Why is it said that there was a counterexample to the monarchy in the Yuan Dynasty?

The counterexample of monarchy in the Yuan Dynasty was mainly due to some special features in national governance in the Yuan Dynasty.

First, the Yuan Dynasty implemented a provincial system, dividing the vast territory into multiple provinces and appointing officials to manage them.

This decentralized governance limited the power of the monarchy to a certain extent.

Under the provincial system, the emperor's power was dispersed to officials in each province, making it impossible for the emperor to fully control national affairs like in other dynasties.

Secondly, the Yuan Dynasty further developed centralization of power on the basis of inheriting the Song Dynasty.

During the reign of Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, he implemented a series of policies to strengthen centralization, such as weakening the power of local officials and strengthening central financial control.

Although these policies strengthened the power of the central government, they also limited the autocratic power of the monarch to a certain extent.

Finally, the monarchs of the Yuan Dynasty further implemented the feudal system on the basis of inheriting the Song Dynasty.

Under this system, the monarch needs to work with the nobles to govern the country, and cannot act arbitrarily like in other dynasties.

This also provided a certain social basis for the counterexample of the Yuan Dynasty’s monarchy.

Therefore, it can be said that the counterexample of monarchy in the Yuan Dynasty was mainly due to its special state governance method and feudal system, which limited the monarch's power to a certain extent.