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Polity

Yuan Dynasty

Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 CE) - The cross-civilizational Mongol dynasty that unified China, established Mongol-Chinese synthesis, and created foundations for later Chinese governance.

Sinitic / East AsianSteppe / Central Eurasian

Overview

The Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 CE) was the cross-civilizational Mongol dynasty that unified China, established Mongol-Chinese synthesis, and created foundations for later Chinese governance. It exemplifies the conquest-integration pattern through Mongol-Chinese synthesis.

Formation

  • Formation Date: 1271 CE - Established by Kublai Khan
  • Formation Event: yuan dynasty founded 1271ce
  • Key Actors: Kublai Khan (founder)
  • Context: Preceded by Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE) and Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE)
  • Formation Process: Division of Mongol Empire, conquest of Song Dynasty

Persistence

  • Key Periods:
    • Early Yuan (1271-1294 CE): Initial consolidation under Kublai Khan
    • Classical Yuan (1294-1333 CE): Peak expansion
    • Late Yuan (1333-1368 CE): Decline and Ming conquest
  • Internal Developments:
    • Mongol-Chinese synthesis
    • Administrative and legal systems
    • Cultural achievements
  • Administrative Structure: Imperial administration, bureaucratic systems
  • Territorial Changes:
    • Peak expansion (1300 CE)
    • Gradual decline and Ming conquest (1333-1368 CE)
  • Key Events:
    • Various conquest, reform, and cultural events

Transformation

  • Major Changes:
    • Mongol-Chinese Synthesis: Integration of Mongol and Chinese institutions
    • Administrative Systems: Bureaucratic expansion
  • Key Events:
    • Various transformation events
  • Key Actors:
    • Various Yuan emperors

Dissolution

  • Dissolution Date: 1368 CE - End of Yuan Dynasty (Ming conquest)
  • Dissolution Event: yuan dynasty fell 1368ce
  • Dissolution Process: Conquest by Ming Dynasty
  • Successor Polities:
  • Legacy:
    • Mongol-Chinese synthesis models
    • Administrative foundations for later Chinese governance
    • Institutional foundations

Quantitative Data

Predecessors

Successors

Conquests

Pattern Relevance

GGS Framework

Conquest Integration Framework

About this entry

A draft entry preserved from civilization.study. Evidence grade: strong. 1 of 2 listed sources are fully documented; the rest are names only. Method and sources

CAD Framework

  • Scale: Institution, Civilization, Cross-Civilizational (polity spans multiple civilizations)
  • Time: Formation (1271 CE), Persistence (1271-1368 CE), Transformation (various periods), Dissolution (1368 CE)
  • Space: Core, Network (Chinese core, network expansion)
  • Domain: Institutional, Political, Military, Cultural
  • Mechanism: Formation, Persistence, Transformation, Dissolution
  • Type: Example
  • Framework: GGS Guns, Conquest Integration

Chronology Framework

  • Event Links:
    • Formation: yuan dynasty founded 1271ce
    • Dissolution: yuan dynasty fell 1368ce
  • Temporal Context: 1271-1368 CE

Notes

  • Evidence Quality: Strong - well-documented in Chinese, Mongol, and historical sources
  • Integration: Links to existing polity cards (Mongol Empire, Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty), events, patterns
  • Future Research:
    • detailed studies of Yuan administrative systems
    • quantitative data for Yuan Dynasty
    • Expand relationship network
  • Cross-Civilizational: Spans Sinitic and Steppe/Central Eurasian civilizations

Conflicts

Conflicts this polity is recorded in. Cards are generated from Civitas's war records; every one is a draft estimate and none is Official.

How to read the evidence badges
Primary text read
Civitas read the ancient or primary text for at least one figure on this card. Other figures may still be Wikipedia-compiled and are labelled.
Generic placeholder: an advancing line for a war or campaign. Not an image of this event.
conquest · 11 February 1235-19 March 1279

Mongol Conquest of the Song Dynasty (1235-1279 CE)

Four-decade conquest ending with the Song fleet's destruction at Yamen; reunifies China under the Yuan (Smith & von Glahn 2003; Rossabi 1988).

