In 1260, Kublai Khan succeeded his oldest brother, Möngke Khan, and ruled over China until his death in 1294. Kublai Khan’s foreign policy and domestic changes positively influence Chinese trade within itself, and with Europe. He had a paper currency that could be used to purchase anything within the Empire and allowed people to enter debt. He appointed foreigners into high government positions that encouraged foreign merchants to trade within the his kingdom. His kingdom had areas designated for foreigners, well kept roads, and laws that were more lenient than those of Europe. Kublai Khan’s facilitation to trading was one of the reasons that both natives and foreigners of many professions came to admire Yuan China.
One of the most important
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choices of Kublai Khan was maintaining the paper currency of China. Marco Polo, a traveler from Venice, visited China during the rule of Kublai Khan. While there, he observed that paper money was “cut into pieces of money of different sizes, nearly square, but somewhat longer than they are wide . . . The coinage of this paper money is authenticated with as much form and ceremony as if it were actually of pure gold or silver.” This paper money was lighter than metal coins and was accepted all throughout the kingdom.Marco Polo also wrote that “All [Kublai Khan’s] subjects receive [paper money] without hesitation, because, wherever their business may call them, they can dispose of it again in the purchase of merchandise they may have occasion for; such as pearls, jewels, gold, or silver.”This benefitted trade within China because everyone had an accepted medium that they could use to exchange for other product. Several times a year, merchants from other countries would gather and trade valuable items with Kublai Khan and his advisors. Although they are paid in paper money, a currency that was not accepted in their own country, they knew that they could exchange the money for items that are of worth in their own market. This positively influenced trade because the merchants that did not live within Kublai Khan’s kingdom still had a reason to come and trade their merchandise with China, and therefore increase its wealth. Kublai Khan recovered and stimulated trade in China using paper money. When the Khan conquered China, parts of it still had not fully recovered, particularly the north, leading to economic and social problems. Thus, in 1262, he founded the Office for the Stimulation of Agriculture. Morris Rossabi, a historian of China and Central asia, writes that “[Kublai Khan] supported commerce by increasing the flow of paper currency, providing government loans for long-distance trade, and building roads and canals. Such governmental support resulted in increased trade across Asia, and to cultural, religious, and artistic diffusion.” Kublai Khan’s decision to found the Office for the Stimulation of Agriculture was a positive influence on trade in China. Another very important factor in Kublai Khan’s positive influence on trade was his foreign policy. Kublai did not rely only on Chinese advisers, but he also consulted Nestorian Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, and Central Asian Muslims. Rossabi writes that “[Kublai Khan] recruited Muslims for government positions and permitted them considerable autonomy, with a Shaikh al-Islam, or elder, often serving as community leader. Such privileges encouraged Muslim merchants to trade with the rest of Asia and to assume positions as Yuan tax collectors and financial administrators.” Because Kublai Khan was allowed people other than the Chinese to have influential government positions, traders saw this as an opportunity to rise in ranks and consequently would trade with China. And the Mongols “neither discouraged nor impeded relations with foreigners”. The empire was hospitable to traders from all parts of the world. The trader’s native customs were accepted and it did not matter if the ruler of the trader was allied to China. Mongol reputation and culture also aided in the increase of trade with the west. When word of Mongol power reached Europe, Pope Innocent IV sent an embassy to the Mongols in fear of an invasion. The Russians were portraying the Mongols as destructive and Pope Innocent IV hoped to convert the Mongols and get an image of their society. Although he failed to convert them, his embassy returned with intelligence information and an idea of their culture. His missions may have failed, but Venetian and Genoese merchants went to China to trade, and this trading between Europe and China lasted even after the Yuan dynasty collapsed. Mongol roads and laws increased trading in China, and with Europe.
Marco Polo tells that “there is another regulation adopted by the [Kublai Khan], equally ornamental and useful. On both sides of the roads he causes trees to be planted, . . . they serve to point out the road; which is of great assistance and affords much comfort to travellers.” By having roads with trees, aside from the benefit that traders can stay in the shade during the summer, pointing out the road allows the traders to take advantages of the roads during any conditions, even if snow were to cover the path. This allowed merchants to travel long distances throughout the four seasons. The Mongol penal laws were also much milder than those of the Song dynasty or European countries at the time. An example of the mildness of Mongol law to that of the Song dynasty is that the Chinese tatooed the crimes of a criminal on their body. Although the Mongols allowed this to continue, they no longer allowed the tattooing to go anywhere other than the upper arms and neck. And for cultures that did not practice this punishment Mongol authorities wrote the offense on a wall in front of a criminal’s home. In the Mongol legal code of 1291, it is specified that officials must “first use reason to analyze and surmise, and shall not impose abruptly any torture.” In Europe, the church and state were passing laws to expand the usage of torture without evidence. Examples of European torture include being impaled, various forms …show more content…
of burning, and being crushed. The Mongols limited their torture to beating with a cane. They also tried to use fines where applicable instead of other methods. The Mongols set aside designated areas of their land for foreigners so that they could trade.
