Politely asking Genghis Khan to stop killing people

2022 ж. 23 Қар.
989 499 Рет қаралды

In observance of Genghis Khan Day, I talk a little bit about Genghis Khan and his friendship with a Taoist monk called Changchun.
SOURCE
There are two English translations of 長春真人西遊記 (Changchun's Journey to the West) that I am aware of. Both are in the public domain and available online:
- Emil Bretschneider, 1888: archive.org/details/mediaeval...
- Arthur Waley, 1931: archive.org/details/in.ernet....
Some have commented asking about availability of translations in other languages. To my knowledge, Changchun's Journey to the West has only been translated into English, Russian (Palladius, 1866), and Japanese (Iwamura, 1948).
Thank you to B. Cichoszewski for preparing the Polish subtitles.

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  • How ironic, the monk tells him to stop killing to live for ever but the killing is what made him immortal in the eyes of history.

    @sagitarriulus9773@sagitarriulus9773 Жыл бұрын
    • Im certain there mustve been a point of diminishing returns.

      @GSPfan2112@GSPfan2112 Жыл бұрын
    • 🤯mind blown

      @Bambino_60@Bambino_60 Жыл бұрын
    • @@GSPfan2112 isn't diminishing returns basically a law of nature? (not considering things to do with energy or physics)

      @dexorne9753@dexorne9753 Жыл бұрын
    • @@dexorne9753 wdym by that specifically?

      @rudi_tabootie@rudi_tabootie Жыл бұрын
    • @@rudi_tabootie just that generally investments have diminishing returns. Natural law was probably the wrong word though since that can be confused with actual natural laws like conservation of energy and such.

      @dexorne9753@dexorne9753 Жыл бұрын
  • Genghis Khan really made Changchun travel thousands of miles just to completely ignore all his advice

    @fyllingenoy131@fyllingenoy131 Жыл бұрын
    • An effective political strategy to halt the efforts of your opposition under the guise of cooperation.

      @elio7610@elio7610 Жыл бұрын
    • And he would say limericks and musings such as, "How many boards would the Mongols hoard if the Mongol hoards got bored?" edit: Hordes*

      @CraigStCyrPlus@CraigStCyrPlus7 ай бұрын
    • mingus

      @olluxi@olluxi6 ай бұрын
    • @@jasoncullen8430 I haven't seen that play. My first of many questions is - is it Twister (the board/floor game) themed or is the play based on the 1996 box office thriller starring Helen Hunt? edit: he deleted his comment after saying it wasnt a limerick. Said it was a mere play on words. Tongue twister was another term he used.

      @CraigStCyrPlus@CraigStCyrPlus6 ай бұрын
    • Genghis Khan was literally like "I ain't reading allat"

      @sethrussell6393@sethrussell63936 ай бұрын
  • Genghis Khan basically: "You make valid points but I'm still going to do whatever the hell I want. Good to see you though."

    @rohitchaoji@rohitchaoji Жыл бұрын
    • False

      @phoenixj1299@phoenixj1299 Жыл бұрын
    • gengis wanted to change he even said he was right he just fell to old habits like most people

      @wedoalittlemonkeybusiness6545@wedoalittlemonkeybusiness6545 Жыл бұрын
    • @@wedoalittlemonkeybusiness6545 Wow, he wanted to change... too bad he killed millions of people instead. Woopsie.

      @monkeeseemonkeedoo3745@monkeeseemonkeedoo3745 Жыл бұрын
    • @@wedoalittlemonkeybusiness6545 the old habits of murdering millions?

      @11th_defender51@11th_defender51 Жыл бұрын
    • My dad everytime I come home to visit

      @extrafreshhh@extrafreshhh Жыл бұрын
  • Thanks for reminding us to remember the peacemakers. Those who stop violent changes (conquerors) are quite unappreciated in history.

    @luxent@luxent11 ай бұрын
    • Many people dltried to stop usa from invading iraq vietnam afghanistan , many tried to stop world wars but in end talking not what stop wars you cant fight violence with speech

      @docaz9453@docaz94539 ай бұрын
    • Deep stuff.

      @maxsonthonax1020@maxsonthonax10206 ай бұрын
    • It's just weird that "conflict" right now is people funding other people to assault hospitals with children in them. Like, the bottomline of every conflict is (mostly) men who basically disagree with each other about resources and it shouldn't be that hard to do that in a more agreeable way. Only psychopaths enjoy war.@@AllenCrawford3

      @theothertonydutch@theothertonydutch6 ай бұрын
    • @@AllenCrawford3 in what possible capacity are we indebted to conquerors like ghenghis and hitler? Advancements or maybe the existence of history made by the conflicts they lead and represented? If so, bullshit, beyond the complex layers of lies and propoganda enveloping those topics, at absolute best, some possibly net positive changes occurred in select facets of those events, ignoring the far wider senseless endless horrors and destruction. Furthermore, we should remain careful of how and why we treat such people the way we do, because that is the sole way througu which they can function and manipulate us and the history of the world, and one should not give power to tyrants.

      @noahjones9833@noahjones98336 ай бұрын
    • Except this story is about how he failed to stop violence...

      @TheREALTheRealAdam@TheREALTheRealAdam6 ай бұрын
  • “I think it’s worth-…not just remembering the Conquerors in history-but also remembering the Peacemakers.”

    @JoeKawano@JoeKawano Жыл бұрын
    • Conquerors are peacemakers. When they destroy all resistance there is no one to fight, peace is all that's left.

