Yuan dynasty · 1260-1368

Kublai Khan and the Yuan dynasty

Genghis Khan's grandson Kublai conquered the Song and became the first Mongol to rule all of China. Students explore his two capitals, his failed wars at sea and why the Yuan dynasty lasted less than a century.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1279 to AD 1300
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Genghis Khan's grandson Kublai conquered the Song and became the first Mongol to rule all of China. Students explore his two capitals, his failed wars at sea and why the Yuan dynasty lasted less than a century.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain how Kublai Khan became ruler of all China and founded the Yuan dynasty.
  • Describe how the Yuan governed China, including its capitals, money and ranking of peoples.
  • Explain why the Yuan dynasty fell in 1368.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1279

The Great Khan's China

Open the map in 1279: the Song are gone. Click Stories and play Rise of Imperial China up to the chapter "The Mongol Yuan". What was new about this dynasty?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1275

Two capitals

Find Khanbaliq (Beijing), Kublai's main capital, and Shangdu, his summer capital about 270 km to the north on the grasslands. Why would a Mongol ruler want a capital close to the steppe?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1300

Wars by sea

Pan to the seas east and south of China. Kublai sent fleets against Japan (1274 and 1281), Dai Viet and Java. Which of these lands are inside his borders in 1300?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Kublai ruled China as a Mongol. How did he try to win over his Chinese subjects, and where did he fail?
  2. The Yuan ranked people in four groups, with Mongols at the top and southern Chinese at the bottom. How might a southern Chinese scholar have felt?
  3. Kublai gave posts to foreigners such as Persians, Uyghurs and the Venetian Marco Polo. Why might he trust them more than Chinese officials?
  4. His fleets against Japan, Dai Viet and Java all failed. Why is war at sea harder for a land empire?
  5. The Yuan lasted less than a century. Why do you think it fell so quickly?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Genghis Khan, Kublai's grandfather. Let students take turns making rulings as a steppe conqueror. Then discuss: which of Genghis Khan's choices would still work for Kublai, ruling millions of Chinese farmers, and which would not?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.