The Journey of Zhao Xian and the Exile of Royal Descendants in the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368)

The Mongol Yuan Dynasty in China was known for its cultural and ethnic diversity, as well as for the ruler’s policy of religious tolerance. Tibetan Buddhism was especially valued and favoured by the Mongol emperors. Qubilai Qan (1215–1294) had personally established the institutions of the dishi 帝師 (Imperial Preceptor) and guoshi 國師 (State Preceptor), and elevated the status of Tibetan Buddhism as the most powerful religious tradition in the Yuan Dynasty. The Sakya School (Tib. Sa skya) was the leading branch of Tibetan Buddhism throughout that period. A great wave of Tibetan Buddhist monks, many of them from the