Sofia's Essay
Sofia Roth
Global I: 8-6
Assimilation and Rejection
The Mongol Empire (1200 C.E. -1368 C.E.) [1] was short lived, but its social and cultural structures were complex, and continually attempted to assimilate Mongolian culture into Chinese daily life, which was repeatedly rejected by the Chinese people. On one hand, the Mongols did not want to mingle their beliefs with those of the Chinese, and did not want to become part of the Chinese culture. Instead, the Mongols implemented unwanted laws and culture to regulate the Chinese. The Mongols attempted to convert the Chinese to a completely new language called the “Phags-pa Script”,[2] used a seemingly meritocratic system within society,[3] but did not allow Chinese to join the military or occupy high government jobs.[4] By undermining this meritocracy and only permitting members of the Mongol race to have high status in society, the dynasty government ensured the exclusion of the indigenous Chinese population from the upper tiers of Mongol society, while the elitist enclave of Mongol leaders continued to dominate the civilization. Unwanted Mongol laws and culture forced unto the Chinese were continuously rejected, disliked, and ultimately, became the final undoing of the Mongol Dynasty.
Around 1260 CE, Kublai Khan (grandson of Chinggis Khan) ordered the Tibetan ruler, “Phags-pa Lama” to create a new system of writing unique to the Yuan Empire.[5] The purpose of this script was to replace the old Mongol language, which borrowed from the Uighurs, and create one that was more fit to represent Mongolian culture to the conquered Chinese cities.[6] He also wanted to create a language that could minimally represent all of the different cultures living under his rule.[7] Completed around 1269, this language came to be known as the “Phags-pa script” or “the Square Script.”[8] To fully persuade the public to use this script, the Yuan government made it mandatorily taught in schools,[9] passed many edicts, regulations, and laws trying to popularize the language.[10] However, the forced language was rejected by the masses, and was majorly used on official documents/seals, paper money, and a few porcelains.[11] After the fall of the Yuan Empire in 1368, this language completely fell out of the Chinese vernacular, dropping the forced Mongolian culture entirely.[12]
The Mongol Empire as a whole, attempted to encourage promotion by merit rather than family ties, and establish a meritocracy within the military and the central government.[13] Before the warring Mongol tribes were even united to invade China, Chinggis Khan and his family were abandoned from their tribe and left to die.[14] However, he survived, and spent the next years consolidating his power, until he was eventually chosen as leader to unite the Mongols solely based on his pure military genius and ability to rule.[15] Once in power, he purposefully separated his army into units, and chose the most worthy soldiers to command these units, not those whose clan bloodline provided them with inherited chieftainship.[16] After organizing his army, Genghis Khan once said, “I gave favour to you commanders of ten thousand and one thousand, [since you] merit such favour,” which exemplifies the idea of giving responsibilities and promotions based on hard work, not only within military, but also within governmental positions.[17] Genghis Khan wanted to be further accepted by his conquered people, and tried to assimilate and mix Mongols with Chinese by showing that no matter what religion, class, or ethnicity one resided from, it is possible to still move up in society if he or she had practical skills.
However, in 1260,[18] when Kublai Khan came into power, he began to exclude the ethnic Chinese from society. He created a large palace complex for himself, “The Forbidden City,” which was in many aspects a preservation of Mongol culture.[19] Although the Mongols somewhat affiliated themselves with the Chinese, they refused to learn the Chinese language, which created a divide between the two cultures.[20] In addition to this cultural divide, Kublai Khan was resistant to allowing Chinese people to occupy high government jobs, and did not allow any Chinese people to serve in the prestigious Mongol military.[21] By contradicting Chinggis Khan’s established meritocracy, Kubilai Khan purposefully excluded the Han Chinese population from becoming an integral part of Mongol society, further ostracizing them and creating dissent within the empire. This set in place the rapid degeneration of the Yuan dynasty immediately after the death of Kublai Khan in 1294.[22] By 1368, the ethnic Chinese population had driven out their Mongol occupiers, and established a new Dynasty, the Ming, which was ruled by people of Han Chinese ethnicity.[23]
During the Mongol Empire, those in charge tried to assimilate Mongolian culture into the lives of the conquered Chinese, while trying to keep their own culture free of Chinese influence. As a result, they ended up alienating their subjects and creating an environment within the Yuan Dynasty that was not stable. Actions such as forcing the native population into a complex and alien language without any transition,[24] and excluding the Chinese people from the carefully-established meritocracy within the most important tenets of Mongol society: the government and the military,[25] ensured popular discontent toward the foreign government. The Mongols succeeded in integrating themselves among other cultures, but failed to mark aspects of their own nomadic culture unto others.[26] The factor that led to the dynasty’s fall was Chinese nationalism or loyalty, added to the displeasure with the completely foreign rule. In the end, after Kublai Khan’s death, the people were eager to leave all Mongol culture behind, and restore Chinese ethnic rule under the Ming Dynasty.
