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Kublai Khan
In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure dome decreeKublai Khan lives on in the popular imagination thanks to these two lines of poetry by Coleridge. But the true story behind this legend is even more fantastic than the poem would have us believe. He inherited the second largest land empire in history from his grandfather, Genghis Khan. He promptly set about extending this into the biggest empire the world has ever seen, extending his rule from China to Iraq, from Siberia to Afghanistan. His personal domain covered sixty-percent of all Asia, and one-fifth of the world's land area. The West first learnt of this great Khan through the reports of Marco Polo. Kublai had not been born to rule, but had clawed his way to leadership, achieving power only in his 40s. He had inherited Genghis Khan's great dream of world domination. But unlike his grandfather he saw China and not Mongolia as the key to controlling power and turned Genghis' unwieldy empire into a federation. Using China's great wealth, coupled with his shrewd and subtle government, he created an empire that was the greatest since the fall of Rome, and shaped the modern world as we know it today. He gave China its modern-day borders and his legacy is that country's resurgence, and the superpower China of tomorrow.
480 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2006
59 people are currently reading
1897 people want to read
About the author
John Man
72 books261 followersJohn Anthony Garnet Man is a British historian and travel writer. His special interests are China, Mongolia and the history of written communication. He takes particular pleasure in combining historical narrative with personal experience.
He studied German and French at Keble College, Oxford, before doing two postgraduate courses, a diploma in the History and Philosophy of Science at Oxford and Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies, completing the latter in 1968. After working in journalism with Reuters and in publishing with Time-Life Books, he turned to writing, with occasional forays into film, TV and radio.
In the 1990s, he began a trilogy on the three major revolutions in writing: writing itself, the alphabet and printing with movable type. This has so far resulted in two books, Alpha Beta and The Gutenberg Revolution, both republished in 2009. The third, on the origin of writing, is on hold, because it depends on access to Iraq.
He returned to the subject of Mongolia with Gobi: Tracking the Desert, the first book on the region since the 1920s. Work in Mongolia led to Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection, which has so far appeared in 18 languages. Attila the Hun and Kublai Khan: The Mongol King Who Remade China completed a trilogy on Asian leaders. A revised edition of his book on Genghis Khan, with the results of an expedition up the mountain on which he is supposed to be buried, was upcoming in autumn 2010.
The Terracotta Army coincided with the British Museum exhibition (September 2007- April 2008). This was followed by The Great Wall. The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan combines history and leadership theory. Xanadu: Marco Polo and the Discovery of the East was published in autumn 2009, and Samurai: The Last Warrior, the story of Saigō Takamori's doomed 1877 rebellion against the Japanese emperor, was published in February 2011.
In 2007 John Man was awarded Mongolia's Friendship Medal for his contributions to UK-Mongolian relations.
He studied German and French at Keble College, Oxford, before doing two postgraduate courses, a diploma in the History and Philosophy of Science at Oxford and Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies, completing the latter in 1968. After working in journalism with Reuters and in publishing with Time-Life Books, he turned to writing, with occasional forays into film, TV and radio.
In the 1990s, he began a trilogy on the three major revolutions in writing: writing itself, the alphabet and printing with movable type. This has so far resulted in two books, Alpha Beta and The Gutenberg Revolution, both republished in 2009. The third, on the origin of writing, is on hold, because it depends on access to Iraq.
He returned to the subject of Mongolia with Gobi: Tracking the Desert, the first book on the region since the 1920s. Work in Mongolia led to Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection, which has so far appeared in 18 languages. Attila the Hun and Kublai Khan: The Mongol King Who Remade China completed a trilogy on Asian leaders. A revised edition of his book on Genghis Khan, with the results of an expedition up the mountain on which he is supposed to be buried, was upcoming in autumn 2010.
The Terracotta Army coincided with the British Museum exhibition (September 2007- April 2008). This was followed by The Great Wall. The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan combines history and leadership theory. Xanadu: Marco Polo and the Discovery of the East was published in autumn 2009, and Samurai: The Last Warrior, the story of Saigō Takamori's doomed 1877 rebellion against the Japanese emperor, was published in February 2011.
In 2007 John Man was awarded Mongolia's Friendship Medal for his contributions to UK-Mongolian relations.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
December 28, 2024
I sure got my steppes up with the last book completed in my Long Book Challenge 2024. On that note, thanks Berengaria and Valerie for joining me on this challenge. Even though I finished in bronze position, it’s been fun with the cheering and bantering. Will keep it going at the end of next year too.
Kublai Khan: grandson on Genghis. He took a while to get his inherited territory, and some help from the women in his life to nudge the rivals out of the way. His early reign was his most successful, expanding his territory, mostly across China. And taking cities rather than razing them. But then he got greedy. Some interesting trivia about Chinese geopolitics. Modern China’s land-grabbing claims apparently originate from Mongolian conquests. As time faded, they’ve sold the story that it was Chinese, not Mongolian. Even though Kublai was a Mongol leader. He was leader of China. The land was therefore “Chinese”.
This is the fourth Man book I’ve read. Probably the least exciting of the lot. The research was there. But there were some omissions and glazed over information. Mongolians were conquering the land in all directions. I don’t know why the other conquestors didn’t fight for the title of leader. All candidates were busy on campaigns. Why did Kublai prioritise making a claim and not the others? Interfighting yes. But also, and?
There were also some heavy pro-Mongolian biases. The wins were celebrated. The misdeeds downplayed. The losses questioned. A few outright objective stances, such as the printing press not happening when it could have as Mongols didn’t have much to say. But overall, the bias was there. Which is what happens when the author mixes non-fiction with travelogue. Where does history end and experience start?
Man has done a great job, and is popular in Australia. A quick plug: no-one does history better than Giles Tremlett IMO (though he hasn’t covered the steppes region).
