Sino-European Relations During The Yuan Dynasty


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KARADUMAN N.

CIEES 2018 / ULUSLARARASI DOĞU AVRUPA ARAŞTIRMALARI KONGRESİ, Kiev, Ukraine, 21 - 23 September 2018, pp.541-560

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • City: Kiev
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Page Numbers: pp.541-560
  • Erciyes University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongolian state established by Genghis Khan in East Asia soon won domination of these regions by winning conquests in the region and conquering movements in the east on China, in the West from the North of the Black Sea and Central Asia. Although their progress in the West initially gave rise to fear, Western kings and clerics soon realized this power and tried to achieve some alliances in their own future. With the fear of the Mongols’ military campaign, they were first identified in Europe with the Gog-Magog story in Christian literature. After the Muslim rival states prevailing in Asia Minor were subjected to defeat by the Mongols, the likeness of Christian King Johannes, a product of Christian literature, was made for the Mongolian Khans. The relations between the years 1271-1368, including the Mongolian period in China, were almost entirely due to the efforts of Western missions, as were the relations with other Mongolian khanates in Central Asia, Asia Minor and the Black Sea north. In contrast to the previous dynasties established in China, the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty remained more concerned about the West. Despite everything, the most famous of the documents collected about the Mongols in Europe during the Middle Ages consists of records kept as a result of travels to China during the Yuan Dynasty. In this period, some important information about Europe has been added to Chinese chronics. In this article we will examine the records of Europe in Yuan period Chinese sources.