Footnotes
Works Cited/Bibliography
(Did not allow me to indent so here is another copy of the works cited:
https://docs.google.com/a/hunterschools.org/document/d/1zg9U-RbAAndcntyW62vXR-NoMjjVWCpnjjkLi-7Lceg/edit?usp=sharing)
Ager, Simon. "Phags-pa Alphabet." Omniglot, The Language Encyclopedia. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/phagspa.htm.
Bawden, Charles R. "Kublai Khan (emperor of Yuan Dynasty)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/324254/Kublai-Khan.
"Chinggis Khaan and The Great Mongolian Empire." Chinggis Khan Expeditions. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.chinggis-khaan-expeditions.com/Information_About_Mongolia/Chinggis_Khaan_and_The_Great_Mongolian_Empire.html.
Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor., Anthony Esler, and Burton F. Beers. World History. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.
Gnanadesikan, Amalia E. The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. 194.
Hooker, Richard. "The Mongolian Empire: The Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368." World Cultures. 1996. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://richard-hooker.com/sites/worldcultures/CHEMPIRE/YUAN.HTM.
"The Ming Dynasty." University of Washington. Accessed November 17, 2014. https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/ming/essay.html.
"The Mongols." The Travels of Marco Polo. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://website.lineone.net/~mcrouch/marcopolo/mongols.htm
"The Mongols in World History: Culture." Asia for Educators. 2004. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/china/china3_g.htm.
"The Mongols In World History: Culture." Asia For Educators. Accessed November 17, 2014. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/main/transcript.pdf.
Onon, Urgunge. Introduction. In The Secret History of the Mongols: The Life and Times of Chinggis Khan, 11. Richmond, Surrey: RoutledgeCurzon, 2001.
Sabloff, Paula L. W. "Chapter 4." In Modern Mongolia: Reclaiming Genghis Khan. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2001. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.mongolianculture.com/PaulaL-Sabloff.htm.
Worden, Robert L., and Andrea M. Savada. "Mongolia - The Era of Chinggis Khan, 1206-27." Mongolia: A Country Study. 1989. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://countrystudies.us/mongolia/10.htm.
Global I: 8-6
Assimilation and Rejection
The Mongol Empire (1200 C.E. -1368 C.E.) [1] was short lived, but its social and cultural structures were complex, and continually attempted to assimilate Mongolian culture into Chinese daily life, which was repeatedly rejected by the Chinese people. On one hand, the Mongols did not want to mingle their beliefs with those of the Chinese, and did not want to become part of the Chinese culture. Instead, the Mongols implemented unwanted laws and culture to regulate the Chinese. The Mongols attempted to convert the Chinese to a completely new language called the “Phags-pa Script”,[2] used a seemingly meritocratic system within society,[3] but did not allow Chinese to join the military or occupy high government jobs.[4] By undermining this meritocracy and only permitting members of the Mongol race to have high status in society, the dynasty government ensured the exclusion of the indigenous Chinese population from the upper tiers of Mongol society, while the elitist enclave of Mongol leaders continued to dominate the civilization. Unwanted Mongol laws and culture forced unto the Chinese were continuously rejected, disliked, and ultimately, became the final undoing of the Mongol Dynasty.
