YUAN DYNASTY PERIOD PIRACY The Mongol Yuan Dynasty, curiously
enough, given that this was what many Han Chinese at the time
felt was a backward culture compared tos their highly advanced –
in every respect, or so they believed – Confucian-Chinese
culture, was very open toward outside influences. This is one of
the most complimentary legacies of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.
Though they were Lamaists (Tibetan Buddhists), the Mongol rulers
of China were open toward people of other faiths, including
Nestorian Christians and Muslims – in fact, promoting many
Muslims to high-ranking positions within the civil
administration, and giving Muslims as well as Nestorian
Christians free reign to recruit followers, as best they could,
among the otherwise rather steadfast Chinese Buddhists, as
Buddhism was by far the majority religion in China at the time
(it still is, of course!). The Mongols were also open to the
many foreign trade legations that arrived in Dadu, the city
built by the Mongols on the ruins of the former capita