Kublai Khan

For other uses, see Kublai Khan (disambiguation).

Kublai Khan
Death and birth:	September 23, 1215– February 18, 1294(1294-02-18) (aged 78)
Clan name (obogh):	Borjigin (Боржигин) Chinese transcription:孛兒只斤 or 博爾濟吉特
Sublineage name: (yasun)	Khiyad (Хиад) Chinese transcription: 奇渥溫 or 乞顏
Given name:	Khubilai (Хубилай) Chinese transcription: 忽必烈
Khagan of the Mongol Empire
Dates of reign:	May 5, 1260–Feb. 18, 1294
Emperor of Yuan Dynasty
Dates of reign:	Dec. 18, 1271–Feb. 18, 1294
Era Names:	Zhongtong (中統) 1260-1264 Zhiyuan (至元) 1264-1294
Dynasty:	Yuan (元)
Khan name:	Setsen Khan (Сэцэн хаан) Chinese transcription: 薛禪汗
Temple name:	Shizu (世祖)
Posthumous name: (short)	Never used short
Posthumous name: (full)	Emperor Shengde Shengong Wenwu (聖德神功文武皇帝)
See Notes

Kublai or Khubilai Khan (September 23, 1215 - February 18, 1294) (Mongolian: Хубилай хаан; Chinese temple name: 世祖, Shizu), was the Khaghan (Great Khan) of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty. As the second son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki and a grandson of Genghis Khan, he claimed the title of Khagan of the Mongol Empire in 1260 after the death of his older brother Möngke in the previous year, though his younger brother Ariq Böke was also given this title in the Mongolian capital at Karakorum. He eventually won the battle against Ariq Böke in 1264, and the succession war essentially marked the beginning of the civil war of the Mongol empire. But the Mongol Empire, as a whole, remained united and strong. Kublai's influence was still strong in the Ilkhanate and Golden Horde, western parts of the Mongol Empire.

In 1271, Kublai established the Yuan Dynasty, which at that time ruled over present-day Mongolia, North China, much of Western China, and some adjacent areas, and assumed the role of a Chinese Emperor. By 1279, the Yuan forces had successfully annihilated the last resistance of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Kublai thus became the first non-Chinese Emperor who conquered all China.

Early years

The most prominent, and arguably influential component of Kublai Khan's early life was his study and strong attraction to contemporary Chinese culture. In 1251, his elder brother Möngke became Khan of the Mongol Empire, Persian Mahamud Yalavach and Kublai became the governor of the southern territories of the Mongol Empire. During his years as governor, Kublai managed his territory well, boosting the agricultural output of Henan and increasing social welfare spendings after receiving Xi'an. These acts received great acclaim from the Chinese warlords and were essential to the building of the Yuan Dynasty.

In 1253, Kublai was ordered to attack Yunnan, and he destroyed the Kingdom of Dali. Some officials who were jealous of Kublai's success muttered that he was getting above himself, dreaming of his own empire by rivalling Mongke's capital Karakorum (Хархорум). The Great Khan Mongke sent 2 tax inspectors to audit Kublai's officials. They found fault, listed 142 breaches of regulations, accused Chinese officials, even had some executed and Kublai's office was abolished. Kublai sent two man embassy with his wife and then in person appealed to Mongke as brother to brother. Mongke offered forgiveness and renewed trusts. In 1258, Möngke put Kublai in command of the Eastern Army and summoned him to assist with attacks on Sichuan and, again, Yunnan. Before Kublai could arrive in 1259, word reached him that Möngke had died. Kublai continued to attack Wuhan, but soon received news that his younger brother Ariq Böke had held a kurultai at the Mongolian imperial capital of Karakorum and was pronounced Great Khan. Most of Genghis Khan's descendants favored Ariq Böke as Great Khan; however, his two brothers Kublai and Hulegu were in opposition.

Kublai quickly reached a peace agreement with Song troops and returned north to the Mongolian plains, in order to oppose Ariq Böke's claim to the title of Great Khan.

