How Kublai Khan Finished What Genghis Khan Started

Though he used Chinese tradition as a leadership strategy, Kublai Khan's China was rife with social inequality, and he did not try to integrate into Chinese culture fully. Instead, the elite Mongolian leaders maintained their Mongolian identity, leading to a divide between the Mongolian elite and the Chinese lower classes (via History). The Mongolian upper classes thrived, while the Chinese bore the brunt of the labor. Chinese workers supported the empire through heavy taxes, and Kublai created a class threshold that Chinese people couldn't overtake, no matter their skill, causing resentment (per National Geographic). Furthermore, the Mongolian officials felt threatened by how Kublai embraced the Chinese culture openly. They grew envious of how Kublai put outsiders and international experts — including the Venetian Marco Polo — in high government positions. These tensions, coupled with severe losses in Japan and Java, weakened Kublai's empire, reports BBC.

Distraught by the death of his son and his wife, Kublai fell into a depression in late life. His health declined, as did the strength of his empire. After his death at 79 years old in 1294, Kublai joined his grandfather in Mongolia's Great Khan burial site. The generations of Great Khans who had sought to overtake China lay underground. By 1368, the Mongolian empire had fractured, and the Ming Dynasty replaced Kublai's Yüan Dynasty. Though Genghis Khan's dream lay buried, Great Khan's reign forever changed China.

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