Aftermath of the Fall of the Jin Dynasty (1240s)

Timeline

1. 1240–1243Kaifeng (former Jin southern capital) · HenanAfter the Jin's fall, the Central Plains endured decades of war; cities lay abandoned, farmland went untilled, and large numbers of people migrated south or were reduced to military households and bond-servants. Early Mongol rule was based chiefly on plunder and military garrisoning; local strongmen and armed separatist forces remained active, and social order was far from restored.
2. 1241–1246Yanjing (Zhongdu) · North ChinaUnder Ögedei Khan, household censuses such as the 'Yiwei household register' were carried out; Hanland officials like Yelu Chucai pressed for per-household taxation to restore revenue. In the 1240s the Mongol ruling elite wavered between steppe tradition and the Hanland commandery-county system, laying experimental groundwork for Kublai's founding of the Yuan.
3. 1244–1249Huai River–Han River line · ChinaSouthern Song did not recover the Central Plains after the Jin's fall, and instead suffered setbacks in 1234 when caught between Mongol and remnant Jin forces. In the 1240s Mongol-Song border fighting continued intermittently; the Southern Song held the Huai River line under Emperor Lizong's civil and military officials, while the Mongols, distracted by succession disputes and western campaigns, paused a full-scale attack on Song, turning the aftermath of the Jin's fall into a prolonged standoff.