Kublai Khan Conquers the Song and Founds the Yuan Dynasty
China is unified under one ruler for the first time in over three centuries
Quick facts
- Yuan dynasty founded
- 1271
- Song capital falls
- 28 March 1276 (Lin'an)
- Final Song naval defeat
- Yaishan, 19 March 1279
- Capitals
- Xanadu (Shangdu), then Daidu (Beijing)
What happened
In 1271 Kublai Khan formally established the Yuan dynasty, ruling China from 1271 to 1368 and becoming the first non-Chinese ruler of the whole country. The conquest of the Southern Song took eleven hard years, since the Song had adopted static, fortified warfare with river fortresses instead of relying on the cavalry tactics Mongol armies were used to countering; the Song could field an army of over a million men and both sides used gunpowder weapons, catapults, and, in a first for warfare, the largest naval battles yet seen. Mongol forces finally crossed the Yangtze in March 1275, and after the slaughter of Changzhou and the surrender of the Song empress dowager and child emperor at the capital Lin'an on 28 March 1276, the last resistance was crushed at the naval battle of Yaishan on 19 March 1279. Kublai founded his capital at Xanadu (Shangdu) and established Daidu, on the site of modern Beijing, as its permanent successor.
Why it matters
The Yuan conquest unified China for the first time since the 9th century, ending centuries of division between northern and southern dynasties and putting the whole country under a single Mongol emperor. Kublai's rule blended Mongol military power with Chinese administrative traditions, a combination the more zoomed-in History of China timeline follows in detail through the rest of the Yuan dynasty and beyond.
How we know
The Song conquest's dates and major battles, including Yaishan in 1279, are documented in the World History Encyclopedia's biography of Kublai Khan, drawing on Chinese dynastic histories of the period.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Kublai Khan · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Kublai Khan · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Related timelines
- History of China → · The Yuan dynasty Kublai Khan founded here is the same Mongol rule over China this deeper China timeline follows in full.