Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/771

MONGOLS 743 system of state granaries, which had fallen into disorder. His court was visited by Friar Odoric, who gives a minute description of the palace and its inhabitants. Speaking of the palace this writer says "Its basement was raised about two paces from the ground, and within there were twenty-four columns of gold, and all the walls were hung with skins of red leather, said to be the finest in the world. In the midst of the palace was a great jar more than two paces in height, made of a certain precious stone called merdacas (jade) ; its price exceeded the value of four large towns. . . . Into this vessel drink was conducted by certain conduits from the court of the palace, and beside it were many golden goblets, from which those drank who listed. . . . When the khakan sat on his throne, the queen was on his left hand, and a step lower two others of his women, while at the bottom of the steps stood the other ladies of Ids family. All those who were married wore upon their heads the foot of a man as it were a cubit and a half in length, and at the top of the foot there were certain cranes feathers, the whole foot being set with great pearls, so that if there were in the whole world any fine and large pearls they were to be found in the decoration of those ladies." The following years were years of great natural and political convulsions. Devastating floods swept over China, carrying death and ruin to thousands of homes ; earthquakes made desolate whole districts ; and in more than one part of the empire the banners of revolt were unfurled. The khakans who now successively occupied the throne, instead of striving to stem the tide of discontent and disorder, gave themselves up to every kind of debauchery. As a natural consequence, the conduct of affairs fell entirely into the hands of their ministers, who but too often reflected the vices of their sovereigns. A comet which appeared in the Toghon reign of Toghon Timur Khan, and which was believed to Timur be the precursor of fresh disasters to the reigning house, Khan, justified the prediction by being almost immediately fol lowed by an earthquake, which overthrew the temple of the Imperial Ancestors, from the altars of which, as if to complete the misfortune, the silver tablets of the emperors were in the consequent confusion stolen. It was not long before the popular discontent found vent. In order to prevent the recurrence of the periodical inundations caused by the overflow of the Yellow river, the emperor ordered a levy of 70,000 men to excavate a new channel for its dangerous stream, and imposed a heavy tax to meet the necessary expenses. These oppressive edicts overstrained the patience of the people, and they broke into open re bellion. Under various leaders the rebels captured a num ber of cities in the provinces of Keang-nan and Honan, and took possession of Hang-chow, the capital of the Sung emperors. At the same time pirates ravaged the coasts and swept the imperial vessels off the sea. While these combined disorders were disturbing the country, the emperor, under the guidance of Tibetan Lamas, was being initiated into the sensual enjoyments peculiar to the warmer climates of Asia. In 1355 a Buddhist priest named Choo Yuen-chang became so impressed with the misery of his countrymen that he threw off his vestments and enrolled himself in the rebel army. His military genius soon raised him to the position of a leader, and with extraordinary success he overcame with his rude levies the trained legions of the Mongol emperor. While unable to defeat or check the rebels in the central provinces Toghon Timur was also called upon to face a rebellion in Corea. Nor were his arms more fortunate in the north than in the south. An army which was sent to suppress the revolt was cut to pieces almost to a man. These events made a dream which the emperor dreamt about this time of easy inter pretation. He saw in his sleep " a wild boar with iron tusks rush into the city and wound the people, who were driven hither and thither without finding shelter. Mean while the sun and the moon rushed together and perished." "This dream," said the diviner, "is a prophecy that the khakan will lose his empire." The fulfilment followed closely on the prophecy. By a subterfuge, the rebels, after having gained possession of most of the central provinces of the empire, captured Peking. But Toghon Timur by a hasty flight escaped from his enemies, and sought safety on the shores of the Dolonor in Mongolia. For a time the western provinces of China continued to hold out against the rebels, but with the flight of Toghon Timur the Mon gol troops lost heart, and in 1368 the ex-Buddhist priest ascended the throne as the first sovereign of the Ming or " Bright " dynasty, under the title of Hung-woo. Thus ended the sovereignty of the house of Jenghiz Khan in China, nor need we look far to find the cause of its fall. Brave and hardy the Mongols have always shown themselves to be ; but the capacity for consolidating the fruits of victory, for establishing a settled form of govern ment, and for gaining the allegiance of the conquered peoples, have invariably been wanting in them. For a time their prowess and the exceptional ability of some of the first emperors of their line held the people of China in a bondage which was only outwardly peaceful, and, when the hands which held the reins lost their nervous power, and the troops, enervated by the softer climate of China, lost much of their hardihood, the long pent-up hatred of a foreign yoke broke out and with gathering strength drove the invaders back to their Mongolian pasture-grounds. Not content with having recovered China, the emperor Hung-woo sent an army of 400,000 men into Mongolia in pursuit of the forces which yet remained to the khakan. Even on their own ground the disheartened Mongols failed in their resistance to the Chinese, and at all points suffered disaster. Meanwhile Toghon Timur, who did not long survive his defeat, was succeeded in the khakanate by Biliktu Khan, who again in 1379 was followed by Ussakhal Khan. During the reign of this last prince the Chinese again invaded Mongolia, and inflicted a crushing defeat on the khan s forces in the neighbour hood of Lake Buyur. Besides the slain, 2994 officers and 77,000 soldiers are said to have been taken prisoners, and an immense booty to have been secured. This defeat was the final ruin of the eastern branch of the Mongols, who from this time surrendered the supremacy to the western division of the tribe. At first the Keraits or Torgod, as in the early days before Jenghiz Khan rose to power, exercised lordship over the eastern Mongols, but from these before long the supremacy passed to the Oirad, who for fifty years treated them as vassals. Not withstanding their subjection, however, the Keraits still preserved the imperial line, and khakan after khakan assumed the nominal sovereignty of the tribe, while the real power rested with the descendants of Toghon, the Oirad chief, who had originally attached them to his sceptre. Gradually, however, the Mongol tribes broke away from all governing centres, and established scattered communities with as many chiefs over the whole of eastern Mongolia. The discredit of having finally disin tegrated the tribe is generally attached to Lingdan Khan (1604-1634), of whom, in reference to his arrogant and brutal character, has been quoted the Mongolian proverb : "A raging khakan disturbs the state, and a raging saghan (elephant) overthrows his keepers." At this time the Mongols, though scattered and in The isolated bodies, had recovered somewhat from the shock Cha- of the disaster which they suffered at the hand of the first khars Ming sovereign of China. When first driven northwards, they betook themselves to the banks of the Kerulon, from whence they had originally started on their victorious career ; but gradually, as the Chinese power became weaker

among the frontier tribes, they again pushed southwards,