High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The second major thrust of Christianity into China occurred during the thirteenth century. The Mongols, under the leadership of Genghis Khan, began reaching outward from Central Asia, invading neighbouring countries and incorporating them into an empire that at its height included northern China and extended westward to Persia, Mesopotamia and parts of Eastern Europe. The empire was later divided into 4 major divisions, and the eastern-most one was the Yuan Dynasty, which ruled all of China from 1279 to 1368. A political bridge was thereby provided that surmounted the vast wasteland of Asia and eventually brought China into direct contact with Western Christianity.