Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the agricultural policy of the Qa’an (or, great Qan) ulus (AKA, the Yuan dynasty) in the Mongol empire, especially encouraged by Qubilai Qa’an (r. 1260-1294), who pursued harmony between the nomadism of the grasslands and the farming economy of the China Proper.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the agricultural policy of the Qa’an (or, great Qan) ulus (AKA, the Yuan dynasty) in the Mongol empire, especially encouraged by Qubilai Qa’an (r. 1260-1294), who pursued harmony between the nomadism of the grasslands and the farming economy of the China Proper. The paper discovers the Mongols’ methods and achievements in building a new ecological space and life environment in the medieval age.

The Mongol great Qan’s agricultural policy greatly transformed the imperial dining table, natural landscape, and palace landscape. The great Qan introduced the imperial agricultural administration to organize peasants and to encourage agriculture and paid much attention to reconstructing the ecological environment. One major activity was tree planting. The Mongols and their livestock caused tension on crops and trees in farmland and cities in China and elsewhere. The seasonal migration of the great Qan from Dadu (or, Khanbaliq, present-day Beijing) to Shangdu (present-day Zhenglan qi, Inner Mongolia) to the north was in harmony with planting seeds and protecting livestock and crops. This was a new imperial landscape in the Qa’an ulus under the Mongols, where people, livestock, and crops competed and coexisted.

In short, the great Qan’s agricultural policy was closely linked to the taxation, economy, and ecological environment in the empire.