Merchants came to this land, and along with them came doctors, scholars and prostitutes. The doctors spread ideas and techniques and scholars practiced their trade.In Kanbalu, the capital, “The suburbs are even more populous than the city, and it is there that the merchants and others whose business leads them to the capital, and who, on account of its being the residence of the court, resort thither in great numbers, take up their abode. . . Women who live by prostituting themselves. . . confine themselves to the suburbs, where . . . there reside above five-and-twenty thousand; nor is this number greater than is necessary for the vancourse of merchants and other strangers, who . . . are continually arriving and departing.” The prostitutes helped keep merchants in Kanbalu where they would trade valuable and rare items from all parts of the world. This could include pearls and spices from such as India, or raw silk and gold tissues from other parts of the
empire. Kublai Khan made many excellent decisions that helped positively influence trade in China. He continued the usage of a paper currency which gave foreign traders a reason to trade within his Kingdom. He also introduced the Office for the Stimulation of Agriculture which helped China recover and trade with Asia. Allowing foreigners to have influential government positions and designating areas for foreigners to trade encouraged traders to come to China. Some of these traders would later go on and trade from Africa to India. And the Mongol reputation that Russia created propelled Europe to contact China. These communications would lead to trading that would last beyond the Yuan dynasty and would lead to the Marco Polo’s travels and the European age of exploration.
Between the early 1200's and the mid 1300's the Mongol Empire, led by Genghis Khan, took control of around 9,300,000 square miles of Eurasia. Genghis Khan first started conquering neighboring clans before setting his sight on the rest of the world. When they would conquer a city, the Mongols would give the city a chance to surrender and if they declined and the Mongols succeeded in conquering them, then all of the citizens would be slaughtered. Under Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire grew to encompass Central Asia, parts of the Middle East, and east to the borders of the Korean Peninsula. In 1227, Genghis Khan died, which led to the empire being divided into four khanates that would be ruled by his sons and grandsons. Genghis Khan's descendants
Despite the fact that Mongolians were prejudiced against other cultures, they were, in fact, not barbaric but rather civilized because of their gender equality of people and how advanced their cities were. In The Book of Ser Marco Polo, Polo tells us how beautiful and well protected the city was like. For instance, the text explains how the city was protected by two great powerful walls surrounding the entire city. Only well advanced and civilized people can do such a thing such as creating an enormous wall. If the Mongolians were barbaric they wouldn’t have even thought of protection.. In Addition, the way the city looked also proved that they were civilized and not barbaric.
The unsuccessful attack of Japan and Java is what caused Khubilai Khan to realize that the transport of food through ship is cheaper and more effective than by land route. The attack also educated the Mongols about shipbuilding. The Mongols used peaceful pursuits of trade when their military efforts were unsuccessful (223). The duration of conquering time for the Mongols had ended, and now it was time for the era of peace. Instead of sending mounted warriors and fearsome siege engines, the Mongols now had humble priests, scholars, and ambassadors (220). The Mongols promoted trade along the routes across the empire and diffused shelters with supplies every twenty or thirty miles (220,221). The stations had animals and guides to give the merchants guidance through tough terrain. In the system of shares, of all the goods confiscated in war, the members of the Golden Family, each orphan and widow was designated to a share of the wealth of each part of the empire. The Mongol officials received goods instead of being paid money, and they could sell or trade the goods to the market for money and other merchandise.
Mongol empire was the largest land empire of the world has ever seen. First began as a nomadic group of tribes. Mongols were united and emerged into an empire that conquered lands stretching from Europe to Central Asia under the rule of Genghis Khan. The Mongol empire was able to succeed in expanding, and conquering was due to their ability to adapt to any living conditions, their sheer brutality force, and their strong military organization.
Weatherford, J. McIver. Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world. New York: Crown, 2004.
... promoting loyalty and increased trust between the two peoples. The Chinese would be more willing to follow the new policies under Mongol rule, even though they were not at the top of the social class anymore. The Mongols were civilized because they were accepting of the customs of different peoples and used this to their benefit.
The Mongol occupation of China, had many positive effects on the economy, primarily caused by the attention paid to the lower classes, as well as increasing the trade occurring, with the utilization of the S...
