In the Shadow of the Mongol Empire
Ming China and Eurasia

Memories of the Mongol Empire loomed large in fourteenth-century Eurasia. Robinson explores how Ming China exploited these memories for its own purposes.

David M. Robinson (Author)

9781108729338, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 4 August 2022

386 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.519 kg

'… Robinson's thorough translations and meticulous analyses of a wide array of textual and material sources present a detailed and fascinating insight into the history of Ming diplomacy towards the Eurasian world in the second half of the fourteenth century that has been long overdue.' Julia C. Schneider, China and Asia

During the thirteenth century, the Mongols created the greatest empire in human history. Genghis Khan and his successors brought death and destruction to Eurasia. They obliterated infrastructure, devastated cities, and exterminated peoples. They also created courts in China, Persia, and southern Russia, famed throughout the world as centers of wealth, learning, power, religion, and lavish spectacle. The great Mongol houses established standards by which future rulers in Eurasia would measure themselves for centuries. In this ambitious study, David M. Robinson traces how in the late fourteenth century the newly established Ming dynasty (1368–1644) in China crafted a narrative of the fallen Mongol empire. To shape the perceptions and actions of audiences at home and abroad, the Ming court tailored its narrative of the Mongols to prove that it was the rightful successor to the Mongol empire. This is a story of how politicians exploit historical memory for their own gain.

Introduction
Part I. The Wider Historical Context: 1. Eurasia in Empire's wake
2. Daidu's fall
3. Changing fortunes
4. Black city
Part II. Chinggisid Narrative at Home: 5. Telling stories and selling rulership
6. A precarious tale
Part III. A Hard Crowd: 7. Letters to the Great Khan
8. South of the clouds
9. Chinggisid fold
Part IV. East Asia: 10. Eastern neighbours
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Asian history [HBJF], General & world history [HBG]