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Yesün Temür (Yuan dynasty)

emperor of the Yuan Dynasty

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ8560 ↗
Source-derived summary

Yesün Temür (Mongolian: Есөн Төмөр ᠶᠢᠰᠦᠨ ᠲᠡᠮᠦᠷ; Chinese: 也孫鐵木兒, 1293 – August 15, 1328) was a great-grandson of Kublai Khan and an emperor of the Yuan dynasty from 1323 to 1328. Apart from being Emperor of China, he is regarded as the 10th Khagan of the Mongol Empire, although it was only nominal due to the division of the empire. In Chinese historiography, Yesün Temür, who was very fond of the traditional ways of the Mongols, is commonly known as the Taiding Emperor of Yuan (Chinese: 元泰定帝) based on his first era name. His name means "nine iron" in the Mongolian language.

He was probably the emperor visited by the Franciscan friar Odoric, who left an excellent record of his travels.

Early life

Yesün Temür was born in Mongolia in 1293 to Gammala, the eldest son of Zhenjin, who was presumed heir to his father Kublai Khan. Gammala was appointed as Jinong (jinwang, 晉王) in 1292 after Zhenjin's death, but he lost the race for successor to his younger brother Temür. Khanship was assumed by Temür, Darmabala, and their sons and grandson, so Gammala and his son Yesün Temür were out of the race. As Jinong, Gammala ruled the Mongolian steppe north of the Gobi Desert and enshrined Genghis Khan in the Four Great Ordo. In 1302 Gammala died and Yesün Temür took over as Jinong.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Yesün Temür (Yuan dynasty)” is emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Yesün, Temür and Yuan, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1293, 1328, 1323, 1292—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1293-11-28. For this dossier, Yesün, Temür and Yuan is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “emperor of the Yuan Dynasty” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8560. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1293, 1328, 1323 and 1292.

Critical limits

Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
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Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Yesün Temür (Yuan dynasty)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Yesün Temür (Yuan dynasty) primary sources, Yesün Temür (Yuan dynasty) archive and Yesün research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
  3. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Yesün Temür (Yuan dynasty)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.