Genghis Khan and Qin Shi Huang
Zhen Zou
History is an amazing thing, which can let us harvest experience, which can make us look back at the past, which can get us to compare with now. You can also find some incredible coincidences. However, there were some differences in these coincidences. In old China, there were two great emperors who both unified China — Qin Shi Huang and Genghis Khan. As founders of Dynasties, they were powerful leaders, military geniuses and brutal rulers. But, Genghis Khan paid more attention to wars and the expansion of territory, and Qin Shi Huang unified the currency, word and measures while establishing centralization.
People widely recognized that even though Genghis Khan, whose military talent was strong, was very cruel. According to history, Genghis Khan conquered huge parts of central Asia and China. Genghis Khan’s first war, fought in 1193, when with 6,000 men he defeated the army of his father-in-law, Ung Khan, under Sankun, 10,000 strong, surprising them in a narrow pass, and inflicting heavy loss upon them. However, although all battles of Genghis Khan’s demonstrated his military talent, his cruel killing cannot be ignored. According to Giovanni de Plano Carpini, who was the Pope’s envoy the Mongol Great Khan and traveled through Kiev in February 1246, maintained that the Mongols attacked Russia, where they made great damage, undermining cities and fortresses and slaughtering men. After they had besieged Kiev where the capital of Russia was for a long time, they killed all of the inhabitants in Kiev. (Clark, 2012) There were countless skulls and bones of dead men lying about on the ground. This is why it is known that Genghis Khan was brutal. Nevertheless, Genghis Khan conquered the size of the land, but he did not know how to govern it. Fortunately, he had a great consultant – Yelü Chucai, whom Genghis Khan appointed as prime minister to help him effectively manage his country. If he had not had this consultant, his country could not have been so stable.
History is an amazing thing, which can let us harvest experience, which can make us look back at the past, which can get us to compare with now. You can also find some incredible coincidences. However, there were some differences in these coincidences. In old China, there were two great emperors who both unified China — Qin Shi Huang and Genghis Khan. As founders of Dynasties, they were powerful leaders, military geniuses and brutal rulers. But, Genghis Khan paid more attention to wars and the expansion of territory, and Qin Shi Huang unified the currency, word and measures while establishing centralization.
People widely recognized that even though Genghis Khan, whose military talent was strong, was very cruel. According to history, Genghis Khan conquered huge parts of central Asia and China. Genghis Khan’s first war, fought in 1193, when with 6,000 men he defeated the army of his father-in-law, Ung Khan, under Sankun, 10,000 strong, surprising them in a narrow pass, and inflicting heavy loss upon them. However, although all battles of Genghis Khan’s demonstrated his military talent, his cruel killing cannot be ignored. According to Giovanni de Plano Carpini, who was the Pope’s envoy the Mongol Great Khan and traveled through Kiev in February 1246, maintained that the Mongols attacked Russia, where they made great damage, undermining cities and fortresses and slaughtering men. After they had besieged Kiev where the capital of Russia was for a long time, they killed all of the inhabitants in Kiev. (Clark, 2012) There were countless skulls and bones of dead men lying about on the ground. This is why it is known that Genghis Khan was brutal. Nevertheless, Genghis Khan conquered the size of the land, but he did not know how to govern it. Fortunately, he had a great consultant – Yelü Chucai, whom Genghis Khan appointed as prime minister to help him effectively manage his country. If he had not had this consultant, his country could not have been so stable.
Cited: Edwards, Mike. “Lord of the Mongols.” ngm.nationalgeographic.com. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/1996/12/genghis-khan/edwards-text#close-modal. Dec. 1996. Clark, Josh. “Did Genghis Khan really kill 1,748,000 people in one hour?” history.howstuffworks.com. http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/genghis-khan-murder.htm. Nov. 2012. Szczepanski, Kallie. “Qin Shi Huang, First Emperor of China.” About.com. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/profilesofasianleaders/p/qinshihungbio.htm.