      @olliefoxx7165@olliefoxx7165 Жыл бұрын
    • @@olliefoxx7165 pieces are all that's left

      @Laotzu.Goldbug@Laotzu.Goldbug Жыл бұрын
    • @@Laotzu.Goldbug lol, yes. I suppose you're right. Clever

      @olliefoxx7165@olliefoxx7165 Жыл бұрын
    • @@olliefoxx7165 there's this great piece written by one of the tribe leaders conquered by the Romans, who says "They plunder, they butcher, they ravish, and call it by the lying name of 'empire'. They make a desert and call it 'peace'"

      @jvukovic4@jvukovic4 Жыл бұрын
    • @@jvukovic4 It seems that all the great empires left pieces of the conquered strewn in their wake as they brought them "peace". Humanity's cruelty and kindness are woven in our DNA like the Yin and Yang.

      @olliefoxx7165@olliefoxx7165 Жыл бұрын
  • To me, the most impressive thing in the account is that these two men -- opposites in such significant ways and who remained opposites throughout -- still also remained on friendly terms with each other.

    @jimoday2078@jimoday2078 Жыл бұрын
    • Hard to say what other considerations and interests structured those terms.

      @whynottalklikeapirat@whynottalklikeapirat Жыл бұрын
    • Democrats and Republicans in congress should read up on this account ....maybe learn a thing or two ......

      @bk-lx6cb@bk-lx6cb Жыл бұрын
    • @@bk-lx6cb theyre both the same they just bounce between controlled opposition and autocrat so the US thinks its a democracy

      @Sernival@Sernival Жыл бұрын
    • @@bk-lx6cb the things that democrats and republicans happily agree on tend to be bad for the rest of us

      @thecondescendinggoomba5552@thecondescendinggoomba5552 Жыл бұрын
    • @@bk-lx6cb That's another illusion. In most countries in the world, seemingly opposing political parties are friendly with each other in private. They just put up that front to the public so that their political races seem like they have some meaning or significance for the general public.

      @rohitchaoji@rohitchaoji Жыл бұрын
  • I think Genghis Khan could appreciate Changchun but realizes he cannot live in that world... literally one of his retainers would assassinate him if he actually followed all of Changchun's advice. And for him to stop hunting for two months is an extremely significant amount of time for the Khan given that he's never hesitated in anything in his life. Changchun was like a rare bird in his view that could survive clean in a really ugly, dirty, violent world. They're both naturalists but existing on opposite ends of the wilderness.

    @hamsta11@hamsta11 Жыл бұрын
    • Exactly and anyone who doesn't understand that is very pampered in my opinion. Holding this opinion this opinion is no reflection of your moral views on his actions. It's the reality of the world has was living in. He wasn't the only killer or war lord there just the most efficient. Which is why he's still remembered till this day because the world has for a long time been run by the likes of him.

      @joshlamingo1145@joshlamingo1145 Жыл бұрын
    • Beautifully said.

      @VersionBest@VersionBest11 ай бұрын
    • True. It is a feat for a Man like Changchun to continue existing in the Harsh world as he understands it.

      @arnowisp6244@arnowisp624411 ай бұрын
    • Great point but let’s not give him a pass here. ‘He was just the most effecticient’ that’s pretty meaningless because he still chose to do what he did, it wasn’t just societal pressure but an active choice. Like yeah there was societal pressure and it’s important to recognize that but he was the most powerful man in the world at that point and he chose to keep massacring people and create mass death and destruction. That was a choice he made

      @Ipipeyourmom@Ipipeyourmom6 ай бұрын
    • Best comment. Beautifully stated! 🙂👍💖💎🏆💐🎯

      @opalfishsparklequasar8663@opalfishsparklequasar86636 ай бұрын
  • When a conversation with a bloodthirsty warlord is more civil than most arguements on Twitter.

    @sethleoric2598@sethleoric2598 Жыл бұрын
    • You know the account is a translation of a translation of a translation of a translation?

      @yj9032@yj9032 Жыл бұрын
    • @@yj9032 You need to understand that's how some parts of the world worked in past, particularly in Asia. Buddha literally walked among thugs, warlords and 99% people who had nothing to do with Buddhist philosophy/religion and yet he was completely alive and untouched after 100s of religious debates. Killing a monk was a big sin in Asia doesn't matter if he is from your religious philosophy or have different religious philosophy.

      @emani2704@emani2704 Жыл бұрын
    • Bloodthirsty warlords back then were todays politicians. He had no reason to not treat the monk amicably, his conquests weren't done out of insanity.

      @joujou264@joujou264 Жыл бұрын
    • When you realize that said "bloodthirsty" warlord is actually more reasonable than current US politicians.

      @zaberfang@zaberfang Жыл бұрын
    • @@zaberfang yeah actually,now that i think about it most of these guys were a lot more practi cal about things than a lot of modern politicians lmao

      @sethleoric2598@sethleoric2598 Жыл бұрын
  • Changchun had some serious balls lecturing Genghis Khan

    @serrajav@serrajav Жыл бұрын
    • Genghis Khan chose not to kill Changchun. Like Indy, he chose wisely.

      @700gsteak@700gsteak Жыл бұрын
    • It is like if someone is picking their boogers you have to tell 'em to stop because its disgusting So he try to tell GK to quit it

      @lindadechiazza2924@lindadechiazza2924 Жыл бұрын
    • Mongolians seem to have a history of standing up to crazy leaders stalin and the pipe slapping incident for example

      @TheRealRusDaddy@TheRealRusDaddy Жыл бұрын
    • it is beqause he lectures him in a firm but gentle manner. like how you should teach ur children.

