The country reunified under the Sui Dynasty (SWEE; A. D. 581-618), which further built up the Great Wall. Confucianism and the arts flourished under the T'ang Dynasty (618-907), but after the T'ang came another of the periods of upheaval that dotted China's long history. Later, after three centuries of rule by the Sung Dynasty (SOONG; 960-1279), the thing happened that the ancient Chinese had always feared: nomads from the north known as Mongols (MAHNG-guhlz) conquered all of China.
Instead of destroying the country, however, the Mongols established a Chinese-style dynasty, the Yuan (yoo-WAHN; 1271-1368). It was during this period that the famed Italian traveler Marco Polo (1254-1324) visited the country. As it turned out, the Mongols did not absorb China; rather, China, with its vastly greater numbers and its highly developed civilization, absorbed the Mongols.
Marco Polo, though he came in peace and greatly admired the achievements of the Chinese, served as an indicator of a force that would prove much more dangerous to China than the Mongols: Europe. Reawakening from the long period of darkness and superstition that had enveloped most of their continent during the Middle Ages, Europe was flowering, with advancements in the arts, sciences, and exploration. Europeans made increasing contact with China during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). They found there a quaint, exotic culture that still held on to traditions nearly 2,000 years old. While Europe was experiencing rapid change, Ming China held on to Confucian principles that, while they might have been an advancement at the time Confucius formulated them, now represented a throwback to the distant past.
World History
