Class Materials
Yuan Dynasty in China
Mongol Invasions of Japan
Marco Polo
Primary Sources
Mongol: History, Life and Culture
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Yuan Dynasty in China
- The Yuan Dynasty in China and the Mongols [AFE]
A selection of resources from AFE's Timeline of Asia in World History. - Overview of Yuan Dynasty Art [Minneapolis Institute of Art]
An excellent site with examples from the Institute's collection, along with maps of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongol empire, and the Silk Roads.
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Mongols Invastions of Japan
- Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions Annotated [Princeton University]
View individual scenes depicting the Mongol Invasions of Japan. Takezaki Suenaga, a warrior who fought against the Mongols in both 1274 and 1281, commissioned scrolls recounting his actions. This unique record of the invasions, and important eyewitness account, was heavily damaged in the ensuing centuries – according to lore they were even once dropped into the ocean! By the time of their rediscovery in the eighteenth century, the scenes and text of the scrolls were scattered into separate sheets. - Mongol Invasions of Japan: 1274 and 1281 [Princeton University]
Partner site to above - website devoted to understanding the Mongol Invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281. The failure of the invasions gave rise to the notion of the "divine wind" or Kamikaze, although an exploration of the invasions reveals that the Japanese defeated the Mongols with little need of divine, or meteorological intervention.
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Marco Polo
- Marco Polo in China (1271-1295) [AFE – Special Topic]
With background and primary-source readings, a map, discussion questions, and related web links. - Marco Polo and His Travels [The Silk Road Foundation]
A short account describing Marco Polo's journey and the merits of his account, with several illustrations and a map.
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Primary Sources
- Excerpts from The Book of Ser Marco Polo: The Venetian Concerning Kingdoms and Marvels of the East
Translated and edited by Colonel Sir Henry Yule, (London: John Murray, 1903)
- Chapter VIII: Concerning the Person of the Great Kaan [PDF]
- Chapter IX: Concerning the Great Kaan's Sons [PDF]
- Chapter X: Concerning the Palace of the Great Kaan [PDF]
- Chapter XI: Concerning the City of Cambaluc [PDF]
- Chapter XXII: Concerning the City of Cambaluc, and Its Great Traffic and Population [PDF]
- Chapter XXIII: Concerning the Oppressions of Achmath the Bailo, and the Plot That Was Formed Against Him [PDF]
- Chapter XXIV: How the Great Kaan Causeth the Bark of Trees, Made Into Something Like Paper, To Pass for Money Over All His Country [PDF]
- Chapter XXVI: How the Kaan's Posts and Runners are Sped Through Many Lands and Provinces [PDF]
- Chapter XLVI: Of the City of Caracoron [PDF]
- Marco Polo: The Glories Of Kinsay [Hangchow] (c. 1300) [Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University]
Link to an excerpt from The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, translated and edited by Colonel Sir Henry Yule (London: John Murray, 1903).
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Mongol History, Life and Culture
- The Mongol Empire in World History [Education about Asia]
- The Silk Roads: An Educational Resource [PDF] [Education About Asia]
A guide for teachers by the author of this site, Professor Morris Rossabi. - The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, [Metropolitan Museum of Art]
Catalogue for the exhibition of the same title, 2010 - view online or PDF. “This exhibition covers the period from 1215, the year of Khubilai's birth, to 1368, the year of the fall of the Yuan dynasty in China founded by Khubilai Khan, and features every art form, including paintings, sculpture, gold and silver, textiles, ceramics, lacquer, and other decorative arts, religious and secular. The exhibition highlights new art forms and styles generated in China as a result of the unification of China under the Yuan dynasty and the massive influx of craftsmen from all over the vast Mongol Empire—with reverberations in Italian art of the fourteenth century.” VIDEO: “The World of Khubilai Khan: A Revolution in Painting,” with Maxwell K. Hearn speaking, on the MET page for the exhibition. - "All the Khan's Horses" by Morris Rossabi [PDF]
Published in Natural History, October 1994. Reprinted with permission from author. - "Dietary Decadence and Dynastic Decline in the Mongol Empire," by John Masson Smith [PDF]
Published in Journal of Asian History, 34:1 (2000). Reprinted with permission from publisher, Harrassowitz Publishing House. - “The Pax Mongolica” by Daniel Waugh [Silk Road Foundation]
A brief assessment of the Mongol impact. - Who were the Mongols? [National Geographic]
Under the Genghis Khan, the Mongol army became a technologically advanced force and created the second-largest kingdom in history. (June 2019) - The Weeping Camel [National Geographic]
A mother Bactrian camel and her baby bond in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. On the publication's Children's site. - MongolianCulture.com
With many photographs of contemporary Mongolia and an excellent Resource Links page for information on contemporary Mongolia. - Mongolia Today: “Losing the Eternal Blue Sky” [NPR]
Meet a changing Mongolia. It is a story of internal migration and economic transformation in an era of climate change. - The Art of Mongolia, an Introduction [AsianArt.com]
Part of an online journal. Article only includes a few images but provides an excellent overview.
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