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                                                       The Mongols Have Invaded China

              Genghis Khan and the Mongols have invaded China! After creating a massive empire  from Siberia to Tibet, Genghis Khan decided to further expand his empire to China.  Following two years of war on the border, the defenses broke and the Mongols entered China  in 1211.  The Mongols viciously attacked anyone who stood in their way, leaving behind a trail of destruction and chaos. The Chinese responded with a massive counterattack but the Mongols continued their path and left the armies destroyed. Although further attacks on the Mongols look unlikely to succeed, they still are being planned. At this rate, the Mongols are expected to conquer the capitol in a matter of months. However, there is some hope for China. So far the parts of China that the Mongols captured ( South China) is being plagued with rebellion by the people still loyal to Emperor Song. They have the best chance of defeating the Mongols  because of  their latest technological weapons including gunpowder, well bred horses, and  the new found flame throwers. They also have well- fed men, as well as a tactical advantage over the Mongols. South China is filled with rice patties and sometimes the water can rise up to your knees. Not only is this inconvenient, but the horses which are the main attack for the Mongols cannot be ridden through the rice paddies on horses,  meaning that the Mongols will have to pass on foot instead of on horseback with bows which is their greatest weapon.  Not only does this create a tactical advantage, it gives hope that China will survive these horrible attacks. But looking at the one hundred thousand well- manned, well trained Mongol army, one can wonder who will succeed even though Southern China has all of these advantages.

                The outcome does not look hopeful as the later conquests of the Xia dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, and the Unification of Mongolia have all happened by Genghis Khan, who is the leader of the Mongols, leading the attacks on China.  Many people are fleeing from the Capitol ( Dadu) to parts further away from the attacks.  Other attacks may be held on the already struggling China. Many other countries see these attacks as a distraction and are willing to attack when we seem weakest. China's  problems are mounting and are taking a toll on everyone from peasant, to the Emperor Himself.  In a few months time, we will know what the Gods have in store for China and her people.

Opinion

Opinion/ Editorial

           

            Emperor Khan should begin to learn about the Chinese culture and the Chinese people. After all, the Emperor is the one and only ruler of China and if the Emperor is  ruling people that he doesn't understand or know about that can cause many miscommunications.  The people of China are extremely different then the people of Mongolia and they have different cultures. If a leader doesn’t know anything about a cultural of a people that he is ruling then he can misinterpret the people and this can cause friction between the Mongol and the Chinese. For example, if a Chinese military leader doesn’t use an aggressive Mongol tactic but instead uses one that is not as aggressive, a Mongol might interpret that as being too relaxed and therefore, weak and dismiss him. But a Chinese military leader might have interpreted it as just using another tactic that has the proper amount of aggression. If the Emperor does not learn about China there could be even worse consequences because communication is vital in any government. If the all powerful ruler misinterprets the people that he has complete control of there could be devastating aftermath. It is understood that the Emperor has Chinese counselors but Chinese advisors are not enough. In order to be a good ruler, a person needs to understand the country that the person ruling.

          Another reason why Emperor Khan should learn about the Chinese is in case is the other countries decide to attack China.  The Emperor may not know how the army operates and how it differs to the Mongolian army. All armies are different and China is always prone to attack. If Emperor Khan does not learn more about China and its people and a neighboring country does attack, Emperor Khan might not be as experienced with leading the Chinese army, as it is incredibly different from the Mongolian army. This could cause major damage. If the army is not well prepared for any attack and the Emperor is unskilled at commanding the army. The attack could have devastating effects as in major casualties, the loss of land, and even the conquering of China.  The people of China comprehend that the Emperor has many Chinese counselors which he seeks advice from often, but the advisors are not managing the entire empire.  However the Emperor is in charge, and sometimes the Emperor will decide to not listen to the advisors and nothing is stopping him from doing anything he wants to China. If a leader who has compete control of a nation which he is clueless about  leads and something bad happens, the Emperor might not be experienced enough with dealing with problems of a country which he knows nothing about.  The country is then surely doomed.

Map of the Yuan Dynasty

This is the Yuan Dynasty ( 1271-1368). The brown represents where the Yuan Dynasty was and the dotted line is where present day China is. The green line represents the Grand Canal. Notice that it was bigger then modern day China. This is because the Mongols not only conquered China, but also Tibet to Siberia. This means that the Mongols had to have an enormous army, as well as be under a skilled military leader.

