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The Yuan Dynasty was established by Kublai
Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, upon
relocating the capital of his empire from
Mongolia to Beijing. The Forbidden City was
constructed, a relative oasis of Mongolian culture
in the heart of China. While the Mongol elite
retained their native language and customs, they
did adapt the Chinese system of bureaucratic
government and cemented the authoritarian rule
of the emperor. Although they were unaffected
by Chinese culture, the Yuan did little to stifle
the native traditions and beliefs of their subjects.
Buddhism continued to flourish, although the
monasteries received little funding from the
state. In fact, during the Yuan Dynasty, China
first began to open up to foreigners. Christian
and Hindu missionaries were established in
Beijing and Marco Polo made his famous journey
during the Yuan era. While the Chinese never
accepted the Yuan as a legitimate dynasty,
instead viewing them as foreign bandits, the
Mongolians rebelled against the Beijing Khans for
becoming, “too Chinese.” In the end, the Yuan
Dynasty had the shortest duration of the major
Chinese Dynasties, lasting little more than a
hundred years.
Buddhism in China experienced a revival during
the Yuan period, reversing centuries of decline
and repression following the Great Persecution of
845 A.D. Unlike the native Chinese rulers of the
later Tang period who viewed Buddhism as a
corrupting foreign influence, the Yuan rulers, like
most of their fellow Mongol Khanates, were much
more tolerant of religious diversity. Under the
Yuan, Tibetan Buddhism was declared an official
religion of China and Tibetan lamas were invited
to the royal courts. Texts were translated and
elements of Buddhism were fused with native
Taoist and Confucian traditions. However, this
revival was short-lived, as once the Ming
Dynasty overthrew the Yuan, they expelled the
lamas from the court and denounced this form of
Buddhism as unorthodox.
- (LA.515B)
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