Evidence: Primary text read Draft estimate

What the record says

  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Dates 11 February 1235 - 19 March 1279; outcome: Yuan victory (Wikipedia infobox).
  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Wikipedia (stub): Mongol/Yuan strength over 600,000 (unverified); casualties "very heavy"; no total asserted.
  • Primary text PRIMARY-SOURCE (read 2026-10-12): end-phase only. Song shi 46 (Xiangyang lost 1273) and Song shi 47 (Yamen 1279: Lu Xiufei drowns with the boy emperor; "more than 100,000 floating corpses"). The 1235 opening is NOT sourced from a primary text here.

Confidence. medium (dates/outcome); no casualties.

Where it sits

Sources and evidence

No page-level citation is claimed for any source. Figures marked unverified come from a Wikipedia aggregator and are not for Official use.

Link to this conflict

Generic placeholder: an advancing line for a war or campaign. Not an image of this event.
war series · 1258, 1283-1285, 1287-1288

Mongol Invasions of Vietnam (1258-1288 CE)

Three Yuan invasions repelled by Dai Viet; also Champa campaigns (Taylor 1983 context).

Evidence: Primary text read Draft estimate

What the record says

  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Invasions in 1258, 1283-1284, 1285 and 1287-1288 (Wikipedia infobox).
  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Wikipedia (stub): 1258 Vietnamese dead ~10,000; 1285 ~50,000 Mongol captured; 1288 ~90,000 Mongol killed or drowned. Figures from Vietnamese chronicles; low confidence.
  • Primary text PRIMARY-SOURCE (read 2026-10-12): Yuan shi 209: Xianzong 7 (dingsi, 1257), 11th month, Uriyangqadai camps north of Jiaozhi; 12th month the Vietnamese are routed and the Mongols enter the capital; Tran Thai Tong flees to an island. So the first invasion begins in late 1257 (Western-calendar crossover into 1258). Dai Viet su ky toan thu 5: 1285 campaign under Toghan (Yuan side "500,000" ordered for 1286-87 per the same annals); 1285 Vietnamese victories including the killing of Sogetu and capture of 50,000+ (Vietnamese claim).

Confidence. low-medium.

Where it sits

Sources and evidence

No page-level citation is claimed for any source. Figures marked unverified come from a Wikipedia aggregator and are not for Official use.

Link to this conflict

Generic placeholder: a wall for a siege. Not an image of this event.
siege · 16 October 1268-14 March 1273

Siege of Xiangyang (1268-1273 CE)

Long Yuan siege/blockade combining river fleets and counterweight trebuchets; its fall opened the Yangzi (Smith & von Glahn 2003).

Evidence: Primary text read Draft estimate

What the record says

  • Note Dates 16 October 1268 - 14 March 1273; outcome: Yuan victory.
  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Wikipedia (stub): defenders ~8,000; besiegers ~100,000 with 5,000 ships and 100+ trebuchets (20+ counterweight); casualties "heavy". Siege lasted ~4.4 years.
  • Primary text PRIMARY-SOURCE (read 2026-10-12): Song shi 46: Xianchun 4 (1268), 1st month, Lu Wende reports that the northern commanders are building forts at Baihekou, Wanshan and Lumenshan by Xiangyang; Xianchun 9 (1273), 1st month, Fancheng falls (Fan Tianshun and Niu Fu die); 2nd month, "Lu Wenhuan surrendered Xiangyang to the Great Yuan" (呂文煥以襄陽府歸大元). Dates only; no casualty figure.

Confidence. low-medium (force sizes).

Where it sits

Sources and evidence

No page-level citation is claimed for any source. Figures marked unverified come from a Wikipedia aggregator and are not for Official use.

Link to this conflict

Generic placeholder: waves for a naval action. Not an image of this event.
naval battle · 19 March 1279

Battle of Yamen (1279 CE)

Final naval defeat of the Southern Song loyalists; end of the dynasty.