      @freppie_@freppie_ Жыл бұрын
    • He didn't kill any envoys lol

      @geesixnine@geesixnine Жыл бұрын
  • "It was indeed two months before he again went hunting" 🤣 I love these kind of details - incredible sassy humour to bring the account to life in a way that's so relatable to most modern humans

    @Honkwaddle@Honkwaddle Жыл бұрын
    • When I heard that, I'd like to think the monk Changchun had a facepalm moment when he realized the Khan went hunting again

      @Skywalker96214@Skywalker9621411 ай бұрын
    • I also wonder if there is censorship of their writings, since they were in his court, even if the writing were made public later. If they weren’t more “polite” then they may be inviting trouble.

      @bigying@bigying5 ай бұрын
    • That's your interpretation, sassy and sarcasm were not nearly as much a cultural artifice as they are now, in fact in many cultures sarcasm had no meaning, because the word was given with impeccability. And this is giving reverence to the monk for Ghengis Khan's behaviorial change at all, this not girls of the Valley in modern California, there is a different spirit to their words. There was a different spirit to the word even 70-80 years ago, if you listen to the way people spoke candidly, it differs given cultural context, your own lens can warp impeccability.

      @user-wr2cd1wy3b@user-wr2cd1wy3b5 ай бұрын
    • Really though, two months is kind of impressive given how much Mongol society centered riding and hunting.

      @emersonpage5384@emersonpage53845 ай бұрын
    • ​@@user-wr2cd1wy3bokay so what I got from your comment was "to us two months is a short amount of time, so we assume the writer was being sarcastic but in reality given the context and difference in languages; it was likely not sarcastic. In fact, it was probably evidence that Khan took the man's advice."

      @BallBatteryReligion@BallBatteryReligion9 күн бұрын
  • I'd suggest your impression of Changchun's obscurity is more a function of the Eurocentrism of Western education, as Changchun is actually really famous in China as "Qiu Chuji" (which was his real name). That said, his common depiction in Chinese culture is very different (much like most ancient figures), and his most well-known depiction is as a younger man in "Legend of the Condor Heroes," where he is ironically characterized as a bullheaded priest whose inflexible morality and hotheadedness regularly causes him to get into fights.

    @the_mad_fool@the_mad_fool6 ай бұрын
    • everyone grows up eventually, some sooner than others though

      @yetanothergracchi2994@yetanothergracchi29945 ай бұрын
    • Let's not forget the context of modern China's and the old China's differences in depictions of history. Taoism is more of a relic, since freedom of religion altered for the communist revolution. From freedom house: "Chinese Buddhism and Taoism have revived significantly over the past 30 years from near extinction, but their scale and influence pale in comparison to the pre-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) era ... "

      @user-wr2cd1wy3b@user-wr2cd1wy3b5 ай бұрын
    • But how's that eurocentrism. Dog that's called literally being European. With primarily European text. Along with most people not knowing more languages than 2 unless needed. But that is interesting he's depicted as so. Makes sense given current Chinese governmental overhaul on society

      @rohanking12able@rohanking12able5 ай бұрын
    • True, but everyone in the west has heard of Genghis Khan regardless. Even eurocentrist tellings of history will take bits and pieces from other regions. And it's very telling which bits it takes.

      @mikewaters2126@mikewaters21265 ай бұрын
    • I haven't watched/read "Legend of the Condor Heroes", but it seems that Changchun's characterization was possibly inspired by Lu Zhishen (Sagacious Lu) from "Water Margin" aka "Outlaws of the Marsh" - a brash, loyal and unforgettable character.

      @enutrofdude@enutrofdude5 ай бұрын
  • "... but we could still hear dogs barking in the streets." fucking chills man!

    @lordsiomai@lordsiomai Жыл бұрын
  • I really appreciate you subtitling the videos - I'm fascinated by this type of history and it's so rare to find accessible videos about them as a deaf person!

    @aeiro5390@aeiro5390 Жыл бұрын
    • I am delighted that we share this interest and hope you can hear his gentle voice speak it too one day if not in this world then in heaven.

      @user-ms7gt2km5f@user-ms7gt2km5f Жыл бұрын
    • tbh subtitles are nice even for people who can hear. sometimes it gets quiet, or the surroundings are too loud, or the speaker's accent is thick, and having everything in words just helps immensely.

      @dane1382@dane1382 Жыл бұрын
    • Agreed and KZhead removing community captions was one of the worst decisions ever. Always wish I could still do this, so many videos/people need it.

      @bingleflort4338@bingleflort43382 ай бұрын
  • Thanks for sharing this! I have a BA in Mongolian Language and Literature from Inner Mongolia University in China. I learned the Classical Uighur “Mongol” script. Cyrillic has sadly devastated the written language in Mongolia. But the Mongols in China have kept it alive. 😄 The Mongols were a warring people until they converted to Buddhism. They practice Mystic Buddhism, AKA Tibetan Buddhism, which is a mixture of Shamanism and Buddhism. In order to convert them, to subdue them, they could keep many Shamanistic practices. Converting the Mongols and Tibetans to Buddhist practitioners subdued them. Apparently, this was a kind of psychological warfare, and it was successful in subduing the warrior spirit of the Mongols. The Mongolian Language and culture is fascinating! When learning the language, the one verb that has stood out for me is the verb ᠨᠠᠮᠨᠠᠬᠤ (namnaho). It means “to ride a horse and shoot an arrow.” Obviously, the Mongolian culture is connected strongly to horses. A horse was the one thing that anyone needed to be successful in life. The fact they have a verb expressing riding and horse while shooting an arrow also expresses the importance and commonality of this dual action in their culture at some point in time. Cheers! 😊

    @HeartOfChina@HeartOfChina Жыл бұрын
    • Very cool! I like that tidbit about namnaho. Chinggis must have used namnaho in his conversation with Changchun. I'm jealous you got to learn Mongolian. That's a language I wish I could learn but will never have the time to. Incidentally, with your background you're probably one of the few Westerners with the linguistic skills necessary to read The Secret History of the Mongols in the original. (For other reading: it was written in Classical Mongolian using Chinese characters used phonetically.) I plan to do more Mongol content in the future, at the very least once a year in November.

