Chinese Language and Confucianism as an Instrument of Mongolian Adaptation in China during Yuan Epoch (13th–14th Centuries)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the topic of the acculturation of the Mongol conquerors in China after the conquest by the first heirs of Genghis Khan and the creation of the Yuan Empire — the Mongol state in China. The history of China in the 13th-14th centuries, when the country was conquered by its neighbors, is a vivid example of the relationship between a nomadic and a centuries-old sedentary ethnos. At that time, the Chinese language and the teachings of Confucius became instruments for the acculturation of the Mongols. Having conquered China, the Mongol rulers were forced to master the Chinese culture to most effectively rule the country. As a result, the Yuan era was marked by intense cultural contacts, which makes it possible to trace the changes in the objective parameters of the Chinese language. However, the Mongolian influence itself played only a complementary role in the long process of interaction of the Chinese language with the languages of the steppe peoples of Central and East Asia.