Evidence: Primary text read Draft estimate

What the record says

  • Note Date 19 March 1279.
  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Wikipedia (stub): Song side ~200,000 people (mostly non-combatants), 1,000+ ships (mostly transports), ~20,000 soldiers and 50+ warships; at least 100,000 died by fighting or drowning. Low-confidence, ancient-chronicle-derived.
  • Primary text PRIMARY-SOURCE figures: Song shi 47 (read, zh.wikisource revid 2642866): Zhang Shijie broke out with ten-odd ships; Lu Xiufei carried the boy emperor Zhao Bing into the sea, many palace women and officials followed in death; "after seven days, more than 100,000 floating corpses came out of the sea" (浮屍出於海十餘萬人); the Dowager Yang and Zhang Shijie also drowned. Yuan-compiled history; claim, not measurement.

Confidence. low.

Where it sits

Sources and evidence

No page-level citation is claimed for any source. Figures marked unverified come from a Wikipedia aggregator and are not for Official use.

Link to this conflict

Generic placeholder: waves for a naval action. Not an image of this event.
naval battle · 9 April 1288

Battle of Bach Dang (1288 CE)

Dai Viet destroys the Yuan fleet with a tidal stake trap in the Bach Dang river.

Evidence: Primary text read Draft estimate

What the record says

  • Note Date 9 April 1288; outcome: Dai Viet victory.
  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Wikipedia (stub): Vietnamese 50,000 (Vietnamese sources); Yuan 94,000 with 500 ships; Vietnamese dead 4,000-4,500; Yuan 80,000 killed or captured and 500 ships sunk/captured. Vietnamese-chronicle figures; low confidence.
  • Primary text PRIMARY-SOURCE (read 2026-10-12): Dai Viet su ky toan thu 5 (year annotated Zhiyuan 25 = 1288): 3rd month, 8th day, Tran Hung Dao had stakes planted in the Bach Dang river and covered; the Yuan fleet was lured at high tide, grounded on the ebb; Omar (烏馬兒) and Fan Ji captured; Yuan drowned "beyond counting", "the river ran red"; over 400 vessels taken. (Wikisource text labels the year 壬子 next to the Zhiyuan 25 annotation; read as 1288.) Vietnamese court chronicle.

Confidence. low (chronicle figures).

Where it sits

Sources and evidence

No page-level citation is claimed for any source. Figures marked unverified come from a Wikipedia aggregator and are not for Official use.

Link to this conflict

Generic placeholder: waves for a naval action. Not an image of this event.
naval expedition · 22 January-early August 1293

Mongol (Yuan) Invasion of Java (1293 CE)

Yuan expedition against Singhasari becomes entangled in the founding of Majapahit (Ricklefs 2008; Hall 1985 contexts).

Evidence: Primary text read Draft estimate

What the record says

  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Dates 22 January - early August 1293; outcome: Majapahit victory (Wikipedia infobox).
  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Wikipedia (stub): Yuan 20,000-30,000 men with 500-1,000 ships; Yuan dead 12,000-18,000; Javanese dead ~5,000. Low confidence; Javanese sources (Kidung Harsawijaya) are late.
  • Candidate sources Candidate formal sources listed in the Wikipedia infobox/lead for this topic (METADATA-VERIFIED ONLY via Crossref/Open Library; NOT read; relevance to the figures above unverified): Coedès George 1996, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia.
  • Primary text PRIMARY-SOURCE (read 2026-10-12): Yuan shi 210 (Java): Zhiyuan 29 (1292) 2nd month, troops of Fujian, Jiangxi and Huguang "in all 20,000", 1,000 ships, a year's grain; Zhiyuan 30 (1293) 3rd month: the Kediri king fought "with more than 100,000"; "tens of thousands" drowned in the river and "more than 5,000 killed"; the Kediri king surrendered; on 4/19 Raden Wijaya (土罕必闍耶) turned on the Yuan escort; the army withdrew on 4/24. "Of all expeditions overseas, Java was the largest". Yuan official history; claims.

Confidence. low.

Where it sits

Sources and evidence

No page-level citation is claimed for any source. Figures marked unverified come from a Wikipedia aggregator and are not for Official use.

Link to this conflict

Art: Patterns of Civilization chronicle art, made with AI: illustrations, not historical evidence. Entries are drafts preserved from civilization.study. Method and sources.