Upon returning to his own territories, Kublai summoned a kurultai of his own. Only a small number of the royal family supported Kublai's claims to the title, though the small number of attendees still proclaimed him Great Khan, despite his younger brother Ariq Böke's apparently legal claim.

This subsequently led to warfare between Kublai and his younger brother Ariq Böke, which resulted in the eventual destruction of the Mongolian capital at Karakorum. After four years Kublai won in battle in 1264. However, this event essentially marked the end of a unified Mongol empire. The western Mongol khanates became de-facto independent and Kaidu, who ruled most of present-day Xinjiang and Central Asia, would be waging almost continuous warfare for a few decades against Kublai.

During the war with Ariq Böke, Yizhou governor Li Tan revolted against Mongol rule in February 1262. Hearing this, Kublai ordered his Chancellor Shi Tianze and Shi Shu to take the offense against Li Tan. These two armies crushed Li Tan's revolt in a few months and Li Tan was executed. Execution was also the fate of Wang Wentong, who was the father-in-law of Li Tan and had been appointed the Chief Administrator (Chinese: 平章政事) of the Zhongshusheng (Chinese: 中書省, "Department of Central Governing") early in Kublai's reign and became one of the most trusted Han Chinese officials of Kublai. This incident instilled in him a strong distrust of ethnic Hans. After he became emperor, Kublai began to ban the titles of and tithes to Han Chinese warlords.

Reign

Great Khan of the Mongol Empire

File:Mongol Empire History.jpg

The Mongol Empire and its divisions. The gray areas are Mongol vassals except for Central Europe

Khagan Kublai reinforced Hulegu with 30,000 young Mongols in order to stabilize the political crises in western regions of the Mongol Empire. As soon as Hulegu passed away on the 8th of February, 1264, Berke marched to cross near Tiflis, but he died on the way. Within a few months of these deaths, Alghu Khan of the Chagatai Khanate died too.In the new official version of the family history, Kublai Khan refused to write Berke’s name as the khan of Golden Horde for his support to Arikboke and wars with Hulegu, however, Jochi’s family was fully recognized as legitimate family members.

Kublai named Abagha as the new Ilkhan and nominated Batu’s grandson Mongke Temur for the throne of Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde. The Kublaids in the east retained suzerainty over the Ilkhans (obedient khans) until the end of its regime. Kublai also sent his protégé Baraq to overthrow the court of Oirat Orghana, the empress of the Chagatai Khanate, who put her young son Mubarak Shah on the throne in 1265, without Kublai's permission after Alghu’s death. Ogedeid prince Kaidu declined to personally come to the court of Kublai. Kublai instigated Baraq to attack him. The latter began to expand his realm northward, fighting Kaidu and the Jochids after he seized power in 1266. He also pushed out Great Khan’s overseer from Tarim basin. When Kaidu and Mongke Timur defeated him together, Baraq joined an alliance with the House of Odedei and the Golden Horde against Kublai in the east and Abagha in the west. But smart Mongke Temur stayed out of any direct military expedition into the Empire of the Great Khan. The armies of Mongol Persia defeated Baraq’s invading forces in 1269. When Baraq died the next year, Kaidu took the control over the Chagatai Khanate.

Meanwhile, Kublai stabilized the Mongol rule in Korea by mobilizing for another Mongol invasion after he appointed Wonjong (r. 1260-1274) as the new Goryeo king in 1259 in Kanghwa. He forced two rulers of the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate to call a truce with each other in 1270 despite the Golden Horde’s interests in the Middle East and Caucasia. After the fall of Xiangyang in 1273, the Mongols proposed the final conquest of the Song Dynasty in South China. Therefore, Kublai ordered Mongke Temur to revise the second census of the Golden Horde to provide sources and men for his conquest of China. The census took place in all parts of the Golden Horde, including Smolensk and Vitebsk in 1274-75. The Khans also sent Nogai to Balkan to strengthen Mongol influence there. Bayan (d.1295) who was recalled by Kublai from Persia took command over the Mongol army against the Song.

