Convergence and Entanglement: Reconsidering the Mongol Architectural Narrative

Among nearly four hundred buildings that survive from the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), or the period of Mongolian rule in China, less than 1 percent have features that sharply distinguish them from the rest. Five of these are a pagoda, a mosque, an observatory, a mausoleum, and a rock-carved site. Previous research has cited the pagoda, minaret, and observatory as evidence for the infiltration of foreign architecture into China during this period. This study reexamines those buildings, demonstrating that although they are so distinctive one might refer to them as anomalies, none includes features that were not already part of the long-established repertoire of Chinese building. This study turns to the processes of convergence and entanglement as both metaphor and methodological framework to help explain how these structures took form.