undefined | Better HN

0 pointsk_sze8y ago0 comments

I'm not sure where you get the idea that Genghis Khan is hated in China. As far as I know, he is considered one of the national heroes, I guess partly because China controls Inner Mongolia.

For instance, in popular culture, such as Jinyong's Legend of the Condor Heroes, Genghis Khan is a secondary character, depicted as a smart leader who was shaped by the treachery of his own sworn brother and by the oppression of the Jurchen Jin dynasty. The reader is lead to empathize with Genghis Khan, through the eyes of Guojing, the patriotic Sung protagonist, despite the resentment that exists between him and Genghis Khan, the Mongolian leader who has decided to turn on their Sung dynasty allies.

I know Jinyong's work is fiction with a historical background, but I believe his work is a good indication of Chinese sentiments towards historical events and figures.

0 comments

3 comments · 2 top-level

cba43218y ago· 1 in thread

As a Chinese I don't think he is national hero at all, and most people I know don't regard him as hero, I'm not sure where did you get that idea. He was a conqueror for sure.

Chinese suffered as much as other conquered lands, to say to least. The Yuan dynasty lasted less than a century, one of the shortest period in the history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan#Mixed

Even in the fiction `Jingyong`'s book, I wouldn't say the author had a bias favor Khan, I guess smart readers could read it from the book. The Khan would massacre every one if the be-seiged refuse to surrender, and they usually would drive herds of surrendered to the gate. Not to mention in the book the Kan is Kublai instead, and he is noway the secondary character.

k_szeOP8y ago

"Not to mention in the book the Kan is Kublai instead"

That's in the sequel, The Return of the Condor Heroes, which depicts events after the death of Genghis Khan.

And since you mention Kublai, Genghis Khan only started the conquest of China. He only managed to conquer West Xia before his death. The rest of the conquest of China was done by his descendants, and so I believe most of the atrocities towards the Chinese occurred then.

astine8y ago

I had read that there was resentment against the Mongols and Yuan dynasty in China due to the destruction they caused. It could be that my information is not so current. I'm willing to be wrong on that point.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse