Marriage as Political Strategy and Cultural Expression: Mongolian Royal Marriages from World Empire to Yuan Dynasty

340 Pages·2008·7.195 MB·English

by  George Qingzhi Zhao

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George Qingzhi Zhaoreceived his Ph.D. in pre-modern Chinese p Political Strategy
r
e
history from the University of Toronto, where he is currently teach- s
s
ing. He is the author of several articles, book chapters, and io
n
translations on Mongolian imperial marriages. and Cultural
Expression
Mongolian Royal Marriages from
World Empire to Yuan Dynasty
P
E
T
E
R George Qingzhi Zhao
L
A
N
G
Zhao_WAWRYTKODD.qxd 5/7/2018 3:29 PM Page 1
6
0
Z
h
a
Marriage as Political Strategy and Cultural Expression is the first o

(cid:0)
comprehensive study of Mongolian royal marriages from World
M ASIAN
Empire (1206–1279) to the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) in Asia. This a
r
r
study examines the Mongolian royal family’s marriage strategies ia
g THOUGHT
and the political implications of these royal marriages, specifically, e

a
the intermarriages between the Mongolian royal house and its allies, s
P
o AND
including the Onggirat, the Oirat, and other Mongol peoples as
lit
well as the Uighur State and Korea in Central and East Asia. This ic
a
book concludes that the short lifespans of Mongol royalty after l S CULTURE
t
r
Khubilai Khan were the result of consanguineous marriage and a
t
e
inbreeding—genetic factors that contributed to the collapse of g
y
the Mongol dynasty. a
n
d

C
u
lt Marriage as
u
r
a
l
E
x
George Qingzhi Zhaoreceived his Ph.D. in pre-modern Chinese p Political Strategy
r
e
history from the University of Toronto, where he is currently teach- s
s
ing. He is the author of several articles, book chapters, and io
n
translations on Mongolian imperial marriages. and Cultural
Expression
Mongolian Royal Marriages from
World Empire to Yuan Dynasty
P
E
T
E
R George Qingzhi Zhao
L
A
N
G
Marriage as
Political Strategy
and Cultural
Expression
ASIAN

THOUGHT

AND

CULT URE

Sandra A. Wawrytko
General Editor

Vol. 60

PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt am Main (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
George Qingzhi Zhao

Marriage as
Political Strategy
and Cultural
Expression

Mongolian Royal Marriages
from World Empire
to Yuan Dynasty

PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt am Main (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zhao, George Qingzhi.
Marriage as political strategy and cultural expression:
Mongolian royal marriages from world empire to
Yuan dynasty / George Qingzhi Zhao.
p. cm. — (Asian thought and culture; 60)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Mongols—Politics and government. 2. Mongols—Marriage
customs and rites. 3. Marriages of royalty and nobility—
Mongolia—History. I. Title.
DS19.Z45 951’.025—dc22 2008007413
ISBN 978-1-4331-0275-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4539-0358-2 (eBook)
ISSN 0893-6870

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available
on the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de/.

© 2008 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
This book is dedicated
to my family,
with love

CONTENTS
Foreword .......................................................................................................ix
Preface by Morris Rossabi.............................................................................xi
Acknowledgements......................................................................................xiii
Explanatory Notes.........................................................................................xv
Chapter One: Introduction..............................................................................1
Chapter Two: The Origins and Development of Mongolian Marital
Traditions and the Characteristics of the Mongolian Royal Marriages..15
Chapter Three: Chinggisid Marriage Strategies and the Political
Implications of Mongol Imperial Marriage............................................31
Chapter Four: Mongolian Marriage Custom and Sinicization......................41
Chapter Five: The Social Position of Mongol Women and the
Political Involvement of Mongolian Empresses.....................................55
Chapter Six: “Two-way” Marriages: Marriages between the Mongolian
Royal Family and Dei-sechan’s Clan of the Onggirat Tribe..................93
Chapter Seven: “Two-way” Marriages: Marriages between the
Mongolian Royal Family and the Ikires Tribe.....................................119
Chapter Eight: “Two-way” Marriages: Marriages between the Mongolian
Royal Family and the Oirat Tribe.........................................................127
Chapter Nine: “One-Way” Marriages: The Imperial Marriages
between the Mongol Royal Family and the Öngüt Tribe.....................149
Chapter Ten: “One-way” Marriages: The Imperial Marriages between
the Mongol Royal Clan and the Uighur Idug-qut’s Clan.....................163
Chapter Eleven: “One-way” Marriage: Royal Marriages between
the Mongol Yuan and Koryŏ................................................................179
Chapter Twelve: Conclusion.......................................................................207
-viii- Mongolian Royal Marriages
Appendix I: Sources for Mongolian Studies...............................................229
Appendix II: Biographies of Empresses and Imperial Concubines
(Hou Fei Zhuan)–Yuanshi Volumes 114, 116......................................237
Appendix III: Reign Periods of Mongol Khans and Yuan Emperors.........263
Appendix IV: Genealogical Tables of the Mongol Royal Clan..................267
Glossary......................................................................................................285
Bibliography...............................................................................................301
Index...........................................................................................................311

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