MONGOL RULE IN EAST ASIA, TWELFTH-FOURTEENTH CENTURIES: AN ASSESSMENT

OF RECENT SOVIET SCHOLARSHIP

Author(s): Thomas T. Allsen
Source: Mongolian Studies , 1976, Vol. 3 (1976), pp. 5-27
Published by: Mongolia Society

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43193032

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 MONGOL RULE IN EAST ASIA,
TWELFTH-FOURTEENTH CENTURIES:
AN ASSESSMENT OF RECENT SOVIET SCHOLARSHIP1

Thomas T. Alisen

(University of Minnesota)

Introduction

It is hardly surprising that Russia, which for some 300 years was
dominated by the Mongols, has produced a large number of scholars
interested in the history of the far-flung empire created by Chinggis Khan
and his successors. Since the early decades of the last century, Russian
orientalists, archeologists and historians have been exploring various
aspects of the history and culture of the Mongol Empire.2 In the early
years much effort was spent on assembling, editing and translating
historical texts and documents in the various languages- Arabic, Persian,
Armenian, Chinese, etc.- in use throughout the Mongol Empire. With the
appearance of such scholars as V. V. Barthold and V. Ia. Vladimirtsov,
whose careers spanned both the Imperial and the Soviet eras, a greater
emphasis was placed on analytical studies that tried to explain the social
and political conditions which gave rise to Chinggis Khan's empire, and the
character of the political and cultural interaction between these nomadic
conquerors and their sedentary subjects.
In the early 1930's, after the deaths of Barthold and Vladimirtsov, a
new generation of Soviet-trained scholars began reworking the history of
the Mongol Empire from a Marxist perspective.3 Most of the original work
done at this time was concerned with the Mongol states in Central Asia,
the Middle East and, of course, Russia. Very little of note was published
on Mongol rule in East Asia. In fact, since the nineteenth century, when
Bichurin, Kafarov and others published some important translations from

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 6 MONGOLIAN STUDIES

the Chinese sources of the Mongol peri

sinologists had shown a sustained interest in t
scholars with a more general interest in th
Barthold and Vladimirtsov, did not know Chin
In the early 1960's, motivated in part by t
Chinese Peoples Republic, a general effort
improve Chinese studies in the USSR.5 As par
group of historians were trained who speciali
rule in China. Thus, it is only in the last fifte
on the Yüan dynasty based upon sound sinolo
to appear in any quantity in the USSR.
The following attempts to describe the
scholarly literature and to analyze some of th
which have arisen out of the on-going debate
Communist scholars over the role of the Mong
I will conclude with some remarks on the use
literature by Soviet Yüan specialists.
Chronologically, the works discussed here c
rise of the Mongol state under Chinggis Khan
dynasty in 1368. Because the Yüan dynasty at
over or invaded most of its neighbors, some
with Korea, Uighuristan, Southeast Asia, Tibe
included.

Chinggis Khan and the Sino-Soviet Dispute

Until the early 1960's, Soviet and Chinese Communist scholars were
in general agreement in their assessment of the historical role of the
Mongol conquests: The empire of Chinggis Khan was seen as a negative
force in human history, since the Mongols and their allies destroyed or
drained off a large part of the human and material resources of the
conquered areas through a combination of military action and economic
exploitation. Chinggis Khan's only positive achievement was the unifica-
tion of the Mongol tribes, which facilitated the development of their
national identity.7
But by 1962, there were clear indications that the Chinese
evaluation of the Mongol Empire had changed. First, there was an
officially-sponsored celebration of the 800th anniversary of the birth of

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 ALLSEN 7

Chinggis Khan in In
Chinggis Khan,"8 ap
Mongol history. Th
progressive phenome
division, the national
cosmopolitan characte
the opportunity to b
culture.9
Soviet scholars, however, continued to view the Mongol Empire as a
reactionary and essentially destructive force in human history. Ivan M.
Maiskii, the former Soviet ambassador to Great Britain and an "old
Mongol hand," writing in Questions of History in 1962, vigorously
defended the Soviet contention that "as a result of wars of aggression,
Chinggis Khan and his successors brought about tremendous destruction,
set back the development of many peoples, and retarded the growth of
productive forces and the progressive movement of human society."1 0 At
about the same time, three well-known Soviet medievalists put forward
similar arguments with particular reference to the Mongol invasions of
Russia and Eastern Europe.1 1
The most authoritative Soviet response came in 1970, when the
symposium, The Tatar o-Mongols in Asia and Europe , was issued by the
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
This volume contains a series of case studies, each prepared by an
established specialist, describing the disastrous social, economic and
cultural consequences of the Mongol conquests of various sedentary
societies. The purpose of this work, as stated by the editor, S. L.
Tikhvinskii, is "to point out the unscientific and reactionary nature of the
theory, advocated by certain Chinese historians, of the allegedly progres-
sive role of the military campaigns and territorial seizures of Chinggis Khan
and his heirs in the history of Mankind."12 It is important to remember
in this regard, that the attack on Chinese evaluations of the legacy of
Chinggis Khan was only one aspect of the growing Soviet disenchantment
with Chinese Communist historiography as a whole. As early as 1963, R.
V. Viatkin and S. L. Tikhvinskii, the editor of the above-mentioned
symposium, had published an article criticizing Chinese historical science
in more general terms for distorting Marxism and promoting great Han
chauvinism.1 3