As the Great Khan Kublai renamed the Mongol regime in China Dai Yuan in 1271, he sought to sinicize his image as Emperor of China in order to win the control of millions Chinese people. When he moved his headquarters to Khanbalic or Dadu at modern Beijing, there was an uprising in the old capital Karakorum that he barely staunched. His actions were condemned by traditionalists and his critics still accused him of being too closely tied to Chinese culture. They sent a message to him: “The old customs of our Empire are not those of the Chinese laws… What will happen to the old customs?”. Even Kaidu attracted the other elites of Mongol Khanates, declaring himself to be a legitimate heir to the throne instead of Kublai who had turned away from the ways of Genghis Khan. Defections from Kublai’s Dynasty swelled the Ogedeids' forces. Because Khagan Kublai wanted to make sure that he laid claims to Mongolia and the sacred place Burkhan Khaldun where Genghis was buried, Mongolia was strongly protected by the Kublaids.

Niccolò and Maffeo Polo remitting a letter from Kublai Khan to Pope Gregory X in 1271.

The Song imperial family surrendered to the Yuan in 1276, making the Mongols the first non-Chinese people to conquer all of China. Three years later, Yuan marines crushed the last of the Song loyalists. Kublai succeeded in building powerful Empire, creating an academy, offices, trade ports and canals and sponsoring arts and science. The record of the Mongols lists 20,166 public schools created during his reign. Achieving actual or nominal dominion over much of Eurasia, and having seen his successful conquest of China, Kublai was in a position to look beyond China. However, Kublai’s costly invasions of Burma, Annam, Sakhalin and Champa secured only the vassal status of those countries. Mongol invasions of Japan (1274 and 1280) and Java (1293) failed. At the same time his nephew Ilkhan Abagha tried to form a grand alliance of the Mongols and the Western Europeans to defeat the Mamluks in Syria and North Africa that constantly invaded the Mongol dominions. Abagha and his uncle Kublai focused mostly on foreign alliances, and opened trade routes. Khagan Kublai dined with a large court every day, and met with many ambassadors, foreign merchants, and even offered to convert to Christianity if this religion was proved to be correct by 100 priests.

In 1277, a group of Genghisid princes under Mongke’s son Shiregi rebelled, kidnapping Kublai’s two sons and his general Antong. The rebels handed them over to Kaidu and Mongke Temur. The latter was still allied with Kaidu who fashioned an alliance with him in 1269, although, he promised Kublai Khan his military support to protect him from the Ogedeids. Great Khan’s armies suppressed the rebellion and strenghtened the Yuan garrisons in Mongolia and Uighurstan.

Rabban Bar Sauma, the ambassador of Great Khan Kublai and Ilkhan Arghun, travelled from Dadu in the East, to Rome, Paris and Bordeaux in the West, meeting with the major rulers of the period in 1287-1288

As the successor of previous great khans, Kublai had to propose all foreign affairs generally. When the Muslim Ahmad Teguder seized the throne of the Ilkhanate in 1282, attempting to make peace with the Mamluks, Abagha’s old Mongols under prince Arghun appealed to the Great Khan. After the execution of Ahmad, Kublai confirmed Arghun’s coronation and awarded his commander in chief Buqa who helped his master the title of chingsang. In spite of his lack of direct administration over the western khanates and the Mongol princes’ rebellions, it seems Kublai could intervene in their affairs because Abagha’s son Arghun wrote that Great Khan Kublai ordered him to conquer Egypt in his letter to the Pope Nicolas IV.

Kublai’s niece Kelmish, who was married a Khunggirat general of the Golden Horde, was powerful enough to have Kublai’s sons Nomuqan and Kokhchu returned. The court of the Golden Horde sent them back as a peace overture to the Yuan Dynasty in 1282 and induced Kaidu to release the general of Kublai. Nogai and Konchi, the khan of White Horde, established friendly relations with the Yuan and the Ilkhanate. Despite political disagreement between contending branches of the family over the office of Khagan, the economic and commercial system which trumped their squabbles continued. Thus, later developments of the Mongol Empire are seen as the commonwealth of Mongol Khanates or the Pan-Mongolism of the Mongol World while some just name it simply new Mongol Empire.

