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Chapter 119: Chinese Society in the Yuan Period
Later Yuan Dynasty
The later Yuan dynasty whilst ruling China pursued an open policy, based particularly on both overland and maritime trade. The Tianxia, or Silk Road was a crucial vector for the foreign policy of the Yuan Dynasty, and this was the direction in which China opens itself up the most. The second important vector during the Yuan Dynasty was the maritime vector. This was a priority number two, and brought back prosperity to the coastal provinces, which enjoyed profits from maritime trade, being in regular contact with Maritime Southeast Asia, the Greater Moluccas and the Indian Subcontinent.
The exact extent of Yuan rule and their borders remain a matter of debate. In the outer regions of the Yuan Empire, previous rulers were in general kept in place, and the emperors were satisfied by their payment of tributes and acceptance of Yuan suzerainty. With such a manner, the local chieftains (Tusi) of the Hillman tribes of southern China remained in place; similarly, the Duan dynasty of the Dali kingdom remained in place.
However, the tribal revolts were common, and had to be suppressed militarily. Moreover, the stability of the realm was often questioned with common succession crises, which gradually drained down the capacity of the state administration.
Ethnicity and Language in 14th Century China
Sinitic Languages
In the early 14th century, the general ethnic landscape of China has become generally stabilized. The ethnic Han people form the overwhelming majority of the Chinese population. While speaking greatly divergent dialects of the Sinitic languages, the Han people maintain a general sense of common identity, belonging and togetherness, based upon common cultural and civilizational bonds.
View attachment 539918
A map of the major Sinitic languages
The major varieties of the Chinese language include Hanrén (1), which being spoken also in Khanbaliq, the capital of China has risen to prominence as the general lingua franca of the Yuan dynasty. Hanrén as a language is generally understood across the gross majority of the North China Plain, as far south as the Yangtze River. It is also the Sinitic language most commonly written down using the Phags-pa, a Tibetan-derived abugida which has been the favoured writing system of Yuan dynasty. The phonetic basis of the script has significantly aided later linguists in analysing the development of medieval Chinese; however it failed to make major inroads and the Chinese characters continue to remain in use.
The distinction made by the Yangtze is not only of geomorphology (lowland north versus a more mountainous south), but also gastronomic (pasta-eating north versus a rice-eating south). Historically, the cradle of Chinese civilization has been in the north, based around the lower Yellow River Basin; the mountainous south has been subdued only much later.
As one crosses the Yangtze River, linguistic diversity increases dramatically. Not only is there a significant increase in the number of divergent varieties of Chinese to the south of the river, but as hinted above, the more mountainous regions to the south are home to a number of tribes that speak languages not belonging to the Chinese group at all – namely the Hmong-Mien and Kra-Dai languages. Among the southern Sinitic varieties, we have the Wu language, spoken primarily in the Yangtze Delta, which exhibits certain substrate influences of Yue (Austroasiatic) peoples; then there is the Qiang language or Hunanese,
The Min language is a Sinitic variety spoken in much of Fujian and in some coastal pockets. Linguists have generally identified major influences from aboriginal Austroasiatic sources, but also from neighbouring Wu varieties, as well as a literary layer from the Chang´an koine. The Min is highly divergent from the other varieties similarly to Sichuanese
Southern coastal China, facing the South China Sea, features another variety, known as the Hakka, which is known to be very closely related to Gan, a variety spoken further northwards, and a Hmong-Mienic substratum is clearly evident. West of the Hakka are the speakers of the Yue language, spoken also in one of the largest coastal cities, Guangzhou, which bares footbrints of a Zhuang (Thaic) substratum.
View attachment 539919
Example of Sichuanese architecture
Sichuanese (2) remains the predominant language in Sichuan Basin, with a distinct cultural and linguistic identity. The region of Sichuan is also known to be a major bastion of Buddhism in China during this period. Sechaunese remains highly influenced by neighbouring Tibetan languages.
The Bai language of Dali is also thought to be a highly divergent branch of the Sinitc languages, but in general not considered to be part of “Chinese proper”.