Kublai Khan: grandson on Genghis. He took a while to get his inherited territory, and some help from the women in his life to nudge the rivals out of the way. His early reign was his most successful, expanding his territory, mostly across China. And taking cities rather than razing them. But then he got greedy. Some interesting trivia about Chinese geopolitics. Modern China’s land-grabbing claims apparently originate from Mongolian conquests. As time faded, they’ve sold the story that it was Chinese, not Mongolian. Even though Kublai was a Mongol leader. He was leader of China. The land was therefore “Chinese”.
This is the fourth Man book I’ve read. Probably the least exciting of the lot. The research was there. But there were some omissions and glazed over information. Mongolians were conquering the land in all directions. I don’t know why the other conquestors didn’t fight for the title of leader. All candidates were busy on campaigns. Why did Kublai prioritise making a claim and not the others? Interfighting yes. But also, and?
There were also some heavy pro-Mongolian biases. The wins were celebrated. The misdeeds downplayed. The losses questioned. A few outright objective stances, such as the printing press not happening when it could have as Mongols didn’t have much to say. But overall, the bias was there. Which is what happens when the author mixes non-fiction with travelogue. Where does history end and experience start?
Man has done a great job, and is popular in Australia. A quick plug: no-one does history better than Giles Tremlett IMO (though he hasn’t covered the steppes region).
July 13, 2020
I suspect that there are two main categories of readers with regard to John Man's Kublai Khan. The first comprises people who were expecting a conventional biography and were settling for nothing else; the second, those who abandoned such expectations in the early chapters and submitted to whatever route the author intended to take, content in knowing that they would reach the destination eventually.
John Man is in a league of his own on the subject of digressions. Unless you set a reminder to return to the cover page every fifteen minutes, you're likely to repeatedly forget that you're reading about Kublai Khan. Some of the author's departures are of meaningful historical interest: the story of the Syrian sect of Assassins, and how they came to give their name to the word, is quite fascinating. Other digressions are perhaps more niche in their appeal: for instance, a history of the trebuchet which takes the author from its ancient Chinese origins to 21st-century enthusiasts of the piano-throwing variety, and an explanation of why powdered excrement and the Mylabris phalerata beetle were used in 13th-century Song artillery.
Once I accepted Man's idiosyncrasies (including his initially distracting but undeniably enlightening drifts into the travelogue genre), I found Kublai Khan highly enjoyable and very informative, if not for the reasons I initially expected. The author has a rare presence in his work - and, in a genre where the author's imprint is typically made in what they write about rather than how they write it, I believe I've found an exception.
John Man is in a league of his own on the subject of digressions. Unless you set a reminder to return to the cover page every fifteen minutes, you're likely to repeatedly forget that you're reading about Kublai Khan. Some of the author's departures are of meaningful historical interest: the story of the Syrian sect of Assassins, and how they came to give their name to the word, is quite fascinating. Other digressions are perhaps more niche in their appeal: for instance, a history of the trebuchet which takes the author from its ancient Chinese origins to 21st-century enthusiasts of the piano-throwing variety, and an explanation of why powdered excrement and the Mylabris phalerata beetle were used in 13th-century Song artillery.
Once I accepted Man's idiosyncrasies (including his initially distracting but undeniably enlightening drifts into the travelogue genre), I found Kublai Khan highly enjoyable and very informative, if not for the reasons I initially expected. The author has a rare presence in his work - and, in a genre where the author's imprint is typically made in what they write about rather than how they write it, I believe I've found an exception.
August 26, 2016
Nicely paced biography of Kublai Khan, his exploits and challenges. Kublai expanded the Mongol empire, ended the Song dynasty, and put in place a bureucracy to rule his lands which span different cultures, religions and languages- no mean feat for one from a nomadic background.
October 11, 2013
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree...
In 1797, British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge did a little reading on Kublai Khan, smoked some opium, passed out and had a vivid dream the Great Khan’s majestic palaces. He awoke with a 300 line poem already in his head, but was interrupted by his opium dealer, who’d arrived in the middle of the night and took an hour to complete their transaction. Thus, Coleridge forgot most of his poem, and was able to scrounge together a mere 54 lines with which to write one of the most infamous poems in the English language.
John Man not only knows his history, but he also has a way of writing. It’s his prose. He knows exactly where to go with his narrative to convey the most amount of information and keep you interested. In “Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection”, he spent a good deal of time describing modern day Mongolia, the tribulations Mongols faced under Stalin and the emerging risk of Chinese cultural and economic domination, all by relating it to his travels through Mongolia and the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia. A sort of steppe travelogue that’s very heavy on the history. It’s not the sort of writing style that’s for everyone, but it really worked for me. Here, in Kublai Khan: The Mongol King Who Remade China” he does the same, recounting his travels through China, modern day Beijing and the ruins of Xanadu, but it’s less so. The bulk of Genghis’ life is, after all, a small collection of details painted over a wide canvas which he have only one limited source for, whereas Kublai’s life we have much more.
The book is divided into four parts – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter – which is divided into 17 chapters. Collectively, they cover Kublai’s beginnings; Hulegu’s atrocities in the Middle East; the conquest of Yunnan; the civil war with Ariq-Boke; Kublai’s bureaucratic and religious administration; the key to the Song conquest; both attempts at Japan; Kaidu’s challenge, the attempts at Burma, Vietnam and Java; and the end of his life and his secret burial (amongst other subjects). Oh, and the genesis of Coleridge’s poem.
While I applaud Man for his thoroughness, there is perhaps one area where the book could have used a more detailed history: Nayan’s Rebellion. He does cover it, briefly in the end, but it’s a by-the-way sort of mention. Also, he references the current China-Mongolia relationship in his epilogue, building upon what he’s written in “Genghis Khan”, but largely glossing over that as well. In that regard, it helps to have read the other book (which I would highly recommend).
