page_title: Yuan dynasty
section_title: Imperial lifestyle
hierarchical_section_title: Yuan dynasty / Society / Imperial lifestyle
caption_attribution_description: English: Kublai Khan on a hunting expedition, painted on a silk handscroll (fragment). This was painted in the year 1280 by the Chinese court artist Liu Guandao. Notice how Kublai Khan is wearing distinct Mongolian-style furs over Chinese Han silk brocades. A description of this image is featured on page 174 of Patricia Ebrey's Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Scroll painting is located at the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Deutsch: Kubilai Khan auf der Jagd, Malerei von Liu Kuan-tao, Liu Guandao, um 1280 Français&#160;: Kublai Khan à la chasse, peint sur un rouleau de soie (fragment). Cette peinture a été réalisée en 1280 par l'artiste chinois han Liu Guandao de la cour impériale. On peut noter que Kubilai Khan, porte une fourrure typique du style mongole, contrairement aux brocades du style Han. Une description de cette image est mise en valeur sur la page 174 de «&#160;Cambridge Illustrated History of China&#160;» de Patricia Ebrey's. Le rouleau est peint est situé au musée national du palais à Taipei. 日本語: 伝 劉貫道「元世祖出猟図軸」　元・至元17年（1280） 絹本着色 （原寸182.9 x 104.1 cm） 台北市、国立故宮博物院 Русский: Охота Хубилай-хана (фрагмент). Картина, атрибутируемая Лю Гуаньдао (конец XIII века). Свиток, тушь и краски по шелку. 182.9 х 104.1 см. Среди северной степи – хан в белых одеяниях на чёрной лошади, его жена и восемь его телохранителей, один из которых чернокожий. Вдали виден караван верблюдов. Свиток хранится в Национальном Дворцовом Музее в Тайбэе, Тайвань.
context_page_description: The Yuan dynasty, officially the Great Yuan, was the empire or ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongol Borjigin clan. It lasted from 1271 to 1368, following the Song dynasty and preceding the Ming dynasty.
  Although the Mongols had ruled territories including modern-day North China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Chinese style, and the conquest was not complete until 1279 when the Southern Song dynasty was defeated in the Battle of Yamen. His realm was, by this point, isolated from the other Mongol khanates and controlled most of modern-day China and its surrounding areas, including modern Mongolia. It was the first non-Han Chinese dynasty to rule all of China and lasted until 1368 when the Ming dynasty defeated the Yuan forces. Following that, the rebuked Genghisid rulers retreated to their Mongolian homeland and continued to rule as the Northern Yuan dynasty.
  Some of the Mongol emperors of the Yuan mastered the Chinese language, while others only used their native language and the 'Phags-pa script.
context_section_description: Since its invention in 1269, the 'Phags-pa script, a unified script for spelling Mongolian, Tibetan, and Chinese languages, was preserved in the court until the end of the dynasty. Most of the Emperors could not master written Chinese, but they could generally converse well in the language. The Mongol custom of long standing quda/marriage alliance with Mongol clans, the Onggirat, and the Ikeres, kept the imperial blood purely Mongol until the reign of Tugh Temur (Emperor Wenzong), whose mother was a Tangut concubine. The Mongol Emperors had built large palaces and pavilions, but some still continued to live as nomads at times. Tugh Temür was an example of a Yuan emperor who actively sponsored cultural activities; including in his imperial capacity and in his personal activities such as writing poetry, painting, reading Chinese classical texts, and ordering the compilation of books.
  The average Mongol garrison family of the Yuan dynasty seems to have lived a life of decaying rural leisure, with income from the harvests of their Chinese tenants eaten up by costs of equipping and dispatching men for their tours of duty. The Mongols practiced debt slavery, and by 1290 in all parts of the Mongol Empire commoners were selling their children into slavery. Seeing this as damaging to the Mongol nation, Kublai in 1291 forbade the sale abroad of Mongols. Kublai wished to persuade the Chinese that he was becoming increasingly sinicized while maintaining his Mongolian credentials with his own people. He set up a civilian administration to rule, built a capital within China, supported Chinese religions and culture, and devised suitable economic and political institutions for the court. But at the same time he never abandoned his Mongolian heritage.
caption: Painting of Kublai Khan on a hunting expedition, by Chinese court artist Liu Guandao, c. 1280
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