The Mongolian Prince Of Bin Family And Northwest Society Of The Yuan Dynasty

The Jin and Song dynasties were eradicated by the Mongols who sprang up at the early period of the13th century and accomplished the great reunification of China after Tang dynasty. Northwest China including Hexi Corridor became one of important area where Mongolian-Yuan Empire ruled. A number of Princes and noblemen of the Mongols used to activities in this area and Princes of Bin family waere served as one of them. This family grew up in late13th century and its ancestors were Chubai and Qaban who came from Chagatay Khanate of Central Asia and submitted to Kublai Khan. At the early period of the14th century, the Yuan granted the Bin family the four titles, namely the Prince of Bin at Jiuquan; the Prince of Xining at Dunhuang; the Prince of Weiwu Xining at Hami; the Prince of Su at Guazhou. Although the Standard History of the Yuan Dynasty had few records of the family, they were not so detail and there were many errors. While other traditional literatures had even less records of the family. Fortunately, some new unearthed materials, such as the inscriptions of Hexi Corridor, the Mongolian manuscripts, the Uighur inscription of grotto, the literature from Kara-Khoto and so on, had the records.Based on the new materials, especialy the literary and archaeological data which unearthed in Dunhuang and Jiuquan, and then got good use of the traditional literature, we can have deep discussion about the formation and development of the Prince of Bin, their activities and effect. The family garrisoned in northern China and had a profound effect on the culture, economy, military and politics in Hexi Corridor and Western Regions. This family guarded the northwest and defeated the western bolshy princes, such as Qaidu, Du-a and so on. They defend the northwest area and ensured the peace of this area. In order to consolidate the northwestern frontier, they took a series of measures, for Example, they made positive development of agricultural production and carried out settlement, and supported Buddhism so as to crusade against Islamic forces. These measures effectively consolidated the northwestern frontier and ensure the relative stability of northwest China. At the same time, these measures also promoted the development of the local economy and culture.