Genghis Khan as a source of inspiration

Genghis Khan is still a source of inspiration in modern-day Mongolia as “these are turbulent times, and people need something to hang on to”, so said Mongolian scientist Oyun (full name not known).

“Before, people had little, but enough. And now? Look around: what do ordinary Mongolians see? The social fabric torn apart, street children, corruption. People do not see the real fruits of democratic change yet. Democracy is supposed to empower people, but we have seen an increase in poverty and unemployment, and an increasing gap between the rich and the poor, so a lot of people are less powerful, more threatened economically, than they were under communism. Half the population has to struggle to survive. They see the nation threatened by poverty, by weakness. So they look to Genghis and that part of their history as a symbol of strength.” (John Mann, Genghis Khan – Life, Death and Resurrection, Bantam Press 2004)

Genghis’ strength lay not just in conquest, but also in the idea of just administration rooted in a written legal system. And this is appealing given the lack of the rule of law after 70 years of one-party rule and the introduction of the multi-party system.

“With pluralism, disagreement is natural. But here there is no notion of a loyal opposition. They – especially the older people – can’t take this political infighting. They think Mongolians are fighting each other, dividing the country. My personal opinion is that if you asked Mongolians what they feel, many would say: Since we were once strong, why can’t we be again? Shouldn’t we have a strong presidential role, a sort of modern version of Genghis Khan? Not that there is any dream of empire, but at least the rule of law.”

Is this the mindset of a people who had once been strong? But it also attests to the notion that no nation or empire will remain strong, and there will always be fluctuations in the fortunes of a country or empire. Food for thought for a sunny island state in Southeast Asia. And doesn’t this harking to a better bygone days resemble a similar approach by Confucian adherents who reminisce about the golden days of Yao and Shun?

As Oyun added, industrialization would “court failure” as Mongolia’s countryside would be under threat, its towns polluted, and its industries owned by outsiders. So what needs to be done is to capitalize on Mongolia’s strength “which lies outside our towns, and under our feet.”

“I believe our competitive advantage lies in three things: our countryside, our nomadic ways and our resources. Genghis know the strength of the first two – the beauty and purity of our pastures and mountains and deserts, our freedom to wander and raise our animals. What we should be doing is looking back to the rural economy from which we came originally, looking back to look forward. And in this Genghis as a symbol is perfectly valid.”

But to the Chinese, Genghis is, according to Mann, not just a symbol of past strength but also of future assertiveness.

“In the eyes of those with a sense of history and of what China should be, there is a wrong to be righted; a “righting” which, if it ever comes to pass, will be done in the name, naturally, of Genghis Khan, because it was his heirs who reunited old China, and thus he, as the founder of a Chinese dynasty, who reasserted the roots of new China.”