Yuan Dynasty

portraits of Genghis Khan (l) and Kublai Khan

Since the late period of the 12th century, an ethnic minority group called Mongolian had grown up in the northern areas of China. In 1204, one of the leaders of the Mongolian tribes, Tie Muzhen, unified all the internal tribes. Two years later, Tie Muzhen was honored as Genghis Khan (meaning - the ruler of the world) and soon established the Mongolian Empire. Successively, it captured West Xia and the Jin Dynasty (1115 - 1234), after which the combative Mongolian army sent its military forces into Central Asia and Europe.

By the mid-thirteenth century, the Mongols had subjugated north China, Korea, and the Muslim kingdoms of Central Asia and had twice penetrated Europe. With the resources of his vast empire, Kublai Khan (1215-94), a grandson of Genghis Khan (1162-1227) and the supreme leader of all Mongol tribes, began his drive against the Southern Song. Even before the extinction of the Song dynasty, Kublai Khan had established the Yuan Dynasty(1279-1368).

map of Yuan Dynasty

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