Hsu Heng's (1209--1281) role in the development of Chinese institution and culture under the Mongol rule

In the late thirteenth-century, when the Mongol troops invaded and eventually subjugated the Sung territory, the history of China turned into a new chapter. To save their country and culture, many Chinese intellectuals managed to persuade the Mongol rulers to adopt Chinese-style administration. Among these intellectuals, Hsü Heng (1209–1281) was one of most outstanding. He advocated the use of “Chinese methods” as the major tool to govern the state. He was the principal contributor to the popularization of Chu Hsi's teachings in the Yüan time. His contribution to the revival of the education system, especially the establishment of the National College, gave birth to new generations of government officials. His influence on the adoption of Neo-Confucian teachings as the substance of examination also helped to form a highly centralized government that appeared in the Ming and the Ch'ing. All in all, Hsü Heng's contribution to early Mongol-Yüan China embodied the true spirit of a Confucian intellectual. And by virtue of the opportunity provided by Khubilai, Hsü Heng preserved the succession of the Confucian way, and went down into history as the most outstanding statesman, educator and intellectual in thirteenth-century China.; This study attempts to examine the role Hsü Heng played in the establishment of Chinese-style institution. It also attempts to unveil the life and career of a genuine Confucian intellectual who committed himself to the revival of the Confucian Way and to the conversion of alien rulers to the civilized world of the Chinese.