Why did Kublai Khan’s wars and building projects burden Chinese peasants?

Kublai Khan’s wars and extravagant building projects placed a severe and often useless burden on the Chinese peasantry, who were forced to shoulder the costs of state expenses and the maintenance of a privileged ruling class.1

The primary ways these activities impacted the peasantry included:

• Labor Demands: Peasants were frequently conscripted as laborers for the construction of the capital, Dadu, and for the repair and extension of the Grand Canal. This forced labor caused the neglect of their own farms, leading to food shortages.1
• Excessive Taxation: The Mongol ruling class and foreign auxiliaries (semuren) were exempt from taxation, leaving the bulk of the tax burden to fall upon the northern (hanren) and southern (nanren) Chinese populations.12
• Economic Exploitation: Because the Mongol elite and religious communities—such as Buddhist temples—were granted land and peasants for their upkeep, the common people became progressively poorer.1
• Disruption of Agriculture: Beyond labor demands, Mongol hunting policies forbade peasants from protecting their crops against game animals and required them to assist in hunting expeditions, which often damaged their fields.3

These policies created deep resentment, eventually fueling the economic uprisings that contributed to the collapse of the Yuan dynasty.13