Yuan, 1279–1368

Before the Yuan dynasty, Han people ruled China. Han refers to the majority ethnic group in China. At least from the Han dynasty onward, Mongols from the north tried to invade China repeatedly. They finally succeeded and established the Yuan dynasty in 1279. The founder was Hubilie, the grandson of Genghis Khan. Yuan was very strong militarily. Genghis Khan built a Mongolian empire, which extended all the way to Europe. In occupying and ruling China, the Mongolians absorbed the culture of the Han Chinese. In studying Chinese history, Chinese children in later periods were told that the Han Chinese culture was so resilient that although invaders could conquer and rule China, they had to learn the Han culture and rule by adopting the Han way of life. This happened again later in the Qing dynasty. The resilience of the Chinese culture enabled China to survive the Western impact of the 19th century.

To anticipate later discussions, the last survival test was much more difficult to pass because the Western impact in the 19th and 20th century was much stronger and occurred during a period when the Chinese government was extremely incompetent and weak. The Western and Japanese imperial powers invading China with modern technology were much stronger militarily than any other invaders, including the Mongols and the Manchus who founded the Qing dynasty. They also had advanced forms of social and political structure and administrative skill that could replace China's. The impact occurred during a period when the Qing dynasty was on the decline and the ruling emperors were incompetent. Furthermore the attempt to modernize China through orthodox Communism was a mistaken course to take. In spite of these three very negative factors, China has managed not only to survive but also regain its strong position. This can be attributed to the resiliency of the Chinese culture and civilization, as I shall explain more fully in the remainder of this book.