Gutenberg and the Koreans: Cross-Cultural Currents under the Mongol empire

Cross-Cultural Currents under the Mongol Empire

Left: Chinggis Khan pursuing enemies, from Rashid al-Din’s history (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; Ebrey, 170). Right: Khubilai Khan, by the Chinese painter Liu Guandao, 1280 (National Palace Museum, Taiwan; Ebrey, 174).

Under Chinggis Khan (prob. 1167–1227) the Mongols unified an enormous geographic territory—it is still history’s largest contiguous empire—under central rule. To accomplish this the Mongol army was ruthless to the point of genocide. In this climate the opportunities for cultural and technological exchange must have been limited. But by the time of the rule of Chinggis's grandson Khubilai Khan (1260–1294) the situation was different. Khubilai Khan established the capital of his khanate in Beijing, where he assumed the Chinese "mandate of heaven” and established the Yuan dynasty. Not viewing China merely as an opportunity for plunder by nomadic warriors, he saw the value of agriculture and urbanism, and he retained many Chinese traditions.

khubilai khan

Khubilai Khan as the first Yuan emperor, 13th century, National Palace Museum, Taiwan

Beijing was not central enough for unified rule of the entire empire, and the Mongols were often troubled by contentious issues of succession, with the result that the empire was divided into regional khanates. But Khubilai maintained good relations with his brother Hulegu, the Ilkhan of Persia. Hulegu, even more than Khubilai, had in many respects assimilated into the culture of his subject people, and he had converted to Islam. The result was a lively exchange between West Asia and East Asia. It was this climate that encouraged contact between Europe and East Asia.

Muslim traders were active across much of the Mongol realm, including Korea. "Confucian Chinese officials had perceived commerce as demeaning and traders as parasites, but the Mongols did not share that attitude,” notes Morris Rossabi. “Khubilai removed many of the previous limitations imposed on trade, paving the way for Eurasian merchants and for the first direct commercial contacts between Europe and East Asia.”²¹ The Uighur people of Central Asia — a Turkic people (whose language is believed to be related to both Turkish and Korean) who had governed a large empire in the eighth and ninth centuries — helped to facilitate this trade.

Khubilai Khan sought to temper the influence of the native Han Chinese by peppering his court with Uighurs and other Muslims. Khubilai enacted regulations giving a variety of special privileges to Muslims, such as exemption from taxation and the right to private ownership of weapons. “Small wonder, then,” notes John D. Langlois, Jr., “that the Muslims were found in all regions of China in Yuan times.”²² Continuous Muslim settlement stretched from Central Asia across northern China. Muslim scholars founded a school in present-day Hopei, near the Yuan capital of Beijing. Muslim settlement extended to Korea, where historical records document the existence of established Muslim communities.

Centered along the Silk Road in Turfan in northwestern China, the Uighurs had been conquered by Chinggis Khan. He adopted the Uighur script for writing the Mongolian language. By this time many Uighurs had converted to Islam (some adopted Tibetan Buddhism). They included among their number a scholar class. Movable-type Uighur prints have been discovered in the Turfan area, along with wooden type fonts. The Uighurs were thus both ideally informed and ideally situated for transmitting information about printing from China and Korea to the Islamic territories of West Asia. “The introduction of printing farther to the west was probably accomplished by the Uighurs during the Mongol period,” Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin maintains. “After the Mongol conquest of Turfan, a great number of Uighurs were recruited into the Mongol army; Uighur scholars served as Mongol brains, and Uighur culture became the initial basis of Mongol power. If there was any connection in the spread of printing between Asia and the West, the Uighurs who used both block printing and movable type had good opportunities to play an important role in this introduction.”²³

Uigur wooden types

Wooden types and impressions in Uigur script, prob. early 14th century (Tsien, 306)

The most famous of the European travelers to Yuan China was Marco Polo, a teller of tales whose account is notable for its omissions and fabrications but does restrain some of the more fantastic elements common to some other travel narratives of the Mongol period (that of John Mandeville, for example). Polo claimed—how truthfully it is difficult to say—to have had an audience with Khubilai himself. However that may be, it is certain that European travelers visited the Yuan court in Beijing. There they would have been well situated to learn of Korea’s perfection of printing with movable metal type.

Latin tombstone found in China

Latin tombstone, 1342, from Yang-chou, China.

