Reflection of Mongolian Imperial Ideas in Medieval Japanese Sources. Part 1

Like many other Eurasian countries, Japan also became an object of Mongol aggression in XIII century. The founder of the Mongol Yuan dynasty Qubilai (1215-1294, ruled 1260-1294) tried both diplomatically and militarily to achieve its subjugation, but neither he nor his descendants were able to do so. Apparently, at first Qubilai sought only recognition of his seniority, which he needed to raise his prestige in the eyes of both the Mongols and the already conquered peoples, but later he intended to include Japan in his empire. The article discusses ideological aspects of this confrontation, during which claims of the Mongol ruler to hegemony in East Asia were manifested, modeled on the Chinese foreign policy doctrine and preserving certain elements of the steppe imperial tradition. Despite that Qubilai’s letters written in “world-building” rhetoric, have been preserved in Japanese sources, and he is actually positioned as “Son of Heaven”, for the Japanese, the Mongols and their allies were not carriers of high political ideas, but pirates and robbers. Therefore, the Japanese literature is devoid of any hints that it is necessary to submit to the Mongols world order. On the contrary, the Japanese military government managed to repel both attacks, and the widely-known typhoons were actually of secondary importance. However, a myth of kamikaze was beneficial to both sides: it justified defeat of Yuan warlords and strengthened fighting spirit of Japanese, who even more strongly believed in the divine protection of their country. In Japanese assessment of the conflict Buddhist and Shinto ideas intertwined

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