Interview with Kublai Khan

Sahar: Hello Kublai how are you doing?

Kublai Khan: I'm doing well.

Sahar: I am very honnored to have you join me today. I have some questions I would like to ask you.

Kublai Khan: Well I am very thankful, and pleased to be invited. Ask away!

Sahar: Do you like the Chinese?

Kublai Khan: Yes I do, like the Chinese. Well after all I am their emperor. I have developed a great respect for them and their local culture. I was raised and educated in China so growing up here I adapted to the way things were and learned a lot.

Sahar: You weren’t very strict or harsh on the Chinese and you weren’t very specific on what you expected from them. I mean you didn’t ask them to convert to a certain religion or take away their land. And why was that?

Kublai Khan: I didn’t think I would need to have the Chinese and everyone else under my power convert because other peoples religious beliefs did not conflict with my own interest I could tolerate it. As for that I had considered that the local people were there first and I let them be. I didn’t need to be strict or harsh on the Chinese as long as they didn’t rebel; I valued Chinese culture and tried in many ways to adapt to it.

Sahar: Why was conquering the Yangzi River Valley the highest of your priorities?

Kublai Khan: Conquering the Yangzi River Valley was a high priority for me to complete because it was the richest part of China. But defeating the southern Song dynasty was a very tough task. Our Mongolian style warfare was no match for the network of waterways and rice paddies in the south made the frontal attacks nearly impossible. But learning how to make gunpowder was great help and huge counter-weighted catapults helped us to victory.

Sahar: How did you deal with cultural differences, when ruling over China?

Kublai Khan: To be honest, China was considered as only one part of the vast empire and the Chinese civilizations only one among many. I had dealt with many cultures throughout Asia and Eastern Europe. We Mongols had robust, physically active people, who loved to hunt when they weren’t engaged in warfare. While the Chinese were more sedentary ways, but tolerance was a key to how it worked out and with that we managed.

Sahar: What made your dynasty different than others for example the Han, Qin, Chin, and Sui?

Kublai Khan: What I think really made the Yuan Dynasty stand out and different from all the other dynasties before my time is for the first time all of inner China was ruled by a non-Chinese. I also had led a lot of foreigners and outsiders in, and made trade and travel with the westerners