Author: Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt
The Yuan dynasty endured for a century, leaving behind an architectural legacy without equal, from palaces, temples, and pagodas to pavilions, tombs, and stages.
With a history enlivened by the likes of Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, this spectacular empire spanned the breadth of China and far, far beyond, but its rulers were Mongols.
“Yuan” presents the first comprehensive study in English of the architecture of China under Mongol rule.
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt looks at cities such as the legendary Shangdu as well as the architecture the Mongols encountered on their routes of conquest.
She examines the buildings and monuments of diverse faiths in China during the period, from Buddhist and Daoist to Confucian, Islamic, and Christian, as well as unusual structures. Steinhardt dispels long-standing views of the Mongols as destroyers of cities and architecture across Asia, showing how the khans and their families built more than they tore down.
