Agora Auctions, LLC
Numismatic Auction 43 20 October 2015
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China, Yuan Dynasty. Shi Zu (Kublai Khan). 1260-1294. Cast AE 2 cash (29.0 mm, 8.18 g). Cast 1285-1294. The inscription je üen tung baw is written in the Mongol script Phags-pa. The equivalent Chinese inscription is zhi yuan tong bao ( ) / Blank. Hartill 19.14. gVF, minor earthen deposits, attractive patina. Extremely Rare.
Kublai Khan is known and revered for his civilian and administrative, not his military achievements. Grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai sought to govern rather than to exploit and devastate the vast domains bequeathed to him by two generations of Mongol conquests. He made the transition from a nomadic conqueror from the steppes to effective ruler of a sedentary society. Ironically, however, his reign witnessed the Mongols most remarkable military success, the subjugation of the Southern Sung dynasty of China, and simultaneously their greatest military fiascos, the failed naval expeditions against Japan and Java. In 1271, Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty and became the first non-native to rule a united China. Kublai was a great supporter of trade, science, and the arts. He introduced the use of paper money for the entire empire and ordered the creation of a new alphabet for the Mongol language that closely resembled Chinese writing. Kublai also established a system of sea transport and developed inland river and canal routes to move grain from the fertile rice-growing Yangtze River basin to provide food for the growing population. The Grand Canal system was finally extended north to Peking from the Yellow River. While the rest of the Mongol empire, to the west, was converting to Islam, Kublai Khan embraced Buddhism, forcing the remaining Taoists to flee to Japan.
Kublai Khan is known and revered for his civilian and administrative, not his military achievements. Grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai sought to govern rather than to exploit and devastate the vast domains bequeathed to him by two generations of Mongol conquests. He made the transition from a nomadic conqueror from the steppes to effective ruler of a sedentary society. Ironically, however, his reign witnessed the Mongols most remarkable military success, the subjugation of the Southern Sung dynasty of China, and simultaneously their greatest military fiascos, the failed naval expeditions against Japan and Java. In 1271, Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty and became the first non-native to rule a united China. Kublai was a great supporter of trade, science, and the arts. He introduced the use of paper money for the entire empire and ordered the creation of a new alphabet for the Mongol language that closely resembled Chinese writing. Kublai also established a system of sea transport and developed inland river and canal routes to move grain from the fertile rice-growing Yangtze River basin to provide food for the growing population. The Grand Canal system was finally extended north to Peking from the Yellow River. While the rest of the Mongol empire, to the west, was converting to Islam, Kublai Khan embraced Buddhism, forcing the remaining Taoists to flee to Japan.