this doesn't uigur well

[reverancepavane]

Mongol was quite a good film, telling the story of the young Temujin, who was eventually to become Genghis Khan, the founder of the largest empire in human history. It is based on the so-called Secret History of the Mongols, which is a mixture of historical fact and folklore, and holds the same impact for Mongolians as the legends of Arthur Pendragon have for the British. Having read the Secret History, I found myself looking for the next interesting event or person (a lot of episodes were missing, but you couldn't fit the entire Secret History in such a short film), but I am informed that if you have no knowledge of history, you will still enjoy what is going on. Although, apparently, in this case it becomes a classic love story rather than a coming of age story.

Comments

[shadow-5tails.livejournal.com]

I shall have to look at tracking down this Secret History in translation - it sounds most interesting...

fur hats and battle ponies

[reverancepavane.livejournal.com]

Well the original was in Uiger (one of the dominant steppe tribes before the Mongols, and who survived in a privileged position because they had learnt to read and write). It was translated into Chinese (not sure which kind, but I'm presuming Mandarin), which is apparently the oldest surviving copy. Still, it has always been an import part of Mongol vocal heritage. Some of the early bits may definitely have been given a legendary spin, but given the harsh punishments for false reporting in the Mongol army, there is probably a lot of historical fact in it (and a lot of that is externally checkable). It's an interesting and exciting tale, especially when given vocally.