Introduction
Subutai masterminded the Mongol invasion of East Asia. Since the 13th century, there has been disagreement among scholars on importance of the invasion to the conquered states. Military historians strongly believe that the invasion was aimed at frightening Western powers so as to make them withdraw their interest in East Asia. This would make the Mongols have autonomous authority over the region. This is proved by Batu Khan’s motives in conquering Russia. He aimed at taking control of western frontiers thus making it hard for Western powers to get into the region. There are numerous scholars who have tried to highlight some of the political, economic and social effects that the Mongol invasion had on East Asian countries. This paper is aimed at discussing social, political and economic impacts of Mongol invasions on China, Japan and Korea.
China
Political impacts of the Mongol invasion in China
By the time the Mongols arrived in China, the country was politically divided. It comprised of four states: Nanzhao, the south Song, the Jin and the Tanggut. The four states had different systems of governance. To effectively take control of the country, the Mongols had no option but to look for means of controlling the four states. This led to them invading and unifying the four states under one rule (Ebrey, Walthall & Palais p. 213). Their conquest did not lead to loss of initial features of the Chinese government. However, they introduced various practices in the government. Before their invasion, the government did not heavily tax farmers. In case of disaster, farmers were exempted from taxation. However, after their invasion and unification of the four states, the Mongols introduced heavy tax on farmers. The need by the Mongol government to fund numerous projects they had initiated in the country resulted in court ordering farmers to be taxed. The court heavily taxed Chinese merchants and farmers and at the same time alienated Chinese officials. For many years, Western Asian Muslims in China were not given a chance to assume powers in the government (Ebrey, Walthall & Palais pp. 243-257). The Mongols appointed the Muslims and assigned them the responsibility of collecting tax. Apart from taxation, there was establishment of classes in the country that were based on race. Under the Yuan, there emerged hierarchical systems of legally defined status groups. It is during this period that the role of doctors and merchants was elevated while that of Confucians was curtailed. Chinese scholars were denied the opportunity of taking positions in the government. This led to most scholars turning to writing dramas and opera music.
Economic effects
It was during the Mongol rule that most of the Chinese cities experienced rapid growth. The number of merchants in the country increased significantly as the country’s trade recovered. In rural areas, the Mongols introduced the culture of cotton growing, spinning and weaving. They also encouraged construction of irrigation systems leading to increase in crop production. In spite of the Mongols introducing new methods of farming in rural areas, they brutally treated farmers and overtaxed them (Haw 176). Economic policies of the Mongols accommodated some Chinese practices. They promoted agriculture by restoring the rural organizations. It is from these organizations that sorghum farming was introduced. Farmers planted and sold sorghum for the first time in China. Contrary to previous dynasties, the Mongols promoted trade and gave merchants the authority to control the market. As a way of enhancing trade, they increased use of paper money, built roads, offered soft loans to merchants (ortogh) as well as allowed travelling traders to get their supplies from established government postal stations. The Grand Canal was also expanded to facilitate in shipping of excess cereals from southern to northern China. This led to improvement in commerce in the country.
Social effects
Improvement in state’s economy led to Chinese elites moving from rural areas to urban where they could spend a luxurious life. This led to introduction of entertainment and Mandarin dialect in urban areas. During this period, Chinese population was found to decline significantly. Wars that regularly rocked the country left most people dead. Despite the Mongols promoting farming, they neglected dykes and rivers. This resulted to flooding of the Yellow River which drowned many people.
Japan
Political Impacts of Mongol Invasion
Japan is one of the Asian countries that were not controlled by the Mongols. This was after their effort to attack the country was thwarted by hurricanes. The Mongols organized several attacks against Japan but whenever they staged an attack, strong wind confronted them in the middle of the ocean (Chase para. 1-4). Their weak boats; being unable to withstand the wind resulted in most of the Mongol soldiers dying. This made them do away with their aim of establishing themselves in Japan. Despite the country not being controlled by the Mongols, their attempted attacks had significant impacts on Japanese politics. Their attacks led to strengthening of elite warrior’s position in the country. Another effect of Mongol attacks to Japanese politics was reorganization of Japanese military strategies. Initially, the military was used to fighting on horse and dressed in heavy armors to protect themselves against arrows. Introduction of guns by the Mongols led to Japanese developing haramaki suits to be used by soldiers fighting on the ground. Japanese soldiers started fighting on foot rather than using horses. Japanese samurai started carrying double swords. The samurais later started assuming positions in political offices.
