There are many dynasties in Chinese history, including the Qin, Han, Western Jin, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, all of which reunified China after the chaos of the world.
Among these great unified dynasties, the largest dynasties are probably the Tang and Yuan dynasties and the Qing dynasty, of which the Yuan and Qing dynasties are the few large unified dynasties founded by non-Han foreigners.
The largest area during the Tang Dynasty was 12.37 million square kilometers, and the largest territory during the Qing Dynasty was in 1820, that is, the 25th year of Jiaqing, when the territory of the Qing Dynasty stretched from the sea in the east, to the Green Ridge in the west, to the Zengmu Shoal in the south, to the Outer Xing'an Ridge in the north, to Lake Balkash in the northwest, and to Sakhalin Island in the northeast, totaling 13.16 million square kilometers, making it the largest country in the world, the largest population, the strongest and most prosperous country in the world at that time.
But if you only talk about the area, the Yuan Dynasty can have something to say, it is the first to be afraid that no one can object, the largest land area during the Yuan Dynasty is 13.72 million square kilometers, the Yuan Dynasty is the first unified dynasty established by ethnic minorities, the ruler is Xiao'er only Jin clan, the founder is Xiao'er only Jin Kublai Khan, in 1271 AD fixed the name of the country.
The Yuan Dynasty was not called the Yuan Dynasty at the beginning, its predecessor was the Mongol Empire, and its founder was Xiao'er Jin Timujin, that is, we know Genghis Khan, under the southern conquest and northern war of Genghis Khan and his successors, the Mongol Empire was much larger than the Yuan Dynasty, almost 33 million square kilometers.
It is worth mentioning that the entire area of Asia is only 44.57 million square kilometers, it can be said that the Mongol Empire ruled almost the entire Asia, in the process of the Mongol army conquest everywhere, the Mongols were affectionately called by Westerners "the whip of God".
The four khanates were dominated by the Great Khanate of the Central Plains, but after the death of Yuanxianzong Meng Ge Khan in Diaoyutai, Sichuan, this situation was broken, Meng Ge Khan died, but there were two heirs with inheritance, namely Meng Ge Khan's two younger brothers, Ali Buge and Kublai Khan.
The Kipchak Khanate, the Wokotai Khanate, and the Chagatai Khanate, three of the four major khanates, supported Ali Buko, but another heir, Kublai Khan, supported him only by the Ilkhanate in Western Asia.
The position of the Great Khan was vacant, and both heirs wanted to sit on this throne, so a fierce battle broke out between them, and Kublai Khan, in order to win the support of the emperor, had to recognize the legal right of the Empress of Shuchi to Beerge, the Empress of Chagatai Arukhu and Bara, and the sixth brother Xu Lieqiu over their respective fiefs.
After five years of civil war, Kublai Khan defeated Ali Buge and ascended the throne, but the division of the khanates was irretrievable, and the four khanates had become "soil emperors" who did not listen to the announcement, but nominally regarded the Yuan Dynasty as the suzerain.
The Mongol Empire did not have a unified regime, but it accelerated the Sinicization of the Mongol Empire, because Kublai Khan was originally in charge of the Han land and had an unusual favorable impression of Han culture, and in 1271 AD, Kublai Khan decreed that the name of the country be changed to Yuan, and in February of the following year, the capital was changed to Dadu, and the capital was built here.
Although the Mongol Empire was divided, the sovereign state of the Yuan Dynasty still held a huge territory of 13.72 million square kilometers, with territory stretching from the Arctic Ocean in the north, the Korean Peninsula in the east, the Pamir Plateau in the west, and northeastern Burma and northern Thailand in the south, with a total area of 4.12 million square kilometers larger than present-day China.
Even though he had a huge territory, in fact, Kublai Khan was not willing, and was still trying to restore the inheritance of the Mongol Empire and the ambition of expeditions to expand the territory, but after a lifetime of energy, it was unsuccessful, and the war with the Mongol nobles not only did not submit to them, but became more and more estranged, and finally only maintained their actual rule areas.
According to the map of the Yuan Dynasty, the territory of the Yuan Dynasty mainly includes two countries, namely China and Russia, Russia is the larger part of Siberia, and this land has always been a small part of the Central Plains Dynasty that does not care much, in addition to Myanmar and a small part of many countries in the Indochina Peninsula, North Korea also has a part, Sikkim, Bhutan, Kashmir and other regions are also included.
It is true that the Yuan Dynasty is the largest dynasty in the history of the mainland, but it is not the dynasty with the highest effective use of territory, and since the Yuan Dynasty broke away from the Mongol Empire, it began to accept the Sinicized rule of the Central Plains Dynasty, but the evolution process was still due to the intensification of internal problems, and then it was helpless to withdraw from the ruling circle.