The mausoleum of Genghis Khan is built on the beautiful Ordos Plateau. Among the blue sky, white clouds and yellow sand, three yurt-style palaces stand solemnly, with bright yellow walls and vermilion doors and windows. Coupled with the dazzling golden glazed roof, this eternal king's residence is exceptionally graceful, elegant, quiet and solemn.
Genghis Khan's name was Temujin. Although he was later hailed as a "genius of a generation", his fate arranged a bumpy and tortuous road for him. His father was poisoned by the feuding Tatars, and he was orphaned at the age of nine. Hunger and danger always tracked him. He fled, lurked, was arrested, and appeared in public. The greatest humiliation and pain in the world tempered him into a steel warrior. He patiently picked up the remnants of his father's army and carefully accumulated strength. In seven years, he successively defeated the Tatar tribe, the Klei tribe and the Naiman tribe, making him the most powerful leader among the Mongolian tribes. In 1206, various Mongolian ministries held a meeting of nobles called "Kuretai" on the banks of the Onen River, and elected Temujin as the Great Khan of all Mongolia, naming him "Genghis Khan".
"Genghis Khan" means "ocean" in Mongolian. Perhaps, destiny has decreed that he will have a territory as broad as the ocean, and his invincible iron hooves will gallop freely on a waterless ocean.
He first expanded southward and conquered Xixia. Then he captured the Jin Kingdom's Zhongdu (today's Beijing), forcing the Jin Dynasty to move its capital to Kaifeng. Then he pointed his command to the west, and the troops swept through Central Asia and pushed into Eastern Europe, driving the king of the ancient Central Asian country of Khwarezm to a deserted island in the Caspian Sea. Then he returned to Gedong and marched eastward, defeating the ineffective resistance of the Russian army and advancing his territory and power. to the Don River Basin.
In 1226, Genghis Khan attacked Xixia again. At the last moment when the Xixia capital was about to be captured, he died in Qingshui County on July 12, 1627.
His life was spent on horseback. He left his grandson Kublai Khan the foundation for the eventual unification of China and the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty. His whirlwind iron hoof that shook the world left a frightening memory for the princes and nobles of Europe and Asia.
However, he did not leave a real mausoleum.
According to customs, no matter where the Mongolian monarch died, his remains had to be sent back to his hometown in Mobei, the place where their ancestors lived and had their birthplace.
However, this mausoleum has disappeared on the vast grassland, and its trace has long been lost. The Genghis Khan Garden Mausoleum, located in Gander Aobao, Yijinhuoluo Banner, Inner Mongolia, was built in 1954 and is the youngest of all imperial mausoleums in my country. Of course there are no remains of Genghis Khan in the tomb.
According to the "History of the Yuan Dynasty": "Genghis Khan was buried in the Chariot Valley." The so-called Qichao Valley is roughly a valley in the Kent Mountains. "Chariot" is the vehicle used by emperors in ancient times. Starting from here, Genghis Khan first unified all Mongolian tribes and then established the Mongol Khanate spanning Europe and Asia. However, due to the passage of time, the change of place names, and the confusion of transliteration, this very commemorative place of "rising chariot" has long been lost to obscurity.
According to the "History of Duosang Mongolia", the cemetery is "in one of the mountains of Burhan Khaldun where the three rivers of Onan, Qinglulian and Tula originate." "Mark· "Polo Travels" also said: "Genghis Khan was buried in a mountain, and the name of the mountain was Altai." This "Altay" may be the "...Haldun" in "Duosang Mongol History", but since it is only among the mountains On one of the mountains, there are neither closed trees nor signs. The mountains are so vast that it is difficult to find them when looking around.
The Mongols are true nomads. After they hid the cemetery, they built a mausoleum on horseback for Genghis Khan to offer sacrifices. This is the "Babaishi".
The so-called "Eight White Rooms" are eight white felt tents. Perhaps it was the felt tent used by Genghis Khan during his lifetime. Genghis Khan's relics were enshrined in it, symbolizing the cemetery, and sacrificial activities were carried out in the "Babai Chamber". This is a typical Mongolian-style mobile cemetery. It is convenient for migration and conforms to the characteristics of nomadic people's life and fighting.
