Chinese sources about the Mongol Tatars
I was seen and the sea and the mountains in the battle
with numerous knights of Turan.
What did I do - the star is my witness!
Rashid ad-Din. "Jami 'at-tavarikh"
with numerous knights of Turan.
What did I do - the star is my witness!
Rashid ad-Din. "Jami 'at-tavarikh"
Contemporaries of the Mongols.
Among the many sources of information about the conquests of the Mongols, the Chinese occupy a special place. But it should be emphasized that there are a lot of them. There are Mongolian, Chinese, Arab, Persian, Armenian, Georgian, Byzantine (yes, there are such!), Serbian, Bulgarian, Polish sources. There are also burials in which characteristic arrowheads and other weapons are found. Only one Penza Zolotarevka is worth, how much has everything been found and continues to find ...
Fight of the Mongolian horse units. Illustration from the manuscript "Jami 'at-tavarih", XIV century. (State Library, Berlin)
Chinese sources report ...
After Persian sources we turn to Chinese sources. In theory, it should be the other way around, but the book by Rashid ad-Din is already very well written, and besides, I came across the first one, which is why we started with it.
Sources of Chinese authors are also very interesting. And not only can they give their researchers a very extensive material on stories both Chinese and Mongolian peoples, but allow many details to clarify. In particular, the evidence of the same Persian and Arab chroniclers. That is, we are dealing with cross-references to the same event, which, of course, is very important for the historian. At present, the value of Chinese sources containing information about Mongolia of the XIII century and other countries of the empire of Genghis Khan is generally recognized. Another thing is that our Russian researchers find it difficult to study. You need to know Chinese and Uygur languages, and at that time, you need to have access to these sources, so that there access is trivial money to live in China and have the opportunity to work with them. And the same goes for the possibility of working in the Vatican library. You need to know medieval Latin and ... it’s commonplace to have money, pay for food and accommodation. And the outright poverty of our scholars historians simply does not allow all this. Therefore, one has to be content with earlier translations and with what was done in a centralized manner by historians of the RAS RAS, as well as translations of European researchers in their own languages, which ... also need to know and know well!
Page "The Secret Legends of the Mongols." In the left columns is the Chinese transcription of the Mongolian language, and in the right - a translation into Chinese and a glossary. China, 1908
Moreover, if the works of Plano Karpini, Guillaume Rubruk and Marco Polo were repeatedly published in many different languages, then books in Chinese are practically inaccessible to the general mass of readers. That is - "they simply do not exist." That is why many people say that, no, they say, there are no sources on the history of the Mongols. Although in reality they exist.
Let's start with the fact that the oldest known today essay, which is specifically devoted to the Mongols, is "Men-da Bei-lu" (or translated as "Full description of the Mongol-Tatars"). This is a note by the Ambassador of the Empire of Song or Song Chao, a state in China that existed from 960 to 1279 for the year and fell under the blows of the Mongols. And not just Song, but Southern Song - since the history of Song is divided into the Northern and Southern periods, associated with the transfer of the capital of the state from north to south, where it was transferred after the conquest of northern China by the Jurchen in 1127 year. South Song fought them first, and then the Mongols, but they were conquered by the year of 1280.
Battle of Badr. A miniature from the manuscript of "Jami 'at-tavarih" 1653 (Topkapi Museum).
Ambassadors Spies and Monks Travelers
In this note, Zhao Hong, the South Korean ambassador to northern China, who was already under the rule of the Mongols at that time, informs his superiors in detail about everything that he saw there and that at least had some significance. The note was written in 1221 year. The presentation is clearly structured and divided into small domes: “Establishment of the state”, “Beginning of the elevation of the Tatar ruler”, “Name of the dynasty and years of government”, “Princes and princes”, “Generals and honored officials”, “Trusted ministers”, “Military affairs "," Horse breeding "," Provisions "," Military campaigns "," Position system "," Manners and customs "," Military equipment and weapon, Ambassadors, Sacrifices, Women, Feasts, Dances, and Music. That is, we have the very real “spy report” in which its author described almost all aspects of the life of the Mongols. He also reports important information about Mukhali, the governor of Genghis Khan in North China and his closest circle. Among other things, from this message, we can learn that the Mongols on the ground widely attracted local cadres of Chinese officials and those ... actively collaborated with the conquerors!
Meng da Bey lu was translated into Russian as early as 1859 by V.P. Vasilyev and was widely used by Russian historians who wrote about the Mongols. But today we need a new translation, which would be deprived of the identified shortcomings.
The second valuable source is “Chang-chun jen-jen si-yu ji” (“Note on the journey to the West of the righteous man of Chang-chun”) or simply “si yu chi”. This is a travel diary of the Taoist monk Qiu Chu-ji (1148 — 1227), who is better known as Chang-chun. He was led by one of his students, Li Chih-chan.
It was discovered in 1791, and it was first published in 1848. The diary contains observations on the life of the population of those countries that visited Chang-chun with their students, including Mongolia.
Honoring the Mongol ruler. A miniature from the manuscript of Jami 'at-Tavarih (State Library, Berlin).
“Hay-da Shi-lue” (“Brief Information about Black Tatars”) - this source also represents travel notes, but only two Chinese diplomats. One was called Peng Da-ya, the other was Xu Ting. They were members of the diplomatic missions of the state of Southern Song and visited Mongolia and the court of Khan Ogedei. Returning back, Xu Ting edited these travel notes in 1237, however, they did not reach us in their original form, but came to the editorial offices of some Yal Tzu 1557 of the year published in 1908. Messages of these two travelers cover a wide range of issues, including the economic life of the Mongols, their appearance, the life of the nobility and court etiquette. They also described the hunt by the Mongols, noting that this is a good preparation for war. Xu Ting talks in great detail about the crafts of the Mongols and, quite understandably, the recruitment of Mongolian troops, their weapons, describes their military tactics, that is, these so-called "ambassadors" not only performed their representative functions, but also collected intelligence information , but it must always be very accurate.
