The Mongols in World History and Module Guide – Teaching Guide

Vocabulary of Note

• Boqtag – Mongol woman’s headdress (also called a “gugu” hat)
• Desertification – when fertile land loses its natural growth and becomes desert
• Zud also spelled Zdud – a bad winter in Mongolia, where animals die; a disaster due to cold and snow
• Ger – a Mongol tent home, usually round and covered with textiles
• Nomadize – to live place to place; be a nomad
• Confederation – an organization of parties in an alliance or league
• Anda – a sworn friendship, alliance
• Khan – title of rulers in Central Asian kingdoms
• Pax Mongolica – literally from the Latin as translates as Pax, as “Peace” “of the Mongols” or Mongol Peace

Names of Note

• Yuan dynasty – dynasty established by the Mongols when they conquered and ruled China (1271–1368); preceded by the Song dynasty and followed by the Ming (the Mongols were considered a “foreign” dynasty, even though they followed much of Chinese custom in governing)
• Gobi (Go-bee) desert – large desert and grassland area lying between southern Mongolia and northern China; cold area
• Major Mongol leaders – see module for biographies
  • Chinggis Khan (Ch as in “church” or “cheek”)
  • Ogodei Khan (Oh-ge-day)
  • Khubilai Khan also spelled “Kublia” (Koo-blay)
• Marco Polo (see module)
• Zhao Mengfu – (J-ow Mung-fu) – a Chinese painter during the Yuan dynasty, one who painted many horses because of their meaning to Mongol rulers
• Nestorian Christians – followers of Nestorius, the bishop of Constantinople (today, “Istanbul” in Turkey) in the 5^th c CE, whose teachings were labeled “heresy” by the Catholic Church in the 5^th c.; the Nestorians split away from the Catholic Church and spread eastward from Syria and the Middle East; today residing mainly in Iran (formerly, Persia.)

Outline of Presentation – with [Timecode]

Open the Mongols in World History module on the AFE site in order to refer to the topic sections.

Introduction to the Mongols – basis of society as a nomadic people, searching for grasslands for their animals

• Difficulty for others to understand the society
• Results in misunderstandings and myths; notions of the Mongols as “barbarians,” “marauders,” and a people who made no contribution to world history
• New image began to emerge in the 1960s; 1968 Cleveland Museum of Art hosts an exhibit on “Chinese Art under the Mongols,” but still show lack of understanding

Mongols did make a positive contribution to world history [03:08]

• Map shows extent of empire – connecting the largest land empire in world history [03:30]
• Additional sea routes to India and SE Asia
• Xinjiang is their most important contact route with the outside world [04:30]
• Could say that “Eurasian history begins with the Mongols” [05:00]

Introduction to the Topics of the Web Module [05:16]

• History – Conquests – China – Key Figures – Nomadic Life – Gallery

Nomadic Life [05:55]
Module Section: https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/pastoral/pastoral.htm

• Difficult life – weather and short growing season
• Relied on 5 animals:
  • Sheep – food, wool 
  • Goats – provided milk and food but limited due to depleting plant life; later increased numbers for cashmere production
  • Yaks/Oxen
  • Camels – pack animal; warned against sandstorms; can last days without food/water
  • Horses – made empire possible; skilled with, start riding as early as 2 years old; drink fermented mare’s milk (airag) [11:10] – horses in Chinese art at [13:58]
• Clothing [12:20]
• The Ger – portable home [12:57]

Conquests [15:20]
Module Section: https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/conquests/conquests.htm

• Theories about why the Mongols left to conquer territory
• Tribal – with many small groups [17:30]
• Organization and tactics – uniting Mongols is Chinggis Khan’s greatest accomplishment; anda [18:28]
• 3 invasions; Chinggis Khan’s campaigns [21:25]
• Expansion/Legacy of the Mongols [26:15]
  • Importance of trade
  • Explosion of the art (Mongols did not produce art but were consumers who encouraged the arts throughout the empire via open trade routes) [26:45]
  • Written language [27:20]
  • Law code [27:38]
  • No succession plan, resulting weakness
• Small Group/Vast Domain – Reasons possible [28:45]
• Collapse of empire [32:30]

Key Figures and Portrait Gallery [33:05]
Module Section: https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/figures/figures.htm

• Four great legacies of Chinggis Khan; myths [33:45]
• Khubilai Khan, grandson of Chinggis [35:22]

China [35:50]
Module Section: https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/china/china.htm

• Mongols rule China under Khubilai Khan
  • Mongols conquer north China in 1234; Conquer all of China in 1279 and rule until 1368
  • Mongols establish their capital in China in “Dadu” (present day Beijing)
  • Khubilai Khan adopts many Chinese customs and practices (except the Civil Service exams – based on the Confucian classics, it would have limited the bureaucracy under the Mongols to Chinese only)
• Important developments in trade; status of merchants and artisans [37:15]
• Religious tolerance [40:10]

Gallery
Module Section: https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/pop/genghis/images_gk.htm

• Women, Headdress [42:58]
• Marco Polo and the Silk Road [45:12]
• Mongols use of “passports” to give traders and others safe passage through their territories [47:05]
• Art: Mongols acted as “intermediaries” [48:00]
  • Creating conditions for exchange and influence between Persia and China
  • Final image of a textile that includes symbols from all the different cultures and religions that were united under the Mongol empire
• Mongols unified the world [50:13]

Pax Mongolica: the Mongol Peace [51:00]

• By conquering territory, the Mongols created a unified area with peace stretching from the Middle East to China
• Travelers, trades people, artisans, military and missionaries could all safely travel along the resulting silk roads