Sechin jagchid biography definition

SECHIN JAGCHID*

Mongolia and the West

1. Foreword

I was encouraged by the organizers of the Thirty-seventh Permanent International Altaistic Conference to prepare a paper on the theme of “Mongolia and the West.” From a historical perspective, such topic is extremely broad. None¬ theless, I am hopeful that this broad overview will suggest further avenues for deeper research and analysis.

Historically, Mongolia’s geographical boundaries were de¬ fined by the Altai Mountains in the west, the Amur River valley in the east, the Great Wall in the south, and Lake Baikal in the north. Today this region includes territories controlled by the independent State of Mongolia in the center; to the south and west, regions dominated by China; and to the north, areas controlled by Russia.

Although it is fairly easy to define Mongolia’s historical and contemporary boundaries, it is almost impossible to find agree¬ ment on what one should include in a definition of the Western world. For example, during most of the twentieth century, Japanese and Chinese scholars broke the world into Toy 6 and Seiyo (East and West). For them the West included the Americas, Europe, including Russia west of the Ural Mountains, but also much of the “Middle East.” On the other hand, European scholars inevitably placed the “Middle East” in

* David M. Kennedy Center for University, Provo, Utah, U.S.A. International Studies, Brigham Young

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Etudes mongoles et sibériennes, 27 (1996), pp. 183-197.

SECHIN JAGCHID

something called the Orient, which at times included Japan, China, and Mongolia and other “exotic” places. Empires which stretched from west to east posed particular problems to those seeking to carefully delineate the “East” from the “West.” How then should we describe the Ottoman Turks, the Russian State, or the even greater U.S.S.R. realm? Where “West” met “East,” definitions blurred complicating the work of historians.

This paper is concerned less with subtle and sometim

Sechin Jagchid, a Brigham Young University emeritus professor of history, is co-author of a new book, "Peace, War, and Trade Along the Great Wall: Nomadic-Chinese Interaction Through Two Millennia."

He collaborated with Van Jay Symons, associate professor of history at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.The book chronicles the fortunes of the institutions created to ease tensions between two peoples - the one settled, agrarian, possessor of wealth and abundant grain; the other nomadic, militarily powerful and in need of many of China's goods. Realizing that the formidable nomads would simply raid China for what they needed, Chinese rulers created frontier markets and devised a system of exchange of tribute and court-to-court intermarriages to facilitate the peaceful transfer of goods.

Over long years of contact, each side weighed the costs of maintaining these institutions against the expense of achieving similar goals by means of war. When the nomads felt their economic returns were too small or the Chinese felt they were giving up too much power, war broke out.

Yet, as the authors point out, many Chinese and nomads came to realize that trade was preferable to raid; peace preferable to war.

Founder of the Mongol Empire (c. 1162 – 1227)

Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Genghis Khan (disambiguation), Genghis (disambiguation), Chinggis (disambiguation), and Temujin (disambiguation).

Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; c. 1162 – August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongol tribes, he launched a series of military campaigns, conquering large parts of China and Central Asia.

Born between 1155 and 1167 and given the name Temüjin, he was the eldest child of Yesugei, a Mongol chieftain of the Borjigin clan, and his wife Hö'elün. When Temüjin was eight, his father died and his family was abandoned by its tribe. Reduced to near-poverty, Temüjin killed his older half-brother to secure his familial position. His charismatic personality helped to attract his first followers and to form alliances with two prominent steppe leaders named Jamukha and Toghrul; they worked together to retrieve Temüjin's newlywed wife Börte, who had been kidnapped by raiders. As his reputation grew, his relationship with Jamukha deteriorated into open warfare. Temüjin was badly defeated in c. 1187, and may have spent the following years as a subject of the Jin dynasty; upon reemerging in 1196, he swiftly began gaining power. Toghrul came to view Temüjin as a threat and launched a surprise attack on him in 1203. Temüjin retreated, then regrouped and overpowered Toghrul; after defeating the Naiman tribe and executing Jamukha, he was left as the sole ruler on the Mongolian steppe.

Temüjin formally adopted the title "Genghis Khan", the meaning of which is uncertain, at an assembly in 1206. Carrying out reforms designed to ensure long-term stability, he transformed the Mongols' tribal structure into an integrated meritocracy dedicated to the service of the ruling family. After thwarti