Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Nomadic people who lived in the steppes of Central Asia
Under Genghis Khan, they cast an empire stretched from the Pacific ocean to Eastern Europe.
The Mongols were first mentioned by the Chinese during the Tang dynasty:
In the 13th century it grew into an umbrella term for a large group of tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan (Mongol Empire).
Genghis Khan (Temüjin) (1167-1227) was born when the steppe was in chaos and he entered tribal politics at the age of 16:
When Temüjin was nine years old, a rival Mongol clan poisoned his father. At the age of 15, Temüjin was taken prisoner. For the rest of his life, he never forgot the humiliation of being locked in a wooden collar and paraded before his enemies.
Once conquest was completed, the Mongols were not oppressive rulers. Often, they allowed conquered people to live much as they had before—as long as they regularly paid tribute to the Mongols.
Kublai turned Khanbaliq into a Chinese walled city. Kublai rebuilt and extended the Grand Canal to his new capital, which made the shipment of rice and other goods easier. He also welcomed many foreigners to his court, including the African Muslim world traveler Ibn Battuta.
In 1271, Polo left Venice with his father and uncle. He crossed Persia and Central Asia to reach China. He then spent 17 years in Kublai’s service. Finally, he returned to Venice by sea, visiting Southeast Asia and India along the way.
Reshaping the landscape helped as well. Some farmers cut horizontal steps called terraces into steep hillsides to gain soil in which to grow crops. In the 1500s, new crops reached China from the Americas, especially corn and sweet potatoes.
In the 1330s, rebellions arose in several regions in south and central China. The reasons the Chinese rose against the Mongols were:
The Mongols were driven back to Mongolia by the founder of the Ming Dynasty.
Finally, Zhu Yuanzhang, a peasant leader, forged a rebel army that toppled the Mongols and pushed them back beyond the Great Wall. In 1368, he founded a new Chinese dynasty, which he called the Ming, meaning brilliant.
The Ming Dynasty also saw a revival of arts and literature. Ming artists developed their own styles of landscape painting and created brilliant blue and white porcelain. Ming vases were among the most valuable and popular Chinese products exported to the West.
Starting in 1405, Zheng He commanded the first of seven expeditions. He departed at the head of a fleet of 62 huge ships and over 200 smaller ones, carrying a crew of about 28,000 sailors. The largest ships measured 400 feet long.
Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He explored the coasts of Southeast Asia, India, and the entrances to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. In the wake of these expeditions, Chinese merchants settled in Southeast Asia and India and became a permanent presence in their trading centers.