An excellent book. I’ve always sort of found Kublai to be one of the boring ones in Mongol history – perhaps because, to me, he comes off more Chinese than Mongolian. Here, Man makes it interesting by exploring quandary in Kublai’s own cultural identity.
In 1797, British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge did a little reading on Kublai Khan, smoked some opium, passed out and had a vivid dream the Great Khan’s majestic palaces. He awoke with a 300 line poem already in his head, but was interrupted by his opium dealer, who’d arrived in the middle of the night and took an hour to complete their transaction. Thus, Coleridge forgot most of his poem, and was able to scrounge together a mere 54 lines with which to write one of the most infamous poems in the English language.
John Man not only knows his history, but he also has a way of writing. It’s his prose. He knows exactly where to go with his narrative to convey the most amount of information and keep you interested. In “Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection”, he spent a good deal of time describing modern day Mongolia, the tribulations Mongols faced under Stalin and the emerging risk of Chinese cultural and economic domination, all by relating it to his travels through Mongolia and the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia. A sort of steppe travelogue that’s very heavy on the history. It’s not the sort of writing style that’s for everyone, but it really worked for me. Here, in Kublai Khan: The Mongol King Who Remade China” he does the same, recounting his travels through China, modern day Beijing and the ruins of Xanadu, but it’s less so. The bulk of Genghis’ life is, after all, a small collection of details painted over a wide canvas which he have only one limited source for, whereas Kublai’s life we have much more.
The book is divided into four parts – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter – which is divided into 17 chapters. Collectively, they cover Kublai’s beginnings; Hulegu’s atrocities in the Middle East; the conquest of Yunnan; the civil war with Ariq-Boke; Kublai’s bureaucratic and religious administration; the key to the Song conquest; both attempts at Japan; Kaidu’s challenge, the attempts at Burma, Vietnam and Java; and the end of his life and his secret burial (amongst other subjects). Oh, and the genesis of Coleridge’s poem.
While I applaud Man for his thoroughness, there is perhaps one area where the book could have used a more detailed history: Nayan’s Rebellion. He does cover it, briefly in the end, but it’s a by-the-way sort of mention. Also, he references the current China-Mongolia relationship in his epilogue, building upon what he’s written in “Genghis Khan”, but largely glossing over that as well. In that regard, it helps to have read the other book (which I would highly recommend).
An excellent book. I’ve always sort of found Kublai to be one of the boring ones in Mongol history – perhaps because, to me, he comes off more Chinese than Mongolian. Here, Man makes it interesting by exploring quandary in Kublai’s own cultural identity.
February 28, 2018
Brilliant, lively read, well structured - including the several necessary jumps through space and time that get you caught up with events across the Mongol Empire so that you can move on, fully informed, with the next bit of Kublai's life.
In Chapter 12 John Man portrays Kublai Khan as the CEO of the Yuan Dynasty. The chapter opens:
"Kublai had inherited astonishing managerial skills. He was no intellectual genius, but he had talents that made him one of the greatest CEOs of all time: he was a superb judge of character, entirely without personal prejudice, and had the knack of hiring people who were smarter than himself." (p271)
This builds on earlier chapters discussing Kublai's "apprenticeship" as a prince building up his share of the Chinese portions of the Mongolian Empire, then later expanding the Empire's Chinese lands, not to mention the sound advice from his mother to learn about and from his Chinese subjects. Later the chapter discusses Kublai's tolerance and leniency:
"How come the world's most powerful man, the head of a regime noted for its iron control, ruled a regime of such relative leniency? Because his people did as they were told, and Kublai knew that justice was justice, and that harshness was counter-productive." (p287)
However, this wisdom and judgment of character doesn't quite seem to mesh with Chapter 14, which describes how an Uzbek official named Ahmad was allowed to build his own thoroughly corrupt and abusive little empire within Kublai's empire. People are strange and complicated.
The book is split into four parts: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I found the last couple of chapters started to fall apart, but that seems appropriate, as Kublai himself seemed to slowly fall apart in his winter years. Marco Polo takes an ever more prominent role as the book moves through Autumn into Winter, and Man seems to argue for the more-or-less based on a true story veracity of Marco Polo's account of his travels. I found this tended to take some of the attention away from Kublai, however. Still, that's a minor quibble with an otherwise good book.
Read this.
In Chapter 12 John Man portrays Kublai Khan as the CEO of the Yuan Dynasty. The chapter opens:
"Kublai had inherited astonishing managerial skills. He was no intellectual genius, but he had talents that made him one of the greatest CEOs of all time: he was a superb judge of character, entirely without personal prejudice, and had the knack of hiring people who were smarter than himself." (p271)
This builds on earlier chapters discussing Kublai's "apprenticeship" as a prince building up his share of the Chinese portions of the Mongolian Empire, then later expanding the Empire's Chinese lands, not to mention the sound advice from his mother to learn about and from his Chinese subjects. Later the chapter discusses Kublai's tolerance and leniency:
"How come the world's most powerful man, the head of a regime noted for its iron control, ruled a regime of such relative leniency? Because his people did as they were told, and Kublai knew that justice was justice, and that harshness was counter-productive." (p287)
However, this wisdom and judgment of character doesn't quite seem to mesh with Chapter 14, which describes how an Uzbek official named Ahmad was allowed to build his own thoroughly corrupt and abusive little empire within Kublai's empire. People are strange and complicated.
The book is split into four parts: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I found the last couple of chapters started to fall apart, but that seems appropriate, as Kublai himself seemed to slowly fall apart in his winter years. Marco Polo takes an ever more prominent role as the book moves through Autumn into Winter, and Man seems to argue for the more-or-less based on a true story veracity of Marco Polo's account of his travels. I found this tended to take some of the attention away from Kublai, however. Still, that's a minor quibble with an otherwise good book.
