The Mongols controlled China under Kublai Khan in 1260 CE. A plague hit central China and around the 1340’s and 50 percent of the population died. It appears that it was probably the Black Death that was in Europe around the same time and the inability of the Mongol rulers to deal effectively with this disaster caused peasant revolts and led to the rise of the famous Ming dynasty.

(The Great Courses – From Yao to Mao: 5000 years of Chinese History)