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history Жыл бұрын
    • @Todd Cornell I love the video. I took Mandarin classes in undergrad but I didn't keep it up after graduating. But your narration is slow and clear, great for listening practice. I miss studying Chinese. Such a great language. You have a cool channel. I'm not in the target audience but I can see I can still get a lot out of the cultural observations.

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history Жыл бұрын
    • When the great Indian ruler and conqueror Ashoka become Buddhist it also cause a subduing of the Indian people as many generations after him the Indian people became more non-violent and then the intruders started to make there way in from the western frontier of India.

      @sd8c@sd8c Жыл бұрын
    • lol, straight chinese and russian propaganda outta your mouth. I am damn native speaker and i have no damn idea about the verb you like. Due to 70+ years communist and post-communist propaganda, many people in Mongolia subscribed the your idea of Buddhism subdue the "warrior spirit of Mongols" bullshit. Also, cyrillic devastated the Mongolian written language and only chinese(Inner Mongolian) keeps it alive is another propaganda straight outta china. Well, from the neo-colonist or reductionist perspective, what you wrote here seems true. Alas, the reality is far from it. De-colonize yourself and study again, then you would probably get why this is the case.

      @ichkaodko7020@ichkaodko7020 Жыл бұрын
    • ​@@ichkaodko7020 Thanks for sharing your perspective. Unfortunately, it appears being narrow. History does not exist in a box and the things I speak of, aside from the forced usage of Cyrillic script by the USSR, have nothing to do with the past 70 years. Yes, Cyrillic is much easier to learn than traditional Mongol script. Yes, the Mongols of China are keeping the Mongol script alive. They have no need for Cyrillic. The Mongols in the Republic of Mongolia don’t have the desire to bring the traditional script back and leave behind the simplistic Soviet script. They’re now Russian hybrids after 70 years of exposure to Russian education and Russification. The history of the Mongols is at the core of Chinese history. The Mongols ruled China during the Yuan Dynasty (1100s CE) and have been intrinsically connected to the History of China, a multi-ethnic country. Over the millennia, many ethnic minority groups have ruled China, not just the Han Chinese. That is a historical moot point and is information easily accessible on Wikipedia. Clammer all you want. The history books were written hundreds of years ago. This has nothing to do with the propaganda or colonization you refer to. 😅 Chill!

      @HeartOfChina@HeartOfChina Жыл бұрын
  • It's rather horrific to imagine some poor merchant enter that city only to see no people at all, looking around calling for anyone.... Only to find the mountain of corpse's left behind... I'd straight up die on the spot seeing that.

    @birisuandrei1551@birisuandrei15516 ай бұрын
    • Merchant was probably like "huh, I guess they didn't paid Mongolian taxes" and go somewhere else.

      @ShavoSoaDer@ShavoSoaDer5 ай бұрын
    • @@ShavoSoaDer After the 5th city, probably yeah.

      @samuraijackoff5354@samuraijackoff53545 ай бұрын
  • How refreshing it is to hear a commentary on KZhead which doesn't include music and FX and that includes thought pauses to let mind get into storytelling

    @profet1385@profet1385 Жыл бұрын
    • Couldn't agree more

      @sugoi9680@sugoi9680 Жыл бұрын
    • Here here

      @Honthefup@Honthefup5 ай бұрын
    • Oui Oui

      @poocabraxi@poocabraxiКүн бұрын
  • You can never give the little blacksmith too much credit. His peace offerings were as generous as you can get.

    @SuperLeroy66@SuperLeroy66 Жыл бұрын
    • Subutai?

      @johnclay5499@johnclay5499 Жыл бұрын
    • @@johnclay5499 Temujin means blacksmith.

      @andrewsuryali8540@andrewsuryali8540 Жыл бұрын
    • @@andrewsuryali8540 blackmisth means Darkhan. not Temujin

      @zsaruultugs@zsaruultugs Жыл бұрын
    • @@zsaruultugs Temujin = төмөрчин (tömörchin) = ironworker. It comes from the root words төмөр (tömör) = iron and чин (chin) = worker. It's the actual Mongolian way for saying blacksmith in a pre-industrial sense. дархан (darkhan) actually means craftsman and it comes from the root words дар (dar) = press and хан (khan) = plate, so someone who presses plates. It's the modern industrial-age way of saying blacksmith.

      @andrewsuryali8540@andrewsuryali8540 Жыл бұрын
    • Khan never cared about material wealth. His family had been quite wealthy, but that wealth didn’t help when his father died & the clan turned their backs on them. He reasoned very early on that with power one could always acquire wealth, but that wealth did not ensure that one could retain power. He was very generous with his plunder. He kept very little for himself. It wasn’t what he valued. ✌🏼

      @nannettefreeman7331@nannettefreeman73316 ай бұрын
  • I remember a quote from Ogedei's brothers to the Great Khan (Ogedei) when he was debating wether a city should be wiped out: "Are you gonna cry for the people again?" That is stone cold and why fantasy can never top history

    @andreascovano7742@andreascovano7742 Жыл бұрын
    • You've never heard of Warhammer 40k, have you?

      @joriankell1983@joriankell1983 Жыл бұрын
    • Maybe Arthas from War craft could applied here? Only a little bit.

      @danentakoto2701@danentakoto2701 Жыл бұрын
    • Actually fantasy is inspired by history a lot so don't agree

      @yous2244@yous22445 ай бұрын
  • I honestly thought this was a shitpost.

