v.) ascended the throne. Never
in the history of China was the nation more illustrious, nor its power
more widely felt, than under his sovereignty. During the first twenty
years of his reign Sung kept up a resistance against his authority.
Their last emperor Ping-ti, seeing his cause lost, drowned himself in
the sea. The Sung dynasty, which had ruled southern China 320 years,
despite its misfortunes is accounted one of the great dynasties of
China. During its sway arts and literature were cultivated and many
eminent writers flourished. His enemies subdued, Kublai Khan in 1280
assumed complete jurisdiction as emperor of China. He took the title of
Shit-su and founded what is known as the Yuen dynasty. He built a new
capital close to Chung-tu, which became known as Kaanbaligh (city of the
khan), in medieval European chronicles, Cambaluc, and later as Peking.
At this time his authority was acknowledged "from the Frozen Sea, almost
to the Straits of Malacca. With the exception of Hindustan, Arabia and
the westernmost parts of Asia, all the Mongol princes as far as the
Dnieper declared themselves his vassals, and brought regularly their
tribute." It was during this reign that Marco Polo visited China, and he
describes in glowing colours the virtues and glories of the "great
khan." His rule was characterized by discretion and munificence. He
undertook public works, he patronized literature, and relieved the
distress of the poor, but the Chinese never forgot that he was an alien
and regarded him as a barbarian. He died unregretted in 1294. His son
had died during his lifetime, and after some contention his grandson
Timur ascended the throne under the title of Yuen-cheng. This monarch
died in 1307 after an uneventful reign, and, as he left no son,
Wu-tsung, a Mongol prince, became emperor. To him succeeded Jen-tsung in
1312, who made himself conspicuous by the honour he showed to the memory
of Confucius, and by distributing offices more equally between Mongols
and Chinese than had hitherto been done. This act of justice gave great
satisfaction to the Chinese, and his death ended a peaceful and
prosperous reign in 1320. At this time there appears to have been a
considerable commercial intercourse between Europe and China. But after
Jen-tsung's death the dynasty fell on evil days. The Mongols in adopting
Chinese civilization had lost much of their martial spirit. They were
still regarded as alien by the Chinese and numerous secret