Complete Medieval China Practice Test 2026 – Comprehensive Exam Prep

Non-Chinese individuals appointed to government posts by the Mongol rulers are described as foreign officials. During the Yuan dynasty, Mongol rulers staffed central and local administration with people from outside the ethnic Han elite—Turkic, Persian, Central Asian and other backgrounds—who were loyal to the ruler. This approach helped the Mongols govern a diverse empire and reduce the influence of the traditional Chinese scholar-official class. The other terms don’t fit as well: local nobles refer to aristocrats from the region, civil servants is a general label for government workers regardless of origin, and court eunuchs denote a palace-based group, not a broad category of non-Chinese officials.