Chapter 11 Documents

In the document "The Secret History of the Mongols", first begins talking about two friends Temujin and Jamugha. Both of them decided to renew their old pledge and love each other forever. I was a little confused with this document because it talks about the mongols as people who cared for each other and accepted when they had done any mistakes. From what I learned in class I thought they were more aggressive people. But with this document it seemed that they were different people. I find this credible because this is history from a mongol source. In document "Letter to Changchum", was a letter sent to a Chinese Daoist master named Changchun from Chinggis Khan. I enjoyed reading this document because it is giving a different side of Chingis Khan, in the letter he expresses how he cares about his people. Chinggis says, "I eat the same food...I consider the people my children, and take interest in talented means if they were my brothers..." After reading this letter it made me think that Chinggis Khan was not a bad rulers that he actually cared for his people, which is a great quality for a ruler. The oly thing he wanted from the Chinese Daoist was wisdom. When Chinggis says," I at least hope that at least thou wilt leave me a trifle of thy wisdom." This part made me feel like he was a humble and sensor person. In the document about the Russian view of the mongols was different the Russians saw them as devastation, destruction, and brutality. The document "The Chronicle of Novgorod", gave a different perspective of the mongols. In this document we can see that the mongols wanted to take over a town. It says,"And the Tartars took over the town on December 21... They likewise killed the Knyaz and Knyaginya, and men, women, and children, monks, nuns, and priest." This document gave a different perspective of the Mongols, they were killers and took over other people's land. In the document about the Chinese perceptions of the Mongols, talks about a Mongol official named Menggu. In the document "Epitaph for the Honorable Menggu", talks about Menggu as a person who took charge and helped everyone to live peacefully. Document says, "the violence became obedient and no one any longer dared violate the laws. Farmers on the fields and travelers on the roads felt safe, and people began to enjoy life." With his document I was able to see that the Chinese people respected Menggu because he brought peace and safety, and showed love for the people. Maybe this lead the Chinese to admire him and like him. I found all these documents to be interesting because I was able to see the different perspectives of the mongols, and not only think that they were bad people who liked to hurt others. There were some Mongols who seemed to be good people that cared for others.