Genghis Khan's daughter was captured by Chinese soldiers during the siege of Wu-Yue. He demanded her return and when he got it, he killed every Chinese soldier and diplomat in Mongolia. When the Chinese emperor refused to punish those responsible, he unleashed the Mongol hordes on China.

I've seen this anecdote cited countless times as an example of the ferocity and brutality of the Mongol war machine. That's true enough, but it's also a great example of the massive cultural difference between the Mongols and the Chinese.<br><br>The Chinese saw Genghis Khan as just another Chinese rebel leader. They saw his soldiers as bandits or barbarians, rather than a highly disciplined fighting force.<br><br>The Chinese had never seen the likes of Genghis Khan. They were used to dealing with Chinese rebels. They had never heard of the concept of "defeat is not an option" or "victory at all costs", because Chinese culture was more accepting of defeat than Mongol culture. This was a cultural disconnect that the Chinese would never be able to understand. It would become apparent to them later.<br><br>The Chinese had a long history of putting rebels back in power after they had been defeated. They saw the Mongols as just another group of rebels who needed to be brought in line. <br><br>The Chinese were used to dealing with tribal leaders in a patron-client state, where the tribal leader would be the local vassal of the emperor. The Chinese didn't know how to deal with a warlord who commanded loyalty at all costs and would stop at nothing to win his wars. <br><br>To put this in perspective, consider the way that the Chinese dealt with the 8 Trigrams Rebellion, which occurred 200 years earlier than the time of Genghis Khan. The 8 Trigrams Rebellion was the largest and most important rebellion of the Song Dynasty, with the rebels occupying the capital for two years before being defeated. The leaders of the rebellion were beheaded, but their followers were forgiven by the emperor and allowed to return to their homes. Many of them would eventually be given important positions in the Song government.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>The Chinese did not understand the importance of Genghis Khan. They saw him as just another rebel leader, rather than the great warlord that he was. They saw his soldiers as bandits, rather than as a highly disciplined fighting force. They underestimated him and the loyalty he inspired in his soldiers.<br><br>Genghis Khan, on the other hand, saw the Chinese as weak, decadent and decadiously cruel. He saw them as morally corrupt and spiritually weak. He had no problem killing hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians, or strangling the Chinese economy by burning their supply lines and destroying their trade networks.<br><br>This was a clash of cultures that would never be understood by either side.