Read this.
October 19, 2020
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree
Kublai Khan lives on in the popular imagination thanks to these two lines of poetry by Coleridge. But the true story behind this legend is even more fantastic than the poem would have us believe. He inherited the second largest land empire in history from his grandfather, Genghis Khan. He promptly set about extending this into the biggest empire the world has ever seen, extending his rule from China to Iraq, from Siberia to Afghanistan. His personal domain covered sixty-percent of all Asia, and one-fifth of the world's land area.
The West first learnt of this great Khan through the reports of Marco Polo. Kublai had not been born to rule, but had clawed his way to leadership, achieving power only in his 40s. He had inherited Genghis Khan's great dream of world domination. But unlike his grandfather he saw China and not Mongolia as the key to controlling power and turned Genghis' unwieldy empire into a federation. Using China's great wealth, coupled with his shrewd and subtle government, he created an empire that was the greatest since the fall of Rome, and shaped the modern world as we know it today. He gave China its modern-day borders and his legacy is that country's resurgence, and the superpower China of tomorrow.
A stately pleasure dome decree
Kublai Khan lives on in the popular imagination thanks to these two lines of poetry by Coleridge. But the true story behind this legend is even more fantastic than the poem would have us believe. He inherited the second largest land empire in history from his grandfather, Genghis Khan. He promptly set about extending this into the biggest empire the world has ever seen, extending his rule from China to Iraq, from Siberia to Afghanistan. His personal domain covered sixty-percent of all Asia, and one-fifth of the world's land area.
The West first learnt of this great Khan through the reports of Marco Polo. Kublai had not been born to rule, but had clawed his way to leadership, achieving power only in his 40s. He had inherited Genghis Khan's great dream of world domination. But unlike his grandfather he saw China and not Mongolia as the key to controlling power and turned Genghis' unwieldy empire into a federation. Using China's great wealth, coupled with his shrewd and subtle government, he created an empire that was the greatest since the fall of Rome, and shaped the modern world as we know it today. He gave China its modern-day borders and his legacy is that country's resurgence, and the superpower China of tomorrow.
May 1, 2022
Not bad, its better written as compared to the Genghis Khan one, but not as fascinating a story. Far more emphasis on political positioning and maintaining a state, than the all out barbarianism which made the Genghis story fascinating.
It still has the same issues in terms of writing as there are long winded sections on seemingly irrelevant things like how a trebuchet works, detailed info of the tax systems of the time, the descriptions of olden buildings etc. All of which not really interested in and would have preferred focus being maintained on the personality and journey of such a man.
It still has the same issues in terms of writing as there are long winded sections on seemingly irrelevant things like how a trebuchet works, detailed info of the tax systems of the time, the descriptions of olden buildings etc. All of which not really interested in and would have preferred focus being maintained on the personality and journey of such a man.
January 11, 2022
If you want a quick introduction to Kublai Khan, then this is a good book. But, it is written like an Esquire article, with facts enhanced with sensational prose. John Man makes no attempt to be impartial, casting historical figures as heroes or villains depending on how they were perceived by their contemporaries or their relationship with Kublai. This is not an academic work that you want to cite in your essay on Chinese history. It is like an eulogy to the Khan himself.
August 22, 2019
I love the subject matter and I think that Kublai Khan is fascinating, but after reading several of this authors books, I can say this was just too dry and too dull to enjoy. A genuinely interesting story has been muddled and bored down. One star for the book, one extra star for the subject matter itself.
September 1, 2021
A decent book on Kublai Khan, made better by the fact that information is hard to come by in the English language.
John Man has a very specific writing style. I must say that i'm not a big fan of it. He seems to jump all over the place when he writes, even in the same paragraph. In one moment you are reading a narrative history, in the other it seems like he is trying to tell a story to a friend while having a couple of beers, trying to sound really immersive. It's hard to describe it.
I also felt he tried to be a bit too smart in some cases; it really bothered my inner child when he mentioned a Trebuchet called T.Wrecks and how it was destroying walls, while it's more known cousin was eating Diplodoci... It's a sentence i couldn't get past; If you try to make such random comparisons at least choose dinosaurs that lived in the same age. It gives of that vibe of someone who says stuff to appear smart. Not saying John isn't smart ofc, you can clearly see he is, is just that his writing is really weird.
Book has okayish maps which should be better; after all, the book is clearly written for the western reader, and as such i don't really know where the towns that are discussed are apart from the Capitals like Beijing and Shanghai; so the maps should really go more in depth in those areas.
The book itself is quite a decent read though. It does bog down sometimes when the author goes on a tangent of his own; it also suffers from stuff a lot of books like it do; they are less about Kublai, and more about people around him. I might be a hard balance to strike, but it's clearly bad in this case, since i feel i read more about how book printing worked in the Song Dynasty than what the grand strategy of the Yuan Empire apart from "let's try and conquer everything" looked.
Overall i was torn between a 4 and 3 star review. In the past i would probably give it a 4 star review, but that's because i usually really enjoy books on a subject i don't know much about. And this book was mediocre in that regard, despite it narrating an extremely interesting part of history, so 3 stars is all it gets.
John Man has a very specific writing style. I must say that i'm not a big fan of it. He seems to jump all over the place when he writes, even in the same paragraph. In one moment you are reading a narrative history, in the other it seems like he is trying to tell a story to a friend while having a couple of beers, trying to sound really immersive. It's hard to describe it.
I also felt he tried to be a bit too smart in some cases; it really bothered my inner child when he mentioned a Trebuchet called T.Wrecks and how it was destroying walls, while it's more known cousin was eating Diplodoci... It's a sentence i couldn't get past; If you try to make such random comparisons at least choose dinosaurs that lived in the same age. It gives of that vibe of someone who says stuff to appear smart. Not saying John isn't smart ofc, you can clearly see he is, is just that his writing is really weird.