    @jeromedelrosario@jeromedelrosario Жыл бұрын
  • "It was indeed two months before he again went hunting" definitely sounds like a sarcastic remark lmao

    @Marianne-Bachmeier-Extremist@Marianne-Bachmeier-Extremist Жыл бұрын
  • What’s most puzzling is that the algorithm actually recommended thoughtful and inspiring content which aligns with my real preferences. Your channel is a surprising delight, and I wish you well with it.

    @anhedonianepiphany5588@anhedonianepiphany5588 Жыл бұрын
    • Weve been programming them for years! I think mine has a very complex understanding of who I am and knows that I like to learn, you cant hide who you are from the Algorithm

      @walterkerr1194@walterkerr1194 Жыл бұрын
    • @@walterkerr1194 think what they’re saying is that their algorithm usually doesn’t do that…

      @tikimillie@tikimillie Жыл бұрын
    • You're more likely to click on thoughtful videos so youtube will continue to recommend you them until your preferences change

      @acaptainnachoz2111@acaptainnachoz2111 Жыл бұрын
    • @@walterkerr1194 I had to use a browser extention to block a hundred mainstream news channels.

      @bingxilao9086@bingxilao9086 Жыл бұрын
    • lol

      @arethur@arethur Жыл бұрын
  • Actually so cool to hear accounts of people conversing and interacting with Genghis Khan and getting a glimpse of who the Khan was as a person and what he was like.

    @Jobe-13@Jobe-13 Жыл бұрын
    • He was nothing but a bloodthirsty and murdering coward.

      @segagenysis6918@segagenysis6918 Жыл бұрын
  • I've been enjoying the hell out of this channel. This guy is now near the top of my list for people I'd just like to have dinner and chat with

    @ADPuckey@ADPuckey6 ай бұрын
  • Your presentation style is disarming, which is odd, because i didn't know i went into history videos armed. This is a fascinating topic and I'm glad to have found this video.

    @ac4740@ac4740 Жыл бұрын
    • yes. Disarm now. A lot of the history was not conflict. It was just life

      @sakesaurus1706@sakesaurus1706 Жыл бұрын
    • Really well said, I realize I share the same sentiment!

      @bassistguy13@bassistguy13 Жыл бұрын
  • Thank you. That was very thought provoking. It's difficult to imagine such a brutal Warrior who habitually held life cheap, massacring any enemies that proved rebellious, was also interested in calmly debating philosophy & wanted to learn about other cultures. I also learnt there was a Genghis Khan Day. I'll plan for next year to celebrate by building a token pyramid of skulls of my. enemies 🥳

    @psr0459@psr0459 Жыл бұрын
    • They killed your far away cousins in central asia

      @meinkek7896@meinkek7896 Жыл бұрын
    • A real "Hitler was a vegetarian dog lover" moment eh

      @SuLokify@SuLokify Жыл бұрын
    • @@SuLokify I love that guy

      @burrito1413@burrito1413 Жыл бұрын
    • @@burrito1413 Ye

      @SuLokify@SuLokify Жыл бұрын
    • @@SuLokify Ye 2

      @burrito1413@burrito1413 Жыл бұрын
  • This is a good example of why it’s important for bystanders to speak up. Changchun had no force to force Genghis Khan to stop killing, but still encouraged him to stop. I do wonder if the mention of the the two months with out hunting is really a jab at Genghis Khan or if it’s an achievement of Changchun’s wisedom. I am not a historian or a cultural expert in any way, but without more context I wouldn’t be able to figure that out.

    @StAmander@StAmander5 ай бұрын
  • I just discovered your videos and have been binge watching them. The topics of your videos are intriguing and your delivery of them is amazing! thanks for all your hard work!!!

    @itayweiss4901@itayweiss49019 ай бұрын
    • Thanks!

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history9 ай бұрын
  • Your end note is such an important one. A lot of atrocious people in the past get given a free pass as being "products of their time" but it's bs, there have always been people who spoke out against them.

    @virani3120@virani3120 Жыл бұрын
    • At the same time it is pure idiocy to also hold them to the same standards of modern times. It just isn't the same thing.

      @mikeoath9541@mikeoath9541 Жыл бұрын
    • ​@@ULTRAOutdoorsman So you're saying there is a chance.

      @algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286@algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286 Жыл бұрын
    • It’s not idiotic at all. We have modern standards, and why should we put those aside for anyone? We may as well not have those standards at all then. Never make excuses for bad behavior.

      @magesalmanac6424@magesalmanac6424 Жыл бұрын
    • @@magesalmanac6424 According to statistics the US has killed over 6 million people, directly and indirectly, since their "War on Terror" started 20 years ago. Tell me again about these modern standards?

      @johannuys7914@johannuys791411 ай бұрын
    • @@magesalmanac6424 its just important to know the difference between excuses and explanations I guess

      @reanbowlerd5988@reanbowlerd598811 ай бұрын
  • I just discovered your channel this afternoon and I already watched 4 videos. I must say I love your narration. There’s something so casual in the way you talk about what happened in the past that it doesn’t come off as a new lesson to me - it sounds like youre giving a friendly insight but in a non patronizing way on what we can also notice from the past instead of what is directly obvious popping out of a history book page. Breezy and casual. I like it. Thanks for not making it sound controversial or commercialized. I hope you cover more topics. More power!! ❤🧚🏻‍♀️

    @thebitchprince@thebitchprince Жыл бұрын
    • Kennet, you have put my own feelings into words. I just discovered his stuff a week or two ago,but I could listen to Postmodernist every day.

