Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World (47 page)

Acknowledgments

The Mongolian nation founded by Genghis Khan in 1206 survives today, and my first thanks go to the state officials who made my research possible, particularly to President N. Bagabandi, to Minister A. Tsanjid of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Education, and Culture, and to Parliament Member A. Shagdarsuren of the Ikh Hural.

I appreciate the spontaneous gestures of support from teachers and herders all over Mongolia. Because of the respect the people had for my companions, Professors Kh. Lkhagvasuren and O. Sukhbaatar, wherever we went, people sought us out to help in our study. As an unknown foreigner, I was the constant beneficiary of the honor given to them.

It is hard to describe the dedication with which people came out to help me. Even when camped in what seemed to be the most remote place we could find, it was never long before a girl appeared on the horizon leading her yak cart filled with water or with dried dung for our fire. One warm day someone might give a small canister made from tightly sewn birch bark and filled with wild berries and dried yogurt, and another day a young hunter would bring a freshly prepared marmot or a bowl of milk. Herders not only offered me shelter and food along the way, but they also brought horses and sheep to make a personal contribution to the study of their ancestors. More than once a whole family dropped what they were doing and, leaving a boy in charge of their herd, set out to accompany us and discuss our work. On one of the most grueling days, while the older men rode horses, four armed young men voluntarily accompanied us on foot, usually running, for more than thirty miles to protect us in a wolf-infested area.

Sometimes people brought gifts of overwhelming generosity—shimmering pelts or highly polished animal horns. Others brought small wooden figures carved in the form of a horse, a sheep, or a goat. Shamans offered prayers for the success of our research, and monks donated incense for us to burn on the holy places we encountered. Some people with little else to offer simply gave me small stones that I might remember the place where they lived. Such debts can never be repaid.

While I alone bear responsibility for the shortcomings of this work, credit for any achievements must be shared among many people. I appreciate the guidance of Professor J. Boldbaatar of the Faculty of Social Science of the National University of Mongolia. I was consistently helped by the staff, faculty, and students of Chinggis Khaan College in Ulaanbaatar. When I published the original edition of this book and a series of related articles in Mongolian, they kindly critiqued my work and helped to improve it. For this great service, I thank Professors O. Purev, Kh. Shagdar, D. Bold-Erdene, and G. Baatartsooj. I gratefully acknowledge the valuable assistance of T. Jamyansuren, A. Mungunzul, Ts. Khishigbayar, and D. Chimedlkham in matters of translation, and to the students O. Hashbat and D. Ochirdorj for their help in the field. The drawings for this book were made by Dr. S. Badral, and I thank him deeply.

For assistance in making travel arrangements and procuring equipment and supplies, I am indebted to T. Bold, Sh. Munhtsag, D. Tsetsegjargal, Sh. Batsugar, and T. Battulga. For additional travel from the United States, I appreciate the help of Douglas Grimes, Annie Lucas, and Angela Halonen-Webb.

Although no government grant or foundation fellowship was used for any part of this research, I was greatly assisted by Macalester College throughout the research. I particularly appreciate the librarians and staff in the DeWitt Wallace Library for finding texts from around the world. I gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of my colleagues: Daniel Balik, Mary Lou Byrne, Kay Crawford, Jimm Crowder, John Davis, Juanita Garciagodoy, Martin Gunderson, Arjun Guneratne, Gitta Hammarberg, Daniel Hornbach, David Itzkowitz, Manazh Kousha, David Lanegran, David McCurdy, Michael McPherson, Karen Nakamura, Kathleen Parson, Sonia Patten, Ahmed Samatar, Khaldun Samman, Dianna Shandy, Paul Solon, Anne Sutherland, and Peter Weisensel. Above all, I thank my students, who so good-heartedly tolerated my obsessions and who generously sought to help me in my work.

For additional help in various stages of the work, I appreciate the advice, assistance, and encouragement of Raydean Acevedo, Christopher Atwood, Brian Baumann, Naran Bilik, Daniel Buettner, Leah and Rodney Camper, Harm DeBlij, John Dinger, D. Enkhchuluun, Kevin Fagan, James Fisher, Ray Gatchalian, Zaida Giraldo, Tjalling Halbertsma, Ts. Jargalsaikhan, Walt Jenkins, Christopher Kaplonski, D. Khoroldamba, Philip Kohl, David McCullough, Navid Mohseni, Axel Odelberg, B. Otgonbayar, Lee Owens, Qi Yi, Marc Swartz, and Don Walsh.