Book has okayish maps which should be better; after all, the book is clearly written for the western reader, and as such i don't really know where the towns that are discussed are apart from the Capitals like Beijing and Shanghai; so the maps should really go more in depth in those areas.
The book itself is quite a decent read though. It does bog down sometimes when the author goes on a tangent of his own; it also suffers from stuff a lot of books like it do; they are less about Kublai, and more about people around him. I might be a hard balance to strike, but it's clearly bad in this case, since i feel i read more about how book printing worked in the Song Dynasty than what the grand strategy of the Yuan Empire apart from "let's try and conquer everything" looked.
Overall i was torn between a 4 and 3 star review. In the past i would probably give it a 4 star review, but that's because i usually really enjoy books on a subject i don't know much about. And this book was mediocre in that regard, despite it narrating an extremely interesting part of history, so 3 stars is all it gets.
December 22, 2016
Lama juga nunda2 baca biografi ini, yg sebenarnya cukup menarik untuk diikuti. Dan harusnya saya bisa selesai baca dalam 3-4 hari aja, kalo niat. Penulis buku ini, John Man, memang fokus dengan sejarah Mongol. Selain buku tentang Kubilai, dia juga menulis biografi tentang Jenghis Khan. Jenghis dan Kubilai adalah dua nama penguasa dari Mongol. Kubilai adalah cucu dari Jenghis, penerusnya yg memperluas wilayah kekuasaan Mongol hingga mencapai puncaknya. Well, keberhasilan utama Kubilai adalah merebut Cina, tepatnya Cina Selatan (Song), dan secara ga langsung membentuk Cina seperti sekarang. Kubilai menjadi orang paling berkuasa yang pernah hidup di muka bumi, sebelum munculnya negara2 adidaya modern. "Dia menguasai seperlima wilayah bumi yang berpenghuni, barangkali setengah dari umat manusia saat itu."
Membaca kisah tentang Kubilai dan Mongol ini, gw jadi teringat dengan suku Dothraki di Game of Thrones. Obviously, GRRM menciptakan Dothraki berdasarkan Mongol, terlihat dari beberapa kemiripannya. Suku barbar, yg berkuda, dan hidup di padang rumput. Dan jg Khal, kepala suku Dothraki, adalah Khan, pemimpin di Mongol.
Buku ini terbagi jadi 4 bagian, diibaratkan musim, sejak awal hingga kejayaan Kubilai, hingga akhir hidupnya.
Prolog: Untuk Jenghis, Seorang Cucu
Ada 2 peristiwa penting di tahun 1215, yg kemudian memicu dinamika dunia, menghubungkan wilayah dan kebudayaan yg tadinya terpisah. Pertama, penaklukan China Utara (Beijing) oleh Jenghis Khan. Kedua, lahirnya cucu Jenghis, Kubilai.
Bagian I: Musim Semi
1. Singa Betina dan Anaknya.
membahas Sorkaktani, ibu dari Kubilai. Meskipun bukan berada di garis keturunan utama sebagai pewaris tahta, ketekunan dan kecerdikannya membawa anak2nya menjadi penerus tahta Mongol.
2. Perang Pertama Melawan Teror.
membahas upaya penaklukkan Mongol ke dunia Islam, oleh Hulagu, adik Monkhe (putra tertua Sorkaktani yg menjadi Khan). Ada penumpasan kaum Assassins yg berniat membunuh Monkhe. Ekspansi ini berhasil merebut Kekhalifahan Abbasiyah, tapi terhenti ketika hendak menaklukkan Mesir.
3. Penaklukan Yunnan.
Kubilai bertanggungjawab untuk menaklukkan kekaisaran Song (China Selatan), tapi akan sulit untuk menyerang langsung. Karena itu, mereka merebut Yunnan sebagai pintu menuju Song.
4. Di Xanadu
Kubilai membuat pusat kekuasaan di wilayahnya, dan menamakannya Xanadu (Shang-du), sebuah kota, tidak seperti penguasa2 Mongol sebelumnya, dan mulai memerintah.
5. Sang Penuntut
Di tengah2 usaha penaklukkan Song, Monkhe, khan saat itu, meninggal. Kubilai menjadi kandidat terkuat untuk menjadi penggantinya dan kemudian terpilih. Tapi ada tantangan dari adiknya, Ariq, yg secara sepihak menyatakan diri sebagai khan berikutnya, dan mengadakan perlawanan. Setelah berhasil meredam perlawanan Ariq, disusul kematian Hulagu, Kubilai menjadi satu2nya yg tersisa, menjadi Khan, tapi dihadapkan dengan masalah perpecahan.
Bagian II: Musim Panas
6. Ibukota Baru
Kubilai membangun ibukota baru Mongol di Beijing, beserta kota dan istana. Dia mendirikan dinasti baru, yaitu Dinasti Yuan, dan melakukan ritual untuk memperkenalkan dinasti baru ini, di antaranya upacara dan perburuan besar.
7. Merangkul Buddha dan Tibet
Untuk dapat merangkul dukungan rakyat, Kubilai memeluk Buddhisme yg sedang berkembang saat itu. Tibet ditaklukkan Kubilai sebelum mereka menaklukkan Song, tapi masalahnya ketika China sudah melepaskan diri dari Mongol, mereka tetap menganggap Tibet bagian dari China. Itu sebabnya permasalahan Tibet saat ini.
8. Kunci Penaklukan
Untuk menaklukkan Song, penyerangan dilakukan bertahap. Mereka harus menaklukkan XiangYang dulu, wilayah strategis di pertemuan sungai. XIangyang dikelilingi tembok2 tinggi yang membentenginya, yang sulit ditembus. Solusi: membangun alat perang trebuchet, yang bisa melontarkan beban dari jarak jauh.
