Genghis Khan threatens modern China?

[Dawei3]

The Chinese government is looking for threats everywhere, but this one really surprised me, i.e., widely known factual history is now seen as a threat.  In this case, a museum in France that has a display on Genghis Khan was asked not to mention Genghis Khan's name nor the kingdom he created:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Arts/China-s-Mongolian-culture-wars-backfire-in-France

(Isn't this amazing???  It's almost like a scene Monty Python).  

 

Why do you think Genghis Khan is seen as a threat now?  I wonder if it is because the Mongol occupation of China threatens the idea that Chinese always ruled China (which in addition to the rule by Genghis Khan, it also wasn't true during the 16 kingdoms where the majority of the states were formed from non-Han peoples).  Obviously, this isn't anything new.  However, a Chinese friend this weekend discussed with me how China has always been ruled by Chinese, so I'm guessing this must be a theme being pushed by the government (why else worry about a leader from the 13th century???).  

 

The above article made me think of this one in Sixth tone:  That a Peking U. Prof is "rewriting China’s Understanding of the World." (i.e., he will rewrite history to fit what the government wants).  https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1013767

[Tomsima]

On 1/2/2024 at 4:45 AM, Dawei3 said:

a Chinese friend this weekend discussed with me how China has always been ruled by Chinese

What was there to discuss? Unless you consider Manchu, Mongolian, Khitan, Tangut etc. peoples to be 'Chinese' (indeed, whatever that means) there's not much to say in favour of the 'always' position. I'm surprised to hear this, as many Chinese people will gladly tell you about the 'Manchu occupation'...

[realmayo]

I believe the 'line to take' is that these people may have been foreigners, but they were very quickly absorbed into Chinese culture and as a result basically became Chinese not long after taking power. Here, China's leading thinker explains to an American intellectual how black hair and yellow skin go back 5000 years in China: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0fABpNxLLc

 

[Dawei3]

On 1/2/2024 at 1:40 PM, Tomsima said:

What was there to discuss? Unless you consider Manchu, Mongolian, Khitan, Tangut etc. peoples to be 'Chinese' (indeed, whatever that means) there's not much to say in favour of the 'always' position. I'm surprised to hear this, as many Chinese people will gladly tell you about the 'Manchu occupation'...

Exactly!!!   It's amazing that the government thinks it can suppress world knowledge of Genghis Khan (and what is the point???)  However, it fits with the Sixth tone article suggesting that the plan is a new effort to "create" history that fits the current government ideals.    

[Lu]

On 1/4/2024 at 12:00 AM, Dawei3 said:

It's amazing that the government thinks it can suppress world knowledge of Genghis Khan

I wouldn't be so sure. If you tell enough people that the Yuan was a Chinese dynasty and don't mention Genghis Khan and his empire, then that is what most people will know and they won't even know to look for other information. If you then tell them China has always been ruled by Chinese, they won't have the Genghis Khan/Yuan argument because nobody told them.

 

Was talking with someone about China things recently, not a stupid or uneducated person at all, and I had to explain that Tibet is not an independent country at the moment but Taiwan is. Some years ago when I moved to Taiwan another smart, well-educated friend asked me if Taiwan had a coastline. If you're in the China bubble, you often don't realise how little people outside the China bubble know about Asia. Next time you're in a group of people not particularly interested in China, ask them what they know about Genghis Khan and China, see if they know the connection.

 

Relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/2501/.