Foreign relations

Kublai Khan made Goryeo (Korea) a tributary vassal in 1260. The Yuan helped Wonjong stabilize his control over Korea in 1271. Kublai Khan also tried to establish tributary relationships with other countries. Under pressure from his Mongolian advisors, Kublai decided to invade Japan, Burma, Vietnam and Java. These costly attempts along with the introduction of paper currency, caused inflation.

Invasions of Japan

Main article: Mongol invasions of Japan

The samurai Suenaga facing Mongol arrows and bombs. Moko Shurai Ekotoba (蒙古襲来絵詞), circa 1293.

Kublai Khan twice attempted to invade Japan; however, both times, it is believed that bad weather, or a flaw in the design of the ships, destroyed the fleets. The first attempt took place in 1274, with a fleet of 900 ships. The second invasion occurred in 1281, with a fleet of over 1,170 large war junks, each close to 240 feet (73 m) long. The campaign was badly organized, and the Korean fleet reached Japan well ahead of the Chinese fleet.

Dr. Kenzo Hayashida, the marine archaeologist, headed the investigation that discovered the wreckage of the second invasion fleet off the western coast of Dokdo. His team's findings strongly indicate that Kublai Khan rushed to invade Japan and attempted to construct his enormous fleet in only one year (a task that should have taken up to 5 years). This forced the Chinese to use any available ships, including river boats, in order to achieve readiness. Most importantly, the Chinese, then under Kublai's control, were forced to build many ships quickly in order to contribute to the fleet in both of the invasions. Hayashida theorizes that, had Kublai used standard, well-constructed ocean-going ships, which have a curved keel to prevent capsizing, his navy might have survived the journey to and from Japan and might have conquered it as intended.

David Nicolle writes in The Mongol Warlords that "Huge losses had also been suffered in terms of casualties and sheer expense, while the myth of Mongol invincibility had been shattered throughout eastern Asia." He also wrote that Kublai Khan was determined to mount a third invasion, despite the horrendous cost to the economy and to his and Mongol prestige of the first two defeats, and only his death and the unanimous agreement of his advisors not to invade prevented such a third attempt.

In 1293, the Yuan navy captured 100 Japanese from Okinawa.

Invasions of Vietnam

Main article: Mongol invasions of Vietnam

Kublai Khan also twice invaded Đại Việt. When Kublai became the Great Khan in 1260, the Tran Dynasty sent tribute every 3 years and received a darugachi. But their king soon declined to attend the court in person. The first incursion (the second Mongol invasion of Đại Việt) began in December 1284 when Mongols under the command of Toghan, the prince of Kublai Khan, crossed the border and quickly occupied Thăng Long (now Hanoi) in January 1285 after the victorious battle of Omar in Vạn Kiếp (north east of Hanoi). At the same time Sogetu from Champa moved northward and rapidly marched to Nghe An (in the north central region of Vietnam now) where the army of the Tran under general Tran Kien surrendered to him. However, the Trần kings and the commander-in-chief Trần Hưng Đạo changed tactics from defence to attack and struck against the Mongols. In April, General Trần Quang Khải defeated Sogetu in Chuong Duong (now part of Hanoi) and then the Trần kings won a big battle in Tây Kết where Sogetu died. Soon after, general Trần Nhật Duật also won a battle in Hàm Tử (now part of Hưng Yên) while Toghan was defeated by Trần Hưng Đạo and Kublai Khan failed in his first attempt to invade Đại Việt.

The second invasion of Đại Việt by Kublai Khan began in 1287 and was better organized than the previous effort, utilizing a large fleet and plentiful stocks of food. The Mongols, under the command of Toghan, moved to Vạn Kiếp (from the north west) and met the infantry and cavalry of Omar (coming by another way along the Red River) and there they quickly won the battle. The naval fleet rapidly attained victory in Vân Đồn (near Ha Long Bay) but they left the heavy cargo ships stocked with food behind which General Trần Khánh Dư quickly captured. As foreseen, the Mongolians in Thăng Long (now Hanoi) suffered an acute shortage of sustenance. Without any news about the supply fleet Toghan found himself in a tight corner and had to order his army to retreat to Vạn Kiếp. This was when Đại Việt's Army began the general offensive by recapturing a number of locations occupied by the Mongol invaders. Groups of infantry were given orders to attack the Mongols in Vạn Kiếp. Toghan had to split his army into two and retreat.

