Peerless hero Genghis Khan (Temujin, 1162-1227) was born of the
Mongol tribes. An outstanding strategist and statesman, he was
known as Emperor Tai Zu, founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty.
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The period from the late 12th to the early 13th centuries saw
strengthened economic contacts between different tribes as
production skills and resources developed. Genghis Khan
consolidated all Mongol tribes at the demand of the Mongols. In
1206, the tribes elected him the Great Khan, with the reign title
of Genghis Khan, and the tangled warfare that had tom the tribes
for generations ceased. He saw that political, military and law
systems were formulated, with unified written language used. This
had brought the Mongols onto a new stage of development.
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In 1211 and 1215, Genghis launched large-scale military
campaigns against the Kin. He led his army southward to the north
bank of the Yellow River and captured the Kin's capital, Zhongdu
(Modern Beijing).
In 1219, Genghis Khan commanded a western expedition, conquering
Huacizimo and defeating Russian-Qincha allied forces along the
Kaleka River, extending Mongol influence over Central Asia and
Southern Russia. Territories seized were granted to his three sons,
Juji, Jagatai and Ogdai.
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However, when Genghis Khan personally led an attack on Binzhou
and Longzhou, he met powerful opponents and suffered serious
losses.
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His opponent in the north was Tun Tianxiao, who was promoted to
official in charge of prefecture affairs because of his
contributions to the fight against the Mongols. His name was
changed to Yang Woyan. Yang had determined to die for the state. He
said, "I am not a real man if I die not for the state." Marshal
Yang and his subordinate, Liu Xingge, who was a member of the
peasant uprising, fought against Mongols in Binzhou and Longzhou.
The Mongols were repeatedly defeated and suffered serious
losses.
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In mid-July, 1227, Genghis Khan died of illness in Qingshui
County (modern Qingshui, Gansu Province), but his tomb is located
in Ejin Horo Banner (a county-level administrative division) in the
Ih Ju League (an administrative division containing several
banners) of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It was said that
Ih Ju was a gathering place for seven banners in Ordos. Each year,
the seven banners held a meeting in a big temple. These
huimeng, meetings of sovereigns or their deputies in
ancient China to form alliances, were held for more than three
hundred years. At first, a permanent site was designated for the
meetings, but later the meeting place was changed as league leaders
changed. After the tomb of Genghis Khan was built in Ejin Horo
Banner, the heads of the seven banners in Ordos then met in March
of the lunar year, a time for holding memorial ceremonies for
Genghis Khan. Thereafter, Ih Ju also came to mean the mausoleum of
Genghis Khan.
The name of the Ordos tribe also is closely linked to the Genghis
Khan mausoleum. It was said that during the Hong Zhi reign of the
Ming Dynasty, Da Yanhan unified all the Mongol tribes. He divided
the Mongol area into two regions (Left and Right regions). Each
region, in turn, was divided into three tribes, and titles and
territories were granted to some nobles, giving them jurisdiction
over the fiefs. Right Region was the fief of the third son of Da
Yanhan. He had 'jurisdiction over all the tribes in Ordos. As an
assistant of his father, he also had jurisdiction over Tumote and
Yongxiebu tribes in the Right Region. At that time, the tomb of
Genghis Khan (Eight White Yurts) was in Ordos, which means
"defending the tomb." He also named his tribes Ordos. Today, the Ih
Ju League is also called Ordos.
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Why was the tomb of Genghis Khan built in Ordos? The story is
that, in 1226, Genghis Khan led a western expedition to Western
Xia, arriving at the Ordos Plateau in the southwestern part of
Mongol in the spring to scenery of enchanting beauty that attracted
him. Looking at the beautiful scenery, Genghis Khan was joyous,
declaring: "I want to be buffed here after my death." In the second
year of the western expedition (1227), after Genghis Khan's death
the duke and head of the Mongol nobles transported his coffin over
a great distance to bury him on Ordos Plateau. From then on, the
palace was also called the Mausoleum of the Master.
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Genghis Khan's mausoleum is on Gader Aobao (Mound). The
mound was used as a landmark for travelers and also was a place for
offering sacrifices to ancestors. As one ascends the mound, the
mausoleum of Genghis Khan can be seen among a growth of green
trees. Coffins for Genghis Khan and his three consorts, his two
brothers, his fourth son, Tule, and Tule's consort, were buried
there.
The present mausoleum of Genghis Khan was renovated after
1949. During the Anti-Japanese War in 1939, Japanese imperialists
colluded with reactionary Mongol leaders headed by King De.
Traitors sent by King De tried to open and loot the tomb and
transfer it to Guisui. Broad public indignation throughout Inner
Mongolia created a strong protest. As a result of the appeal by the
broad masses and King Sha, an anti-Japanese Mongol, the Kuomintang
government, forced to form a committee, arranged transfer of the
tomb. At first, the tomb was moved to Xinglong Mountain, in Yuzhong
County, Gansu Province. Eleven years later, the tomb was
transferred to Taer Temple in Qinghai Province.