Initially, the "Babaishi" was built on the Mongolian Plateau in the present-day Altai Mountains and Kent Mountains. In the early Ming Dynasty, it was placed in the Hetao area. During the Tianshun period, the Ordos tribe that guarded the mausoleum entered the Ordos Plateau, and the "Babaishi" also followed. Come. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Yijinhuoluo Banner was established on the Ordos Plateau.
Yijinhuoluo means "the master's mausoleum" in Mongolian.
During the Anti-Japanese War, this "master's mausoleum" was also moved to Gansu, Qinghai and other places. It was not until after liberation that the "Babaishi" returned to Yijinhuoluo and built a new cemetery, ending their more than seven hundred years of wandering life.
As for his real cemetery, it has long enjoyed eternal tranquility, which is rare but hard to find.
The reason why Genghis Khan’s real cemetery is difficult to find has both traditional and practical reasons.
Traditionally: Mongolians are typical nomads with low productivity and frequent migrations. The vast sea is boundless and yellow dust rises from the sky. Even if they leave tall mausoleums behind, they will turn into unrecognizable sand dunes in an instant. Therefore, their national customs are thinner than tombs, and there is no such thing as the Han people's view of tombs that emphasizes mourning and honoring after death.
Civilians generally practice "sky burial" and "wild burial". The so-called "sky burial" means that the remains of the deceased are placed on the top of a mountain or in a valley without being buried. The so-called "wild burial" is to place the body of the deceased on a wooden wheel and then drive it through the wilderness until the body falls in the ups and downs. Check again after three days. If the body has been eaten by birds and beasts, it is considered that the deceased has ascended to heaven, which is worthy of celebration; if the birds and beasts have not eaten it, it is considered that the deceased has sinned deeply and needs to hold religious ceremonies and "transcendence". .
Although nobles think they are nobler than commoners, they are just "graves but not graves". There was a clear distinction between "tomb" and "grave" in ancient times. Those buried deep underground were called "tombs" and those raised above the ground were called "graves." The ancient Chinese tribes also had "graves but not tombs". Graves, after all, are luxuries after a stable life, and are incompatible with nomadic life. Even Genghis Khan's mausoleum follows the ancient adage of "a tomb without a tomb" without exception.
From a realistic point of view: It was a period of war, and the Xixia capital was about to be destroyed. Any rumors about the death of the monarch would shake the morale of the military and give powerful enemies an opportunity to take advantage of it. Therefore, Genghis Khan once left a will, in order to deceive Xixia into surrendering as soon as possible, "he will not announce the funeral secretly after his death." After Xixia surrendered, a cavalry team would carry the coffin and secretly rush to the predetermined cemetery.
In order to truly keep the secret, they also took a series of strict measures. During the long journey, if any pedestrians are encountered, they will be killed and no one will be left alive who may reveal the secret.
When you arrive at the predetermined cemetery, first remove the grass, wood, stones, and debris on the ground one by one, and then arrange the excavated soil in layers. After the coffin enters the soil, handfuls of soil and other objects are placed one by one. reduction. If there is excess soil, it must be transported to a distant place and discarded, leaving no suspicious traces.
The book "Cao Muzi" said: After the burial, they would first ride on their horses or even use ten thousand horses to trample on the cemetery to make it level, and then kill a baby camel on top in front of the mother camel. . Then, a troop was sent to guard it from a distance. When the grass grew the next year and merged with the green grassland around it, making it indistinguishable, they broke camp and evacuated.
This is foolproof security.
Why kill a baby camel? It is said that camels have the instinct to recognize their own blood relatives. If you still need to find a cemetery in the future, take the mother camel who lost her son as your guide and walk to the place where her son died. She will scream in sorrow and refuse to leave. Below, of course, is the cemetery we are looking for.
Only Camel knows his secret.
When this camel, or the camel that will be killed in the future, finally dies, the secret of the cemetery will be eternal.