Changes

Kublai Khan relocated the Mongol capital in [[1264]] from Karakorum to Beijing, then called Dadu ("Great Capital"), and headed a state with a divided hierarchy based on ethnic loyalties. Mongols sat at the top, followed by a class of Persians, Central Asians, and other nomadic & steppes peoples. Northern Chinese, who had lived under steppe nomad rule since [[1127]] or so, under the Jurchens, formed the third category, while Southern Chinese, who had lived under the Southern Song and were only very recently absorbed into the Mongol Empire, formed the largest but lowest status group. Mongols and other members of the top social classes lived in fortified districts separated apart from the general, commoner parts of Chinese cities, and were ruled under a separate system of governance and justice. This was a pattern which would be emulated by the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the 17th to early 20th centuries.

Kublai Khan relocated the Mongol capital in [[1264]] from Karakorum to Beijing, then called Dadu ("Great Capital"), and headed a state with a divided hierarchy based on ethnic loyalties. Mongols sat at the top, followed by a class of Persians, Central Asians, and other nomadic & steppes peoples. Northern Chinese, who had lived under steppe nomad rule since [[1127]] or so, under the Jurchens, formed the third category, while Southern Chinese, who had lived under the Southern Song and were only very recently absorbed into the Mongol Empire, formed the largest but lowest status group. Mongols and other members of the top social classes lived in fortified districts separated apart from the general, commoner parts of Chinese cities, and were ruled under a separate system of governance and justice. This was a pattern which would be emulated by the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the 17th to early 20th centuries.

The total population of China in the Yuan Dynasty was around 100 million, with a ruling class of only around 130,000 Mongols. The Mongols became heavily Sinified, or Sinicized, during this time, adopting much of the trappings of Chinese Imperial government and culture; however, when compared with the Song which came before, and the [[Ming Dynasty]] which was to follow, there were also significant ways in which Chinese structures were much weaker under the Yuan - the [[Chinese imperial examinations|Confucian civil service exams]] being perhaps the chief example.

The total population of China in the Yuan Dynasty was around 100 million at its start, falling as low as 67 million by [[1381]] (13 years after the fall of the Yuan), with a ruling class of around one million Mongols. The Mongols became heavily Sinified, or Sinicized, during this time, adopting much of the trappings of Chinese Imperial government and culture; however, when compared with the Song which came before, and the [[Ming Dynasty]] which was to follow, there were also significant ways in which Chinese structures were much weaker under the Yuan - the [[Chinese imperial examinations|Confucian civil service exams]] being perhaps the chief example.

==Post-Yuan==

==Post-Yuan==