The tomb of Genghis Khan
When the funeral procession arrived at Yan'an on its way to
Gansu Province, it was warmly received by the Central Committee of
the Chinese Communist Party general headquarters of.the Eighth
Route Army and the local government. On June 21, 1939 a big
memorial meeting organized by more than one hundred units was held
in honor of Genghis Khan. About ten thousand people attended. The
CPC Central Committee and Chairman Mao Zedong sent wreaths.
Comrades Xie Juezai, Teng Daiyuan, Wang Ruofei and others attended
the memorial meeting.
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After 1949, in response to public demand, a special team was
organized in the spring of 1954 in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region. A delegationary procession went to Qinghai and returned the
coffin of Genghis Khan to Ejin Horo on April 1. The CPC Central
Committee allocated funds (800,000 yuan) for rebuilding the
mausoleum of Genghis Khan.
The newly built mausoleum is more magnificent. The main part
of the mausoleum are three Mongolian yurt-like chambers and two
corridors built in the form of an L. It contains an antechamber, a
coffin chamber, west and right annexes and west and right
corridors. Besides, there is an altar surrounded by railing. With
steps lead up to the entrances of the three Mongolian yurt-like
chambers and the antechamber, with a vaulted-eave roof, is
octagonal. The eave is set with deep blue glazed files and the
vaulted ceiling is covered with yellow glazed tiles, inlaid with
blue cloud designs. The three yurt-like chambers are bright and
colorful with white walls and vermilion doors, as the entire
mausoleum displays strong Mongolian artistic characteristics.
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Inside scene of the tomb of Genghis Khan
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The antechamber is the Genghis Khan memorial hall. At the
center of the hall stands a statue of Genghis Khan. At the back of
the antechamber is the coffin chamber with four yellow yurt-like
tombs behind three large flags. Legend says that one of the flags,
with a wooden post, a huge iron spearhead and a tassel, was used by
Genghis Khan on his western expedition. In addition, three saddles
and other equipment once used by the Mongol leader are exhibited
there.
Saddle
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The Genghis Khan tomb is different from other Yuan Dynasty
imperial tombs, because it only contains coffins and not remains.
Locations of actual burial sites of other emperors in the Yuan
Dynasty are also unknown. So far, no information has been found on
locations of the Yuan tombs. Differing opinions on the Yuan tombs
appear in the official history, in bypaths of history, and in
research papers of scholars at home and abroad.
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The book Caomuzi (Ming Dynasty Notes of Ye
Ziqi) says, "According to official practices and custom, tombs
are built for emperors after their deaths. After an emperor dies,
he will be buried in a different place. The ground will be leveled
by many horses and a baby camel will be killed on the site, after
which thousands of cavalrymen will camp at the place to defend the
'tomb.' When the ground is covered with grass the next year, the
cavalrymen withdraw from the burial location and people will only
be able to see smooth grassland. No one will know where the emperor
was buried.
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"When people want to visit the tomb to honor the memory of the
emperor, the mother of the baby camel will be brought to lead the
way. When the mother camel paces up and down the place and utters a
sad grunt, people can know that it is the 'tomb.'"
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With no tombs for Mongol nobles after their death, imperial
temples were built in order to allow commemoration of royal
ancestors. This kind of temple was called Eight White Yurts,
discussed in the book Origin and Development of the
Mongols. The mausoleum of Genghis Khan, containing Eight White
Yurts, was also called Eight White Yurts, which were built in the
mausoleum to memorialize Genghis Khan, his consorts, his brothers,
his fourth son, Tule, and Tule's consort. In the Yuan Dynasty, the
system for memorial ceremonies remained the same for one hundred
years.
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The providing of a permanent mausoleum for Genghis Khan in Ejin
Horo was a lengthy process divided into three stages. The first
stage was from his death in 1227 to the beginning of the Ming
Dynasty when documents indicate the earliest mausoleum of Genghis
Khan was on a plateau between Altay Mountain and Kente Mountain on
the Western Ordos Plateau. The second stage was from the early Ming
Dynasty to the Tian Shun reign (1457-1464). The Ordos tribe
defended the tomb of Genghis Khan on those grasslands in the early
Ming and later the Ordos tribe moved east to the Ih Ju League. The
tomb of Genghis Khan also moved to Ih Ju with the Ordos. Since the
tomb was usually relocated in those times near prince's residence,
it could be moved frequently. The tomb was settled in Wangaizhao
for perhaps nearly 200 years.
The third stage was in the early Qing Dynasty (1649). After
Elin, a court official in Right Region, was made a prince, he
transferred Eight White Yurts to his fief. By commemorating the
heroic ancestors of his people, he wanted to increase his own
stature. The permanent site for Eight White Yurts was named Ejin
Horo. Since Elin transferred the tomb of Genghis Khan to Ejin Horo,
it has remained where it was for more than three hundred years,
though leadership of the league changed frequently.
