outh
as K'ai-fung-fu, the capital of the Empire. The Emperor retired
to Nanking, leaving in command his son, who, unable to resist the
Tartars, made a disgraceful peace. A heavy ransom was paid to avert
the sacking of the city; and all the region on the north of the
Yellow River passed under Tartar sway.

Repenting of their hard bargain, the Chinese provoked a renewal
of hostilities, which resulted in a heavier downfall. The capital
surrendered after a severe siege, and the Emperor with his court
was carried into captivity. The next emperor acknowledged himself
a vassal of the Tartars; but peace on such conditions could not
be of long duration. An intermittent warfare was kept up for more
than a century, in the course of which Nanking was pillaged, and
the court fell back successively on Hangchow and Wenchow. When
there was no longer a place of safety on the mainland the wretched
fugitives sought refuge on an island. Fitting out a fleet the Tartars
continued the
[Page 130]
pursuit; but more used to horses than ships, the fleet was annihilated,
and the expiring dynasty obtained a new lease of life.

This was about 1228. The Mongols under Genghis Khan and his successors
had carried everything before them in the northwest. Thirsting for
revenge, the Chinese appealed for aid to this new power--and the
Mongols found an opportunity to bag two birds instead of one. As
a Chinese fable puts it: "A sea-bird failing to make a breakfast
on a shellfish was held in its grip until a fisherman captured
both."

The Kins were driven back into Manchuria; and the Chinese without
asking leave of their allies reoccupied their old capital. But
the revival of the Sungs was no part of the Mongol programme. The
Sungs declining to evacuate K'ai-fung-fu and to cede to the Mongols
the northern half of the empire, the latter resolved on a war of
extermination. After a bitter struggle of fifteen years, the infant
emperor and his guardians again committed their fortunes to the sea.
The Mongols, more lucky than the other Tartars, were victorious
on water as well as on land; and the last scion of the imperial
house drowned himself to escape their fury (1280).

[Page 131]
CHAPTER XXIV

THE YUEN OR MONGOL DYNASTY, 1280-1368
(10 Emperors)

_Kublai Khan--First Intercourse of China with Europe--Marco Polo--The
Grand Canal_

Parts of China had been frequently overrun by foreign conquerors;
but the Mongols were the first to extend their swa