9. Juggernaut
Akhirnya, penaklukkan Song, dipimpin oleh jendral Kubilai yg tangguh, bernama Bayan. Ibukota Song akhirnya ditaklukkan tanpa perlawanan, tapi sebelumnya mereka menghadapi perlawanan sengit dari beberapa faksi Song yg loyalis, yg memilih mati daripada tunduk pada Mongol.
Bagian III: Musim Gugur
10. Terbakar Matahari Terbit
Kubilai berusaha memperluas penaklukannya ke Jepang, tapi serangan awal karena badai. Setelahnya, Jepang membangun tembok2 untuk memperkuat pertahanan.
11. Tantangan dari Kampung Halaman.
Selain usaha menaklukkan wilayan lain, Kubilai juga menghadapi masalah dari dalam, yaitu Kaidu, sepupunya, yg menguasai Asia Tengah. Kubilai tidak berhasil menumpasnya dalam masa hidupnya.
12. China Baru Sang Khan
membahas bagaimana Kubilai memerintah China. Dia pemimpin yg cukup terbuka, menggunakan berbagai nilai2 dari budaya lain, membuat berbagai lembaga pemerintahan dan mempekerjakan orang2 taklukannya. Dia membawa perubahan2 yg lebih baik. Semua untuk menciptakan pemerintahan yg stabil, dan kebahagiaan rakyatnya.
Bagian IV: Musim Dingin
13. Kamikaze
Kubilai menjutkan usaha penaklukkan Jepang, dengan serangan melewati laut dengan armada kapalnya. Usaha kali ini gagal total, di antaranya karena faktor alam, lalu juga karena ketidakpahaman Kubilai dan orang Mongol tentang laut, juga karena keberanian orang2 Jepang.
14. Uang, Kegilaan, dan Pembunuhan
membahas kebusukan yg terjadi di pemerintahan Kubilai, yaitu Ahmad, orang kepercayaannya yg ternyata manipulatif, oportunis dan korup. Ketidakmampuan Kubilai menyadarinya membuat penilaiannya diragukan.
15. Batas Pertumbuhan
membahas kegagalan Kubilai menaklukkan daerah2 di Selatan, yaitu Burma, Annam dan Champa (Vietnam), dan Singasari (Jawa, Indonesia).
16. Bagaimana Timur Sampai ke Barat
membahas bagaimana Eropa menyadari keberadaan Mongol dan China. Awalnya karena invasi jaman Jenghis. Informasi tentang Mongol dan Kubilai, sebagian besar berasal dari cerita perjalanan Marco Polo, walaupun menurut penulis, kisah Marco Polo banyak yg dilebih2kan dan ga akurat. Cerita Marco Polo memicu orang2 Eropa untuk melakukan penjelajahan, termasuk Columbus yg kemudian menemukan benua baru.
17. Gunung Keramat, Makam Rahasia
Kemunduran Kubilai disebabkan antara lain: kehilangan dalam kehidupan pribadi (istri dan anaknya), pemberontakan (Kaidu), dan kekalahan di luar negeri. Menyebabkan depresi dan beralih ke makan dan minum2. Kubilai pun meninggal, dan dia dimakamkan di sisi kakeknya, Jenghis.
Epilog: Warisan Sang Khan Agung
Kemunduran Mongol setelah kematian Kubilai, hingga China berasil mengusir khan terakhir. Meski begitu, dinasti2 China selanjutnya tetap meneruskan sistem yg dibangun Kubilai (Dinasti Yuan). Orang2 Mongol sendiri merasa terasing dan tak punya tempat di rumahnya sendiri.
Membaca kisah tentang Kubilai dan Mongol ini, gw jadi teringat dengan suku Dothraki di Game of Thrones. Obviously, GRRM menciptakan Dothraki berdasarkan Mongol, terlihat dari beberapa kemiripannya. Suku barbar, yg berkuda, dan hidup di padang rumput. Dan jg Khal, kepala suku Dothraki, adalah Khan, pemimpin di Mongol.
Buku ini terbagi jadi 4 bagian, diibaratkan musim, sejak awal hingga kejayaan Kubilai, hingga akhir hidupnya.
Prolog: Untuk Jenghis, Seorang Cucu
Ada 2 peristiwa penting di tahun 1215, yg kemudian memicu dinamika dunia, menghubungkan wilayah dan kebudayaan yg tadinya terpisah. Pertama, penaklukan China Utara (Beijing) oleh Jenghis Khan. Kedua, lahirnya cucu Jenghis, Kubilai.
Bagian I: Musim Semi
1. Singa Betina dan Anaknya.
membahas Sorkaktani, ibu dari Kubilai. Meskipun bukan berada di garis keturunan utama sebagai pewaris tahta, ketekunan dan kecerdikannya membawa anak2nya menjadi penerus tahta Mongol.
2. Perang Pertama Melawan Teror.
membahas upaya penaklukkan Mongol ke dunia Islam, oleh Hulagu, adik Monkhe (putra tertua Sorkaktani yg menjadi Khan). Ada penumpasan kaum Assassins yg berniat membunuh Monkhe. Ekspansi ini berhasil merebut Kekhalifahan Abbasiyah, tapi terhenti ketika hendak menaklukkan Mesir.
3. Penaklukan Yunnan.
Kubilai bertanggungjawab untuk menaklukkan kekaisaran Song (China Selatan), tapi akan sulit untuk menyerang langsung. Karena itu, mereka merebut Yunnan sebagai pintu menuju Song.
4. Di Xanadu
Kubilai membuat pusat kekuasaan di wilayahnya, dan menamakannya Xanadu (Shang-du), sebuah kota, tidak seperti penguasa2 Mongol sebelumnya, dan mulai memerintah.
