When was yuan dynasty

Textile with Animals, Birds, and Flowers. Cosmological Mandala with Mount Meru. Panel with Phoenixes and Flowers. Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Guanyin. Wang Xizhi watching geese Qian Xuan. Grooms and Horses Zhao Mengfu. Seated bodhisattva. Cup Stand with the Eight Buddhist Treasures. Incense Burner in Shape of Lion one of a pair. Tray with women and boys on a garden terrace.

In , the Red Turban Rebellion started and grew into a nationwide uprising. After trying to regain Khanbaliq, an effort that failed, he died in Yingchang located in present-day Inner Mongolia in Yingchang was seized by the Ming shortly after his death. Some Yuan royal family members still live in Henan today. Prince Basalawarmi of Liang established a separate pocket of resistance to the Ming in Yunnan and Guizhou, but his forces were decisively defeated by the Ming in By the remaining Yuan forces in Manchuria under Naghachu had also surrendered to the Ming dynasty.

The Yuan remnants retreated to Mongolia after Yingchang fell to the Ming in , and there formally carried on the name Great Yuan in what is known as the Northern Yuan dynasty.

However, this religion did not spread. Instead, both the Mongols and some indigenous people started accepting Islam. They established a class structure with Genghis Khan's clan at the top, Mongols next, Muslims and other foreigners who were installed in official positions next, and the Chinese at the bottom.

This created a lot of resentment among many of the people. They exacted a lot of wealth from many tributary states,which they used to fund their wars and to live extravagantly. Muslim administrators and merchants took local wives and brought up their descendants as Muslims.

In this way, Islam was established as a minority religion. In the beginning, the Mongols didn't emphasize and nurture the old Chinese literature, philosophy, or culture. They were more pragmatic. They wanted to have fun, and so they liked theatrical entertainment with a lot of action and Mongol-style music, big feasts, and parties.

Mongol rule was the time for popular entertainment to flower in the colloquial language for both the rulers and the masses. In the genres of fictional novels and theater, major works in the vernacular language were written.

The Chinese resented the Mongol proscription against them holding important positions as officials but the empire held together well until the third emperor, named Kulug Khan, came to power. His reign lasted only a few years from to but the empire had a severe debt and inflation problem, and discontent grew.

During his reign, the value of the paper currency was devalued by about 80 percent. This procedure enriched the court and the Mongols relative to the rest of the population but impoverished the population in general, especially the rich Chinese merchants and officials. Since the Mongol rulers could print as much paper currency as they wanted, they printed too much and the value of the money kept dropping. The costly wars and great defeats were financed largely with paper money and, to reinforce their monetary control, they outlawed the use of gold and silver currency.

From the s onward, natural disasters , such as epidemics, droughts, and floods, brought suffering and death to the peasants. The Little Ice Age began, and similar famines and natural disasters caused political instability around the world at the same time. In , the bubonic plague pandemic, known as the "Black Death" in Europe, began to sweep the empire. The epidemic ravaged the empire. Millions of people died in Hebei Province alone.

In , the Yellow River shifted course. This caused a massive flood that impoverished an important and populous region at the center of the empire. The river flooded on two other occasions during the last couple of decades. There were also massive famines. There was a time of drought that lasted from to Painting was an important vehicle for self-expression during this period.

Landscape painting became unprecedentedly popular among the Yuan scholars. He looked at masters from previous dynasties and reinterpreted their classical styles in his own fashion. In a sense, he was creating historical art. In doing so, he opened the way not only for the next generation of Yuan amateur or literati painters—notably the Four Great Masters of the Yuan, which included Huang Gongwang — , Ni Zan knee dzahn — , Wu Zhen — , and Wang Meng — —but also for all subsequent scholar-amateur style landscape painting until today.

Another favored painting genre of the Yuan is bamboo painting For example, see this painting by Ni Zan. To the proud and secluded Yuan scholars, bamboo itself was a symbol a shape or design that is recognizable and has a meaning associated with it. Students will analyze the painting A Branch of Bamboo along with the poetry printed on it.