One of the most striking features of Chinese history has been that, although it has been invaded from the north many times – notably by the Mongols in the thirteenth century and the Manchu in the seventeenth – all invaders, bar the Mongols (whose rule lasted less than a century) sought to acquire, once secure in power, the customs and values of the Chinese and to rule according to their principles and their institutions: a testament to the prestige enjoyed by the Chinese and the respect accorded to their civilization by their northern adversaries.