5. Sang Penuntut
Di tengah2 usaha penaklukkan Song, Monkhe, khan saat itu, meninggal. Kubilai menjadi kandidat terkuat untuk menjadi penggantinya dan kemudian terpilih. Tapi ada tantangan dari adiknya, Ariq, yg secara sepihak menyatakan diri sebagai khan berikutnya, dan mengadakan perlawanan. Setelah berhasil meredam perlawanan Ariq, disusul kematian Hulagu, Kubilai menjadi satu2nya yg tersisa, menjadi Khan, tapi dihadapkan dengan masalah perpecahan.
Bagian II: Musim Panas
6. Ibukota Baru
Kubilai membangun ibukota baru Mongol di Beijing, beserta kota dan istana. Dia mendirikan dinasti baru, yaitu Dinasti Yuan, dan melakukan ritual untuk memperkenalkan dinasti baru ini, di antaranya upacara dan perburuan besar.
7. Merangkul Buddha dan Tibet
Untuk dapat merangkul dukungan rakyat, Kubilai memeluk Buddhisme yg sedang berkembang saat itu. Tibet ditaklukkan Kubilai sebelum mereka menaklukkan Song, tapi masalahnya ketika China sudah melepaskan diri dari Mongol, mereka tetap menganggap Tibet bagian dari China. Itu sebabnya permasalahan Tibet saat ini.
8. Kunci Penaklukan
Untuk menaklukkan Song, penyerangan dilakukan bertahap. Mereka harus menaklukkan XiangYang dulu, wilayah strategis di pertemuan sungai. XIangyang dikelilingi tembok2 tinggi yang membentenginya, yang sulit ditembus. Solusi: membangun alat perang trebuchet, yang bisa melontarkan beban dari jarak jauh.
9. Juggernaut
Akhirnya, penaklukkan Song, dipimpin oleh jendral Kubilai yg tangguh, bernama Bayan. Ibukota Song akhirnya ditaklukkan tanpa perlawanan, tapi sebelumnya mereka menghadapi perlawanan sengit dari beberapa faksi Song yg loyalis, yg memilih mati daripada tunduk pada Mongol.
Bagian III: Musim Gugur
10. Terbakar Matahari Terbit
Kubilai berusaha memperluas penaklukannya ke Jepang, tapi serangan awal karena badai. Setelahnya, Jepang membangun tembok2 untuk memperkuat pertahanan.
11. Tantangan dari Kampung Halaman.
Selain usaha menaklukkan wilayan lain, Kubilai juga menghadapi masalah dari dalam, yaitu Kaidu, sepupunya, yg menguasai Asia Tengah. Kubilai tidak berhasil menumpasnya dalam masa hidupnya.
12. China Baru Sang Khan
membahas bagaimana Kubilai memerintah China. Dia pemimpin yg cukup terbuka, menggunakan berbagai nilai2 dari budaya lain, membuat berbagai lembaga pemerintahan dan mempekerjakan orang2 taklukannya. Dia membawa perubahan2 yg lebih baik. Semua untuk menciptakan pemerintahan yg stabil, dan kebahagiaan rakyatnya.
Bagian IV: Musim Dingin
13. Kamikaze
Kubilai menjutkan usaha penaklukkan Jepang, dengan serangan melewati laut dengan armada kapalnya. Usaha kali ini gagal total, di antaranya karena faktor alam, lalu juga karena ketidakpahaman Kubilai dan orang Mongol tentang laut, juga karena keberanian orang2 Jepang.
14. Uang, Kegilaan, dan Pembunuhan
membahas kebusukan yg terjadi di pemerintahan Kubilai, yaitu Ahmad, orang kepercayaannya yg ternyata manipulatif, oportunis dan korup. Ketidakmampuan Kubilai menyadarinya membuat penilaiannya diragukan.
15. Batas Pertumbuhan
membahas kegagalan Kubilai menaklukkan daerah2 di Selatan, yaitu Burma, Annam dan Champa (Vietnam), dan Singasari (Jawa, Indonesia).
16. Bagaimana Timur Sampai ke Barat
membahas bagaimana Eropa menyadari keberadaan Mongol dan China. Awalnya karena invasi jaman Jenghis. Informasi tentang Mongol dan Kubilai, sebagian besar berasal dari cerita perjalanan Marco Polo, walaupun menurut penulis, kisah Marco Polo banyak yg dilebih2kan dan ga akurat. Cerita Marco Polo memicu orang2 Eropa untuk melakukan penjelajahan, termasuk Columbus yg kemudian menemukan benua baru.
17. Gunung Keramat, Makam Rahasia
Kemunduran Kubilai disebabkan antara lain: kehilangan dalam kehidupan pribadi (istri dan anaknya), pemberontakan (Kaidu), dan kekalahan di luar negeri. Menyebabkan depresi dan beralih ke makan dan minum2. Kubilai pun meninggal, dan dia dimakamkan di sisi kakeknya, Jenghis.
Epilog: Warisan Sang Khan Agung
Kemunduran Mongol setelah kematian Kubilai, hingga China berasil mengusir khan terakhir. Meski begitu, dinasti2 China selanjutnya tetap meneruskan sistem yg dibangun Kubilai (Dinasti Yuan). Orang2 Mongol sendiri merasa terasing dan tak punya tempat di rumahnya sendiri.
March 6, 2018
Written in 2006, Kublai Khan tells the story of that famous leader of the Mongol Empire, the better known successor to Genghis Khan. The story is well told, with a professionally cynical view of contentious historical claims, and exaggerations that many old references are rife with. He makes regular use of the tales of Marco Polo, and often pulls them apart due to inconsistencies. The story is laced with numerous exotic methods of execution, at which the Mongols seemed to excel. The main thrust of the biography is the key role played by Kublai Khan in the making of China, and time is spent in looking at how this has affected subsequent history. In addition, some use is made of modern archaeological evidence of some of the events described, not to mention the destruction of key remains during the cultural revolution. A very informative read.
