4 - Black City

Summary

Chapter 4, “Black City” shifts from eastern and central to western Mongolia. It focuses on the only Great Yuan city for which administrative documents survive from the post-1368 period.Qara-Qoto or Black City is located in the southwestern corner of today’s Inner Mongolia. Saved from extinction by arid conditions and long centuries of neglect, the Qara-Qoto documents reveal that Great Yuan regional governance continued after 1368. Documents occasionally mention military mobilization against impending Ming attack, but most focus on daily governance. This may not seem exciting, but it reminds us that 1368 as a transformative moment was in part a narrative creation of the Ming court meant to change contemporary perceptions of both the Great Yuan and the Great Ming courts. The documents also reveal Chinggisid nobles’ ongoing importance to Great Yuan governance in Qara-Qoto and surrounding regions after 1368.