      @BS-vx8dg@BS-vx8dg Жыл бұрын
  • One of the most interesting things about Genghis Khan to me was how he refused to wear exquisitely decorated armor, and instead his honor guard were the ones covered in jewels and engraved armor. I imagine this was a very useful social tactic in negotiations not just with his men, but his negotiations with foreign entities as well.

    @jackhazardous4008@jackhazardous40085 ай бұрын
    • Not really. Like Pol Pot he was hiding his presence. He still feared assassination.

      @hachwarwickshire292@hachwarwickshire2925 ай бұрын
  • The other cool part about old travel logs is that it tells you just as much about their own culture as the one that they're describing, because it clues us into what their home culture must be like for them to think certain things are strange.

    @Kevin-jb2pv@Kevin-jb2pv11 ай бұрын
  • Imagine submitting to the mongols, then rebelling before the army is even that far away

    @Quitbit@Quitbit Жыл бұрын
  • Never in my life would I ever expect to be listening about Genghis Khan but you sure are a fantastic storyteller

    @kevinpezza6684@kevinpezza66846 ай бұрын
  • I enjoy so much your vocal style. it feels extemporaneous and thoughtful and is a joy to experience. And the topics are always so fascinating...

    @PatrickPease@PatrickPease10 ай бұрын
  • Just discovered your channel, please keep it up! Love your enthusiasm for these topics....I've already watched several, can't wait to watch more. Thank you.

    @timkelehan5147@timkelehan5147 Жыл бұрын
  • A parallels here…the ratios of peace and violence run in equal proportions to sense and non-sense. For every one of this type of video is about 10,000 TikToks Wish there were more guys like you, thank you

    @jaydendrelinger4304@jaydendrelinger43045 ай бұрын
  • You should do a video on Ibn Khaldun visiting Tamerlane This is literally the same situation between changchun and Chingis Khahan A talk between a man of the pen and a man of the sword

    @maddogbasil@maddogbasil Жыл бұрын
    • Yeah, that's another great meeting.

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history Жыл бұрын
    • More like an ass kisser and a butcher who could use some cultural decoration to polish his image.

      @majungasaurusaaaa@majungasaurusaaaa Жыл бұрын
    • @@majungasaurusaaaa yh I'm not gonna disagree with you their Timur was definitely a butcher It's sad knowing how many Muslims his killed throughout his life while still trying to hold on to the mantle of Emir

      @maddogbasil@maddogbasil Жыл бұрын
    • @@maddogbasil he was the "sword of islam" but used it to kill more muslims then anyone else.

      @ziggytheassassin5835@ziggytheassassin5835 Жыл бұрын
    • @@maddogbasil Didn't he want to be considered "Khan" but he had no connections to Mongolia at all?

      @geesixnine@geesixnine Жыл бұрын
  • It opens up Ghengis to being understood as a person in his own way. Either through his maybe sense of humor in “heeding” the calls for peace or in his good ol boy manner of “such is steppe life”.

    @billwilliamson1506@billwilliamson1506 Жыл бұрын
    • Ghengis just simply Stepped the hardest.

      @algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286@algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286 Жыл бұрын
  • Beautifully eloquent and insightful commentary, thank you so much for breaking this down for folks like me who have a very fragmented view of world history.

    @uncut_cowboy@uncut_cowboy Жыл бұрын
  • Imagine being killed over your need of water. Quite a scary picture.

    @Intentspunk19@Intentspunk196 ай бұрын
  • You’re videos are so thorough please don’t stop!

    @Damian-qv6wh@Damian-qv6wh Жыл бұрын
  • Years later Genghis Khan wrote letters to Qiu Chuji(chang chun) that he missed him a lot.

    @zhangmike4852@zhangmike48525 ай бұрын
  • What a wonderful take. I can't get enough of this channel! Please do more.

    @ohaRega@ohaRega5 ай бұрын
  • This was a really great lesson I was unaware of. You made me feel a lot more courageous about our individual causes. I am in a heavy place right now and needed a reminder that I know what I am doing and what my message is. And it doesn't take a victory to have my message heard. Thank you I really enjoyed that.

    @Moowe291@Moowe2915 ай бұрын
  • This is a great title for a video. Makes me want to click, but doesn't feel like clickbait. And you deliver actual history.

    @2Cerealbox@2Cerealbox Жыл бұрын
  • we quote genghis khan so much that it really shows insanely how much we romanticize and glorify historical conquerors and war criminals. also for fans of legend of the condor heroes, the author does have a scene where Genghis Khan and Qiu Chuji (changchun) talk about immortality, etc

    @bobbytran3878@bobbytran3878 Жыл бұрын
    • I know. For some reason people seem to give historical leaders a pass for doing things we would not approve of otherwise. Thanks for the tip! I hadn't heard of Legend of the Condor Heroes. Looks like it's on KZhead with subtitles, so I'm going to check it out.

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history Жыл бұрын
    • @@premodernist_history there’s also a new English novel translation (the novel is split into 4 volumes)

      @bobbytran3878@bobbytran3878 Жыл бұрын
    • @@bobbytran3878 This has sent me down a rabbit hole. I didn't realize there is so much Chinese historical fiction translated into English. Louis Cha is quite prolific.

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history Жыл бұрын
    • @@premodernist_history yeah he’s very influential to the genre of wuxia. His characters and stories are really popular, comparable to how popular stars war or lotr are in the west.

      @bobbytran3878@bobbytran3878 Жыл бұрын
    • It makes me wonder how adolf hitler or stalin will be remembered 1000 years from now

      @ziggytheassassin5835@ziggytheassassin5835 Жыл бұрын
  • I love the straightforward approach of this channel SO much.

