1. The Mongol Dynasty 1279-1368 Genghis Khan (1162-1227) First to invade China Kublai Khan (1215-1294) Unified China under his rule Marco Polo (1254-1324) Italian explorer who worked for Kublai Khan

2. The Mongols ruled an empire that stretched from Europe to Korea They attacked Japan twice (1274 and 1281), but weather destroyed their ships –They must have been better fighters than sailors! The Mongols didn’t trust the Chinese They only trusted foreigners in government. Marco Polo (Italian) worked in their government for 16 years In 1368 struggles in their empire forced them to leave China

3. Marco Polo’s Routes to China

4. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Chinese peasant leader, Ming Hung Wu, captured Beijing from the Mongols At first the Ming emperors wanted to build China through trade with the outside world. They built large ships that traveled as far as Africa. But, they stopped in 1433.

5. The Ming Period of Isolation (1433-1644) During this time period the Ming rulers finished the Great Wall They cut themselves off from the rest of the world Bad idea!! During this time the Europeans made improvements that the Chinese knew nothing about!

6. The Qing (Manchu) Dynasty (1644-1911) The LAST dynasty!

7. The Manchus were invaders From where? Manchuria They did not trust the Han Chinese They outlawed marriage between Manchus and Han Chinese

8. Everyone had to have a Manchu haircut to show loyalty to the government

9. The government was located in the Forbidden City in Beijing Entering the Forbidden City was… you know… FORBIDDEN, except for the emperor’s family and their advisors

10. Forbidden City

11. The Last Emperor Puyi (3 years old) He left the throne in 1911