Other Peoples
While most speakers of the Sinitic languages consider themselves as Han Chinese, there are two major exceptions. The first has been hinted, it’s the Bai people, who have experienced a significantly long period of independence until the Naiman conquest with their own Nanzhao and later Dali kingdoms, and do not consider themselves Chinese, although the language is not that different. The second exception are the Semu people. The early 14th century, the Semu are generally understood as being Nestorian Christians of other than Mongolian (or Naiman) origin; mostly Uyghurs, Sogdians but also Han converts. The Semu people have in general adopted Chinese (Hanrén) for their everyday use, but having difficulty with Chinese characters, they favoured the state-approved Phags-pa script, having 36 characters, written according to Chinese tradition top-down. The largest concentrations of the Semu can be found in the northwestern regions of China, that is Shaanxi and Gansu, where they make over a third of the total population; significant concentrations could also be found in the North China Plains. Apart from Guangzhou, however, southern China has very few Semu.
View attachment 539925
The Phags-pa script, declared official by the Yuan dynasty, has only gained wider accpetance and use among the Semu Christian communities
As for the Mongols, who had been the ruling class over China, one can in general differentiate three major groupings. Firstly, there remained a significant number of Mongols north of Great Wall of China, who remained true to their ancestral nomadic way of life and remained as such. Secondly, we have a significant community located in and near the capital at Khanbaliq. These people are very close to the court life, and while being outnumbered by their Han neighbours, they maintain a distinct, while taking up much of the refineries of the Chinese civilization as their own. Culturally, they are considerably sinicized, to such extent that the Mongols in the Steppe consider them Chinese; however the average Chinese does not think of them as such. They are largely considered to be part of the Semu community, although distinct. Ultimately, there are still some Mongols who have settled down in the remaining parts of China. These people were quick to adopt the Chinese language out of practical necessity, and many of them have culturally assimilated into the Chinese culture to such an extent that they even embraced Confucian philosophy. Socially, in areas of a significant Semu concentration, they are most likely to blend into this community, but if no such communities are present, they generally assimilated.
View attachment 539915
Rice terraced farming in southern China
The highland regions of southern China remain home to a variety of peoples, speaking various languages belonging primarily to the Kra-Daic, Hmong-Mienic families, but also Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic language families. Almost all of these groups maintain a degree autonomy by having retreated to the highlands, and practice their own shamanistic beliefs, and are ruled by autonomous chieftains, known as the Tusi.
The Hmong-Mienic peoples have been pushed to the hilly regions of southern China; the Hmong (Miao) can be found in the more north-easterly regions facing the Yangtze River, while the Mienic can be found in the more south-eastern regions in the watershed of the Pearl
River.
The Zhuang are by far the largest Thaic ethnic group living in China, further north there are the Buyei. Ultimately the last ethnic group unmentioned are the Tujia, living at the western border of Sichuan province, speaking a Sino-Tibetan language.
View attachment 539916
Tujia girl in traditional dress
Religion in China
China has for centuries exhibited a rich religious diversity of local and imported religions alike. While tolerance has been the general policy of the early Yuan Dynasty, patronizing Christianity, Buddhism and Manicheism, things gradually changed after one of the Emperors converted to the Sakya sect of Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism, much to the discontent of many of his fellow Naiman and Mongol warriors, who were largely Christian.
Many of the religions present in China were hostile one another. It remains a known thing that Taoists were opposed to Buddhism taking root in China; Buddhists on the other hand, along with some Christians were deeply opposed to Manicheans as such. What has so far been largely ignored is the wide variety of practices, commonly grouped under the term “Shenism”, a term that can extend to include all native folk religious practices.
The attempt aimed at establishing an organized Vajrayana Buddhist Church in the Yuan Empire has largely failed, mainly for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the Yuan Emperors have actually chosen the wrong variety of Buddhism for their empire. The vast majority of the Han Chinese, in case they were Buddhists, followed the Mahayana, not the Vajrayana variety of Buddhism. Secondly, Buddhism has not had the tradition of an institutionalized church hierarchy. Effectively, the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs was established to oversee Buddhist monasteries, and sought to regulate Buddhism. What actually happened, that the overwhelming majority of Chinese (Mahayana) Buddhists either largely ignored it, or grew hostile to the state as they saw that the Yuan sought to impose a different brand of Buddhism over them. All in all, it has become clear by the early 13th century, that this experiment has failed, and the only regions where the policy was actually successful was Sichuan and in part also the north-eastern parts populated by Jurchen tribes.
