The Secret History of the Mongols
Encyclopedia
Mongolian script
The classical Mongolian script , also known as Uyghurjin, was the first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most successful until the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946...
: Mongγol-un niγuca tobčiyan, Khalkha Mongolian
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
: Монголын нууц товчоо, Mongolyn nuuts tovchoo) is the oldest surviving Mongolian-language
Mongolian language
The Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...
literary work. It was written for the Mongol
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
royal family some time after Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
's death in AD 1227, by an anonymous
Anonymity
Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...
author and probably originally in the Uyghur script
Mongolian script
The classical Mongolian script , also known as Uyghurjin, was the first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most successful until the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946...
, though the surviving texts all derive from transcription
Transcription (linguistics)
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written form. The source can either be utterances or preexisting text in another writing system, although some linguists only consider the former as transcription.Transcription should not be confused with...
s or translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
s into Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
s dating from the end of the 14th century, compiled by the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
under the name The Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty .
The Secret History is regarded as the single significant native Mongolian
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
account of Genghis Khan. Linguistically, it provides the richest source of pre-classical Mongolian and Middle Mongolian
Middle Mongolian language
Middle Mongolian is an ancient Mongolic language formerly spoken in the Mongol Empire and later on in Greater Mongolia during the 13th to at least the early 15th century.-Definition and historical precessors:...
. The Secret History is regarded as a piece of classic literature in both Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
and the rest of the world.
Content
Like many texts during the period, it contains elements of folklore and poetry and is not as factual as some historiansHistory
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
would have wanted. It is also at times inconsistent. However, it is also nearly devoid of magic or supernatural influence, unlike similar texts from other cultures.
The work sets out with a rather mythical genealogy of Temüjin
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
's family. The description of Temüjin's life begins with the kidnapping of his mother Hoelun
Hoelun
Hoelun was the mother of Genghis Khan and the wife of his father Yesugei, the chief of the Khamag Mongol confederation.-Early life:...
by his father Yesügei
Yesugei
Yesügei Baghatur , was major chief of the Kiyad-Borjigin clan and the father of Temüjin , Hasar, Hachiun, Temüge, Temülen, Behter, and Belgutei. Yesügei was the son of Bartan Baghatur, who was the son of Khabul Khan, who was recognized as a khagan by the Jin Dynasty...
. It then covers Temüjin's early life; the difficult times after the murder of his father and the many conflicts against him, wars, and plots before he gains the title of Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
(Universal ruler) in 1206. The later parts of the work deal with Genghis' and Ögedei
Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan, born Ögedei was the third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire by succeeding his father...
's conquering campaigns on Eurasia, and the text ends with Ögedei's reflections on what he did well and what he did wrong. It tells how the Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
started.
It contains 12 chapters:
- Temüjin'sGenghis KhanGenghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
origin and childhood. - Temüjin'sGenghis KhanGenghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
teenage years. - Temujin destroys the MerkitMerkitThe Mergid was one of the five major tribal confederations in Mongolian plateau in the 12th century.The Mergids inhabited in basins of the Selenge River and lower Orkhon River...
and takes the title Genghis KhanGenghis KhanGenghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
. - Genghis Khan struggles against Jamuga and TayichiudTayichiudThe Tayichiud were one of the three core tribe Khamag Mongol confederation in Mongolia in 12th century. Though Khiyad Borjigids and Tayichiuds were closely related and shared a common ancestry Bodonchar, at times they were arch rivals for the rule of Khamag Mongol...
. - Genghis Khan destroys the Tatar and tangles with Wang KhanWang KhanWang Khan, also Ong Khan, was the title given to the Kerait ruler Toghrul by the Jurchen Jin Dynasty of China. Like the rest of their tribe he may have been Nestorian Christian...
- Destruction of the Kereyid
- The fate of Wang KhanWang KhanWang Khan, also Ong Khan, was the title given to the Kerait ruler Toghrul by the Jurchen Jin Dynasty of China. Like the rest of their tribe he may have been Nestorian Christian...
- Escape of KuchlugKuchlugKuchlug was a member of the Naiman tribe of western Mongolia. He was defeated by Genghis Khan and fled westward to the Kara-Khitan Khanate, where he became an advisor. In 1210, he took control of the khanate...
and defeat of Jamuga. - Establishment of the empire and imperial guard.
- Conquest of the Uighur and forest peoples.
- Conquest of ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, the Tanghut, the SartuulSartuulSartuul is one of the Mongol clans. Today, they primarily live in the Zavkhan Province of Mongolia.The origin of the Sartuul people is Turkic merchants and artisans from Khwarizm. According to Pelliot, Sartuul means merchant in plural. Mongols called Muslim merchant a Sart or the place he came...
, BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
and RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... - TemüjinGenghis KhanGenghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
's death and ÖgedeiÖgedei KhanÖgedei Khan, born Ögedei was the third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire by succeeding his father...
's reign.
Several passages of the Secret History appear in slightly different versions in the 17th century Mongolian chronicle Altan Tobchi
Altan Tobchi
The Altan Tobchi, or Golden Summary , is a 17th century Mongolian chronicle written by Guush Luvsandanzan. Its full title is "Herein is contained the Golden Summary of the Principles of Statecraft as established by the Ancient Khans". Mongolian scholars typically call the work the "Lu Altan Tovch"...
- "The ... Golden Summary of the Principles of Statecraft as established by the Ancient Khans".
Rediscovery and translations
The only surviving copies of the work are transcriptions of the original Mongolian text with Chinese characters, accompanied by a (somewhat shorter) in-line glossary and a translation of each section into Chinese. In China, the work had been well known as a text for teaching Chinese to read and write Mongolian during the Ming DynastyMing Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
and the Chinese translation was used in several historical works, but by the 1800's, copies had become very rare.
Tsend Gun (Duke Tsend) was the first Mongolian scholar to transliterate The Secret History of the Mongols into modern Mongolian, in 1915-17. The first to discover the Secret History for the west and offer a translation from the Chinese glossary was the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n sinologist
Sinology
Sinology in general use is the study of China and things related to China, but, especially in the American academic context, refers more strictly to the study of classical language and literature, and the philological approach...
Palladiy Kafarov. The first translations from the reconstructed Mongolian text were done by the German sinologist Erich Haenisch (edition of the reconstructed original text: 1937; of the translation: 1941, second edition 1948) and Paul Pelliot
Paul Pelliot
Paul Pelliot was a French sinologist and explorer of Central Asia. Initially intending to enter the foreign service, Pelliot took up the study of Chinese and became a pupil of Sylvain Lévi and Édouard Chavannes....
(ed. 1949). B. I. Pankratov
B. I. Pankratov
Boris Ivanovich Pankratov was a Soviet Sinologist and Mongolist.-Academic career:Pankratov was a graduate of the Oriental Institute in Vladivostok. In 1919, he went to Hankow , China on the pretext of language practise before moving to Peking in 1921 to take up a job with the local branch of the...
published a translation into Russian in 1962.
Arthur Waley
Arthur Waley
Arthur David Waley CH, CBE was an English orientalist and sinologist.-Life:Waley was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, as Arthur David Schloss, son of the economist David Frederick Schloss...
published a partial translation of the Secret History, but the first full translation into English was by Francis Woodman Cleaves
Francis Woodman Cleaves
Francis Woodman Cleaves was a writer and historian who worked for the Harvard Institute. Cleaves established the Sino-Mongolian studies in America. He is well known for his work in translating The Secret History of the Mongols. He was the first man to fully translate this literature into English...
, The Secret History of the Mongols: For the First Time Done into English out of the Original Tongue and Provided with an Exegetical Commentary. The archaic language adopted by Cleaves was not satisfying to all and, between 1971 and 1985, Igor de Rachewiltz
Igor de Rachewiltz
Igor de Rachewiltz is an Italian historian and philologist specializing in Mongol studies.Igor de Rachewiltz was born in Rome, the son of Bruno Guido and Antonina Perosio. The de Rachewiltz family was of Polish noble roots. His grandmother was a Tatar from Kazan in eastern Russia who claimed...
published a fresh translation in eleven volumes of the series Papers on Far Eastern History accompanied by extensive footnotes commenting not only on the translation but also various aspects of Mongolian culture. (Brill
Brill Publishers
Brill is an international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands. With offices in Leiden and Boston, Brill today publishes more than 134 journals and around 600 new books and reference works each year...
released de Rachewiltz' edition as a two-volume set in 2003.) The Secret History of the Mongols has been published in translation in over 30 languages by researchers.
External links
- The Secret History of the Mongols: full text, history, translations into Russian, English, French, Bulgarian, Spanish and Czech, original transliteration
- The Secret History of the Mongols: partial text
- Timothy May: Extensive review of the publication of Rachewiltz's translation and notes September 2004
- Lingua Mongolia: first 21 paragraphs of the Secret History in Chinese transcription, Pinyin, and Traditional Mongolian script
- Modern Mongolian Version (and audio files) -ELibrary.MN
- Secret History Wiki Public Domain Translation Project
- "The Secret History of the Mongols," a comic strip by Otgonbayar Ershuu. Text to historical sources. Translation from Mongolian to German: Renate Bauwe Mongolian comic book, Mongolian painting, miniature