Around 1260 CE, Kublai Khan (grandson of Chinggis Khan) ordered the Tibetan ruler, “Phags-pa Lama” to create a new system of writing unique to the Yuan Empire.[5] The purpose of this script was to replace the old Mongol language, which borrowed from the Uighurs, and create one that was more fit to represent Mongolian culture to the conquered Chinese cities.[6] He also wanted to create a language that could minimally represent all of the different cultures living under his rule.[7] Completed around 1269, this language came to be known as the “Phags-pa script” or “the Square Script.”[8] To fully persuade the public to use this script, the Yuan government made it mandatorily taught in schools,[9] passed many edicts, regulations, and laws trying to popularize the language.[10] However, the forced language was rejected by the masses, and was majorly used on official documents/seals, paper money, and a few porcelains.[11] After the fall of the Yuan Empire in 1368, this language completely fell out of the Chinese vernacular, dropping the forced Mongolian culture entirely.[12]
The Mongol Empire as a whole, attempted to encourage promotion by merit rather than family ties, and establish a meritocracy within the military and the central government.[13] Before the warring Mongol tribes were even united to invade China, Chinggis Khan and his family were abandoned from their tribe and left to die.[14] However, he survived, and spent the next years consolidating his power, until he was eventually chosen as leader to unite the Mongols solely based on his pure military genius and ability to rule.[15] Once in power, he purposefully separated his army into units, and chose the most worthy soldiers to command these units, not those whose clan bloodline provided them with inherited chieftainship.[16] After organizing his army, Genghis Khan once said, “I gave favour to you commanders of ten thousand and one thousand, [since you] merit such favour,” which exemplifies the idea of giving responsibilities and promotions based on hard work, not only within military, but also within governmental positions.[17] Genghis Khan wanted to be further accepted by his conquered people, and tried to assimilate and mix Mongols with Chinese by showing that no matter what religion, class, or ethnicity one resided from, it is possible to still move up in society if he or she had practical skills.
However, in 1260,[18] when Kublai Khan came into power, he began to exclude the ethnic Chinese from society. He created a large palace complex for himself, “The Forbidden City,” which was in many aspects a preservation of Mongol culture.[19] Although the Mongols somewhat affiliated themselves with the Chinese, they refused to learn the Chinese language, which created a divide between the two cultures.[20] In addition to this cultural divide, Kublai Khan was resistant to allowing Chinese people to occupy high government jobs, and did not allow any Chinese people to serve in the prestigious Mongol military.[21] By contradicting Chinggis Khan’s established meritocracy, Kubilai Khan purposefully excluded the Han Chinese population from becoming an integral part of Mongol society, further ostracizing them and creating dissent within the empire. This set in place the rapid degeneration of the Yuan dynasty immediately after the death of Kublai Khan in 1294.[22] By 1368, the ethnic Chinese population had driven out their Mongol occupiers, and established a new Dynasty, the Ming, which was ruled by people of Han Chinese ethnicity.[23]
During the Mongol Empire, those in charge tried to assimilate Mongolian culture into the lives of the conquered Chinese, while trying to keep their own culture free of Chinese influence. As a result, they ended up alienating their subjects and creating an environment within the Yuan Dynasty that was not stable. Actions such as forcing the native population into a complex and alien language without any transition,[24] and excluding the Chinese people from the carefully-established meritocracy within the most important tenets of Mongol society: the government and the military,[25] ensured popular discontent toward the foreign government. The Mongols succeeded in integrating themselves among other cultures, but failed to mark aspects of their own nomadic culture unto others.[26] The factor that led to the dynasty’s fall was Chinese nationalism or loyalty, added to the displeasure with the completely foreign rule. In the end, after Kublai Khan’s death, the people were eager to leave all Mongol culture behind, and restore Chinese ethnic rule under the Ming Dynasty.
Footnotes
- Elizabeth Gaynor Ellis and Anthony Esler, World History (Boston: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007), 376. Asia For Educators, The Mongols In World History: Culture (Columbia University) 2004. Accessed November 6, 2014. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/china/china3_g.htm
- Asia For Educators, The Mongols In World History: Culture (Columbia University) 2004. Accessed November 6, 2014. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/china/china3_g.htm.
- Paul W.L. Sabloff, Modern Mongolia: Reclaiming Genghis Khan (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) 2001, Chapter 4. Accessed November 6, 2014. http://www.mongolianculture.com/PaulaL-Sabloff.htm Ellis and Esler, 377-378.
