Pope in Mongolia. Khan Guyuk's message for China
Signals to China
On September 1, when Russia celebrated the Day of Knowledge, one of the most anticipated guests this year, Pope Francis, arrived in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. Francis mentioned plans to visit Mongolia at the beginning of the year, but illness played a role, as well as an obvious desire to adjust steps in the face of rapidly changing foreign policy circumstances.
Such apostolic visits are rare and should, as far as possible, take into account the balance of various forces. The last visit of the head of the Roman Catholic Church took place a year ago in Kazakhstan. It was obvious that many of the tasks set there had not been resolved, in particular, on the issue of deepening relations with China.
In this case, as in the past year, many observers also focus on the Vatican's signals specifically to China. And this is true - Francis takes a new approach to the "Chinese projectile". Another thing is how to interpret the signals given by the Vatican, and also to try to understand what can be called a "common plan", to consider them in the context of the strategies and concepts of the parties.
In fact, many Catholics came to Ulaanbaatar from China. Separately, it is worth highlighting the delegation of the Catholic Archbishop of Hong Kong S. Chou. The head of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese has long been playing the role of a kind of docking mechanism between the "Beijing" (actually appointed by the CCP of China) and the "Vatican" Catholic priests.
In Francis's speech, as well as in the set of characters that accompanied his speeches, Chinese accents are clearly visible, nevertheless, these steps of the Vatican should be considered as part of a larger strategy. Some of its aspects have already been covered in last year's material "The Pope in the steppes of Kazakhstan" and in the current, February "Why the Vatican also needs Mongolia." Many new things have happened since then, and new elements have been added to Roman strategy.
The visit of the head of the Roman Church is always symbolic, as are the events taking place against and during it. In Russia, the attitude towards symbolism in politics often has a negative, albeit implicit, connotation. Say, this is conspiracy theories and pampering of the mind, the search for coincidences where there are none. However, at the same time, these same skeptics can discuss the question for half a day: will the “manager” of our Central Bank put on another brooch or not, who demonstrated what ties at the summit, etc.
There is nothing surprising in the symbolism used by the head of one of the largest and, by the way, the oldest religious corporations, which has taken deep roots in the government of various countries. Symbols may not rule the world, as Confucius is sometimes credited with, but that doesn't mean they don't help.
Therefore, it should be noted that on the eve of the trip to Mongolia, Francis addressed students from Russia, where he spoke about the grandiose heritage of the Russian Empire and the role of such characters as Peter I and Catherine the Great.
In the Ukrainian segment, this caused at first a shock, and then a storm of emotions. But for now, we note that it is hardly accidental that Francis began the countdown in the epistle precisely from the beginning of the XNUMXth century, without including the royal period there. As we will see, this has its own meanings, by the way, not so obvious at first glance.
The theme of empires continued in Mongolia, where Francis used the now rare term "Mongolian world" or Pax Mongolica.
"This model should be appreciated and re-proposed today",
- he said.
That is, Francis proposed, it would seem, the very thesis with which the “Eurasians” have been advocating for a long time, as with a flag, as, indeed, the “imperials” - the restoration of a certain common space within the framework of Eurasian geography on the principles of cultural coexistence and respect. It is clear that this is an image, but what is the nuance?
And the fact that the pope, flying over the territory of a particular state, as if indirectly visits it. Accordingly, the Vatican sends letters of welcome to these states - a very old tradition, albeit purely European. The Chinese border and not only the plane of Francis crossed, but the Russian plane did not fly across the border. Having noted this, let's move on.
Gift
Francis did not stop at Pax Mongolica and gave the head of Mongolia a copy of the letter - the answer of the great Khan Guyuk to the message of Pope Innocent IV, which Plano Carpini brought from a trip to the east. “Today, I respectfully present an official copy of this document, made to the highest quality using cutting-edge technology, as a gift.” The pontiff also mentioned that the letter was written in "Mongolian script".
It is unlikely that the people who prepared the visit of Francis did not know that the answer of Khan Guyuk was written partly in Turkic, and mostly in Persian, and, according to V.V. could not have been the mother tongue of those who composed it. V. V. Bartold suggested that it was written by “Central Asian merchants of Turkic origin.” This is a certain evidence of the “degree of importance” with which the answer to Innocent IV was received at Guyuk’s headquarters.
The text of the letter is so interesting that it is desirable to quote some of its paragraphs in full.
“This is an order sent to the great pope so that he knows and understands it.”
“... you sent us a request for obedience, which was heard from your ambassadors. And if you act according to your words, then you, who is a great dad, come together yourself to our person, so that we make you listen to every order of Yasa at this very time.
“By the power of God, all the lands, from those where the sun rises to those where it sets, have been granted to us. No one can do anything other than God's command. Now you must say frankly: "We will become your subjects, we will give you all our property." You yourself at the head of kings, all together without exception, come to offer us service and obedience. From now on, we will consider you submitted. And if you do not follow the order of God and oppose our orders, then you will become (our) enemies.”
This is an exceptionally "friendly" answer, downright in the original "friendly" style, as they say today. Sarcasm, but why was it really necessary to focus on such a “gift”?
After all, it is clear that the text of the letter will be understood news agencies. Moreover, in the storerooms of the Vatican there are many symbolic objects of that era. The letter was returned not in the original (full refund), but as a copy, with the source preserved in the Vatican.
So to whom and why is the letter from Khan Guyuk addressed, and even with similar wording?
After all, it is clear that the next time the Roman pontiff was going to go on a long journey, and even “with all the property”, not at the head of “all the kings without exception”. By the way, on the way back, Francis hinted that, most likely, the next visit of this kind to the East would be made by his successor.
