Briefly describe the foreign relations of the Yuan Dynasty

Mongolia established a super empire that connected the two continents of Europe and Asia and connected the three oceans (Pacific, Indian and Arctic Oceans), making the transportation between the East and the West unprecedentedly developed. After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, although the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate gradually became independent, they still maintained political, economic and cultural ties with the Yuan Dynasty. Businessmen, priests and envoys had more frequent contacts. The Yuan Dynasty established various contacts with countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. The scope of cultural exchanges has expanded unprecedentedly.

1. Goryeo and Japan

The royal family of Goryeo and the royal family of the Yuan Dynasty became close nephews and established friendly relations. The Yuan Dynasty once stationed Daruhuachi in the royal capital of Goryeo, but he did not directly interfere in government affairs and was only responsible for surveillance. In the Zhiyuan Dynasty, the East Province was also established in Goryeo, but without sending provincial officials, the King of Goryeo was appointed as the prime minister of the province, and the original organization remained unchanged. Therefore, Goryeo basically maintained its independent status during the Yuan Dynasty.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the economic and cultural exchanges between China and Korea developed further. In the early Yuan Dynasty, Liu Yan, a doctor from Korea, purchased 10,800 volumes of scriptures from Jiangnan and returned to his country. Businessmen and monks from the two countries transported large quantities of books from their respective countries into each other's territory. Yuan Renzong donated more than 4,300 rare books from the Song Secret Pavilion of Goryeo.

In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was introduced to Korea. The Korean people obtained a new edition of "The Complete Book of Zhu Xi" in Dadu, took it back home, and taught it at Taixue. Later, Bai Yizheng brought back many Neo-Confucian works of Cheng and Zhu from Dadu and preached them in Taixue. Subsequently, Zhu Xi's "Collected Commentary on the Four Books" was published by the Secretary of the Ministry of Books, which was the result of Quan Pu's suggestion. Neo-Confucianism spread widely in Goryeo, making Neo-Confucian masters such as Li Gu, Li Qixian, and Li Xianzhu stand out.

The Korean language was introduced to China. Many people in the Yuan Dynasty court could speak Korean. Even the guards guarding the palace gates also learned Korean. 》Volume 2).

In the Yuan Dynasty, many Koreans came to China, and many of them lived in various places. Among them, there are not a few who are officials. Many scholars and monks, because they were proficient in Chinese, some came as envoys, and some came as private study tours. In China, they made many friends with literati, learned from each other, sang songs and responded to each other, and established a very close relationship. In the second year of Zhongtong (1261), the King of Goryeo came to Shangdu, and he was accompanied by the Prime Minister Li Zangyong. This person has a profound knowledge of Chinese literature. He has attended literary conferences of Chinese poets and is known as the head of the Yalu River. . Yi Jixian, a famous Goryeo poet, and his collection of poems "Izhai Manuscripts" are considered to be excellent classical works in the history of Korean literature ("History of Goryeo" Volume 110 "Biography of Yi Jixian").

In the Yuan Dynasty, many Japanese merchant ships came to China. Among the forty-five years from the ninth year of Dade to the tenth year of Zhizheng, Japanese merchant ships came to the Yuan Dynasty in thirty-three years (Mukan Yasuhiko's "History of Cultural Exchanges between Japan and China", translated by Hu Xinian). Monks from the Yuan Dynasty and Japan visited each other very frequently. According to statistics from Japanese historian Yasuhiko Kimiya, there were more than 220 well-known Japanese monks in China. In the third year of Taiding (1326), the Yuan Dynasty sent forty people including the Japanese monk Ruixing back to the country at one time ("Yuan History" Volume 30 "Taiding Emperor Chronicles" 2). The ink writings of many eminent monks from the Yuan Dynasty were spread to Japan and had a great influence on Japanese calligraphy. The works of some Japanese calligraphers were also highly valued by literati in the Yuan Dynasty. The poems and paintings of the literati of the Yuan Dynasty were appreciated by Japanese literati at that time (Ouyang Xuan's "Zhao Wenmin Gong Shinto Stele", "Guizhai Collection" Volume 9). Monks such as Qingzhuo Zhengcheng, Mingji Chujun, Zhuxian Fanxian, etc. were invited to Japan to teach Zen doctrine. Master Miaoci Hongji (1247-1317), a native of Taizhou, Zhejiang (now Linhai, Zhejiang), had a common surname of Hu, a nickname of Yishan, and a Buddhist name of Yining. He became a monk when he was young, studied in Tiantai Mountain, and studied Zen Linji Sect. He lived in Putuo Mountain (today's Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang Province). He was knowledgeable, studied Buddhist scriptures intensively, was familiar with Confucianism, Taoism, and hundreds of schools of thought, and was especially good at calligraphy. In the third year of Dade (1299), Chengzong specially appointed him as the Buddhist president of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and was ordered to go to Japan as an envoy. Arriving in Hakata on a Japanese merchant ship from Qingyuan (today's Ningbo, Zhejiang), he went to Kamakura and became the abbot of Kencho, Enakue and other temples. Emperor Junyuta summoned him to Nanzen Temple in Kyoto. He lived in Japan for 19 years and taught Zen Buddhism, which was called the Ichiyama Sect in Japan. After his death, the Emperor of Japan specially awarded him the title of National Master.

He wrote "Quotations" in his life. Master Miaoji Hongji introduced Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism to Japan, and his disciple Huguan Shilian was a pioneer of Neo-Confucianism in Japan. The integration of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and Zen Buddhism has long been the ideological weapon of the Japanese ruling class.

2. Countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia

(1) Countries in Indochina: Jiaozhi (Annam), Champa, Chenla, and Burma, which have always maintained close relations with the Yuan Dynasty connect. Although the Yuan Dynasty invaded and plundered these areas, immigrants and traders continued to interact with each other.