Kublai Khan bans Mongol control of Confucian exams

1286

After a protracted debate at court, Kublai allowed the reorganization of imperial examinations but reserved high posts for Mongols and Central Asians. Chinese literati were effectively shut out of top office, a grievance that would fester throughout the Yuan dynasty. The frustrated scholars turned to painting, poetry, and theater, producing some of the finest Chinese landscape art and the first great Chinese operas.