born to his Chinese wives as his heir, but chose his third son Ogdai, whose mother was a Tatar. On hearing of the death of Jenghiz Khan the Kin sent an embassy to his successor desiring peace, but Ogdai told them there would be no peace for them until their dynasty should be overthrown. Hitherto the Mongols had been without any code of laws. But the consolidation of the nation by the conquests of Jenghiz Khan made it necessary to establish a recognized code of laws, and one of the first acts of Ogdai was to form such a code. With the help also of Yeh-lü Ts‘u-ts‘ai, he established custom-houses in Chih-li, Shan-tung, Shan-si and Liao-tung; and for this purpose divided these provinces into ten departments. Meanwhile the war with the Kin was carried on with energy. In 1230 Si-gan Fu was taken, and sixty important posts were captured. Two years later, Tu-lé, brother of Ogdai, took Fêng-siang Fu and Han-chung Fu, in the flight from which last-named place 100,000 persons are said to have perished. Following the course of the river Han in his victorious career, this general destroyed 140 towns and fortresses, and defeated the army of Kin at Mount San-fêng.
In 1232 the Mongols made an alliance with the state of Sung, by which, on condition of Sung helping to destroy Kin, Ho-nan was to be the property of Sung for ever. The effect of this coalition soon became apparent. Barely had the Kin The Kin dynasty overthrown. emperor retreated from K‘ai-fêng Fu to Ju-ning Fu in Ho-nan when the former place fell into the hands of the allies. Next fell Loyang, and the victorious generals then marched on to besiege Ju-ning Fu. The presence of the emperor gave energy to the defenders, and they held out until every animal in the city had been killed for food, until every old and useless person had suffered death to lessen the number of hungry mouths, until so many able-bodied men had fallen that the women manned the ramparts, and then the allies stormed the walls. The emperor burned himself to death in his palace, that his body might not fall into the hands of his enemies. For a few days the shadow of the imperial crown rested on the head of his heir Chang-lin, but in a tumult which broke out amongst his followers he lost his life, and with him ended the “Golden” dynasty.
Notwithstanding the treaty between Ogdai and Sung, no sooner were the spoils of Kin to be divided than war broke out again between them, in prosecuting which the Mongol armies swept over the provinces of Sze-ch‘uen, Hu-kwang, Kiang-nan and Ho-nan, and were checked only when they reached the walls of Lu-chow Fu in Ngan-hui. Ogdai died in 1241, and was nominally succeeded by his grandson Cheliemên. But one of his widows, Tolickona, took possession of the throne, and after exercising rule for four years, established her son Kwei-yew as great khan. In 1248 his life was cut short, and the nobles, disregarding the claims of Cheliemên, proclaimed as emperor Mangu, the eldest son of Tu-lé. Under this monarch the war against Sung was carried on with energy, and Kublai, outstripping the bounds of Sung territory, made his way into the province of Yun-nan, at that time divided into a number of independent states, and having attached them to his brother’s crown he passed on into Tibet, Tongking and Cochin-China, and thence striking northwards entered the province of Kwang-si.
On the death of Mangu in 1259 Kublai (q.v.) ascended the throne. Never in the history of China was the nation more illustrious, nor its power more widely felt, than under his sovereignty. During the first twenty years of Kublai Khan emperior. his reign Sung kept up a resistance against his authority. Their last emperor Ping-ti, seeing his cause lost, drowned himself in the sea. The Sung dynasty, which had ruled southern China 320 years, despite its misfortunes is accounted one of the great dynasties of China. During its sway arts and literature were cultivated and many eminent writers flourished. His enemies subdued, Kublai Khan in 1280 assumed complete jurisdiction as emperor of China. He took the title of Shit-su and founded what is known as the Yuen dynasty. He built a new capital close to Chung-tu, which became known as Kaanbaligh (city of the khan), in medieval European chronicles, Cambaluc, and later as Peking. At this time his authority was acknowledged “from the Frozen Sea, almost to the Straits of Malacca. With the exception of Hindustan, Arabia and the westernmost parts of Asia, all the Mongol princes as far as the Dnieper declared themselves his vassals, and brought regularly their tribute.” It was during this reign that Marco Polo visited China, and he describes in glowing colours the virtues and glories of the “great khan.” His rule was characterized by discretion and munificence. He undertook public works, he patronized literature, and relieved the distress of the poor, but the Chinese never forgot that he was an alien and regarded him as a barbarian. He died unregretted in 1294. His son had died during his lifetime, and after some contention his grandson Timur ascended the throne under the title of Yuen-chêng. This monarch died in 1307 after an uneventful reign, and, as he left no son, Wu-tsung, a Mongol prince, became emperor. To him succeeded Jên-tsung in 1312, who made himself conspicuous by the honour he showed to the memory of Confucius, and by distributing offices more equally between Mongols and Chinese than had hitherto been done. This act of justice gave great satisfaction to the Chinese, and his death ended a peaceful and prosperous reign in 1320. At this time there appears to have been a considerable commercial intercourse between Europe and China. But after Jên-tsung’s death the dynasty fell on evil days. The Mongols in adopting Chinese civilization had lost much of their martial spirit. They were still regarded as alien by the Chinese and numerous secret societies were formed to achieve their overthrow. Jên-tsung’s successors were weak and incapable rulers, and in the person of Shun-ti (1333-1368) were summed up the vices and faults of his predecessors. Revolts broke out, and finally this descendant of Jenghiz Khan was compelled to fly before Chu Yüen-chang, the son of a Chinese labouring man. Deserted by his followers, he sought refuge in Ying-chang Fu, and there the last of the Yüen dynasty died. These Mongol emperors, whatever their faults, had shown tolerance to Christian missionaries and Papal legates (see ante § The Medieval Cathay).