June 7, 2018
The story of Kublai Khan and his time is complex and challenging. Running from Mongolia; through the empires/kingdoms of China and Tibet; to Japan and the outskirts of India; it is history on an epic scale.
John addresses this well and the book is very readable although I did struggle more than with his book on Attila the Hun. This may be partly down to my intimate knowledge of Europe and its landscape; whereas my knowledge of the far East is more scetchy.
Ultimately this is a good book covering the history in a thorough and yet entertaining way. Because of the subject matter however it is not really something you can read a few pages at a time but more likely need to dedicate a couple of hours to sit down and read properly.
John addresses this well and the book is very readable although I did struggle more than with his book on Attila the Hun. This may be partly down to my intimate knowledge of Europe and its landscape; whereas my knowledge of the far East is more scetchy.
Ultimately this is a good book covering the history in a thorough and yet entertaining way. Because of the subject matter however it is not really something you can read a few pages at a time but more likely need to dedicate a couple of hours to sit down and read properly.
August 30, 2017
Very vivid and detailed history of the life and times of Kublai Khan, one of the world's greatest nation builders and founder of China's Yuan dynasty. Incidentally it is the legacy of Kublai Khan and the Yuan dynasty that forms the basis for China's territorial claims in Central Asia and Tibet. The books also deals with Marco Polo's travels to Yuan China and the time he spent in the company of Kublai Khan. John Man lucidly alludes to the controversies surrounding Marco Polo's travels and presents facts and arguments both pro and con while at the same time maintaining nuetrality. Kudos to John Man
May 7, 2023
Even though I was quite looking forward to read this book, I found the writing style to be extremely difficult. The story telling wasn’t engaging and I found myself drifting away from the main story just because of explanatory details on dates, people and other scenes took over.
Also the book ended with the end of Kublai Khan, but that happened after that was just summarised briefly as an epilogue.
Even though there were plenty of lessons, the overall reading experience was not up to the mark.
Would love to find a book that would indicate (or clarify) if asian Mughals indeed came from Mongolian descent who converted to Islam and ruled the Indian sub continent for nearly a millennium.
Also the book ended with the end of Kublai Khan, but that happened after that was just summarised briefly as an epilogue.
Even though there were plenty of lessons, the overall reading experience was not up to the mark.
Would love to find a book that would indicate (or clarify) if asian Mughals indeed came from Mongolian descent who converted to Islam and ruled the Indian sub continent for nearly a millennium.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2017
I'm a history nerd and have a lot of patience for its drier parts. But let me tell you, this book surprised me with just how readable, exciting, and entertaining it was. John Man has taken a distant story and made it into an engrossing tale, not unlike Marco Polo, whom he mentions frequently. Punctuated with his personal anecdotes and explanations of how ancient history influences the modern world, it really is a "boring history book" worth reading.
January 9, 2018
well-paced story telling that is captivating and very relate-able despite the subject matter occuring almost a millenium ago. very well researched book with clear explanations of how the empire building efforts of 2 men define modern geographical boundaries. however, due to the span of time and geography, the number of characters mentioned does become daunting and sometimes a little difficult to keep track of.
April 23, 2020
A well-researched and well-written history of Kublai Khan's reign. While most accounts of Kublai tend to focus on the Song China conquest, this book is notable for a good analysis of Kublai's attempts at invading Japan, Vietnam, Burma and Indonesia, and his failure to capture any of these territories. Includes a lot of art and photographs of historical artefacts which help put things in perspective. Definitely recommended if you are, like me, a fan of the era of Mongol dominance and conquest.
July 15, 2020
I'd probably rate this closer to 4.5 stars, as the author's personal enthusiasm for techniques of warfare leads to a few sections of "too much information". But set that aside, and the end product is an enormous amount of information presented in an extremely concise and readable manner. Informative and entertaining: that's all I ask for from my historical scholarship.
August 11, 2023
A good read for anyone interested in the Kublai-era of the Mongols.
The author does go off in certain tangents at times.
Oh, and one glaring error towards the end of the book. If Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America on his journey to meet and trade with the Mongols/Kublai/Chinese, why would his party have called the Native Americans, "Indians".
The author does go off in certain tangents at times.
Oh, and one glaring error towards the end of the book. If Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America on his journey to meet and trade with the Mongols/Kublai/Chinese, why would his party have called the Native Americans, "Indians".
March 15, 2020
Wonderfully written account of how Mongol empire under Kublai ruled the eastern world. Putting things into the perspective of our times, there is so much to learn from this book of will, power, and politics.
January 23, 2021
Buku pertama yang aku baca tentang sejarah Mongol dan khususnya Kublai Khan. Banyak pelajaran yang aku ambil dari beberapa tokoh Mongol yang ada didalam buku ini. Cukup bagus untuk bacaan teman-teman yang suka dengan sejarah dunia.
January 17, 2022
Another very good biography by John Man. A lot of information about a historical figure that is generally not mentioned in German schoolbooks, written in an interesting way. As in the other John Man books I have read before, there are also some illusions to Man's travels and the people he met along the way. A great book!
June 30, 2019
Interesting, easy read. I wish there had been better maps and more of the life and times of KK other than simply his battles.
June 17, 2020
Fun read. John Man is a good writer, but looking at his works from a historical perspective, he's not the best historian.
September 23, 2020
This the first book I have read on Kublai Khan and it was a disappointing read.
Read
January 13, 2021not bad
I will read the rest of his books very informative . Very interesting time period have always been interested in the mongols
I will read the rest of his books very informative . Very interesting time period have always been interested in the mongols
July 5, 2022
“And how can man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods?”
December 27, 2022
Well narrated book with lots of interesting information. Highly recommend.
December 28, 2022
Well paced, but jumps about a lot. Also his views on contemporary society bleed through the historical analysis
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