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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

Chinggis Khan, Ghengis Khan, Mongolia, political changes

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Anthropology

Abstract

I spent several months this summer in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), where I studied how Chinggis Khan (Ghengis Khan) is an icon to the Mongolians of Inner Mongolian, the Chinese of Inner Mongolia and the Mongolians of Mongolian People’s Republic (MPR). My research naturally focused on the Chinggis Khan Mausoleum located in the Ordos region of Inner Mongolia because this mausoleum is the longest standing historical symbol of Chinggis Khan. The mausoleum was established in the late thirteenth century during the reign of Khublai Khan. The protectorate tribe of the Mausoleum, called Darkhad Mongolians, has been protecting the mausoleum for 40 generations. Historically, the mausoleum stood as a religious and national symbol to Mongolians of all of Asia. In the past hundred years, because of the many political changes in Asia, there has begun to be a split in the attitudes of Mongolians of different areas towards the Mausoleum and towards Chinggis Khan. Also the attitude of the Chinese toward Chinggis Khan has changed. This coming semester I will conclude my research and write an Honors Thesis where I will compare the differences between the attitudes of these three different groups toward Chinggis Khan and the Chinggis Khan Mausoleum. Using Chinggis Khan as a case study one can easily see on a grandeur scale how the different political climates of the MPR and the PRC have changed the Mongolians of Inner Mongolia, the Mongolians of the MPR, the Chinese of Inner Mongolia and their respective cultures.

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