DIPLOMATIC DEXTERITY: MONGOL QAGHANS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY AND THE QUEST FOR EAST ASIAN HEGEMONY

Year 2023, Volume: 5 Issue: 4, 27 - 44, 31.10.2023

Kubilay Atik

Abstract

This study examines the foreign policy and diplomacy pursued by the Mongol Khans during the Yuan Dynasty (1268-1369), who held the titles of both Mongol qaghan and Chinese Emperor. Specifically, Qubilai Qaghan, who received the title of Khan at a qurultai held in the city of Shangdu, located in present-day Beijing, rather than the Orkhon region traditionally used for convening qurultais, and without the participation of all Mongol nobles, had to establish his legitimacy throughout his life both among the Mongols and the people he conquered in Asia. For this purpose, he utilized diplomacy and foreign policy as much as conquests. Within the scope of this study, the rhetoric and legitimacy foundations used in diplomacy are examined, taking into account not only the Goryeo kingdom in Korea, which became a vassal of the Mongol Empire but also regional states such as Japan, which did not acknowledge Mongol superiority and dominion, as well as diplomacy conducted with states in Southeast Asia and Europe. During this period, the Yuan Dynasty successfully blended elements of legitimacy belonging to China with those from the Turkic-Mongol tradition in its foreign policy, thereby leaving a lasting diplomatic legacy, especially in East Asia.

Keywords

Yuan Dynasty, Mongol Empire, diplomacy, China, Japan, Korea

References

• Agirnasli, Nilay (2018). “Kosedag savasi sonrasi Anadolu’daki Mogol ilerleyisi karsisinda Kayseri.” In Uygur Turklerinde Bir Bilge: Prof. Dr. S. Mahmut Kasgarli Armagani. Istanbul: Kesit Yayinlari.
• Allsen, Thomas T. (1994). “The rise of the Mongolian Empire and Mongolian rule in North China.” In The Cambridge History of China: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368. Cambridge Histories, eds. Denis C. Twitchett, Herbert Franke, and John King Fairbank. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Atik, Kubilay (2012a). “Japonya, kapali ulke, ideoloji ve din.” Dogu-Bati (60): 101–118.
• Atik, Kubilay (2012b). “Kore aydinlanmasi: Joseon donemi.” Dogu Bati (61): 217–232.
• Atik, Kubilay (2018). “Court politics in the Mongol Empire from ogedei until mongke.” In Social Sciences Studies in Turkey. Bloomington: Trafford Publishing, 14–28.
• Atik, Kubilay (2020). “Singapura kralligi”. In Turkiye’de Singapur Calismalari. Eds. A. Merthan Dundar and Cenker Goker. Ankara: Ankara Universitesi.
• Atik, Kubilay (2021). “Mogollarin guneydogu Asya devletleri ile siyaseti”. Dogu Asya Arastirmalari Dergisi 4(7): 20–34.
• Batu, Baqian and Harichi Jiemusi (2007). 忽必烈汗思想研究. [Hubilie Han Sixiang Yanjiu]. Liaoning: Liaoning Minzu Chubanshe.
• Ceylan, Fatma Ecem (2016). “Musluman cinli amiral Zheng He’nin aile tarihine genel bir bakis.” Current Research in Social Sciences 2(2): 37–45.
• Ceylan, Fatma Ecem (2023). “XV ve XVI Yuzyillarda Ming-Osmanli denizciligi uzerine bir inceleme.” Vakanuvis - Uluslararası Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi 8(2): 1195–1238.
• Chen, Da (2011). 南洋华侨与闽粤社会(Nanyang Huaqiao Yu Minyue Shehui). Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan.
• Choi, Bu (2014). 高麗史 [Goryeosa]. 1st ed. Kunming: Xinan Shifan Daxue Chubanshe.
• Clark, Hugh R. (2009). “The Southern Kingdoms between the T’ang and the Sung.” In The Cambridge History of China: The Sung Dynasty and Its Precursors, 907-1279, Cambridge Histories, Ed. Denis Twitchet. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Delgado, James P. (2008). Khubilai Khan’s Lost Fleet: In Search of a Legendary Armada. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Drompp, Michael R. (1999). “Breaking the Orkhon tradition: Kirghiz adherence to the Yenisei region after A.D. 840.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 119(3): 390–403.
• Gokenc Gulez, Sema (2022). “Cin’in altin Cagi’nda ‘“Imparator Tang Taizong ve yonetim stratejisi.” In Tarihte Diplomasi, Nevsehir: Nevsehir Universitesi.
• Gulez, Sema Gokenc (2023). “Mi̇ng donemi̇ Ci̇n memurluk sinav si̇stemi̇ ve edebi̇ makale turu: ‘Baguwen (八股文).’” Asya Studies 7(24): 191–202.
• Ibn Batuta and Abu Abdullah Muhammet (2015). Ibn Battuta Seyahatnamesi. 4th ed. Ed. Koz. Istanbul: Yapi Kredi Yayinlari.
• Kasamatsu, Hiroshi, Shinichi Sato and Kesao Momose (1981). 2 中世政治社会思想 [Chûse Seiji Shakai Shisô]. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
• Lim, Ivy Maria (2010). Lineage Society on the South Eastern Coast of China: The Impact of Japanese Piracy in the 16th Century. New York: Cambria Press.
• Nagai Michiko (1984). 鎌倉: 中世史の風景 [Kamakura: Chūsei-shi no fūkei]. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
• Skaff, Jonathan Karam (2012). Sui-Tang China and Its Turko-Mongol Neighbors: Culture, Power, and Connections, 580-800. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Song, Lian (2013). 元史 [Yuanshi]. 10th ed. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.
• Sugiyama, Masaaki (2010). クビライの挑戦: モンゴルによる世界史の大転回 [Kubirai no Chôsen- Mongoru ni yoru Sekaishi no Daitenkai: Qubilai’s Challange- The Great Change of the World by the Mongols]. 1st ed. Tokyo: Kodansha.
• Sugiyama, Masaaki (2011). 遊牧民族から見た世界史 [Yûboku Minzoku Kara Mita Sekaishi]. Tokyo: Nikkei Bijinesu Jinmonko.
• Tao, Dali (2014). 蒙元制度与政治文化 [Mengyuan Zhidu Yu Zhengzhi Wenhua]. Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe.
• The Secret History of the Mongols (1982). 1 New York: Harvard University Press.
• Xiao, Qiqing (2010). 1 内北国而外中国蒙元史研究 [Neibeiguo Erwai Zhongguo Mengyuanshi Yanjiu]. 2nd ed. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.
• Yamaguchi, Osamu (1988). 蒙古襲来・元寇の史実の解明 [Môko Shûrai- Genkôno Shijitsu no Kamei: Mongol Invasions- Explanation about the Historica Facts on Mongol Invaders]. Tokyo: Kofusha.
• Yildirim, Kursat (2018). “Tunguz halki uzeri̇ne arastirmalarli: Curcen’ler.” Turk Dunyasi Arastirmalari 118(233): 11–26.
• Zhang, Bangwei (2013). 宋代婚姻家族史论[Songdai Hunyin Jiazu Shilun]. Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe.
• Zhou, Liangxiao and Juying Gu (2003). 元史 [Yuanshi]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.