View attachment 539923
A Sakya Buddhist monastery
While the late 13th century Yuan China has declared Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion, other religions continued to be patronized as well. Nestorian Christianity maintains a respected position within the Yuan state, and any activities aimed at halting its patronage by Emperors have necessarily led to back clash by the Mongols and Semu.
What the Emperors of the Yuan did not like about Christianity was the fact that its head was located outside of their realm, and was effectively within the power of the Ilkhans. Emperor Bayan raised the question as of why ought the Christians in China listen to a Catholicos located on the other end of Asia in Qtespon ? His Semu courtiers and travellers from distant lands told him, that in fact the Patriarch of the East in Ctesiphon is not the head of all Christians in the world. In fact, there are five such Patriarchs in the Mediterranean, as a heritage to the five greatest cities of the Roman Empire.
View attachment 539924
Nestorian tombstone in China
China is an empire, a civilization far greater than Persia, and more stable than the collapsed Roman Empire, thought Bayan. A wandering monk from a distant land called Daqin (2) told a story about Constantine the Great. Bayan had indeed fought one of his rivals in a successor crisis, commanding the Christian Mongols against a much sinicized rival of his.
Thus Bayan summoned all the bishops to Khanbaliq (3) and proclaimed independence of the the Most Holy Church of the Luminous Religion, and decided to establish five highest-ranking bishops, to be known as the Patriarchs of China. Compatible to traditional Chinese philosophy, each of these Patriarchs, apart from being assigned to one of the major Chinese cities, were also associated with one of the traditional Chinese elements:
The later Yuan dynasty whilst ruling China pursued an open policy, based particularly on both overland and maritime trade. The Tianxia, or Silk Road was a crucial vector for the foreign policy of the Yuan Dynasty, and this was the direction in which China opens itself up the most. The second important vector during the Yuan Dynasty was the maritime vector. This was a priority number two, and brought back prosperity to the coastal provinces, which enjoyed profits from maritime trade, being in regular contact with Maritime Southeast Asia, the Greater Moluccas and the Indian Subcontinent.
The exact extent of Yuan rule and their borders remain a matter of debate. In the outer regions of the Yuan Empire, previous rulers were in general kept in place, and the emperors were satisfied by their payment of tributes and acceptance of Yuan suzerainty. With such a manner, the local chieftains (Tusi) of the Hillman tribes of southern China remained in place; similarly, the Duan dynasty of the Dali kingdom remained in place.
However, the tribal revolts were common, and had to be suppressed militarily. Moreover, the stability of the realm was often questioned with common succession crises, which gradually drained down the capacity of the state administration.
Ethnicity and Language in 14th Century China
Sinitic Languages
In the early 14th century, the general ethnic landscape of China has become generally stabilized. The ethnic Han people form the overwhelming majority of the Chinese population. While speaking greatly divergent dialects of the Sinitic languages, the Han people maintain a general sense of common identity, belonging and togetherness, based upon common cultural and civilizational bonds.
View attachment 539918
A map of the major Sinitic languages
The major varieties of the Chinese language include Hanrén (1), which being spoken also in Khanbaliq, the capital of China has risen to prominence as the general lingua franca of the Yuan dynasty. Hanrén as a language is generally understood across the gross majority of the North China Plain, as far south as the Yangtze River. It is also the Sinitic language most commonly written down using the Phags-pa, a Tibetan-derived abugida which has been the favoured writing system of Yuan dynasty. The phonetic basis of the script has significantly aided later linguists in analysing the development of medieval Chinese; however it failed to make major inroads and the Chinese characters continue to remain in use.
The distinction made by the Yangtze is not only of geomorphology (lowland north versus a more mountainous south), but also gastronomic (pasta-eating north versus a rice-eating south). Historically, the cradle of Chinese civilization has been in the north, based around the lower Yellow River Basin; the mountainous south has been subdued only much later.