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Notes

21 Berger, 32. [return]

22 Langlois, 273. [return]

23 Tsien, 306 [return]

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	Did East Asian Printing Traditions Influence the European Renaissance? Thomas Christensen

home search sitemap blog daybook contact	Cross-Cultural Currents under the Mongol Empire Left: Chinggis Khan pursuing enemies, from Rashid al-Din’s history (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; Ebrey, 170). Right: Khubilai Khan, by the Chinese painter Liu Guandao, 1280 (National Palace Museum, Taiwan; Ebrey, 174). Under Chinggis Khan (prob. 1167–1227) the Mongols unified an enormous geographic territory—it is still history’s largest contiguous empire—under central rule. To accomplish this the Mongol army was ruthless to the point of genocide. In this climate the opportunities for cultural and technological exchange must have been limited. But by the time of the rule of Chinggis's grandson Khubilai Khan (1260–1294) the situation was different. Khubilai Khan established the capital of his khanate in Beijing, where he assumed the Chinese "mandate of heaven” and established the Yuan dynasty. Not viewing China merely as an opportunity for plunder by nomadic warriors, he saw the value of agriculture and urbanism, and he retained many Chinese traditions. Khubilai Khan as the first Yuan emperor, 13th century, National Palace Museum, Taiwan Beijing was not central enough for unified rule of the entire empire, and the Mongols were often troubled by contentious issues of succession, with the result that the empire was divided into regional khanates. But Khubilai maintained good relations with his brother Hulegu, the Ilkhan of Persia. Hulegu, even more than Khubilai, had in many respects assimilated into the culture of his subject people, and he had converted to Islam. The result was a lively exchange between West Asia and East Asia. It was this climate that encouraged contact between Europe and East Asia. Muslim traders were active across much of the Mongol realm, including Korea. "Confucian Chinese officials had perceived commerce as demeaning and traders as parasites, but the Mongols did not share that attitude,” notes Morris Rossabi. “Khubilai removed many of the previous limitations imposed on trade, paving the way for Eurasian merchants and for the first direct commercial contacts between Europe and East Asia.”²¹ The Uighur people of Central Asia — a Turkic people (whose language is believed to be related to both Turkish and Korean) who had governed a large empire in the eighth and ninth centuries — helped to facilitate this trade. Khubilai Khan sought to temper the influence of the native Han Chinese by peppering his court with Uighurs and other Muslims. Khubilai enacted regulations giving a variety of special privileges to Muslims, such as exemption from taxation and the right to private ownership of weapons. “Small wonder, then,” notes John D. Langlois, Jr., “that the Muslims were found in all regions of China in Yuan times.”²² Continuous Muslim settlement stretched from Central Asia across northern China. Muslim scholars founded a school in present-day Hopei, near the Yuan capital of Beijing. Muslim settlement extended to Korea, where historical records document the existence of established Muslim communities. Centered along the Silk Road in Turfan in northwestern China, the Uighurs had been conquered by Chinggis Khan. He adopted the Uighur script for writing the Mongolian language. By this time many Uighurs had converted to Islam (some adopted Tibetan Buddhism). They included among their number a scholar class. Movable-type Uighur prints have been discovered in the Turfan area, along with wooden type fonts. The Uighurs were thus both ideally informed and ideally situated for transmitting information about printing from China and Korea to the Islamic territories of West Asia. “The introduction of printing farther to the west was probably accomplished by the Uighurs during the Mongol period,” Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin maintains. “After the Mongol conquest of Turfan, a great number of Uighurs were recruited into the Mongol army; Uighur scholars served as Mongol brains, and Uighur culture became the initial basis of Mongol power. If there was any connection in the spread of printing between Asia and the West, the Uighurs who used both block printing and movable type had good opportunities to play an important role in this introduction.”²³ Wooden types and impressions in Uigur script, prob. early 14th century (Tsien, 306) The most famous of the European travelers to Yuan China was Marco Polo, a teller of tales whose account is notable for its omissions and fabrications but does restrain some of the more fantastic elements common to some other travel narratives of the Mongol period (that of John Mandeville, for example). Polo claimed—how truthfully it is difficult to say—to have had an audience with Khubilai himself. However that may be, it is certain that European travelers visited the Yuan court in Beijing. There they would have been well situated to learn of Korea’s perfection of printing with movable metal type. Latin tombstone, 1342, from Yang-chou, China. continue ... Notes 21 Berger, 32. [return] 22 Langlois, 273. [return] 23 Tsien, 306 [return] continue ...	Introduction Print Technology and Society The Development of Printing in China and Its Transmission to the West Paper Currency Playing cards Woodblock Books Movable Type Cross-Cultural Currents under the Mongol Empire Cast-Type Printing in Korea's Goryeo Dynasty Selected Reading * * also of interest: Chinese Jade Taoism and the Arts of China Yi Ching, the Chinese Classic of Changes The Typehead Chronicles How to Publish a Book
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