The Mongols
Genghis Khan
Temujin was elected as Genghis Khan which means strong leader in 1206. Under his leadership the mongols were able to bring the Eurasian landmass under a single rule. This made the largest empire in history. Genghis Khan set up a capital named Karakorum. After Genghis Khan's death as a mongol custom the territory was divided into territories ran by one of his sons. These territories were called khanates.
Decline of Mongol Dynasty
The decline of the mongol dynasty was caused by too much spending on foreign conquests, corruption at court, and growing internal instability. In 1368 the mongol dynasty was ended by Zhu Yuanzhang who put together an army and ended the mongol dynasty. Then this started a new dynasty the Ming dynasty.
Religion and Government
In the beginning only merchants and intellectuals were interested by the ideas of Buddhism. Buddhism and Daoism became more appealing after the fall of the Han dynasty. They had a lot of land and the government handled corruption very easily. Buddhism teaches that material things are not real. This gave the Chinese government reason to support it. Neo-Confucianism was the Confucian response to both Buddhism and Daoism. This was the center of the government. It taught that the world i real,and you get fulfillment when you participate. They divide the world into a material world and a spiritual world. The goal is to move on to the spiritual world after the material world.
The Golden Age
Poetry was how they expressed their literary talents. The Tang dynasty is viewed at as the great age of poetry in China. Most poems celebrated the beauty of nature, changing of the seasons, and the joy of friendship. The Tang dynasty perfected the making of porcelain. Which is a ceramic made of fine clay baked at a very high temperature. During the Song and Mongol dynasties the landscape paintings reached it's high point. Artist tried to reveal the hidden forms of a landscape. Some left black spots on the artwork to portray the idea of the mountain.
Tang Dynasty poetry/art
A Day In Genghis Khan's army
The armies were made up of 10,000 men which made up a tumen. It moved very slow due to being 50 miles long.This caused a short 5 mile day movement in one day. Each of the men had two-four remounts so he could keep a fresh horse. The men were experts in horsemanship, archery,and fights. They carried bows and arrows, a dagger, a lance, and a saber. A leather armor would be worn as protection. The woman's role was to tend to animals and other domestic duties. If there was a battle they had to collect arrows,and kill the enemy if they were wounded.