These thirteenth-century legal cases from the classic compendium Yuan dianzhang reveal the complex, contradictory inner workings of the Mongol-Yuan legal system, as seen through the prism of divorce, adultery, rape, wife-selling, and other marital disputes. Bettine Birge offers a meticulously annotated translation and analysis.

These thirteenth-century legal cases from the classic compendium Yuan dianzhang reveal the complex, contradictory inner workings of the Mongol-Yuan legal system, as seen through the prism of divorce, adultery, rape, wife-selling, and other marital disputes. Bettine Birge offers a meticulously annotated translation and analysis.

How did women contribute to the rise of the Mongol Empire while Mongol men were conquering Eurasia? This book positions women in their rightful place in the otherwise well-known story of Chinggis Khan (commonly known as Genghis Khan) and his conquests and empire. Examining the best known women of Mongol society, such as Chinggis Khan's mother, Hö'elün, and senior wife, Börte, as well as those who were less famous but equally influential, including his daughters and his conquered wives, we see the systematic and essential participation of women in empire, politics and war. Anne F. Broadbridge also proposes a new vision of Chinggis Khan's well-known atomized army by situating his daughters and their husbands at the heart of his army reforms, looks at women's key roles in Mongol politics and succession, and charts the ways the descendants of Chinggis Khan's daughters dominated the Khanates that emerged after the breakup of the Empire in the 1260s.

This book, originally published in 2002, argues that the Mongol invasion of the thirteenth century precipitated a transformation of marriage and property law in China that deprived women of their property rights and reduced their legal and economic autonomy. It describes how after a period during which women's property rights were steadily improving, and laws and practices affecting marriage and property were moving away from Confucian ideals, the Mongol occupation created a new constellation of property and gender relations that persisted to the end of the imperial era. It shows how the Mongol-Yüan rule in China ironically created the conditions for radical changes in the law, which for the first time brought it into line with the goals of Learning the Way Confucians and which curtailed women's financial and personal autonomy. The book evaluates the Mongol invasion and its influence on Chinese law and society.

Towards the end of the thirteenth century the Nestorian monk, Rabban Sawma, together with his disciple Mark, set out from Khanbaliq (Beijing), the capital city of Kublai Khan's Mongol Empire, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Travelling through northern China and Central Asia they arrived at Maraghah, capital city of the Ilkhanate that was Mongol-ruled Persia. Military unrest prevented them from ever reaching Jerusalem but they did reah Baghdad, where Rabban Sawma spent many years. Summoned by Arghun Khan, the Ilkhan ruler and grand nephew of Kublai Khan, Sawma was made Ilkhanid ambassador and sent to Europe, first travelling to Constantinople to meet the Byzantine emperor and then to meet the kings of France and England as well as Pope Nicholas IV. Sawma's disciple, Mark, became the Nestorian Catholicus. Sawma's account of his travels provides unique information on the Ilkhans of Perisa and their dealings with the Mongol Christians as well as the events that led to the downfall of the Nestorian Church in China and further offers a unique picture of Medieval Europe through Asian eyes. Translated by Sir E.A. Wallis Budge, who also included a substantial introduction, the work is now rare. This edition contains a new introduction by Professor David Morgan, the leading scholar of the Mongol period.

Genghis Khan is one of history's immortals: a leader of genius, driven by an inspiring vision for peaceful world rule. Believing he was divinely protected, Genghis united warring clans to create a nation and then an empire that ran across much of Asia. Under his grandson, Kublai Khan, the vision evolved into a more complex religious ideology, justifying further expansion. Kublai doubled the empire's size until, in the late 13th century, he and the rest of Genghis’s ‘Golden Family’ controlled one fifth of the inhabited world. Along the way, he conquered all China, gave the nation the borders it has today, and then, finally, discovered the limits to growth. Genghis's dream of world rule turned out to be a fantasy. And yet, in terms of the sheer scale of the conquests, never has a vision and the character of one man had such an effect on the world. Charting the evolution of this vision, John Man provides a unique account of the Mongol Empire, from young Genghis to old Kublai, from a rejected teenager to the world’s most powerful emperor.

Contemporary discussions of international relations in Asia tend to be tethered in the present, unmoored from the historical contexts that give them meaning. Sacred Mandates, edited by Timothy Brook, Michael van Walt van Praag, and Miek Boltjes, redresses this oversight by examining the complex history of inter-polity relations in Inner and East Asia from the thirteenth century to the twentieth, in order to help us understand and develop policies to address challenges in the region today. This book argues that understanding the diversity of past legal orders helps explain the forms of contemporary conflict, as well as the conflicting historical narratives that animate tensions. Rather than proceed sequentially by way of dynasties, the editors identify three “worlds”—Chingssid Mongol, Tibetan Buddhist, and Confucian Sinic—that represent different forms of civilization authority and legal order. This novel framework enables us to escape the modern tendency to view the international system solely as the interaction of independent states, and instead detect the effects of the complicated history at play between and within regions. Contributors from a wide range of disciplines cover a host of topics: the development of international law, sovereignty, state formation, ruler legitimacy, and imperial expansion, as well as the role of spiritual authority on state behavior, the impact of modernization, and the challenges for peace processes. The culmination of five years of collaborative research, Sacred Mandates will be the definitive historical guide to international and intrastate relations in Asia, of interest to policymakers and scholars alike, for years to come.