Editing History of China (section)

====Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)====
{{main|Yuan dynasty}}
{{further|History of the Yuan dynasty}}
{{see also|Mongol Empire|Northern Yuan}}

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| title = Yuan dynasty (AD 1271–1368)
| image1 = Miaoyingsi baita.jpg
| caption1 = The White Stupa of [[Miaoying Temple]] in Beijing.
| image2 = Deva King of the East.jpg
| caption2 = [[Four Heavenly Kings|Deva King of the East]] on the east wall of the [[Cloud Platform at Juyong Pass]].
| image3 = Bronze cannon of 1332.jpg
| caption3 = Yuan period [[firearm]] with inscription dated the 3rd year of the Zhiyuan era (1332). Yuan Dynasty (1206–1368). Discovered at the Yunju Temple, Fangshan, Beijing, 1935.
| image4 = Yuan dynasty banknote with its printing plate 1287.jpg
| caption4 = Yuan dynasty banknote with its printing wood plate, 1287 AD.
}}

[[File:MongolMap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|Mongol successor khanates]]

The [[Yuan dynasty]] was formally proclaimed in 1271, when the [[List of Mongol rulers|Great Khan of Mongol]], [[Kublai Khan]], one of the grandsons of [[Genghis Khan]], assumed the additional title of [[Emperor of China]], and considered [[Division of the Mongol Empire|his inherited part]] of the Mongol Empire as a [[Chinese dynasty]]. In the preceding decades, the Mongols had conquered the Jin dynasty in Northern China, and the Southern Song dynasty fell in 1279 after a protracted and bloody war. The [[Mongols|Mongol]] Yuan dynasty became the first [[conquest dynasty]] in Chinese history to rule the entirety of [[China proper]] and [[List of ethnic groups in China|its population]] as an [[Mongols in China|ethnic minority]]. The dynasty also directly controlled the [[Mongol heartland]] and other regions, inheriting the largest share of territory of the [[Division of the Mongol Empire|eastern Mongol empire]], which roughly coincided with the modern area of China and nearby regions in East Asia. Further expansion of the empire was halted after defeats in the [[Mongol invasions of Japan|invasions of Japan]] and [[Mongol invasions of Vietnam|Vietnam]]. Following the previous Jin dynasty, the capital of Yuan dynasty was established at [[Khanbaliq]] (also known as Dadu, modern-day Beijing). The [[Grand Canal (China)|Grand Canal]] was reconstructed to connect the remote capital city to lively economic hubs in southern part of China, setting the precedence and foundation for Beijing to largely remain as the [[Historical capitals of China|capital]] of the successive regimes of the unified Chinese mainland.

A series of [[Division of the Mongol Empire#Civil war|Mongol civil wars]] in the late 13th century led to the [[division of the Mongol Empire]]. In 1304 the emperors of the Yuan dynasty were upheld as the nominal [[Khagan]] over western khanates (the [[Chagatai Khanate]], the [[Golden Horde]] and the [[Ilkhanate]]), which nonetheless remained ''de facto'' autonomous. The era was known as ''[[Pax Mongolica]]'', when much of the Asian continent was ruled by the Mongols. For the first and only time in history, the [[Silk Road]] was controlled entirely by a single state, facilitating the flow of people, trade, and cultural exchange. A network of roads and a [[Yam (route)|postal system]] were established to connect the vast empire. Lucrative maritime trade, developed from the previous Song dynasty, continued to flourish, with [[Quanzhou]] and [[Hangzhou]] emerging as the largest ports in the world. Adventurous travelers from the far west, most notably the [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]], [[Marco Polo]], would settle in China for decades. Upon his return, his detail [[The Travels of Marco Polo|travel record]] inspired generations of [[High Middle Ages|medieval Europeans]] with the splendors of the far East. The Yuan dynasty was the first ancient economy, where [[paper currency]], known at the time as ''[[Jiaochao]]'', was used as the predominant medium of exchange. Its unrestricted issuance in the late Yuan dynasty inflicted [[hyperinflation]], which eventually brought the downfall of the dynasty.