    @boat1280@boat12805 ай бұрын
  • i’ve only recently found your account and i’m loving it so much, the videos are so informative and interesting you have amazing taste in what to publish and deep dive into!! please keep creating content :)

    @beechng.g3403@beechng.g34036 ай бұрын
  • Your videos are great, high quality, and contains a lot of information. I hope u make more of them.

    @warrior-593@warrior-593 Жыл бұрын
  • "Hey, could you please stop?" "No."

    @GUNUFofficial@GUNUFofficial Жыл бұрын
  • I love that final note about remembering peacemakers in history, it is incredibly easy to name violent historical figures but those who tried to bring peace to the world get overlooked or forgotten. Great video man

    @beatrixxxkiddo@beatrixxxkiddo3 ай бұрын
    • Tbf that’s generally because it’s easier to change the word through violence than through peaceful means.

      @baneofbanes@baneofbanes3 ай бұрын
  • Your channel is a breath of fresh air among all the routine WW2 and civil war stuff.

    @yj9032@yj9032 Жыл бұрын
  • Really glad KZhead threw this video into my recommended. Very interesting piece of history to consider. Thank you for sharing it!

    @MissMaserati@MissMaserati Жыл бұрын
    • Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history Жыл бұрын
  • I'm glad I got the gunk out of my youtube algorithm and seeing some valuable videos finally, I got The Travels of an Alchemist on my "to read" list and I'm going to check out more of your videos, thank you.

    @johnran6015@johnran601511 ай бұрын
  • Man this is quality content. Never stop making these!

    @PsychorGames@PsychorGames6 ай бұрын
  • Echoing the sentiments of many others when I say I've been really excited to discover this channel - fantastic content and topic areas. I'd love to know more about your academic background if you're willing to share that with us?

    @genesislauu1641@genesislauu1641 Жыл бұрын
    • Thank you for the kind words! I got a PhD in medieval Islamic history, but obviously my history interests extend beyond that.

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history Жыл бұрын
  • That was quality content! Thank you, I really appreciated this.

    @victorc824@victorc824 Жыл бұрын
  • this kind of content is why i love history. the little details. I was vaguely considering dropping my history major because I am still in the stage where I have to take all these broad survey courses on entire continents and I have no time to focus on any of the details that interest me. maybe I'll hold out hope a little longer

    @reidleblanc3140@reidleblanc3140 Жыл бұрын
  • As soon as you said you love medieval travel stories i instantly subscribed.

    @Nathanfx2006@Nathanfx2006 Жыл бұрын
  • This channel is such a neat corner of the internet. I like hanging out here when I have a moment, it's kind of a concentrated dose of humanity.

    @lightbeingform@lightbeingform5 ай бұрын
    • And the world is severely lacking in humanity right now. I'm struggling myself to stay positive, humans are such complicated beings

      @wolfetone8380@wolfetone83803 ай бұрын
  • I absolutely loved this video. I really cannot stress enough how fantastic of a listen that was.

    @carlsmith4568@carlsmith4568 Жыл бұрын
    • Thank you!

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history Жыл бұрын
  • this was a great video thank you for the time you put into this

    @getmoneybyanymeans6564@getmoneybyanymeans6564 Жыл бұрын
  • Great video, love the historical context about how the morality of war has been discussed for a millennia! Would love for you to discuss Timur, another historical figure I know little about

    @CaptainTerrific09@CaptainTerrific09 Жыл бұрын
  • I don't know how did I come across this video. But I liked it a lot. Thanks.

    @m3bmuadib@m3bmuadib Жыл бұрын
  • I just found your channel and I enjoy your passion for history. The way you put things in context by telling stories rather than trying to sound smart is very refreshing.

    @OrganicGreens@OrganicGreens Жыл бұрын
  • I just found your channel and I love your videos. Your angle for teaching history is very interesting! Keep it up.

    @rivergrove3509@rivergrove35095 ай бұрын
  • well spoken, well told. Thank you for this refreshing history lesson

    @MRmagicoli@MRmagicoli Жыл бұрын
  • Sending gratitude from a Quanzhen Daoist monastery near Seattle! 💙

    @SnakeAndTurtleQigong@SnakeAndTurtleQigong Жыл бұрын
  • This is a great channel. Thank you for your work.

    @richardaaron4454@richardaaron4454 Жыл бұрын
  • I'm a working to be a manga story writer and is looking for Mongolian traditions/Kan and their lifestyles for story inspiration, and this is amazing, this is such a interesting character dynamic to see the most brutal man and a pacifist having respect towards eachother, thank you for giving the spotlight to the small but more interesting details of history and to make historical figures being more 3 dimensional and human

    @kujojotarostandoceanman2641@kujojotarostandoceanman2641 Жыл бұрын
  • Thank you for your video. You make this world a better place, and you are doing right by the positive human potential that we have.

    @davidderidder2667@davidderidder2667 Жыл бұрын
  • this reminds of the encounter between St. Francis of Assisi and the Sultan of Egypt.

    @TheDarklugia123@TheDarklugia123 Жыл бұрын
  • What an interesting video I came across this morning. I’ve always find kahn interesting. Subscribed.

    @justicewillprevail1106@justicewillprevail1106 Жыл бұрын
  • Second video of yours that I found, this one and the election of George Washington one. Subscribed and love your videos and learning along with them

    @bentraplay6754@bentraplay6754 Жыл бұрын
  • Thank you so much for this interesting, intriguing and thought-provoking video! I’m very surprised to find that these medieval texts preserve the local dialect elements of Penglai(in ancient and text, Teng Chou) perfectly, for example, Si hia, called Qi xia in pinyin, are pronounced exactly like people from Penglai would do and alongside Teng Chou is still here to stay after a thousand years. Sometimes I feel the ancient way of dividing regions is way more accurate than now, as far as China’s concerned. Also it is my first time learning Chang Chun, even though he’s a Laoxiang of mine. Indeed, you can tell and say that the great peacemaker’s story was not told enough for the people to know. Quanzhen Taoism should preserve itself well.