“Sheng-u qin-cheng lu” (“Description of personal campaigns of the sacred-militant [emperor Chinggis]”) a source relating to the epoch of government of both Genghis Khan and Ugdei. Found it at the end of the XVIII century, but because of the complexity of the translation from the language of the XIII century for a long time did not pay much attention. As a result, it was prepared for publication only in 1925 - 1926, and extensive comments were made on the translation. However, this source has not yet been fully translated into Russian, and therefore has not been fully investigated!
Ilhan. A miniature from the manuscript of Jami 'at-Tavarih (State Library, Berlin).
The most important Mongolian source!
“Mongol-un niucha tobchan” (“The Secret Legend of the Mongols” - the most important source on the early history of the Mongols, the discovery of which was closely related to Chinese historiography. Initially, the “Legend ...” was written with the help of the Uygur alphabet borrowed by the Mongols in the early XIII century. but it came to us in writing in Chinese characters and with an interlinear translation of all Mongolian words and a shortened translation of all its parts already into Chinese. This source is very interesting, but also very complex for a number of reasons. To argue that everything is discussed in it, starting from the question of authorship and the date of writing and right up to the very name. There is a debate among specialists and a question whether it is a complete work or is it only part of a larger work and whether it appeared before or after Khan Udegeya. So today, even the date of writing this document requires additional research involving all well-known Chinese and Korean, as well as Persian sources, which, of course, can be done only by a large team of specialists by means of medication. The content of this monument itself gives grounds to believe that it was written (or recorded) in the form of the story of one of the old nukers of Genghis Khan, made in the year of “Mouse” (according to the Mongolian calendar) during a kurultai on the r. Kerulen. And for some reason this kurultay was not recorded in official sources. Interestingly, indirectly, this indicates its authenticity. Since all the dates of the kurultais are known, it would be easiest to be if it were a fake, attach it to one of them, which, however, was not done. But the exact dating is perhaps the most important task of any falsifier, and why it is so clear without much discussion. By the way, the translation by A.S. Kozina (1941) in Russian on the Internet is available ...
Khubilai Khan's letter to the shogun of Japan, dated 8 in the month of 1266. (Tadai-ji, Nara, Japan)
In China, the “Secret Legend of the Mongols” has long been retained as part of the “Yun-le da Dian”. It was an extensive compilation of 60 chapters in the table of contents and 22 877 chapters directly in the text of the works of various ancient and medieval authors, which was compiled in Nanjing in 1403 - 1408. Many chapters of this work died in Beijing in 1900, during the “Boxer Rebellion,” but the Russian Sinology researcher P. I. Kafarov acquired separate lists of this document in 1872, and then translated it into Russian. And in 1933, he was returned to China in the form of a photocopy from the original, which is now kept in the Eastern Department of the Gorky Scientific Library at Leningrad University. However, only after the Second World War, this document became widespread in the world scientific community. By the way, the first complete translation into English was made by Francis Woodman Cleaves only in 1982. However, in English the name of this source sounds not so vividly, but in a much more prosaic way - “The Secret History of the Mongols”.
Khubilai, Emperor of the Mongol Yuan Empire (1215-1294)
Legal documents
The time of the Mongolian domination in China left a large number of purely legal documents that are now combined into collections: “Yes Yuan sheng-cheng go-chao dian-chang” - an abbreviated version of “Yuan dian-chang” (“Establishment of the Yuan dynasty”) and “Tung-chzhi chao-ge” - again two large compilations of a multitude of works. Their exact dating is unknown, but the first one consists of documents 1260 - 1320, and the second one that appeared in 1321 - 1322. P. Kafarov met Yuan Dian-Zhang as early as 1872, but his photolithographic publication was carried out in China only in 1957. Accordingly, “Tung-chih tayo-ge” is a collection of Mongolian laws from 1323. It was published in China as early as 1930. It is clear that such primary sources are very valuable material for everyone studying the era of Mongolian rule in China.
The strife among the Mongols. Some Mongols drive others. A miniature from the manuscript of Jami 'at-Tavarih (State Library, Berlin).
On this, perhaps, it is worthwhile to dwell here, because the mere listing of all other Chinese documents on the history of the Mongols translates, if not a monograph, then into an article of so large a volume that it will simply be uninteresting for non-specialists to read. But it is important that there are many, very many such sources - hundreds of thousands of pages in different years, which is confirmed by cross-references and the content of the texts themselves. However, these documents are very difficult to study. You need to know Chinese and not just Chinese, but XIII century Chinese, and preferably also Uighur language of the same time. And who today and for what money will all this study meet in Russia, and most importantly - why! So insinuations regarding other Chinese sources, not to mention Mongolian, will continue in the future. After all, "she feeds on fables" ...
Использованная литература:
1. History of the East (in 6 t.). T. II. East in the middle ages. Moscow, publishing company "Oriental Literature" RAS, 2002.
2. Khrapachevsky P.P. Genghis Khan's Military Power. Moscow, publishing house "AST", 2005.
3. Rossabi M. Golden Age of the Mongol Empire. SPb .: Eurasia, 2009.
4. Chinese source of the first Mongol khans. The gravestone inscription on the grave of Ye-lii Chu-Cai. M .: Science, 1965.
5. Cleaves, FW, trans. The Secret History of the Mongols. Cambridge and London: Published for the Harvard-Yenching Institute by Harvard University Press, 1982.
To be continued ...
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