As one crosses the Yangtze River, linguistic diversity increases dramatically. Not only is there a significant increase in the number of divergent varieties of Chinese to the south of the river, but as hinted above, the more mountainous regions to the south are home to a number of tribes that speak languages not belonging to the Chinese group at all – namely the Hmong-Mien and Kra-Dai languages. Among the southern Sinitic varieties, we have the Wu language, spoken primarily in the Yangtze Delta, which exhibits certain substrate influences of Yue (Austroasiatic) peoples; then there is the Qiang language or Hunanese,
The Min language is a Sinitic variety spoken in much of Fujian and in some coastal pockets. Linguists have generally identified major influences from aboriginal Austroasiatic sources, but also from neighbouring Wu varieties, as well as a literary layer from the Chang´an koine. The Min is highly divergent from the other varieties similarly to Sichuanese
Southern coastal China, facing the South China Sea, features another variety, known as the Hakka, which is known to be very closely related to Gan, a variety spoken further northwards, and a Hmong-Mienic substratum is clearly evident. West of the Hakka are the speakers of the Yue language, spoken also in one of the largest coastal cities, Guangzhou, which bares footbrints of a Zhuang (Thaic) substratum.
View attachment 539919
Example of Sichuanese architecture
Sichuanese (2) remains the predominant language in Sichuan Basin, with a distinct cultural and linguistic identity. The region of Sichuan is also known to be a major bastion of Buddhism in China during this period. Sechaunese remains highly influenced by neighbouring Tibetan languages.
The Bai language of Dali is also thought to be a highly divergent branch of the Sinitc languages, but in general not considered to be part of “Chinese proper”.
Other Peoples
While most speakers of the Sinitic languages consider themselves as Han Chinese, there are two major exceptions. The first has been hinted, it’s the Bai people, who have experienced a significantly long period of independence until the Naiman conquest with their own Nanzhao and later Dali kingdoms, and do not consider themselves Chinese, although the language is not that different. The second exception are the Semu people. The early 14th century, the Semu are generally understood as being Nestorian Christians of other than Mongolian (or Naiman) origin; mostly Uyghurs, Sogdians but also Han converts. The Semu people have in general adopted Chinese (Hanrén) for their everyday use, but having difficulty with Chinese characters, they favoured the state-approved Phags-pa script, having 36 characters, written according to Chinese tradition top-down. The largest concentrations of the Semu can be found in the northwestern regions of China, that is Shaanxi and Gansu, where they make over a third of the total population; significant concentrations could also be found in the North China Plains. Apart from Guangzhou, however, southern China has very few Semu.
View attachment 539925
The Phags-pa script, declared official by the Yuan dynasty, has only gained wider accpetance and use among the Semu Christian communities
As for the Mongols, who had been the ruling class over China, one can in general differentiate three major groupings. Firstly, there remained a significant number of Mongols north of Great Wall of China, who remained true to their ancestral nomadic way of life and remained as such. Secondly, we have a significant community located in and near the capital at Khanbaliq. These people are very close to the court life, and while being outnumbered by their Han neighbours, they maintain a distinct, while taking up much of the refineries of the Chinese civilization as their own. Culturally, they are considerably sinicized, to such extent that the Mongols in the Steppe consider them Chinese; however the average Chinese does not think of them as such. They are largely considered to be part of the Semu community, although distinct. Ultimately, there are still some Mongols who have settled down in the remaining parts of China. These people were quick to adopt the Chinese language out of practical necessity, and many of them have culturally assimilated into the Chinese culture to such an extent that they even embraced Confucian philosophy. Socially, in areas of a significant Semu concentration, they are most likely to blend into this community, but if no such communities are present, they generally assimilated.
View attachment 539915
Rice terraced farming in southern China
The highland regions of southern China remain home to a variety of peoples, speaking various languages belonging primarily to the Kra-Daic, Hmong-Mienic families, but also Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic language families. Almost all of these groups maintain a degree autonomy by having retreated to the highlands, and practice their own shamanistic beliefs, and are ruled by autonomous chieftains, known as the Tusi.
The Hmong-Mienic peoples have been pushed to the hilly regions of southern China; the Hmong (Miao) can be found in the more north-easterly regions facing the Yangtze River, while the Mienic can be found in the more south-eastern regions in the watershed of the Pearl
River.
