The Legend of Kublai Khan

The series, spanning over 70 years, romanticises the life of Kublai Khan and the events leading to the establishment of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in China.

Kublai was born in 1215 as a son of Tolui, the fourth son of Genghis Khan. At the time, Töregene, the wife of Ögedei (Genghis Khan's third son), sees Tolui as a potential threat to her husband. As Tolui gains more glory for his victories in battle, Töregene worries whether Genghis Khan will choose Ögedei to be his successor. She also feels uneasy because the young Kublai is highly favoured by his grandfather.

Ögedei eventually succeeds his father as the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. After Töregene secretly poisons Tolui to death, Tolui's sons, under the leadership of their eldest brother Möngke, seek to avenge their father. Töregene plans to use this opportunity to frame Möngke and his brothers of plotting treason against Ögedei, and thereby get rid of Tolui's clan. At this critical juncture, Kublai and his mother, Sorghaghtani, manage to convince his brothers not to do anything rash. Instead, they would secretly build up their forces, lie low and wait until the time is ripe to take revenge.

Following Ögedei's death, Töregene becomes the Regent of the Mongol Empire for some years until her son, Güyük, is elected as the new Great Khan. When Güyük dies in a conflict against his cousin Batu, his wife Qaimish takes over as the Regent for a brief period of time until Möngke becomes the new Great Khan.

A few years later, after Möngke dies in a battle against the Song Empire at Diaoyu Fortress, Kublai and his younger brother Ariq Böke engage in a power struggle to seize the succession. Kublai eventually overcomes his brother and secures his position as the Great Khan after defeating all his rivals. He conquers the rest of China and establishes the Yuan dynasty, becoming its founding emperor.

The Legend of Kublai Khan was produced at a cost of about 150 million yuan.[3]

The Legend of Kublai Khan won the Golden Angel Award for Outstanding Television Series and Best Director of Chinese TV Series at the 2013 Chinese American Film Festival.[4]

The Legend of Kublai Khan was released under the title The Genius of War – Kublai (打仗天才忽必烈) when it was aired on Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS) in July 2013. Apparently, this was done without the approval of the producers, and the reason behind the renaming is believed to be that HBS wanted to attract higher viewership. Director Tsui Siu-ming and lead actor Hu Jun expressed unhappiness over the renaming; Hu even wrote on his weibo, "Who changed the title? What genius of war?", and added an angry emoticon.[3]

• (in Chinese) The Legend of Kublai Khan on Sina.com