The Pax Mongolica
Life in China Under the Rule of the Mongols
"By the time of Kublai Khan the land within the Four seas had become the territory of one family, civilizaton had spread everywhere, and no more barriers existed. For people in search of fame and wealth in North and South, a journey of a thousand Li was like a trip next door, while a journey of ten thousand Li constituted just a neighborely jaunt... Brotherhood among peoples has surely reached a new plane"
-Wang Li (1314-1389)
Until about 20 years ago, most scholars of Mongol-era China emphasized the destructive influence of Mongol rule.
One major scholar of Chinese history even wrote: “The Mongols brought violence and destruction to all aspects of China’s civilization. They were insensitive to Chinese cultural values, distrustful of Chinese influences, and inept heads of Chinese government.”
This assessment fits in with the traditional evaluation of the Mongols as barbarians interested primarily in maiming, plundering, destroying, and killing.
As a 13th-century Persian historian wrote of the Mongol campaigns: “With one stroke a world which billowed with fertility was laid desolate, and the regions thereof became a desert, and the greater part of the living, dead, and their skin and bones crumbling dust, and the mighty were humbled and immersed in the calamities of perdition.”
It is true that the Mongols, in their conquest of both North and South China, did considerable damage to these territories, and that great loss of life certainly ensued. The population of North China did decline somewhat, though earlier estimates that there was a catastrophic decline in population have subsequently been revised. It is also true that the Mongols eliminated one of the most basic of Chinese institutions – the civil service examinations. The examinations remained banned until 1315, and even after the ban was lifted, they were no longer the only means to officialdom for the Yuan Dynasty, the dynasty that the Mongols founded in 1271 C.E., as they had been in the past. The Mongols perceived China as just one section of their vast empire. And they classified the population of their domain in China into a hierarchy of four groups – with the native Chinese at the bottom. The Mongols, of course, were at the top; then came the non-Han, mostly Islamic population that was brought to China by the Mongols to help them rule; third were the northern Chinese; and at the very bottom of the rung were the southern Chinese.
Pesants in Mongolian China
The Mongols gave strong support to the peasants and peasant economy of China, believing that the success of the peasant economy would bring in additional tax revenues and ultimately benefit the Mongols themselves.
The Mongols also sought to help the peasants organize themselves and initiated a cooperative rural organization – a self-help organization comprising about 50 households under the direction of a village leader. These rural cooperatives had as their principle purpose the stimulation of agricultural production and the promotion of land reclamation. The village/cooperative leader had the task of guiding and helping his organization through everything from farming, planting trees, and opening up barren areas, to improving measures for flood control and increasing silk production. In addition, the cooperatives conducted a periodic census and assisted in surveillance over recalcitrant Chinese and other possible saboteurs of Mongol rule. They also served as a kind of charity granary to assist the unfortunate during poor harvests or droughts, providing food and other supplies to orphans, widows, and the elderly. The Mongols also devised a fixed system of taxation for the peasants. Rather than having to anticipate unpredictable and extraordinary levies, as in the past system they had much resented, peasants under the Mongol system could know exactly how much would be required of them.
Religon
An important legacy of the Mongols’ reign in China was their support of many religions. Islam, for example, was well supported, and the Mongols built quite a number of mosques in China. The Mongols also recruited and employed Islamic financial administrators – a move that led to good relations with the Islamic world beyond China, in particular with Persia and West Asia.
The Mongols were also captivated by Buddhism – particularly the Tibetan form of Buddhism – and they recruited a number of Tibetan monks to help them rule China and promote the interests of Buddhism. The most important of these monks was the Tibetan ‘Phags-pa Lama. This policy resulted in an astonishing increase in the number of Buddhist monasteries in China, as well as in the translation of Buddhist texts. Even Nestorian Christianity was promoted by the Mongols, partly because Khubilai Khan’s own mother was an adherent of that faith. There was one religion, however, that did not have Mongol support: Daoism. Daoism was at that time embroiled in a struggle with Buddhism that often flared into actual pitched battles between the monks of the two religions. The Mongols, siding with the Buddhists, did not look favorably upon the Daoists. In fact, at a meeting in 1281 where Buddhist and Daoist monks debated the merits of their individual religions, Khubilai Khan supported the Buddhists and imposed severe limits on Daoism. As a result of this meeting, a considerable number of Daoist monasteries were converted into Buddhist monasteries, some Daoist monks were defrocked, and some of the wealth and property of the Daoists was taken over either by the Mongol state or by Buddhist monasteries.
Culture
Written Language. The Mongols were great cultural patrons. They conceived, for example, the idea of a new written language that could be used to transcribe a number of the languages within the Mongol domains. Khubilai Khan commissioned the Tibetan ‘Phags-pa Lama to develop the new script, which came to be known as “the Square Script” or the ‘Phags-pa script. Completed around 1269, the Square Script was a remarkable effort to devise a new written language. The Mongol rulers, however, did not foresee how difficult it would be to impose a written language on the population from the top down. Though they passed numerous edicts, regulations, and laws to persuade the public to use the new script, it never gained much popularity and was limited mainly to official uses – on paper money, official seals, a few porcelains, and the passports that were given by the Mongol rulers.
Theater. The Mongol rulers were ardent patrons of the theater, and the Yuan Dynasty witnessed a golden age of Chinese theater. The theater at this time was full of spectacles, including acrobats, mimes, and colorful costumes – all of which appealed greatly to the Mongols. The Mongol court set up a special theater within the palace compound in Daidu (Beijing) and supported a number of playwrights.
Painting. The art of painting also flourished under Mongol rule. One of the greatest painters of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu, received a court position from Khubilai Khan, and along with Zhao’s wife Guan Daosheng, who was also a painter, Zhao received much support and encouragement from the Mongols. Khubilai was also a patron to many other Chinese painters (Liu Guandao was another), as well as artisans working in ceramics and fine textiles. In fact, the status of artisans in China was generally improved during the Mongols’ reign. [Also see The Mongols’ Mark on Global History: Artistic and Cultural Exchange, above.]
Mongol Rituals. Though Chinese culture was valued and supported in many ways, as discussed above, this support was not at the expense of the Mongols’ own native culture. That is, the Mongols did not abandon their own heritage, even as they adopted many of the values and political structures of the people they conquered and governed.