The Zhuang are by far the largest Thaic ethnic group living in China, further north there are the Buyei. Ultimately the last ethnic group unmentioned are the Tujia, living at the western border of Sichuan province, speaking a Sino-Tibetan language.
View attachment 539916
Tujia girl in traditional dress
Religion in China
China has for centuries exhibited a rich religious diversity of local and imported religions alike. While tolerance has been the general policy of the early Yuan Dynasty, patronizing Christianity, Buddhism and Manicheism, things gradually changed after one of the Emperors converted to the Sakya sect of Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism, much to the discontent of many of his fellow Naiman and Mongol warriors, who were largely Christian.
Many of the religions present in China were hostile one another. It remains a known thing that Taoists were opposed to Buddhism taking root in China; Buddhists on the other hand, along with some Christians were deeply opposed to Manicheans as such. What has so far been largely ignored is the wide variety of practices, commonly grouped under the term “Shenism”, a term that can extend to include all native folk religious practices.
The attempt aimed at establishing an organized Vajrayana Buddhist Church in the Yuan Empire has largely failed, mainly for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the Yuan Emperors have actually chosen the wrong variety of Buddhism for their empire. The vast majority of the Han Chinese, in case they were Buddhists, followed the Mahayana, not the Vajrayana variety of Buddhism. Secondly, Buddhism has not had the tradition of an institutionalized church hierarchy. Effectively, the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs was established to oversee Buddhist monasteries, and sought to regulate Buddhism. What actually happened, that the overwhelming majority of Chinese (Mahayana) Buddhists either largely ignored it, or grew hostile to the state as they saw that the Yuan sought to impose a different brand of Buddhism over them. All in all, it has become clear by the early 13th century, that this experiment has failed, and the only regions where the policy was actually successful was Sichuan and in part also the north-eastern parts populated by Jurchen tribes.
View attachment 539923
A Sakya Buddhist monastery
While the late 13th century Yuan China has declared Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion, other religions continued to be patronized as well. Nestorian Christianity maintains a respected position within the Yuan state, and any activities aimed at halting its patronage by Emperors have necessarily led to back clash by the Mongols and Semu.
What the Emperors of the Yuan did not like about Christianity was the fact that its head was located outside of their realm, and was effectively within the power of the Ilkhans. Emperor Bayan raised the question as of why ought the Christians in China listen to a Catholicos located on the other end of Asia in Qtespon ? His Semu courtiers and travellers from distant lands told him, that in fact the Patriarch of the East in Ctesiphon is not the head of all Christians in the world. In fact, there are five such Patriarchs in the Mediterranean, as a heritage to the five greatest cities of the Roman Empire.
View attachment 539924
Nestorian tombstone in China
China is an empire, a civilization far greater than Persia, and more stable than the collapsed Roman Empire, thought Bayan. A wandering monk from a distant land called Daqin (2) told a story about Constantine the Great. Bayan had indeed fought one of his rivals in a successor crisis, commanding the Christian Mongols against a much sinicized rival of his.
Thus Bayan summoned all the bishops to Khanbaliq (3) and proclaimed independence of the the Most Holy Church of the Luminous Religion, and decided to establish five highest-ranking bishops, to be known as the Patriarchs of China. Compatible to traditional Chinese philosophy, each of these Patriarchs, apart from being assigned to one of the major Chinese cities, were also associated with one of the traditional Chinese elements:
- Khanbaliq/Dadu (Beijing) – earth (centre)
- Fengyuan (Xian) – metal (west)
- Guangzhou – fire (south)
- Shangdu –water (north)
- Liaoyang– wood (east)
The location of these patriarchal sees points out to the fact that Christianity remains a largely northern phenomenon; and its entrance to southern China has been slow. Southern China is dominated largely by Buddhism and Shenism.
The Yuan period has also been the time of emergence of Neo-Confucianism. Previously, under the Song dynasty, Confucian ideas have not been as widespread, and the cultural landscape in China was dominated primarily by Buddhism and Taoism, as well as Shenism. The revival of Confucianism can be attributed to Zhu Xi, who also served in the court of the Yuan Emperors.
