YUAN DYNASTY 1279-1368 A.D.

The Mongolian masters heavily taxed the Chinese peasants, farmers, merchants and traders to finance large reconstruction infrastructure projects. Mandates from the court of the Mongolian Emperor forbid the Chinese to learn to speak other languages or travel freely outside of China. To finance a great war with Japan the Mongolians increased taxes and further burden the Chinese. What is fascinating to note is that this period of Chinese history gives birth to a powerful intellectual movement that gave great advances in literature, theatre, and opera. Some of the most famous operas of this period are (in their English translations) The Story of Lute, The Story of the Orphan of Chao, The Romance, and the Western Chamber.

The Mongolians in their paranoia to control the clever free thinking Chinese opened the doors of China wide to foreign merchants who were able to trade within China and were given special non-tax and free travel privileges by the Yuan. It is at this time in Chinese history that Marco Polo traveled to China and gave his account of his experiences. It is interesting to note that foreigners experienced a much friendlier China than the native Chinese themselves did.

At the founding of the Yuan Dynasty in 1279, the Mongols were the strongest military force in the world. Many of the great Mongolian generals became administrators and governed  the Chinese from palaces causing the fierceness of the Mongolian military to soften in strength and character.  Controlling China’s vast population and territories compounded with a devastating war with Japan took  toll on the Mongolians. In a few decades they had become weak in both military and administrative controls. It should be noted that Confucian ideals and promotion of Chinese culture further disintegrated the power of the invaders as they were silently absorbed by the Chinese in thoughts and in ways.

The excessive spending and trade restrictions enacted during the Yuan Dynasty severely depleted China economically. Canals and palaces were built, which required the peasants to both supply more tax money and to leave their homes to build them. Great military campaigns were also launched against Japan which were not successful causing  destruction of Kublai Khan's warring fleets of and his armies. External trade, while not forbidden was made very difficult for the Chinese by layers of restrictions and taxes.

Great peasant uprisings were tearing the fiber of Mongolian rule apart as well as another factor that led to the downfall of the Yuan Dynasty that forbid Chinese in governmental administrative positions. This had a variety of outcomes, the first was that the nobility despised the Mongols; also, the appointed leaders did not have a sufficient knowledge of traditional sources of Chinese revenue, and the Mongols treated foreigners better than they treated the Chinese. The wealth of China’s nobility declined rapidly adding to a general impoverishment of the country that fueled a growing social movement to remove the Mongols from China. The Mongols who had taken by force a rich China had in less than one hundred years left an impoverished nation.

Throughout the short history of the Yuan Dynasty the Mongolian rulers sought to emulate much of the Chinese style of rule but were regarded by the Chinese as unwelcome invaders. After the death of Kublai Khan the Yuan Emperor’s court was beset by conflict and intrigue which undermined the centralized administration of the Mongolians. The lack of military funding and equipment plus the fact that the military leaders had to turn to agriculture for support of their armies contributed to the eventual fall of the Yuan. The garrison system set up to control local disturbances fell into disarray. The massive and oppressive recruitment of labor to re-route the Yellow River was the cause of great social unrest that were led by religious fervor.  Rebellion became increasingly frequent from the 1330's. The most important of these was to become known as the Red Turban Rebellion that was ignited by a religious sect. The Red Turban rebels rose up in several places in the Huaihe River region and elsewhere across China (Shaolin temple was a rebel stronghold). The Red Turbans rebellion was defeated and its leaders pursued by the Yuan but a second round of popular revolts proved to be more successful was led by Zhu Yuanzhang, who in 1368 was to become the first Ming Emperor.

Ancient Jades created during this period of Mongolian rule of China show a decline in both quantities and quality. Yuan Mongolian jades are extremely rare because there is a break from the Chinese traditions of the past with an adoption of Mongolian motifs and themes. In the later period of the Yuan Dynasty there are many jade works that express a lose of pride and lack the fineness that previous Dynastic jades exhibit. My teacher speaks of a China whose spirit to create artistic expression was dampened by the oppression of the Mongolians. Another interesting observation about Yuan ancient Jades is the fact that Black Jades were employed as a popular material but they lacked the mystical and artistic qualities of the Song. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Yuan jades is the provincial qualities of jade workmanship that seemed to have been made by individuals rather than jade shops. War, famine, and social upheavals all added to the ingredients of creating a unique stamp on Yuan jade works.

Authentic Yuan Dynasty Jades are difficult to acquire because of their popularity and scarcity. My 30-year private collection of jades does possesses unique Yuan specimens that  from time to time I offer on my Ebay auctions. Please check my Ebay auctions while I have Yuan jade specimens available. -ian (Fung Gen Qua)