    @airingcondo3068@airingcondo3068 Жыл бұрын
  • Just subscribed. You have interesting content. Can't believe you're still (just) under 5k subs

    @Darkdaej@Darkdaej Жыл бұрын
  • Thank you for this. Fascinating and eloquent.

    @lsobrien@lsobrien Жыл бұрын
  • I absolutely love your channel. Never change.

    @jacobtb1@jacobtb1 Жыл бұрын
  • At first I thought the title was strange, but the video really explains it!

    @Kimballion@Kimballion Жыл бұрын
  • According to Chinese historical records, Changchun (長春子, 丘處機) was born on February 10, 1148, and died on August 22, 1227. He met Genghis Khan in April, 1222, when he was 74 years old.

    @chi-jenyang9752@chi-jenyang9752 Жыл бұрын
  • Such an underrated channel. This was extremely interesting to listen to and to think I only clicked because of the derpy thumbnail and title haha

    @SisypheanRoller@SisypheanRoller Жыл бұрын
  • My grandpa is a huge history geek and I myself have also been interested in history but never really started diving in deep. Not really relatable with this video but just wanted to say this was very interesting and fascinating! A true example of the ying & yang. I subscribed and cant wait for more content/videos from you! Much love! 💯

    @auraaaaaaa@auraaaaaaa Жыл бұрын
    • Thanks!

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history Жыл бұрын
    • Eyo Guts

      @jankan4036@jankan4036 Жыл бұрын
    • @@jankan4036 eyo

      @auraaaaaaa@auraaaaaaa Жыл бұрын
  • Thank you for your lifetime of preparation behind this video. The stories of these two remarkable men raise this question: are religious and philosophic views causes or effects of the rest of our behavior? Do we put beliefs in action, or hold beliefs that explain and justify our actions?

    @oscresson@oscresson Жыл бұрын
  • Another great video! You’ve got a really great, unique style for this type of video. Others have distracting music, visuals, and transitions, but yours is a lot more reserved and I love it! It’s like the difference between Sesame Street and Mr. Rodgers :)

    @danielbabb4776@danielbabb4776 Жыл бұрын
    • Thanks!

      @premodernist_history@premodernist_history Жыл бұрын
  • Thank you for sharing your knowledge and insights. At the end of the video you summarise my thoughts on storytellers or historians who talk about events and tales from the past, and encourage the reader that they: "have to think of the it all as a different time", and that "standards (with regard to rape or murder for example) were different". I feel it is important to challenge that. As you say, "many of us don't take into account that there were people... who had moral standards, and had principles, and were virtuous". It is not to destroy the story but to protest the storyteller.

    @rueadinfinitum@rueadinfinitum6 ай бұрын
  • Thank you very much for telling more about Genghis Khan to us.

    @maverikmiller6746@maverikmiller67466 ай бұрын
  • I will never stop

    @24HourGeorge@24HourGeorge Жыл бұрын
    • .... _Pretty please?_

      @BimpytheWimpyShrimpy@BimpytheWimpyShrimpy Жыл бұрын
    • Khan you try?

      @johnmeier7284@johnmeier7284 Жыл бұрын
  • "Yeah I am 300 years old... Plus or minus a factor of ten"

    @trentostgaard@trentostgaard Жыл бұрын
  • I've been thinking about how schools teach history to students. I think schools only care to teach students how our current political distribution came to be, and more often than not the answer is war. Also I loved this video, you gained a subscriber, looking forward for more!

    @randomassguy@randomassguy Жыл бұрын
  • I really love your Channel :) Thank you for these videos!

    @ignacionavarroazurmendi6945@ignacionavarroazurmendi69455 ай бұрын
  • “Eternal Spring” (changchun) Qui Chuji. I was first introduced to this specific line of history via Legend of the Condor Heroes series, book 4 -‘A Heart Divided’. 5 ⭐️’s. IYKYK!

    @ItachiEyez@ItachiEyez11 ай бұрын
  • i love your pronunciation of their names, pretty spot on!

    @PHDL1295@PHDL1295 Жыл бұрын
    • "Genghis Khan... I wonder if he means old Genghis Khan..."

      @2shabbs@2shabbs Жыл бұрын
  • Well presented…without all the…presentation ;-) The conversational tone here is a quiet relief . Excellent point that these first-person accounts give a special closeness to events before those events are historical. I hadn’t considered that much - or the effect of a foreigner doing the documenting.

    @micry8167@micry8167 Жыл бұрын
  • Out of everything ten thousand videos KZhead recommends, there is one that is interesting and shines with intelligence. Great job, KZhead.

    @jasonm9216@jasonm9216 Жыл бұрын
  • Huge fan hope you make videos more regularly 👍 studied political science back in college and you see like a great professor

    @Geo.StoryMaps@Geo.StoryMaps Жыл бұрын
  • It'd be cool if you did more videos on historical people whose morality might seem more forward thinking than we usually think they might have been like when we think of someone from centuries past.

    @testest12344@testest12344 Жыл бұрын
  • This is my new favorite channel!!

    @NiklasKing87@NiklasKing875 ай бұрын
  • Well, that was a refreshing and interesting KZhead video, thank you. Going to have a look at your other content.

    @tombassman@tombassman11 ай бұрын
  • I'm not super into history, I'm more into science, but this is a damn interesting/ good video. I'm subscribing.

    @islandbry@islandbry Жыл бұрын
  • I could listen to this guy talk all day.

    @claymore9359@claymore9359 Жыл бұрын
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