Leiden University Student Repository

Oostveen, Jasper Lucas (2020)

Barbarians, Emperors, Patrons: Prejudiced Views and Ulterior Motives in Chinese and Tibetan History Writing about the Mongol Conquests

Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)

This thesis assesses several 13th- and 14th-century Chinese and Tibetan histories which detail the Mongol conquests of these regions, scanning their contents and form for subjective views by their respective authors. It finds that Tibetan historians, for several reasons, do not detail fighting or military expeditions in Tibet itself. Chinese authors, on the other hand, use their writing about the Mongols for several historic apologetics, as well as pejorative remarks against the Mongols themselves or other peoples, such as the Jurchen. In all, this topic remains vastly understudied and requires the attention of more scholars.

Mongol conquests

Tibetan history

Song dynasty

Jin dynasty

Yuan dynasty

Chinese historiography

subjective history

Sakya

Author

Oostveen, Jasper Lucas

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Verhagen, Peter

ECTS Credits

25

Language

en