Genghis Khan worship

Inner Mongolia – Genghis Khan Mausoleum

On July 23, a cool and rainy day, we visited the Genghis Khan Mausoleum. Neither of us realized that this is the rainy season in Inner Mongolia – rain the farmers and herders welcome and need. This made us wonder if we had picked the wrong season to visit Mongolia as well. (It turns out Mongolia is having a serious drought. Go figure!)

At our hotel in Baotou, the Shenhua International Hotel, we befriended a young man named He Run Gang (sounds better in Chinese) who supervises the baggage handlers and doormen. When we asked about how to get to the Genghis Khan Mausoleum, he arranged to take off from work and drive us himself. He is a tall, good-looking young man of 24, and he brought along his girlfriend, a very pretty Chinese 23-year-old, dressed in tight jeans and high-heeled shoes. They were both born in Inner Mongolia and consider it home, and they told us a lot about it.

The Genghis (more properly spelled Chinggis) Khan Mausoleum, about two hours’ drive south of Baotou, is not where Genghis Khan’s body is buried. When he died in 1227, his body was taken back to his birthplace in Mongolia to be buried, and hundreds of horses trampled over it so that no one would ever know where it was. However, his “spirit” is said to be at this site, near Dongsheng. According to legend, he dropped his horsewhip at this site once, passing through. Normally, that is a bad omen for a Mongolian leader, but he refused to see it as such. On the contrary, he said, I like the scenery here and would like this to be my final resting place. After he died, as his body was being transported back to Mongolia, a wheel on the horse cart broke at this site, so a memorial was set up, in a yurt, and it was said that his spirit resided there. Kinda goofy, but that’s what they say.

Anyway, the original eight white yurts contain his saddle, his bow and arrows, and other “sacred” objects. They are now housed inside a large, imposing concrete building built by the government of China. The whole complex, atop a hill with 99 steps leading up to it, is designed for the “worship” of Genghis Khan – almost a religion. There are altars and incense burners, and even our Chinese guide lit a stick of incense and bowed to him. A group of Mongolians called Darkhats are responsible for keeping an eternal flame burning and organizing ceremonies four times a year. It’s very strange, actually, since Genghis Khan attacked China and his sons and grandsons conquered it. For years, his name was not allowed to be mentioned, certainly not in admiration let alone worship. Then Chinese President Jiang Zemin allowed this mausoleum to be built, saying that the Mongol conquest is a fact of history and people should be allowed to draw their own conclusions.

I took lots of notes at the mausoleum, with Jeanne’s help on the translation. Our guide told us the whole story in Chinese, and explained us all the objects. It was kind of surreal, actually. Perhaps the Chinese allow Genghis Khan worship because they know there are so few Mongolians left who might take it seriously. Certainly, those in Mongolia have begun to celebrate Genghis Khan and his life, as a source of national pride. I guess the Chinese can see there is nothing to fear in this revival. Our Chinese guide even told us that under the Mongols, China reached its largest size ever – as if the Mongol Empire were Chinese. It’s amazing how different people in different periods rewrite history.