Interview with Kublai Khan

Reporter: Thank you for letting me interview you shall we get started?
Emperor Khan: Yes, let us begin.

Reporter:“Does being the first non Chinese rulers effect the way you rule China?”

Emperor Khan: “Only in a few ways. Sometimes when we are establishing who is in office we eliminate the Chinese officials and put new Mongolian officials in there place, however, this can cause great confusion when trying to manage a country that is all Chinese. Sometimes we do not understand their culture  and that can cause miscommunication and cause tensions between the Chinese and the Mongolians. I think as a people the Chinese are extremely different in the way they act and behave so we must learn their ways to better understand them as well as to help our communication.”

Reporter: “What is your view on different religions and how they exist together?”

Emperor Khan:  “I am content with other religions as long as the people are happy. I will not destroy a people just because they believe in one thing and I do not.  I was taught by my mother at an early age to be tolerant of people who are different as well as experienced intolerance itself. I remember when I was a young boy another clan of Mongols attacked us just because we were a different clan. We defended ourselves and manged to escape but it’s still an extremely traumatizing experience.”

Reporter: “ You have been in and seen many wars, whats your battle strategy?”

Emperor:  The Mongolians have over one hundred thousand skilled men on horseback who have  been using bows and arrows all their lives.  Our technique is moving fast and striking hard. Our only difficulty is water as my men are not skilled at all with working in water and we do not understand or know how to fight this way. However, we have stolen various ships from our enemies and are using those to create our own fleet”

Inventions

            Only a few new technologies were invented in the Yuan dynasty because  so much  of the time was spent conquering and stamping out rebellion. The Emperor was not interested in learning or inventing new things.  However,there were a few inventions created in that time. They were all war related since the Yuan dynasty is best known for conquering lands and expanding the empire.  But even though the Yuan dynasty isn’t recognized by the inventions  it created there are still some innovations that changed history even though they are not famously known for being this.

One of them was the invention of the flamethrower. The flamethrower was thought up in approximately 919 AD. It was made from a double pistol pump and was called a “ Pen Hou Qi.” Lin Yu first documented it in 917 AD. It was widely used against the Mongols during the Song rebellion and was modernized and redone by Richard Fielder and served as a huge weapon in both WWl and WWll.

            Another one of the few but important inventions that was made in the Yuan dynasty is the advance of the use of gunpowder during the Song rebellion and the Yuan dynasty.  They developed a gun barrel with a huge head so that a bigger ball could be put in it and if properly shot, it crashed against the enemy while releasing deadly shards and causing more casualties. This was a huge factor in the Song rebellion because now the Song had newer technologies that widened their chances of the outcome of the war. This also helped the evolution of guns and the use of gunpowder, which is  important because if not for all the inventions, the Chinese would have fallen behind in the world and this could lead to many problems.  Thanks to all the inventions we are where we are now. 

Religion

                                   

            Daoism was the strongest and best religion in the Yuan dynasty.  Daoism is the belief that to find peace, you must first live in harmony or in agreement with yourself and others.  This shows that the Daoists belief has benefits on a community because they believe you must live in harmony, so it discourages violence and hatred. If more people believed that, then you could have a more peaceful society and thus Daoism has positively affected the community and is a very good influence on the society.

            Another reason why Daoism is the best religion is because they believe that people should not be self important or selfish. This can have a great affect on the community because if everyone was Daoists they would most likely believe that one should not lust, there for would not lust or be selfish. This can impact a society because everyone could be giving to one another and doing kind things for each other because Daoists believe that you shouldn’t be self-important and that you should do things for others.

            Daoists believe that one should be peaceful and not live a life of war but peace and prosperity and that to find harmony, one must be peaceful with both himself and the world around them. This can have a great affect on community because if every was a Daoists and believed this then no one would spread violence and instead, they might spread peace, since that's what Daoists  believe. If everybody believed this, then there would be less wars and peace and prosperity with everyone because everyone was peaceful. 
         Daoists also believe that someone should not strive for rank or honor but accept anything. If everyone lived like this then there would be no competition about honors and no competition usually means less arguing and more peace and prosperity. If there is more prosperity, then the community is a better place to live.

            A third and final reason why Daoism the best religion is because they believe that one shouldn’t strive for possessions or honors. This has a good affect on the society because if no one is competing for honors or the most prized possession, then they will most likely not to fight and not be prone to greed or selfishness and if everyone isn’t selfish then the society could function better.

Bibliography

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