{{multiple image
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 | image1 = The Observatory, Dengfeng, 2015-09-24 08.jpg
 | caption1 = [[Dengfeng Observatory]], the first in a series of 27 astronomical observatories built in the early Yuan dynasty.
 | image2 = 柏林禅寺舍利塔 - panoramio.jpg
 | caption2 = The Pagoda of Bailin Temple, an octagonal-based brick pagoda built in 1330 during the reign of [[Jayaatu Khan Tugh Temür|Emperor Wenzong]], ruler of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368).
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While the Mongol rulers of the Yuan dynasty adopted substantially to Chinese culture, their [[sinicization]] was of lesser extent compared to earlier [[Conquest dynasty|conquest dynasties]] in Chinese history. For preserving racial superiority as the conqueror and ruling class, traditional nomadic customs and heritage from the [[Mongolian Steppe]] were held in high regard. On the other hand, the Mongol rulers also adopted flexibly to a variety of cultures from many advanced civilizations within the vast empire. Traditional social structure and culture in China underwent immense transform during the Mongol dominance. Large groups of [[Semu|foreign migrants]] settled in China, who enjoyed elevated social status over the majority Han Chinese, while enriching Chinese culture with foreign elements. The class of [[Scholar-official|scholar officials]] and intellectuals, traditional bearers of elite Chinese culture, lost substantial social status. This stimulated the development of culture of the common folks. There were prolific works in ''[[zaju]]'' variety shows and [[Sanqu|literary songs]] (''[[sanqu]]''), which were written in a distinctive [[Yuan poetry|poetry style]] known as ''[[Qu (poetry)|qu]]''. Novels of vernacular style gained unprecedented status and popularity.

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 | image1 = 代县阿育王塔.jpg
 | caption1 = The [[Ayuwang Pagoda|Ayuwang Stupa]] in northern [[Shanxi]], China.
 | image2 = Zhao guan Tower 2011-10.JPG
 | caption2 = A [[stupa]] on top of an arch (''crossing street tower''), is a common form of architecture during Yuan period.
}}

Before the Mongol invasion, Chinese dynasties reported approximately {{nowrap|120 million}} inhabitants; after the conquest had been completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly {{nowrap|60 million}} people.<ref>{{cite journal | first=Ping-ti |last= Ho | author-link= Ping-ti Ho | title=An Estimate of the Total Population of Sung-Chin China | journal = Études Song | series= 1 | issue=1 | year=1970 | pages=33–53}}</ref> This major decline is not necessarily due only to Mongol killings. Scholars such as Frederick W. Mote argue that the wide drop in numbers reflects an administrative failure to record rather than an actual decrease; others such as [[Timothy Brook]] argue that the Mongols created a system of [[serfdom|enserfment]] among a huge portion of the Chinese populace, causing many to disappear from the census altogether; other historians including William McNeill and David Morgan consider that [[Plague (disease)|plague]] was the main factor behind the demographic decline during this period. In the 14th century China suffered additional depredations from epidemics of plague, estimated to have killed around a quarter of the population of China.<ref>{{cite journal
| pages =319–355
| jstor = 44452010
| journal= Bulletin of the History of Medicine
| publisher= The Johns Hopkins University Press
| volume= 85 | number= 3 | year = 2011
| title=Was the Black Death in India and China?
| last = Sussman | first=George D.
| doi = 10.1353/bhm.2011.0054
| pmid = 22080795
| s2cid = 41772477
| url = https://academicworks.cuny.edu/lg_pubs/52
}}</ref>{{rp|348–351}}

Throughout the Yuan dynasty, there was some general sentiment among the populace against the Mongol dominance. Yet rather than the nationalist cause, it was mainly strings of natural disasters and incompetent, corrupt governance that triggered widespread peasant uprisings since the 1340s. After the [[Largest naval battle in history|massive naval engagement]] [[Battle of Lake Poyang|at Lake Poyang]], [[Hongwu Emperor|Zhu Yuanzhang]] prevailed over other rebel forces in the south. He proclaimed himself [[Emperor of China|emperor]] and founded the [[Ming dynasty]] in 1368. The same year his northern expedition army captured the capital Khanbaliq. The Yuan remnants fled back to Mongolia and [[Northern Yuan dynasty|sustained the regime]], but the period of Yuan dominance was effectively over for good. Other Mongol Khanates in Central Asia continued to exist after the fall of Yuan dynasty in China.