Yuan

Yuan Dynasty Script Group Members: Sophia Sobel, Logan Turbes, Pauline Hales-Brown, Trevor Ham, Jacob Cayetano, Sandy Baudoux

Script is on daily life, the Mongols will talk about how it rose, the Chinese will talk about how it ended. One non-tax Mongol one non tax collaborator 2 northern Chinese, 2 southern collaborators Chinese.

‍‍Jacob is a non-taxed Mongol Sophia (Northern Chinese 2) and Sandy (Northern Chinese 1) are northern Chinese Logan (Southern Chinese 1) and Pauline (Southern Chinese 2) are southern Chinese Trevor is a non-taxed foreign collaborator/ civil service member (government official) ‍‍

Props: Chinese clothing, Turkish clothing, tablecloth, paper money, abacus, bricks?

** (Counting paper money, using abacus) **

** Mongol and Turk: (muttering numbers, counting money) **

** Mongol: ** We've come a long way since the Yuan dynasty was founded by Kublai Khan.

** Turk: ** Even before Kublai Khan: his grandfather, the great (shakes fist) Mongol leader Genghis Khan (pronounced Jenghis Khan).

Mongol: But it was Kublai Khan who fought against the Song for 40 long years until he finally established this great Yuan dynasty in 1279.

Turk: He was smart. When Kublai Khan ruled and founded the Yuan dynasty, he needed a way to please the Chinese but keep power in Mongol hands. To make this possible, Kublai Khan kept the civil-service bureaucracy, which required passing difficult exams in order to work for the government. But he opened it up to Turkish folk like me as well as other foreigners keep the political power out of Chinese hands.

Change scenes

Northern Chinese 2: Our leaders do not understand us at all, they are completely different. Northern Chinese 1: Exactly, th ey are the complete opposites of us. We are even a different ethnic group! Southern Chinese 1: We speak different languages and worship different gods. Southern Chinese 2: We wear different clothing and have different customs. Southern Chinese 1: How can Mongols be our leaders if they do not even understand us? Northern Chinese 2: They are simply rude and uncivilized. We are not even allowed to walk outside after sunset. Plus, we are required to build public projects just because they want us to. Southern Chinese 2: We have helped build palaces and new roads, including rebuilding the Silk Road.You both (point to Sophia and sandy) have it easier than us being northern Chinese. Northern Chinese 1: I agree, being southern Chinese must be hard, you are on the bottom of the social hierarchy, which is very strict. However, I am glad the Mongols do not force either of us to adopt their ways of life. They even adopted our religion – Confucianism.

Change scene

Mongol: You know, this Confucianism idea doesn't seem so bad. Many of my kin have already adopted it even though it is part of Chinese culture. Turk: However, the government must make sure that Confucian scholars do not get much power. Mongol: Yes, there must not be any power available to the Chinese. And yet, they are useful to us. Their money paid towards taxes has been used to build many roads, palaces, and even to extend the Grand Canal. And it is the Chinese who are put to work on these projects. Turk: Say, did you see that Italian merchant come through here? His name is Marco Polo. Mongol: Ah, yes. Quite an adventurer, I'm told. Hopefully he will speak highly of our empire.

Change scenes

Northern Chinese 2: They are so greedy! They make us pay so much taxes. Southern Chinese 1: They are so greedy that they are not even content with their large amount of land. Northern Chinese 1: I cannot believe they sailed to Japan, how foolish. Southern Chinese 2: Of course their ridiculous invasion was disastrous. Northern Chinese 1: Not just warriors but storms weakened their defenses. Southern Chinese 1: The empire was already weak, the public projects cost so much money and all of us Chinese hate them. Southern Chinese 2: Maybe, we could rebel. With the weak empire anything could make the dynasty fall. Northern Chinese 2: I agree, it might actually work and us Chinese could take back our empire.

(Whispering)

Link to Transitions

Narrator (Transitions group): Turns out many other Chinese had the same idea. Eventually in 1368, a former monk named Zhu Yuan Zhang took charge of the rebellion and led the Chinese to victory over the Mongols. China was once again ruled by the Chinese, leading to the Ming dynasty.