In early April the naval fleet led by Omar and escorted by infantry fled home along the Bạch Đằng river. As bridges and roads were destroyed and attacks were launched by Đại Việt's troops, the Mongols reached Bạch Đằng without an infantry escort. Đại Việt's small flotilla engaged in battle and pretended to retreat. The Mongols eagerly pursued Đại Việt troops and fell into their prearranged battlefield. "Thousands" of Đại Việt's small boats from both banks quickly appeared, fiercely launched the attack and broke the combat formation of the enemy. Meeting a sudden and strong attack, the Mongols tried to withdraw to the sea in panic. Hitting the stakes, their boats were halted, many of which were broken and sank. At that time, a number of fire rafts quickly rushed toward them. Frightened, the Mongolian troops jumped down to get to the banks where they were dealt a heavy blow by an army led by the Trần king and Trần Hưng Đạo. The Mongolian naval fleet was totally destroyed and Omar was captured. At the same time, Đại Việt's Army made continuous attacks and smashed to pieces Toghan’s army on its route of withdrawal through Lạng Sơn. Toghan risked his life making a shortcut through thick forest to flee home. The second attempt of Kublai Khan to invade Đại Việt failed like the first.

The Annam, the Kingdom of Champa had finally recognized Kublai's supremacy in order to avoid more conflicts.

Burma, Indo-China and South seas

Main articles: Mongol invasion of Burma and Mongol invasion of Java

Three expeditions against Burma (1277, 1283, 1287) brought the Mongol forces to the Irrawaddy delta, and the Mongols captured Bagan, the capital of Pagan Kingdom in Burma, and established their puppet government. Kublai had to be content with the acknowledgment of a formal suzerainty again but the Burmese finally became tributary state and sent tributes until the expulsion of the Mongols from China. The Khmer kingdom of Cambodia and Small states in Malay and South India submitted to Kublai's rule between 1278-1294. Mongol interests in these parts had always been purely commercial and tributary relationship.

During the last years of his reign Kublai launched a naval punitive expedition of 20-30,000 men against the Javanese kingdom of Singhasari (1293), but the Mongol forces were compelled to withdraw, by the Majapahit Dynasty, after considerable losses of more than 3,000 troops. From 1294, two Thai kingdoms of Sukhotai and Chiangmai became vassal states of Kublai's empire.

The conquest of Sakhalin

The Mongol forces made several attacks on Sakhalin, beginning in 1264 and continuing until 1308. Economically, the conquest of new peoples provided further wealth for the tribute-based Mongol Dynasty. The Nivkhs and the Orokhs were subjugated by the Mongols. However, the Ainu people raided Mongol posts and fought with the indigenous people of Sakhalin, who submitted to the Great Khan. Finally, the Ainu tribes accepted Mongol supremacy in 1308.

Europe

Main articles: Marco Polo and Rabban Sauma

Marco Polo's (1254-1324) portrait

Under Kublai, the opening of direct contact between East Asia and the West, made possible by the Mongol control of the central Asian trade routes and facilitated by the presence of efficient postal services, was another spectacular phenomenon in the Mongol Empire. In the beginning of the 13th century, large numbers of Europeans and Central Asians - merchants, travelers, and missionaries of different orders - made their way to China. The presence of the Mongol power also enabled throngs of Chinese, bent on warfare or trade, to make their appearance everywhere in the Mongol Empire, all the way to Russia, Persia, and Mesopotamia.

There were several direct exchanges of missions between the Pope and the Great Khan, though each with a different motive. In 1266 Kublai entrusted the Venetian merchants, the Polo brothers, to carry a request to the Pope for a hundred Christian scholars and engineers. The Polos arrived in Rome in 1269, receiving an audience from Pope Gregory X, and they set out with his blessing but no scholars.