- Ellis and Esler, 377-378.
- Simon Ager, "Phags-pa Alphabet." (Omniglot, The Language Encyclopedia.) Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/phagspa.htm
- Ibid.
- Amalia E. Gnanadesikan, “The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet” (Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2009) 194.
- Asia For Educators, The Mongols In World History: Culture (Columbia University) 2004. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/china/china3_g.htm.
- Ager, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/phagspa.htm.
- Asia For Educators, http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/china/china3_g.htm.
- Ibid.
- Gnanadesikan, 194.
- “Chinggis Khaan and the Great Mongolian Empire,” Chinggis Khaan Expeditions. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.chinggis-khaan-expeditions.com/Information_About_Mongolia/Chinggis_Khaan_and_The_Great_Mongolian_Empire.html
- Robert L. Worden and Andrea Matles Savada, editors, “The Era of Chinggis Khan, 1206-7,”Mongolia: A Country Study. (Washington, GPO for the Library of Congress, 1989). Accessed November 16, 2014. http://countrystudies.us/mongolia/10.htm
- Ibid.
- Urgunge Onon, translator and editor, “The Secret History of the Mongols: The Life and Times of Chinggis Khan,” (RoutledgeCurzon Press, 2001) 11.
- Ibid, 210.
- Charles R. Bawden, “Kublai Khan,” (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2014) Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/324254/Kublai-Khan
- Richard Hooker, The Mongolian Empire: The Yuan, (World Cultures, 1996). Accessed November 16, 2014. http://richard-hooker.com/sites/worldcultures/CHEMPIRE/YUAN.HTM
- Ibid.
- Ellis and Esler, 377-378.
- Columbia University, “The Mongols in World History,” Asia for Educators, 9. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/main/transcript.pd
- “The Ming Dynasty,” University of Washington, accessed November 11, 2014. https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/ming/essay.html
- Asia For Educators, http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/china/china3_g.htm.
- Ellis and Esler, 377-378.
- "The Mongols" The Travels of Marco Polo. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://website.lineone.net/~mcrouch/marcopolo/mongols.htm
Works Cited/Bibliography
(Did not allow me to indent so here is another copy of the works cited:
https://docs.google.com/a/hunterschools.org/document/d/1zg9U-RbAAndcntyW62vXR-NoMjjVWCpnjjkLi-7Lceg/edit?usp=sharing)
Ager, Simon. "Phags-pa Alphabet." Omniglot, The Language Encyclopedia. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/phagspa.htm.
Bawden, Charles R. "Kublai Khan (emperor of Yuan Dynasty)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/324254/Kublai-Khan.
"Chinggis Khaan and The Great Mongolian Empire." Chinggis Khan Expeditions. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.chinggis-khaan-expeditions.com/Information_About_Mongolia/Chinggis_Khaan_and_The_Great_Mongolian_Empire.html.
Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor., Anthony Esler, and Burton F. Beers. World History. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.
Gnanadesikan, Amalia E. The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. 194.
Hooker, Richard. "The Mongolian Empire: The Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368." World Cultures. 1996. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://richard-hooker.com/sites/worldcultures/CHEMPIRE/YUAN.HTM.
"The Ming Dynasty." University of Washington. Accessed November 17, 2014. https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/ming/essay.html.
"The Mongols." The Travels of Marco Polo. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://website.lineone.net/~mcrouch/marcopolo/mongols.htm
"The Mongols in World History: Culture." Asia for Educators. 2004. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/china/china3_g.htm.
"The Mongols In World History: Culture." Asia For Educators. Accessed November 17, 2014. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/main/transcript.pdf.
Onon, Urgunge. Introduction. In The Secret History of the Mongols: The Life and Times of Chinggis Khan, 11. Richmond, Surrey: RoutledgeCurzon, 2001.
Sabloff, Paula L. W. "Chapter 4." In Modern Mongolia: Reclaiming Genghis Khan. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2001. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.mongolianculture.com/PaulaL-Sabloff.htm.
Worden, Robert L., and Andrea M. Savada. "Mongolia - The Era of Chinggis Khan, 1206-27." Mongolia: A Country Study. 1989. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://countrystudies.us/mongolia/10.htm.