CHINA - Summary

Kublai Khan continued the work his grandfather, Genghis Khan, had begun. But he also made significant land gains in China, achieving a prize that had eluded the Mongols for decades. Kublai Khan eventually rejected the harsh life of the steppes and built a luxurious palace complex in what is present-day Beijing; the poet Samuel Coleridge called it Xanadu. A visiting Venetian named Marco Polo recorded his impressions of the palacešs grandeur: "the walls are of gold and silver. It glitters like crystal and the sparkle of it can be seen from far away." The Khan had many concubines and the women in his court held great sway over him. When Kublai's senior wife died, he lost the will to rule and retreated into a life of increasing decadence. In 1368, the conquered Chinese seized the opportunity to regain their independence.