page_title: Foreign relations of imperial China
section_title: Yuan dynasty
hierarchical_section_title: Foreign relations of imperial China / Yuan dynasty
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 Foreign relations of the Imperial era of Chinese history from the Qin dynasty until the Qing dynasty encompassed many situations as the fortunes of dynasties rose and fell. Chinese culture had influenced neighboring and distant countries, while being transformed by outside influences as well as being conquered. During the Western Han dynasty, the Silk Road trade routes were established and brought Hellenistic Central Asia, Persia under the Parthian Empire, and South Asia into contact with the Chinese empire. During the 2nd century BC, Zhang Qian became the first known Chinese diplomat to venture deep into Central Asia in search of allies against the Mongolic Xiongnu confederation. Han Chinese attempts were made at reaching the Roman Empire and although the mission led by Gan Ying in 97 AD was a failure, Chinese historical records nevertheless maintain that the Romans traveled to southern China and Vietnam via the Indian Ocean. Buddhism from India was introduced to China during the Eastern Han period and would spread to neighboring Vietnam, Korea, and Japan, all of which would adopt similar Confucian cultures based on the Chinese model.
context_section_description: The Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) of China was the easternmost part of the vast Mongol Empire (stretching from East Asia to Eastern Europe), which became politically separated into four khanates beginning with the succession war in 1260. The Mongol leaders Genghis Khan, Ögedei Khan, Möngke Khan, and Hulagu Khan were able to conquer the Tangut-led Western Xia kingdom and the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in northern China, as well as invading Korea under the Goryeo dynasty, turning it into a vassal state that was ruled indirectly. The Mongols withdrew after Korean monarchs agreed to move its capital back to the mainland from Ganghwa Island.
  It was the Mongol leader Kublai Khan who finally conquered the Southern Song dynasty in 1279. Kublai was an ambitious leader who used Korean, Chinese, and Mongol troops to invade Japan on two separate occasions, yet both campaigns were ultimately failures.
  The Yuan dynasty continued the maritime trading legacy of the Tang and Song dynasties. The Yuan ship captain known as Wang Dayuan (fl. 1328–1339) was the first from China to travel by sea through the Mediterranean upon his visit to Morocco in North Africa. One of the diplomatic highlights of this period was the Chinese embassy to the Cambodian Khmer Empire under Indravarman III, led by the envoy Zhou Daguan (1266–1346) from the years 1296 to 1297. In his report to the Yuan court, Zhou Daguan described places such as Angkor Wat and everyday life of the Khmer Empire. It was during the early years of Kublai Khan's reign that Marco Polo (1254–1324) visited China, presumably as far as the previous Song capital at Hangzhou, which he described with a great deal of admiration for its scenic beauty.
caption: Painting of Kublai Khan on a hunting expedition, by artist Liu Guandao, c. 1280.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "2100", "Image ImageLength": "1728", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2017:01:07 13:56:17", "Image Padding": "[]", "Image ExifOffset": "2304", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4526", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4328", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2100", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1728", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}