Kublai Khan

Kublai Khan (k`blī kän), 1215–94, Mongol emperor, founder of the Yüan dynasty of China. From 1251 to 1259 he led military campaigns in S China. He succeeded (1260) his brother Mongke (Mangu) as khan of the empire that their grandfather Jenghiz Khan had founded. The empire reached its greatest territorial extent with Kublai's final defeat (1279) of the Sung dynasty of China; however, his campaigns against Japan (see kamikaze), Myanmar, Vietnam, and Indonesia failed. Kublai's rule as the overlord of the Mongol empire was nominal except in Mongolia and China. He recruited men of all nations for his civil service, but only Mongols were permitted to hold the highest government posts. He promoted economic prosperity by rebuilding the Grand Canal, repairing public granaries, and extending highways. He fostered Chinese scholarship and arts. Although he favored Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism), other religions (except Taoism) were tolerated. Kublai encouraged foreign commerce, and his magnificent capital at Cambuluc (now Beijing) was visited by several Europeans, notably Marco Polo, who described it. It was long thought to be the city Xanadu, featured in Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan. Kublai's name is also spelled Khubilai, Kubilai, Koublai, and Kubla.

Bibliography

See J. J. Saunders, The History of the Mongol Conquests (1971); M. Rossabi, Khubilai Khan (1988).

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Kublai Khan

Kublai Khan; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei

(credit: Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China)

(born 1215—died 1294) Grandson of Genghis Khan who conquered China and established the Yuan, or Mongol, dynasty. When Kublai was in his 30s, his brother, the emperor Möngke, gave him the task of conquering and administering Song-dynasty China. Recognizing the superiority of Chinese thought, he gathered around himself Confucian advisers who convinced him of the importance of clemency toward the conquered. In subduing China and establishing himself there, he alienated other Mongol princes; his claim to the title of khan was also disputed. Though he could no longer control the steppe aristocracy effectively, he succeeded in reunifying China, subduing first the north and then the south by 1279. To restore China's prestige, Kublai engaged in wars on its periphery with Myanmar, Java, Japan, and the nations of eastern Southeast Asia, suffering some disastrous defeats. At home, he set up a four-tiered society, with the Mongols and other Central Asian peoples forming the top two tiers, the inhabitants of northern China ranking next, and those of southern China on the bottom. Posts of importance were allotted to foreigners, including Marco Polo. Kublai repaired the Grand Canal and public granaries and made Buddhism the state religion. Although his reign was one of great prosperity, his politics were pursued less successfully by his followers.

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Kublai Khan

?1216--94, Mongol emperor of China: grandson of Genghis Khan. He completed his grandfather's conquest of China by overthrowing the Sung dynasty (1279) and founded the Yuan dynasty (1279--1368)

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Kublai Khan 

(Mongol posthumous title, Setsen Khan; Chinese temple name, Shih-tsu). Born Sept. 23, 1215; died Feb. 18, 1294, in what is now Peking. Fifth Mongol great khan (from 1260); grandson of Genghis Khan.

During the reign of the Mongol khan Mangu (1251–59), Kublai was made head of an army sent to complete the conquest of China. After Mangu’s death, he seized the throne. In 1260 he moved the capital from Karakorum to the city of K’aip’ing in China, and in 1264 he made Chungtu (now Peking) the capital. On Dec. 18, 1271, Kublai Khan gave his Mongol Dynasty the Chinese name Ta Yuan. In 1279 he completed the conquest of the empire of the Southern Sung, thereby extending his rule to all of China. Kublai Khan’s military expeditions to Japan in 1274 and 1281 and to Java in 1293 were unsuccessful, as were the campaigns of Mongol forces to Vietnam between 1257 and 1288 and to Burma between 1277 and 1287.