Marco Polo, Niccolo's son, who accompanied his father on this trip, was probably the best-known foreign visitor ever to set foot in China and Mongolia. It is said that he spent the next 17 years (1275-1292) under Kublai Khan, including official service in the salt administration and trips through the provinces of Yunnan and Fukien. Although the flaws in his description of China have tempted modern historians to dispute his sojourn in the Middle Kingdom, the popularity of his journal, Description of the World, was such that it subsequently generated unprecedented enthusiasm in Europe for going east.

Marco Polo had his East Asian counterpart in Rabban Sauma, a Nestorian monk born around Khanbalik/Dadu (modern Beijing). He crossed central Asia to the Il-Khan's court in Iran in 1278 and was one of those whom the Mongols sent to Europe to seek Christian help against Islam. There must have been countless numbers of unknown others who crossed the Continent, spreading information about their land and bringing with them artifacts of their culture. Under Kublai, the first direct contact and cultural interchange between China and the West, however limited in scope, had become a reality never before achieved.

Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty

Painting of Kublai Khan on a hunting expedition, by Chinese court artist Liu Guandao, c. 1280.

Kublai Khan adopted Chinese political and cultural models, and also worked to minimize the influences of regional lords who had held immense power before and during the Song Dynasty. Nevertheless, his mistrust of ethnic Han Chinese caused him to appoint Mongols, Central Asians, Muslims and few Europeans to high positions more often than Han Chinese. Kublai began to suspect Han Chinese when his Chinese minister's son-in-law revolted against him while he was fighting against Ariq Böke in Mongolia, though he continued to invite and use many Han Chinese advisers such as Liu Bingzhong and Xu Heng.

In the 8th Year of Zhiyuan (1271), Kublai Khan officially declared the creation of the Yuan Dynasty, and proclaimed the capital to be at Dadu (Chinese: 大都; Wade–Giles: Ta-tu, lit. "Great Capital", known as Daidu to the Mongols, at today's Beijing) in the following year. His summer capital was in Shangdu (Chinese: 上都, "Upper Capital", a.k.a. Xanadu, near what today is Dolonnur). To unify China, Kublai Khan began a massive offensive against the remnants of the Southern Song Dynasty in the 11th year of Zhiyuan (1274), and finally destroyed the Song Dynasty in the 16th year of Zhiyuan (1279), unifying the country at last.

China proper and Mongolia itself were administered in 10 provinces (Chinese: 行中書省 or 行省) during his reign with a governor and vice-governor each. Aside from the 10 provinces was the Central Region (Chinese: 腹裏), consisting of much of present-day North China, was considered the most important region of the dynasty and directly governed by the Zhongshusheng (Chinese: 中書省, "Department of Central Governing") at Dadu. In addition, Tibet was governed by another top-level administrative department called the Xuanzheng Institute (Chinese: 宣政院).

He ruled well, promoting economic growth with the rebuilding of the Grand Canal, repairing public buildings, and extending highways. However, Kublai Khan's domestic policy also included some aspects of the old Mongol living traditions, and as Kublai Khan continued his reign, these traditions would clash more and more frequently with traditional Chinese economic and social culture.

In 1273, He issued a new series of state sponsored bills, which was used throughout the country, although eventually a lack of fiscal discipline and inflation turned this move into an economic disaster in the later course of the dynasty. It was required to pay only in the form of paper money called Chao. To ensure its use in circles, Kublai's government confiscated gold and silver from private citizens as well as foreign merchants. But traders received government-issued notes in exchange. That is why Kublai Khan is considered to be the first of fiat money makers. The paper bills made collecting taxes and administering the huge empire much easier while reducing cost of transporting coins. Later Gaykhatu of the Ilkhanate attempted to adopt the system in Persia and Middle east, which was however a complete failure, and he was assassinated shortly after that.

He encouraged Asian arts and demonstrated religious tolerance, except in regards to Taoism. The empire was visited by several Europeans, notably Marco Polo in the 1270s who may have seen the summer capital Shangdu.

