As
a Chinese fable puts it: "A sea-bird failing to make a breakfast
on a shellfish was held in its grip until a fisherman captured
both."
The Kins were driven back into Manchuria; and the Chinese without
asking leave of their allies reoccupied their old capital. But
the revival of the Sungs was no part of the Mongol programme. The
Sungs declining to evacuate K'ai-fung-fu and to cede to the Mongols
the northern half of the empire, the latter resolved on a war of
extermination. After a bitter struggle of fifteen years, the infant
emperor and his guardians again committed their fortunes to the sea.
The Mongols, more lucky than the other Tartars, were victorious
on water as well as on land; and the last scion of the imperial
house drowned himself to escape their fury (1280).
[Page 131]
CHAPTER XXIV
THE YUEN OR MONGOL DYNASTY, 1280-1368
(10 Emperors)
_Kublai Khan--First Intercourse of China with Europe--Marco Polo--The
Grand Canal_
Parts of China had been frequently overrun by foreign conquerors;
but the Mongols were the first to extend their sway over the whole
country. The subjugation of China was the work of Kublai, grandson
of Genghis, who came to the throne in 1260, inheriting an empire
more extensive than Alexander or Caesar had dreamed of. In 1264
the new khan fixed his court at Peking and proceeded to reduce the
provinces to subjection. Exhausted and disunited as they were the
task was not difficult, though it took fifteen years to complete.
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