Essay Database

Genghis Khan moved his troops into the quasi-Chinese Chin-ruled north China in 1211, and in 1215 they destroyed the capital city. His son Ogodei conquered all of North China by 1234 and ruled it from 1229 to 1241. His son, Kublai Khan, defeated the Southern Song in 1279, and for the first time all of China was under foreign rule. In 1271 Kublai Khan named his dynasty Yuan which means "origin of the universe. " The Yuan dynasty in China lasted from 1279 to 1368. …

…the Yuan rule in China came "by expulsion and not by absorption." For the Chinese, the most important factor was peasant unrest caused by the over-taxation, corvee, unsuccessful military campaigns and insecurity. The Chinese always resented the foreigners and in the end revolted and drove them out. A Chinese orphan Hung Wu (Chy Yuan-chang), a peasant soldier who gave up banditry to become a Buddhist monk, led the revolt and founded the Ming dynasty in 1368.