After Kamakura failed to compensate samurais who fought the Mongols away, they became dissatisfied by him. This led to Hujo family taking the opportunity to improve their popularity in the country. They promised land to all warriors who participated in the battle. However, they could not fulfill their promises making them unpopular in the country (Lattimore pp. 64-71). The attack helped Emperor Go-Diago ascend to power.
Social and economic effects
Being unable to attack Japan the Mongols applied land conquest and succeeded in acquiring Burma and Laos. However, the two towns were not used as direct colonies. Instead, they were used as tributes to help the Mongols trade with Japanese. They led to expansion and improvement of Japanese trade. The fall of the Mongols acted as a strong economic stimulus for the country. To cater for defense against further attacks by the Mongols, Kamakura decided to heavily tax Japanese to obtain money for arming his soldiers. Promotion of craftsmen activities by the Mongols resulted in them increasing their production in the country. Failure by the Mongols to run Japan led to them having limited effects on social structure of the Japanese. Their attack led to cohesion among the Japanese. They united in opposing any further attack from Mongols.
Korea
Political effects of Mongol invasion in Korea
The Mongol invasion of Korea led to struggle by the loyal court to come up with measures to ensure that there was peace between them and the Mongols. This went on up to 1270. Choe Chung-heon dynasty was a military dictatorship under control of private army of Choe family. Some members from the military were not impressed by the rule leading to establishment of Samyeolcho Rebellion between 1270 and 1273. The Mongols organized for a meeting between Korean scholars and neo-Confucians from China. Korean scholars were expected to learn Mongolian doctrines from the Chinese and take the idea back to Korea. To be allowed to maintain their powers, leaders from existing dynasties were compelled to intermarry with the Mongols (Cleaves pp. 439-447). For instance, King of Goryeo was forced to marry a Mongol. Korean leaders were also expected to be loyal to the Great Khans.
Economic effects
Unlike other countries that experienced economic growth under the influence of the Mongols, Korean economy was adversely affected during the Mongol invasion. There was uneven distribution of land ownership in the country. People who owned expansive parcels of land continued acquiring more while those who had no land remained landless. Those that were found be against Mongol ideologies had their lands confiscated and given to others (Ledyard pp. 1-17). Peasants from the country were forced to build ships which were to be used in launching attacks against the Japanese.
Social effects
There was increase in intermarriage between Koreans and the Mongols. This was especially among the leaders. For instance, Korean princess by the name Qi Empress got married to Ukhaantu Khan. Intermarriages between the Koreans and the Mongols continued for eight years. This resulted in the two communities sharing various words. Part of Cheju Island was used by the Mongols as grazing field for their cavalry. Currently, some Mongol words are still used in Korea such as horse’s colors (Jin 137).
Conclusion
Some of the lasting changes brought to Japan, Korea and China by the Mongols included trade expansion and improvement in civilization. Mongols were greatly experienced in trading. As a result, their conquest of these countries led to trade introduction. This was witnessed in China where they enhanced use of paper money as a way of promoting commerce in the country. They introduced different types of crops in these countries as well as established irrigation projects to increase production. Most of the current scientific and technological advances witnessed in these countries are borrowed from civilization brought about by the Mongols (Seth 74). There are different groups that benefited from the Mongol rule in china. One of them was the merchant group. Under the Mongols, merchants could get their supplies through postal stations established by Mongols. They were also saved from confiscatory taxation they subjected to by Chinese dynasties. Merchants got accommodated by Mongol government as they travelled to sell their products in different towns within China. Mongols; not having their own artisans found it good to preserve and promote artists in Korea. Mongol soldiers were ordered not to harm the artists or craftsmen during their attacks. All artisans were enrolled to tax benefits by the Mongols. They were also not subjected to unpaid labor. As a way of promoting and encouraging more people to participate in artisan industry, Mongol elites highly prized craftsmen products in Koryo (Yun 462). Artisans were offered a higher status than they got in the past regimes. Mongols established government offices to monitor and promote production of craftsmen goods.
Works Cited
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