Dadu

After Kublai was proclaimed Khagan at his residence in Shangdu on 5 May 1260, he began to organize the country. Zhang Wenqian, who was a friend of Guo and like him was a central government official, was sent by Kublai Khan in 1260 to Daming where unrest had been reported in the local population. Guo accompanied Zhang on his mission. Guo was not only interested in engineering, but he was also an expert astronomer. In particular he was a skilled instrument maker and understood that good astronomical observations depended on expertly made instruments. He now began to construct astronomical instruments, including water clocks for accurate timing and armillary spheres which represent the celestial globe. Turkestani architect Igder designed the buildings of the city of Khagan or Khanbalic. The Great Khan also employed many foreign artists to build his new capital. One of them named Arniko from Nepal built the White Pagoda which was the largest structure in Khanbalic/Dadu.

Zhang advised Kublai Khan that his friend Guo was a leading expert in hydraulic engineering. Kublai knew the importance of water management, for irrigation, transport of grain, and flood control, and he asked Guo to look at these aspects in the area between Dadu (now Beijing or Peking) and the Yellow River. To provide Dadu with a new supply of water, Guo found the Baifu spring in the Shenshan Mountain and had a 30 km channel built to bring the water to Dadu. He proposed connecting the water supply across different river basins, built new canals with many sluices to control the water level, and achieved great success with the improvements which he was able to make. This pleased Kublai Khan and led to Guo being asked to undertake similar projects in other parts of the country. In 1264 he was asked to go to Gansu province to repair the damage that had been caused to the irrigation systems by the years of war during the Mongol advance through the region. Guo travelled extensively along with his friend Zhang taking notes of the work which needed to be done to unblock damaged parts of the system and to make improvements to its efficiency. He sent his report directly to Kublai Khan.

Later life

Yuan Dynasty at the death of Kublai Khan, c. 1294 and its client state Goryeo in Modern Korea

Kublai Khan originally designated his son Chingen-Temur as his successor of the Yuan Dynasty. Chingen-Temur became the head of Zhongshusheng ("Department of Central Governing"), and actively administrated the dynasty in the Confucian fashion. Unfortunately, Chingen-Temur died in 1285, 9 years before his father. Kublai Khan, on the other hand, developed severe gout in the later part of his life. He also gained weight due to a fondness for eating animal organs and other delicacies. This also more than likely increased the amount of purines in his blood, leading to his problems with gout, and ultimately to his death in 1294. His overeating may have been related to the deaths of not only his favorite wife, but also his chosen heir Zhenjin. Before his death in 1294, Kublai made Chingen-Temur's son Temür the new Crown Prince, who in turn became the second ruler of the Yuan Dynasty after the death of Kublai Khan.

Family

Kublai married Tegulen at first but she died very early. Then he married Chabi Khatun of the Khunggirat. Chabi was the most beloved empress of him. After her death in 1286, Kublai married her young relative in accordance with Chabi's wish.

Kublai and his wives' children included:

• Dorji
• Chingen-Temur, Zhenjin,the father of the Great Khan Temur.
• Megelle
• Nomukhan
• Khungjil
• Aychi
• Saqulghachi
• Qughchu
• Toghan, led Mongol armies into Burma and Vietnam.
• Khulan-temur
• Tsever
• Khutugh beki, married the king Chungnyeol of Goryeo
• and 1 son and 2 daughters

Coleridge poem

Kublai and Shangdu or Xanadu are the subject of the English Romantic Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan. Coleridge makes Xanadu a symbol of mystery and splendour.

Notes

General note: Dates given here are in the Julian calendar. They are not in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.

References

• Morgan, David. The Mongols (Blackwell Publishers; Reprint edition, April 1990), ISBN 0-631-17563-6.
• Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times (University of California Press (May 1, 1990)) ISBN 0-520-06740-1.
• Saunders, J.J. The History of the Mongol Conquests (University of Pennsylvania Press (March 1, 2001)) ISBN 0-8122-1766-7.
• Man, John. "Kublai Khan"
• Man, John. "Genghis Khan"

External links

• Inflation under Kublai
• Relics of the Kamikaze (Archaeological Institute of America)