From c. 1215 to 1368 China was part of the world empire of the Mongols, and during this period underwent many changes as the country was opened up to external influences - demographic, linguistic, religious, socio-economic.

Contents: Preface; Chinese historiography under Mongol rule: the role of history in acculturation; Some remarks on Yang Yÿ and his Shan-chÿ hsin-hua; Some sinological remarks on Rasîd ad-dîn's history of China; From tribal chieftain to universal emperor and god: The legitimation of the Yÿan Dynasty; Could the Mongol emperors read and write Chinese?; Women under the dynasties of conquest; Sino-Western contacts under the Mongol empire; Tibetans in Yÿan China; The exploration of the Yellow river sources under emperor Qubilai in 1281; Wang Yÿn (1227-1304): a transmitter of Chinese values; Sha-lo-pa (1259-1314), a Tangut Buddhist monk in Yÿan China; Tan-pa, a Tibetan Lama at the court of the Great Khans; A Sino-Uighur family portrait: notes on a woodcut from Turfan; Index.