Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c14.s4.t8.4

v2.c14.s4.t8.4

and political affairs of Monan area, employed Han Chinese Confucian scholars, consolidated the administration, recovered agriculture, built schools, received the support of people from upper class of north China Han population, and laid a solid social foundation for the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty. And he once made an expedition to Yunnan, and defeated Dali kingdom. In the eighth year of Xianzong (1258 CE), Mangu fought against the Southern Song Dynasty, and Kublai Khan was ordered to lead Donglu army. In September of the ninth year of Xianzong, Mangu died in Sichuan, Kublai Khan continued to siege Ezhou (present-day Wuhan, Hubei). After learning that Arigboge, his younger brother stayed to guard Mobei, he recruited soldiers arbitrarily to usurp the throne. He adopted the proposal of Han people, Hao Jing to make peace with the Southern Song Dynasty, then returned to fight for the throne. In March the following year under the support of some princes and dukes, Kublai Khan proclaimed to be the emperor in Kaiping (site is located in the north bank of Shandian River in Inner Mongolia, about around Zhenglan Banner and Duolun County area), with the reign title of Zhongtong. In August of the fifth year of Zhongtong (1264 CE), Kublai Khan changed the Yuan into Zhiyuan. In the same year, Arigboge was defeated and finally surrendered. In November of the eighth year of Zhiyuan (1271 CE), taking the meaning of “the beginning of natural law” from ‘*The Book of Changes*’, Kublai Khan changed the reign title into Dayuan. Next year, he decided Dadu (present-day Beijing) would be its capital. In the 11^th year of Zhiyuan, he ordered Bayan to make an expedition to Song Dynasty. In the 13^th year, he conquered Lin’an. In the 16^th year, he finally eliminated the remaining forces of Southern Song Dynasty left in Yashan, and completed the unification. Since then, he once sent the army to make an expedition to Japan, Annan (present-day Northern Vietnam), Champa kingdom (present-day Central Vietnam), Burma and Java, but most of them failed. After the unification of China, Kublai Khan conducted a series of policies, such as the recovery of agriculture, reduction of the burden on farmers, care for craftsmen, promotion and popularisation of education, encouragement of commercial trade, establishment of post system, and emphasis on the scientific research, which were all very beneficial to the development of society and economy.