11. Emperor of China
In the year of 1279 CE, Khubilai had crushed the remnants of the Song dynasty. But now he would face an even greater challenge, he needed to gain the loyalty of the Song people whom he just had subdued. To be able to win their trust he could not just be a “barbaric” conqueror, only interested in exploiting the resources that existed in Southern China. Khubilai needed to establish a government that served the Mongolians but at the same time would not oppress the common people. He gave orders that people should be treated with respect and allowing them to run trade and commerce across the borders. The people’s assets would not be confiscated. Khubilai made similar announcements in all of the territories that once had been controlled by Song. This policy was surely efficient, few if any rebellions and riots are registered and many skillful Chinese from southern China served under Khubilai. A few officials and scholars refused nevertheless to serve under Khubilai and pursued instead to non-political businesses, quite a few of these were also still loyal to Song.It is still remarkable that Khubilai could establish a Mongolian rule with so few difficulties that he had over a country that had the largest population in the world. No other territories that had been conquered by the Mongolians were so rich of population or as successful as southern China. Khubilai’s politics made it possible for the Mongolians to rule over this vast domain – a successful story that you could not neglect. One knows now in perspective that the Mongolians ruled over China in less than a century. But one should still not run down on the exploits of Khubilai. If you look at it from the point of view from Khubilai Khans contemporary sovereigns eyes, Mongolian or non Mongolian, Khubilai’s success in the ruling over China is nonetheless astounding.
Ever since Khubilai became Khaghan, he continued his work to further develop China. He followed the customs that were proper in China and under pressure from the Chinese court he pronounced himself as the founder of a Chinese dynasty, which he called Yuan (origin). Before his pronouncement, the Chinese name of the Mongolian Empire was Ta Ch’ao (The Great Mongolian Dynasty), which were introduced around 1217 CE. This was a translation of the Mongolian name Yeke Mongghol Ulus (Great Mongolian Nation).
In 1267 CE, Khubilai began work on a new capitol, the place he chose this time was more central than Shang-tu, he called the city Chung-tu (Central capitol), which was the contemporary name for Beijing, it was later renamed to Dai-du (Great capitol). The city was also known as Khanbaliq (The City of the Khan), Marco Polo called it Cambaluc (Same meaning but in Turkish). 30,000 men worked on building this city and it was finished in a relatively short period of time, it was finished in 1274 CE. Fact is that without Khubilai’s efforts as a master builder Beijing would not have existed today. With a few exceptions it has remained the capitol of China since the days of Khubilai Khan. The city was surrounded with a wall that had a circumference of almost 30 kilometers. This wall enclosed what today is the heart of Beijing.
He also finished The Grand Canal, all the way to Beijing, it runs today between Hangzhou and Beijing. It is the longest manmade canal in the world and measures today 1,747 kilometers. It was built for transportation of grain surplus from the rich south to the poorer northern part of China. Khubilai, whose capitol needed grains to support the city, decided therefore 1282-1283 CE to build a new canal from Huang Ho (Yellow River). Three million people were put to work in this construction and dug canals in a total of 218 kilometers, the canal were completed in 1289 CE. During the Yuan period, however, canal transport was expensive and inefficient, and most grain went by sea. The Grand Canal is still used today.
Khubilai also built grand palaces, including his own which Marco Polo describes, “As one of the most grandiose palaces ever, with a banquet hall that could hold 6,000 guests”. Here were also the households that his four wives ruled over and also a large number of concubines. Marco Polo tells us that Khubilai Khan had 22 sons together with his wives (nothing is mentioned about any daughters). Polo also describes the incredible wealth that arrives to Dai-du, “here arrives luxuries and rare things more than in any other city”. From India it came spices and pearls and “no day during the year came it less than a 1,000 wagonloads with silk from the provinces of China”.
Khubilai also continued his expansion of the Mongolian Empire, though he did not have the same success as his ancestors. He first turned towards Japan, whose sovereign (shikken), had refused to acknowledge himself as a vassal of Khubilai. In 1274 CE, a fleet of 150 ships was sent towards Japan, the troops landed on Kyushu but were forced to retreat by the Japanese feudal army. Another attempt was repeated in 1281 CE, but it was just as successful as the first attempt, the Mongolian-Chinese fleet of 4,400 ships were scattered and lost in a typhoon. These typhoons caused heavy losses that could be counted in the loss of hundreds of thousands human lives for the Mongolians, however, the Japanese felt that their country was protected by divine forces that with the help of kamikaze, “heavenly wind”, struck down on all aggressors.
Khubilai’s aspirations to rule over the kingdoms in Indochina (Annam, Champa, Cambodia and Burma) were hardly any more successful. Several campaigns between 1281 and 1287 CE only led to that the rulers of Annam and Champa acknowledged being in a relatively loose “vassal”-relationship to Khubilai.
When Khubilai seized power in 1260 CE, a clear change was marked in how the Mongolian Empire ruled. The seat of government was moved from Karakorum to Shang-tu, (Marco Polo described this city as Ciandu, hence Coleridge’s name Xanadu in his famous poem “Kubla Khan”). In 1267 CE, it moved again to Chung-tu, where Khubilai later built it as Dai-du. The capitol was mostly known as Khanbaliq around Asia and even in Europe.
Now Khubilai had to participate in a dual role as a Mongolian Khaghan with claims of world domination. The establishment of Dai-du as a seat for the central administration of Khubilai’s realm meant that Karakorum and Mongolia no more where the center of the Mongolian Empire. Khubilai also took strong impressions from Chinese culture and became among other things a Buddhist. Also the entourage and all the Mongolian upper class became more and more assimilated with the Chinese culture and lost its Mongolian background relatively fast. Mongolia as the heart of the Mongolian nation also began to loose its importance, which in turn meant that the more traditional Mongolians became more and more discontent with the court and its politics. Several rebellions occurred in the heart of Mongolia because of this discontent.