View attachment 539921
Daoism has found itself in the position of a disfavoured religion; and together with Manicheans and a number of splinter Buddhist sects the Daoists form a dissatisfied segment of the population.
A Confucian revival has been underway in northern China, especially in the eastern parts of the North China Plain, where it displaces Daoism to a significant extent.
Impact of the Plague
The coming of the Black Death meant a severe depopulation of the entire Yuan China. Especially brutal were its effects on the heavily urbanized region in the north: the provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi in the northwestern reaches of country were the first ones to be exposed to the plague; the populous regions of the North China Plain and the coastal cities as well. The relatively lightly-affected regions included the highland regions of southern China.
The general effects of the plague have thus varied; but once comparing the north and the south, once again one may state that the north has been hit so heavily, that the center of population moves significantly southwards.
View attachment 539922
A map of religion in China. Pink in central China is Shenism. Confucianism has experinced a revival in the northeast; Daoism can be see in north-central China nad parts of south-eastern hinterlands
Especially hard-hit are the Semu, who as being highly urbanized have suffered greatly particularly in the North China Plain regions; their communities in the north-western pats of China did not suffer as badly, but in general they too have experienced a decline. With the weakening of the Semu, one of the segments particularly loyal to the Yuan dynasty, the Yuan are now utterly outnumbered, vis-a-vis a hostile Chinese supermajority.
Establishment of the Ming Dynasty
Depopulation and widespread famine, paired up with continued favouritism of foreigners and Altaic peoples, as well as over-taxation and flooding caused by collapse of the irrigation system have been the major causes of the rebellion. Together with a disgruntled alliance of Daoists, Buddhist sectarians and Manicheans, the way is paved for a new dynasty in China…
The Yuan period has also been the time of emergence of Neo-Confucianism. Previously, under the Song dynasty, Confucian ideas have not been as widespread, and the cultural landscape in China was dominated primarily by Buddhism and Taoism, as well as Shenism. The revival of Confucianism can be attributed to Zhu Xi, who also served in the court of the Yuan Emperors.
View attachment 539921
Daoism has found itself in the position of a disfavoured religion; and together with Manicheans and a number of splinter Buddhist sects the Daoists form a dissatisfied segment of the population.
A Confucian revival has been underway in northern China, especially in the eastern parts of the North China Plain, where it displaces Daoism to a significant extent.
Impact of the Plague
The coming of the Black Death meant a severe depopulation of the entire Yuan China. Especially brutal were its effects on the heavily urbanized region in the north: the provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi in the northwestern reaches of country were the first ones to be exposed to the plague; the populous regions of the North China Plain and the coastal cities as well. The relatively lightly-affected regions included the highland regions of southern China.
The general effects of the plague have thus varied; but once comparing the north and the south, once again one may state that the north has been hit so heavily, that the center of population moves significantly southwards.
View attachment 539922
A map of religion in China. Pink in central China is Shenism. Confucianism has experinced a revival in the northeast; Daoism can be see in north-central China nad parts of south-eastern hinterlands
Especially hard-hit are the Semu, who as being highly urbanized have suffered greatly particularly in the North China Plain regions; their communities in the north-western pats of China did not suffer as badly, but in general they too have experienced a decline. With the weakening of the Semu, one of the segments particularly loyal to the Yuan dynasty, the Yuan are now utterly outnumbered, vis-a-vis a hostile Chinese supermajority.
Establishment of the Ming Dynasty
Depopulation and widespread famine, paired up with continued favouritism of foreigners and Altaic peoples, as well as over-taxation and flooding caused by collapse of the irrigation system have been the major causes of the rebellion. Together with a disgruntled alliance of Daoists, Buddhist sectarians and Manicheans, the way is paved for a new dynasty in China…
- The name given by the Mongols to the varieties spoken in northern China, what later became known as Mandarin
- Sichuanese existed as a highly divergent form of Chinese. Known as the Ba-Shu Chinese, it was a highly divergent Sinitic language, and can be attested since the Western Han dynasty period (2nd century BC till early 1st century AD); in OTL Sichuanese managed to survive until the Ming Dynasty when it was supplanted by Southwestern Mandarin.
- The Chinese term for Rhomania, especially Syria
- Beijing
- Tomislav Addai
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