And here it is necessary to combine the flight route, passages about the Peter the Great and Catherine's era, as well as the geography of Pax Mongolica, since its period is especially emphasized as the XIII-XIV centuries. Let's take and impose the borders of Peter's and even Catherine's Russia on Pax Mongolica by the middle of the XIV century. We also add that in the second half of this period, the capital of the Mongol Empire was no longer in Karakorum, but in Shangdu and then in the area of the future Beijing.
The key to this kind of detective story, however, quite fascinating, lies in the very geopolitics, or rather, in the exchange of views between China and the Vatican with the economic circles behind the latter on the vision of the prospects for globalization. If in Yalta the influence in the post-war world was recorded by the parties on napkins as a percentage, here the dialogue proceeds through the exchange of similar symbolic “gifts”.
Let us recall the visit of Francis to Kazakhstan last year. At that time, the Central Asian "Union of Five" was still taking shape, which today already participates in all summits as the "Central Asian Five" or C5+. The leading, albeit not formally, position in this regional association was designated by Kazakhstan, and China and Francis before the SCO summit this position confirmed. But the general line of the Holy See - "Europe from Lisbon to Shanghai", the leader of the PRC did not even discuss with Francis then.
Over the past months, not only the Central Asian Five has taken shape, but China, for the first time in a long time, has described in detail the principles on which Central Asia is included in the “Communities of a Common Destiny” project. The Xi'an Declaration reaffirmed these principles, as well as project milestones and concrete steps (in detail “The China-Central Asia Summit has become extremely important for Russia”).
But the project of the "Community of a Common Destiny" itself is essentially a Chinese version of the concept of "classical globalization". This is the Chinese terms of operation with this concept. If you want, they say in Beijing, accept our conditions and adjust your “Davos models” to suit us.
We are not ready, we will wait, but this does not mean that we will not develop our direction. It was this model of Eurasian integration under the guise of the Pax Mongolica model that the head of the Vatican actually spoke about! This is exactly the model, according to Francis, and "should be appreciated and re-proposed in our day." Taking into account the indicated nuances of geography.
The letter of Khan Guyuk, strange at first glance, does not mean the Vatican's obedience to "fate", but the recognition of a special Chinese vision and approaches within the framework of the general concept, and since it is global and, therefore, "geographic", the answer comes in fact in the form of a map, where one can well understand what territories and political systems Rome sees in terms of the ideologemes of the “Community of a Common Destiny”.
The territory of Petrine and Catherine's Russia is not included in this geography. India is not included, but Tibet is included. Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and part of Iraq are included, but the Arabian Peninsula is not. Here is the answer to the question of belonging to the islands, etc.
With the word “Vatican”, it is customary in our country to either commemorate late at night conspiracy theorists who are looking for and, by the way, finding strange symbols, or nod to the fact that “the basis determines the superstructure and therefore, under current capitalism, this is not such an important institution.” However, as in the previous example, these same skeptics are often very vehemently in favor of finding an ideology for Russia. Say, we can't do without ideology.
The Vatican is the center for the production of ideological meanings, earlier for the whole of “big” Europe, later for part of it.
Yes, this influence is declining in the EU, and the Vatican (from the point of view of a Eurocentric view) has moved to the global periphery: to Latin America, Africa, Poland, Hungary, South Korea, including Russia. Having lost in its historical core, Rome has been trying to regain influence through China for a long time. China sets a very high price, the acceptance of which is clearly indicated by the current gifts of Francis in Ulaanbaatar, as well as figures of speech dedicated to the Chinese tradition.
You can arbitrarily deny the obvious, but with the collapse of the USSR, the Roman throne did a lot to return Russia to its orbit. And, to be honest, he managed to do it. And the strange tilt in our education, books, programs, film production, attitude towards symbols, monuments, even commemorative signs and plaques, is a direct confirmation of this. And not only that.
But the problem is that China and the Vatican do not see in our "Eurasianism" anything more than Peter's and Catherine's borders. This may not be so bad in modern times, given the western nature of this borderland, but there are big questions about influence in Central Asia.
Our ideologists can practice Eurasianism and empire as much as they want for the internal audience, but the real attitude of the players who work at the level of concepts and ideology can be clearly seen here both in the Xian Declaration from the East and in gifts in Ulaanbaatar from the West.
On the other hand, this is another reason to think about something in Ukraine for those who still have a sensible part of their mind - what kind of borders and zones of influence does the Vatican assess as acceptable. But to evaluate is one thing, and a specific result is another.
There have been no such frank signals to China from the Vatican for a long time, now the answer lies with the leaders of the PRC. Beijing will consider this recognition of papal Rome sufficient to create a continental axis, or China will need concessions from the Holy See in other areas as well. On the other hand, in China they cannot fail to understand that it is impossible to embrace the immensity. By the way, this was “subtly hinted” to Beijing from the Vatican by a letter from Khan Guyuk. And the answer, no doubt, from Beijing will be what we will see pretty soon.
For Russia
For us, for Russia, all this story with "Vatican gifts" is a great lesson. Our so-called. the “elites”, handing out “technical tasks” to ideologists in the style of making something for the people, thought to slip between the millstones of such powerful ideological centers as traditional China and the Vatican, with its almost two thousand years of experience in stitching together states and peoples through religion and ideology, and European liberal school.
It suddenly became clear that simulacra do not work for society, and the elites themselves hang out in the hole between the Vatican influence in ideology and the liberal one. They thought that only money decides everything - a lot, but not everything.
But it is still unclear whether the same Rome and China will win, even by uniting (which is not at all obvious), representatives of the liberal wing, which has crushed American and European politics, and not only it.
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