ABSTRACT
The Yuan Dynasty is unique among Chinese dynasties because it was but part of a larger empire, and because it was the first time that non-Chinese ruled all of China. Yuan is often treated as a low point in Chinese imperial history, but the Mongols introduced many new institutions and practices that set the stage for the emergence of later states. Ayurbarwada was less successful in reforming other parts of the Yuan bureaucracy, especially the rights and grants of titles to Mongol imperial princes that had been lavishly doled out by his predecessor Khaishan. One of the most important features of the Yuan state was the high level of administrative duplication at both the central court and in the provinces. Law in Yuan China, like other aspects of that society, was a hybrid that combined nomadic and Chinese customs and practices.