I always appreciate the diligent efforts of my agent, Lois Wallace, who has worked with me for twenty-five years, and the help of James O. Wade, with whom I worked for as many years. For guidance in the long editorial process, I owe an immeasurable debt to the clear vision of my editors, Emily Loose and Christopher Jackson, as well as to Mary Vincent Franco and Lynn Olson.

Of all the gifts from the Mongols throughout the years of this project, none was more precious than the gift of song. When I was exhausted and struggling to catch up with other riders, someone would sing to give me strength. At the end of a long day, when we found refuge with a herding family, a young girl would stand before me and, although trembling in fear at the sight of such a foreign person and afraid to look me in the face, open her mouth widely to sing with such beauty and emotion that it seemed surely time itself would stand still.

Gradually, I realized that the songs were more than entertainment or diversions; they contained a wealth of valuable information and offered deep insights into Mongolian culture and history. Because of their life of constant movement, nomads such as the Mongols must carry their books and pictures with them in the form of song. Mongolian music records and maps the landscape of their land, not merely in words, but in the rising and falling of notes corresponding to the flow of the land itself. The
morin huur,
or horsehead fiddle, usually played by a man, can make the sound of birds and animals, and the long-song singer, usually a woman, can call up the landscape of distant places with the special skill of her voice. Examples of many of these were compiled through numerous years of research by Carole Pegg and made available on a compact disc as part of her scholarly study,
Mongolian Music, Dance, and Oral Narrative
.

Even when I was away from Mongolia, people sent me videos and recordings of Mongolian music to inspire my work. Since the gifts often came anonymously, I now wish to thank all of them here. I appreciate the
morin huur
recordings of Ts. Purevkhuu and D. Ariunaa and the incredible singing of N. Norovbansad, the greatest Mongol singer of the twentieth century. In addition to the inspiration found in the music of D. Jargalsaikhan and the group Chinggis Khaan, my work also benefited from the talents of Altai-Hangai, Black Horse, Black Rose, Khonkh, Tenger Ayalguu, and Tumen Ekh. More than all the words in any book, the music of N. Jantsannorov, one of the world’s greatest composers, paints the beauty of the Mongolian landscape and portrays the passions of its history.

My son, Roy Maybank, assisted me on one of my trips to Mongolia and China, and, throughout the research, I greatly benefited from the encouragement and help of my daughter, Walker Buxton. My greatest debt is to my wife, Walker Pearce, who not only helped me in the field in Russia, China, and Mongolia but was a source of constant inspiration and humor throughout the six years of the project. I look forward to the day when she and I will ride with our grandchildren across the steppes of Genghis Khan.

About the Author

JACK WEATHERFORD is the Dewitt Wallace Professor of Anthropology at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego, and he received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Chinggis Khaan College in Mongolia. Other books include
Indian Givers, Savages and Civilization,
and
The History of Money.

A
LSO BY THE
A
UTHOR

History of Money

Savages and Civilization

Native Roots

Indian Givers

Tribes on the Hill

Also by Jack Weatherford

0-609-80172-4         •         $13.00 paperback

From primitive man’s cowrie shells to the electronic cash card . . .

“A fascinating book about the force that makes the world go round.”
—Los Angeles Times

“
The History of Money
stockpiles fascinating anecdotes and shining insights into humanity’s long obsession with its most coveted possession.” —
Seattle Times

Available wherever books are sold from

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Copyright © 2004 by Jack Weatherford

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
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Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Crown Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc., in 2004, and subsequently published in paperback by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, a Penguin Random House Company, New York, in 2005.

Illustrations by S. Badral, copyright © 2003 by Jack Weatherford and Chinggis Khaan College.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weatherford, J. McIver.
  Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world / Jack Weatherford.
  1. Genghis Khan, 1162–1227. 2. Mongols—Kings and rulers—Biography. 3. Mongols—History. I. Title.
DS22.G45W43 2004
950′.21′092—dc22

2003020659

eISBN: 978-0-307-23781-1

Maps by David Lindroth Inc.

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