Operation of the Yuan Dynasty's Tibetan Administrative System (around 1304)

Timeline

1. 1304Xuanzheng Yuan, Dadu · Yuan dynastyIn 1304, the Yuan dynasty's Xuanzheng Yuan, as a central institution, coordinated Tibetan Buddhist affairs and local administration. Its commissioners and the Imperial Preceptor worked together to formulate policy, hear appeals from Tibetan monks and laypeople, and transmit edicts and administrative directives to Ü-Tsang through the postal relay system.
2. 1304Sakya · TibetBased in Sakya, the Ü-Tsang Pacification Commission, under the direction of the Imperial Preceptor, managed local administration across the Thirteen Myriarchies. The Pacification Commissioner was responsible for collecting taxes, assigning postal relay labor service, and mediating disputes between monks and laypeople; Sakya school monastic officials and secular myriarchs jointly maintained local order, with the Yuan court retaining final adjudicatory authority.
3. 1304Postal relay route from the Hexi Corridor to Tibet · Hexi CorridorIn 1304 the Yuan dynasty reached a peace agreement with the Chagatai Khanate (the Guiwei Alliance), easing military pressure in the northwest. The Yuan court was thereby able to strengthen material supply and administrative projection into Tibet; the postal relay route from the Hexi Corridor to Lhasa remained open, and the Yuan system of governing Tibet entered a period of relatively stable operation.