4. Government by Foreigners: The Period of Mongol Rule

In the 13th century, the Mongols conquered almost all of Asia. In 1276, they captured China's imperial capital. Three years later, the last Song emperor died fleeing from the invaders.

The Mongol leader, Kublai Khan (KOOH-bly KAHN), took the title of emperor of China and called his dynasty the Yuan dynasty. For nearly 100 years, from 1279 to 1368, China was under Mongol rule.

Under the Mongols, Chinese society was divided into four classes.  The Mongols were at the top.  Next came foreigners who were their friends, including Tibetans, Persians, Turks, and Central Asians.  Many of them were Muslims.  The third class was made up of the northern Chinese, who were more accustomed to the neighboring Mongols.  The southern Chinese came last.

Kublai Khan ended the system of civil service exams  because he did not believe that Confucian learning was needed for government jobs nor did he want to rely on Chinese people to run his government.   To fill important positions, he chose other Mongols whom he felt he could trust. Some of these people were his relatives.

Unfortunately, there weren't enough Mongols to fill every job. Besides, many were illiterate, or unable to read and write. Kublai and later Mongol emperors needed people who could handle the paperwork of a complex government, so they were forced to appoint trusted foreigners to government positions, even some Europeans. Chinese scholars were appointed only as teachers and minor officials. Other Chinese worked as clerks, and some of them rose to important positions.

Without the examination system, however, there was a shortage of capable administrators. In 1315, the Mongols restored the exam system, although they set limits on who could take the exam, favoring Mongol and other non-Chinese candidates.

As time passed, fighting among Mongol leaders weakened the government of China, as did the greed and corruption of officials. Additionally, the Mongols had made many enemies among the native Chinese. In the 1350s and 1360s, rebels rose up against them. In 1368, the Mongol dynasty collapsed, and the Chinese reestablished their own government under the Ming dynasty, which ruled China for nearly 300 years.

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