A monumental illustrated survey of the architecture of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century China

The Yuan dynasty endured for a century, leaving behind an architectural legacy without equal, from palaces, temples, and pagodas to pavilions, tombs, and stages. With a history enlivened by the likes of Khubilai Khan and Marco Polo, this spectacular empire spanned the breadth of China and far, far beyond, but its rulers were Mongols. Yuan presents the first comprehensive study in English of the architecture of China under Mongol rule.

In this richly illustrated book, Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt looks at cities such as the legendary Shangdu—inspiration for Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Xanadu—as well as the architecture the Mongols encountered on their routes of conquest. She examines the buildings and monuments of diverse faiths in China during the period, from Buddhist and Daoist to Confucian, Islamic, and Christian, as well as unusual structures such as observatories, archways, stone and metal buildings, and sarcophaguses. Steinhardt dispels long-standing views of the Mongols as destroyers of cities and architecture across Asia, showing how the khans and their families built more than they tore down. She demonstrates that the stipulations of the Chinese building system were powerful and resilient enough to guide the architecture that rose under Mongolian rule.

Drawing on Steinhardt’s groundbreaking textual research in numerous languages as well as her pioneering fieldwork at sites across East Asia, Yuan will become the standard reference on this critical period of cultural and artistic exchange.

"Winner of the Architectural History Book Award, Booklaunch"
"This groundbreaking survey provides a comprehensive and richly illustrated study of Chinese architecture from the 13th and 14th centuries, a period of Mongol rule. . . . [Yuan] is a rich repository of textual and visual sources, including maps, architectural plans, drawings, decorations, structures, mural paintings, and sculptures. It will serve as an indispensable reference for those researching and studying Yuan architecture and history." * Choice *
"Yuan: Chinese Architecture in a Mongol Empire is a monumental contribution to the study of Yuan architecture in the English language. This monograph on one of the most critical periods in the history of Asian architecture is richly layered, highly informative, and consistently rewarding for the reader. . . . [This] majestic survey. . . . will prevail as the first port of call for anyone interested in the architecture and material culture of the Mongol empire."---Jun Hu, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians

Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt is professor of East Asian art and curator of Chinese art at the University of Pennsylvania. Her many books include Chinese Architecture (Princeton), winner of the Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award, and China’s Early Mosques.