The Great Ruler, Kublai Khan

English I, Louise S. McGehee School

2005

(Dowling)

Mongol Empire

• Empire was first divided into four different sections called khanates.

• Each was ruled by a single khan, and all were overruled by a “Great Khan.”

• Ghengis Khan was elected the first “Great Khan” in 1206 (Hooker). (“Arts”)

(1865)

Ghengis Khan• Grandfather of Kublai Kahn

• First to unify the divided Mongol tribes

• Built a small, very structured army that was able to defeat huge armies (Hooker)

• Army was known for great horsemen

• Elected “Great Khan” in 1206

• Died in 1277 (“Ghengis”) (“Ghengis”)

Ghengis Khan

Physical Descriptions- Kublai Khan

• Wore long elaborate robes

• Had keen Mongolian features

• Had a long beard

(Dowling)

Kublai Khan Takes Over—The Beginning of a Dynasty

• In 1260, Kublai Khan became the “Great Khan.”

• In 1264 he moved the capital from Mongolia to Cambuluc, present day Beijing (Hooker).

(Dowling)

(“China”)

Map of China

Yuan Dynasty

• In 1271 Kublai Khan named his dynasty the Yuan Dynasty.

• A few years after he named the dynasty, he captured all of China.

• He gradually adopted Chinese political ideas and built a strong central government.

•He eventually became an absolute ruler (Hooker).

(“Arts”)

Xanadu• Kublai Khan created a summer capital in Shangdu, commonly referred to as Xanadu.

• He built a magnificent summer home for himself there called Xanadu (Hooker).

• In 1275, Marco Polo visited this palace and created many reports about it.

• These reports made Europeans more interested in the east.

• This palace was inspiration for a famous poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Dowling).

(Dowling)

Marco Polo

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• 1772-1834

• Englishman

• As he was reading about the palace in Xanadu, he took two grains of opium and fell asleep.

• When he woke up, he wrote the poem about the dream he had (Xanadu).

(“Samuel”)

“Kubla Khan”

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan  A stately pleasure-dome decree:

 Where Alph, the sacred river, ran  Through caverns measureless to man

 Down to a sunless sea (“Xanadu” 1-5).

Written by Samuel Taylor

Coleridge in 1798

Published in 1816 (“Xanadu”)

Modern Links- Mysteries

Still today historians are trying to find out if the writings of Marco Polo are true, and they will probably never know.

It is a big mystery where Kublai and his grandfather, Genghis Khan, are buried.?

Kublai Khan tried to get Japan to pay tribute to him many times, and he sent armies to invade Japan twice.

Both times the troops were repelled, not by Japanese troops, but mysterious storms that killed many of Kublai’s soldiers and destroyed his boats.

The Japanese called these storms kamikaze which means divine wind (“How”).

The Myth of the Kamikaze

Works Cited

"Arts of Asia." The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. 5 January 2005. < http://www.artsmiaorg/arts-of-asia/china/maps/mongol-map.cfm >.

“China Map Index.” Index-China.com. 2002. Tagalder. 6 January 2005.

<http://www.index-china.com/index-english/china_map_index.htm> .

Dowling, Mike., "The Electronic Passport to Marco Polo." Mr.Dowling. 2001. Mike

Dowling. 5 January 2005. < http://www.mrdowling.com/613-marcopolo.html>

 "Genghis Khan on the Web." Isidore of Seville. Ed. Tim Spalding.2004. 5 January 2005.

< http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/genghis/ >.

Hooker, Richard. "The Mongolian Empire: The Yuan." Washington State University. 2003. Board of Regents. 5 January 2005.

<http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHEMPIRE/YUAN.HTM> .

•“How Did a 'Divine Wind' Save Japan 700 Years Ago?” Unexplained Mysteries. 16

August 2004. Unexplained Mysteries V7. 9 January 2005. <http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/disclaimer-privacy.shtml> .

•“Samuel Taylor ‘Estese’ Coleridge.” Calisota Online. Ed. Gilles Maurice. 30 April 2001. Duckhunt. 5 January 2005.

http://goofy313g.free.fr/calisotaonline/exist/coleridge.html .

•Theiss, Mike. “Key Largo Lightning Storm Photos.” Eye In the Tropics. 2004. Storm photographer. 9 January 2005. http://www.mthurricane.com/Thunderstorm_083002.htm.

•“Xanadu.” Burke’s Backyard. Ed. Don Burke. 2004. C.T.C. Production. 4 January2005. <http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/2004/archives/2004/inthegarden3/treesand_palms/xanadu>.

•“Xanadu.” The Samuel Taylor Coleridge Archive. 5 October 1999. Marjorie A. Tiefert. 3 January 2005.http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridgepoems/

Kubla_Khan.html .>.

Works Cited