Genghis Khan united the nomadic tribes in Mongolia and from 1211 to 1215 pushedInto north china, destroying the land behind him.

Genghis divided the vanquished lands

Between four of his sons before his death. The first military target was Xixia which was located in the middle and western areas of China and in 1205, 1207 and 1209, the Mongolian army launched three massive invasions. Under such military threat, the helpless Xixia was forced to pay tributes to the Mongol and sue for peace. 

the effects of the Mongol conquest

The effects of the Mongol conquest of china Can hardly be overstated. It is estimated that 50,000,000 Chinese were killed; almost half Of the total population. China never fully Recovered from this destruction at the hands Of the Mongol hordes , who were not so Numerous as they were efficient and ruthless.

Art reflects political styles

The painters of the Yuan dynasty held the song Government responsible for allowing their Country to be overrun by Mongols. Yuan artist Saw the military weakness of song reflected In the southern song landscaped paintings, Which seemed to them to express a soft Sentimentality. Some Yuan painters rebelled by discarding washes from their painting method while others Substituted dry brush.

Mongolian Art

They include Ancient Art in Mongolia, from the Upper Paleolithic Period (40'000-1200 B.C.), the Art of the Steppes Empire (third century B.C to first century A.D.), the Art of the Mongol Empire (1206-1368), Buddhist Art of Mongolia, Art of the 19th Century, and Art of the 20th Century.

The Big Thaw (end of the Ice Age) opened enormous land areas in China for ancient hunters and gathers to exploit. Sino Archaeologists have discovered and recorded artifact remains from a number of very distinct cultures dating c. 7000-2000 B.C.  These Neolithic cultures rose from the development of  agriculture, the earliest traces of which date as far back to 8000 B.C. 

The Liangzhu culture, dated to 3310 – 2250 B.C., is a late Neolithic culture located in Southeast China.

Majiabangculture and later became part of the   Shang Dynasty. The Liang zhu culture is roughly contemporary with the Long Shan and Hong Shan cultures to the north. 

Ancient and Traditional Art

Petroglyphes from prehistoric time are carefully carved in canyons at the foot of sacred peaks in the Altai Mountain range in Western Mongolia (Rock Painting). Drawings were found carved and painted on rocks as well as on cliffs. The motifs are.animals, hunting scenes, and chariots. meditation and ritual scenes of tengerisme (shamanism) of an ancient people. These depict an ancient world dominated by deer, bears, hunters, wolves, and life stock. The engravings measure from a tiny argali sheep of two centimeters, to a life-size horse in full flight. The images are often cut through oxidized rock. Making use of the colors of different layers of the rock to make the carvings stand out from their surroundings. Petroglyphes in Bayan Olgii in Western Mongolia include an image of a deer attacked by wolves, hunting scenes and scores of wild animals. Others depict more domestic scenes of yaks dragging carts, the wheels and horses flattened sideways like hieroglyphs, and two-dimensional herders on horseback.

Khubilai Khan, first Yuan Emperor, Shizu 1215-1294

Empress Chabi Consort of Shizu

by anonymous painter by anonymous painter

Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368)

The Southern Sung period, for all its cultural glories, is regarded by historians as an age of weakness in the Chinese state, characterized by retrenchment in area and influence, humiliating military impotence, and a mood of nostalgia bordering on escapism. The conquest of China by the Mongols put China completely under foreign rule for the first time. The political policies of the Mongol rule did not have a widespread interruption to the arts in China. Superficially, the Mongol ruling elite adopted Chinese customs and habits. Painters liked to depict scenes of the ruling elite's life of horse racing and hunting. Portrayals of horses had served for centuries as pictorial metaphors for the character and special concerns of the Chinese literati and scholar-officials and could carry a variety of auspicious wishes and other messages.

Cao Zhibai

The painter in the Yuan Dynasty, a native of Songjiang,Shanghai City. His style name was Zhen Su and his sobriquet was Yun Xi.Following the style of Li Cheng and Guo Xi,his landscapes painting executed elegant strokes with free atmosphere.

Han Lin Tu

Xi Shan Fan Ting Tu

Qian Xuan

The painter in the end of the Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty,a native of Wuxing,ZheJiang province.His style name was Shun Ju and his sobriquets were Yu Tan,etc.He passed a civil recruitment examination with distinction.After the kingdom Song had fallen,he gave up his official position.He was talented in painting human figures, flower-and-bird, horses and landscapes,and excelled in calligraphy and prose. His style gave considerable influence to Zhao Mengfu.

Young nobleman on horseback, a handscroll painting

Yuan pottery

While the Mongol occupation destroyed much, it also shook China free from the static traditions and techniques of the late Southern Song and made possible many innovations, both in painting and in the decorative arts. The north was not progressive, and the main centre of pottery activity shifted permanently to the south. The northern traditions of Jun and Cizhou ware continued through the Jin and Yuan, bolder but coarser than before. New shapes included a heavy, wide-mouthed jar, sometimes with decoration boldly carved through a black or brown slip or painted

Cizhou kiln,Cizhou kiln, Pinyin Cizhou

yao, Wade-Giles romanization Tz’u-chou

yao, kiln known forstoneware produced in Handan (formerly Cizhou),

Hebei province, in northern China, primarily

during the Song (960–1279) dynasty.

The kiln produced hard pillows, vases, bottles, and

other vessels decorated with simple but marvelously

assured brushwork in brown, black, or gray on a

white, cream, buff, or, occasionally, turquoise

background.

Ding ware, Wade-Giles romanization ting, Chinese glazed stone

ware produced for many centuries, beginning in the 8th century ad.

Usually white in colour, Ding ware is either plain or decorated with incised,

molded, impressed, or carved designs, among which the phoenix, lily, and

peony are popular. The most important types of Ding ware are bai Ding (“white”

Ding), fen Ding (“flour” Ding), and tu Ding (“earthen” Ding), and characteristic forms

include bowls, cups, and dishes. Fired upside down, many pieces of Ding ware, especially bowls, have an unglazed rim

banded with metal.

Guan kilns, Pinyin Guan yao, or Wade-Giles Kuan yao, Chinese kilns known for creating an imperial variety of stoneware during the Song dynasty (ad 960–1279). After the Song royal court moved to the south, Guan kilns produced ware from about 1127 at Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. One of the official kilns, Jiaotan, has been located by scholars near Wugui Shan (Tortoise Hill); many rich examples of the ware were unearthed there. Guan ware was characterized by a wash of brown slip and by glazes varying from pale green to lavender blue.

Jian ware, Wade-Giles romanization Chien ware, Japanese name temmoku ware, Temmoku 

also spelled Tenmoku, dark brown or blackish Chinese stoneware made for domestic use chiefly during the Song dynasty (960–1279) and into the early 14th century. Jian ware was made in Fujian province, first in kilns at Jian’an and later at Jianyang.

Jun kiln, Pin-Yin Jun yao, or Wade-Giles Chün yao, Chinese kiln known for the stoneware it created during the Northern Song period (960–1126) in Junzhou (now Yuzhou), in northern Henan. One class of glazed wares produced at the kiln consisted mostly of opalescent blue pieces (ranging from grayish blue to a plum colour), many strikingly splashed or mottled in purple or crimson. These glazes generally had a fine network of cracks. Another well-known class had a type of red, or flambé, glaze and was most often seen in flowerpots, bulb bowls, elegant shallow dishes, waterpots, and small boxes.