In its place copper coins were introduced and were used as a medium of exchange in place of paper money. The newly explored ties with the outside world made the dynasty flourish under the leadership of Emperor Hong Wu and better placed to deal with any invasions as well as spreading its influence. Despite the fact that the emperor accepted to trade and maintain close ties with outside countries, the emperor discouraged subsequent emperors from intervening in affairs of other nations. In this light, the emperor wrote a directive towards the same specifically pointing out to countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia but that instead the emperors were to concentrate on safeguarding its territory against
After many years of conquests in China, the Mongols slowly established their own culture and structure in the Chinese Empire, though they were met with opposition. Initially, Kubilai passed laws to differentiate between the Mongols and Chinese. The Chinese scholars had to learn the Mongol alphabet and writing in order to keep formal records for the government. The Mongols ould not intermarry with the Chinese, and even mutual relationships between the two cultures was frown...
The Mongol Empire was a very powerful which conquered more land in two years than the Romans did in 400 years. Also, they controlled more than eleven million square miles. The Mongols were very important because they created nations like Russia and Korea, smashed the feudal system and created international law, and created the first free trade zone. In the beginning of the Mongol Empire, they mostly lived in foothills bordering the Siberian forests mixing heroing and hunting. They also became really good at archery and riding horses. The main reason the Mongols came to be so powerful was all because of a man named Genghis Kahn. Genghis was born around 1162 with the name Temujin. Due to the death of his father, Temujin was left under the control of his older brothers. Soon enough, he was married to a woman named Borte. Borte was later kidnapped, in which Temujin proved his military skills when saving her. Not to long after this, Temujin became the leader of his tribe. Yet, to unite the Mongol confederations it required a civil war, which Temijun ended up winning. After proving his skills and loyalty, Temijun was declared the Gr...
At the beginning of the era, punishments were decided by individuals or their families. This led to punishments were the quantity and quality did not match the significance of the crimes committed. Eventually, proportionate punishment was created, and left to the community, or whoever enforced the law. The reason for their extreme punishments, like execution or banishment on people was because they thought it would make other people refrain from breaking the law. However, studies have been shown that making punishments very harsh did not help much at all, if any (“Punishment”). Some of the most common severe punishments included hanging, burning, the pillory, whipping, branding, starvation in front of the public, and cutting off parts of the body. They also used items such as the scold’s bridle, which was an iron muzzle placed over the head and had a metal piece that stuck in the person’s mouth. The drunkard’s cloak was a type of pillory used on people who became drunk. Overall, most punishments that did not involve anything too serious were normally shameful to the criminal by placing them in front of the public. Some of the minor punishments included being carried in a cart through the streets, and riding backwards on a horse. The pillory was probably the most used prop for punishment, because it varied in intensity, such as getting the criminals ears nailed to the pillory itself. In that time period, they had specific punishments for certain offences. Some of these specifics included stealing anything over 5 pence led to being hanged. Also, the punishment for poaching varied based on the time of day. “Poaching at night resulted in the punishment by death, whereas poaching during the day time did not” (Alchin). Another major form of punishment used was imprisonment. At that time, prisons were very unsanitary and many diseases were
Now, I think the laws are the most barbaric of the mongol empire. Especially on adultery. “ Whosoever commits adultery will be executed, whether or not they have previous convictions” (Document 10, Ratchnevsky). Adultery was a serious crime back then. “If a woman who is captured by a Mongol has a husband no one will enter into a relationship with her. If an Unbeliever(i.e. a Mongol) desires a married woman he will kill the husband and then have relations with the woman “ (Document 10,Juvaini). That’s just a bad thing. Kill the husband so you can have the woman, you basically have to watch your back if you have a wife.
Imagine the skulls of your people littered on the ground of your town. There is only one man who could be this ruthless and that was Genghis Khan. The Mongolian of the Asian Steppe had a negative impact on the world during their rule of their Asian continent from 1260 and 1368 by influencing death, cruelty, and torture. I will show you the ways of Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan used psychological warfare and brought death to those villages and armies that opposed him. He was a cruel person to those who opposed him gave no mercy to those. Genghis used painful ways of torture and didn’t care about the outcome.
In the West, Genghis Khan and the Mongol tribe are often presented as brutal savages who wiped out entire cultures, destroyed cities and killed many people. While these accounts are true, there was certainly more to the Mongol empire than sheer brutality. Many of the practices that Genghis Khan put into place were responsible for the successes of the Mongol Nation. With an ability to adapt and innovate, Genghis Khan became known as the world’s greatest conqueror and is still revered in many countries today.