Chu Yüen-chang met with little opposition, more especially as his first care on becoming possessed of a district was to suppress lawlessness and to establish a settled government. In 1355 he captured Nanking, and proclaimed Ming dynasty. himself duke of Wu, but carefully avoided adopting any of the insignia of royalty. Even when master of the empire, thirteen years later, he still professed to dislike the idea of assuming the imperial title. His scruples were overcome, and he declared himself emperor in 1368. He carried his arms into Tatary, where he subdued the last semblance of Mongol power in that direction, and then bent his steps towards Liao-tung. Here the Mongols defended themselves with the bravery of despair, but unavailingly, and the conquest of this province left Hung-wu, as the founder of the new or Ming (“Bright”) dynasty styled himself, without a foe in the empire.
All intercourse with Europe seems now to have ceased until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, but Hung-wu cultivated friendly relations with the neighbouring states. As a quondam Buddhist priest he lent his countenance to that religion to the exclusion of Taoism, whose priests had for centuries earned the contempt of all but the most ignorant by their pretended magical arts and their search after the philosopher’s stone. Hung-wu died in 1398 and was succeeded by his grandson Kien-Wên. Aware that the appointment of this youth—his father was dead—would give offence to the young emperor’s uncles, Hung-wu had dismissed them to their respective governments. However, the prince of Yen, his eldest surviving son, rose in revolt as soon as the news reached him of his nephew’s accession, and after gaining several victories over the armies of Kien-wên he presented himself before the gates of Nanking, the capital. Treachery opened the gates to him, and the emperor having fled in the disguise of a monk, the victorious prince became emperor and took the title of Yung-lo (1403). At home Yung-lo devoted himself to the encouragement of literature and the fine arts, and, possibly from a knowledge that Kien-wên was among the Buddhist priests, he renewed the law prohibiting Buddhism. Abroad he swept Cochin-China and Tongking within the folds of his empire and carried his arms into Tatary, where he made new conquests of waste regions, and erected a monument of his victories. He died in 1425, and was succeeded by his son Hung-hi.
Hung-hi’s reign was short and uneventful. He strove to promote only such mandarins as had proved themselves to be able and honest, and to further the welfare of the people. During the reign of his successor, Süen-tê (1426-1436), the empire suffered the first loss of territory since the commencement of the dynasty. Cochin-China rebelled and gained her independence. The next emperor, Chêng-t‘ung (1436), was taken prisoner by a Tatar chieftain, a descendant of the Yüen family named Yi-sien, who had invaded the northern Erovinces. Having been completely defeated by a Chinese force from Liao-tung, Yi-sien liberated his captive, who reoccupied the throne, which during his imprisonment (1450-1457) had been held by his brother King-ti. The two following reigns, those of Chêng-hwa (1465-1488) and of Hung-chi (1488-1506), were quiet and peaceful.
The most notable event in the reign of the next monarch, Chêng-te (1506-1522), was the arrival of the Portuguese at Canton (1517). From this time dates modern European intercourse with China. Chêng-te suppressed a formidable insurrection headed by the prince of Ning, but disorder caused by this civil war encouraged the foreign enemies of China. From the north came a Tatar army under Yen-ta in 1542, during the reign of Kia-tsing, which laid waste the province of Shen-si, and even threatened the capital, and a little later a Japanese fleet ravaged the littoral provinces. Ill-blood had arisen between the two peoples before this, and a Japanese colony had been driven out of Ningpo by force and not without bloodshed a few years previously. Kia-tsing (d. 1567) was not equal to such emergencies, and his son Lung-king (1567-1573)sought to placate the Tatar Yen-ta by making him a prince of the empire and giving him commercial privileges, which were supplemented by the succeeding emperor Wan-li (1573-1620) by the grant of land in Shen-si. During the reign of this sovereign, in the year 1592, the Japanese successfully invaded Korea, and Taikosarna, the regent of Japan, was on the point of proclaiming himself king of the peninsula, when a large Chinese force, answering to the invitation of the king, appeared and completely routed the Japanese army, at the same time that the Chinese fleet cut off their retreat by sea. In this extremity the Japanese sued for peace, and sent an embassy to Peking to arrange terms. Struggle with Japan for Korea. But the peace was of short duration. In 1597 the Japanese again invaded Korea, defeated the Chinese army, destroyed the Chinese fleet and ravaged the coast. Suddenly, however, when in the full tide of conquest, they evacuated Korea, which again fell under the direction of China. Four years later the missionary Matteo Ricci (q.v.) arrived at the Chinese court; and though at first the emperor was inclined to send him out of the country, his abilities gradually won for him the esteem of the sovereign and his ministers, and he remained the scientific adviser of the court until his death in 1610.