It is within the context of this dispute over historical methods in

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8 MONGOLIAN STUDIES

general and the historical role of the Mong

Soviet Yüan scholarship must be viewed
surveyed here were issued after 1960, th
extent, the continuing Soviet response to "
tendencies which discredit present-day Mar
Chinese Peoples Republic."1 4

Unification of the Mongols and the Rise of C

Soviet scholars have accepted, in the m

interpretation of the development of M
posthumous work, Social Structure of th
Feudalism.1 6 Recent studies have merely el
concepts. As an example, I. Ia. Zlatkin
Periodization of the History of Feudalism
Formation of the Mongol Feudal State and i
follow Vladimirtsov's notion of the basic sta
society, but revise the latter 's chronology a
with modern developments.
Despite disagreement over details and per
the Soviet Union19 and Mongolian Peoples R
sov's thesis that the Mongol state arose in t
early thirteenth century as a result of the d
among the Mongol tribes.21 As formulated
runs as follows: In the course of the eleven
Mongol aristocracy (noyans) seized contro
were originally held collectively by the com
same time, the arats were made the feud
noyans. As a result of increased class conflic
aristocracy for control of land and serfs
political units came into being. The culmina
"period of early feudalism" was the format
Chinggis Khan.
In the Soviet view, then, the formation
result of a set of social factors and not the
Khan. Western and Chinese historians who
the personality of Chinggis Khan as a facto

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 ALLSEN 9

sharply criticized.2 3 S
San dag s "Formation o
analyze his activities i
period of early feuda
military leader are n
particular stage of Mon
Sandag condemns Ch
consequences as reactio
"centralized feudal st
significance in that it
to their transformatio
about a general elevatio
and Chinese scholars st
While adhering in ge
Ts. Munkuev's "Notes o
observations on the ch
position held by vario
and his immediate desc
the second half of th
Mongols before Ching
only occasional, shor
evolution of key Mong
population in the twelf
Lev. N. Gumilev 's st
Kingdom: The Legend
history of the Eurasia
and advances a somewh
Mongol Empire than
initially proposed by B
Chinggis Khan represe
rival, Jamukha, was
reverses this formula,
which enabled Chinggis
Gumilev also differs
importance of the relig
In his opinion, religiou
impact on the policie

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10 MONGOLIAN STUDIES

further Mongol invasions after the dea

Nestorians who had come to power pushed
Muslims" (p. 204).
Finally, it deserves notice that Gumilev's an
like his earlier treatment of the Hsiung-nu
emphasizes the role of ecological change i
nomadic peoples.30 This recognition of the im
human affairs "does not indicate an acc
geographical determinism, formulated by Mon
since it is Gumilev's position that "the hist
(ethnos), which is a consequence of its [th
activity, is not determined by, but is con
conditions of the intervening landscape."3 1

Mongol Conquests in East Asia

Following unification of the steppe tribes

Chinggis Khan, the Mongols launched a se
campaigns against the surrounding agricultura
the subjugation of a large part of the civilize
there is a direct correlation between the estab
at the turn of the thirteenth century and the
S. L. Tikhvinskii states that the "political
[Mongolia] led to the cessation of the inte
previously the basic source of booty for the
Mongol nomadic nobility. External conquests
addition to vast booty, the unlimited possi
exploitation of the population of the rich
countries, and muted and weakened, for a
between the aristocracy and dependent nomad
The major Mongol campaigns in East Asia h
treatment by Soviet scholars. E. I. Kychan
Tangut Wars and the Destruction of the Hsi H
history of the political and military relations
the first conflict in 1205 to the decisive
Information on the response of various segme
invasions is also provided. The final chapter of

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 ALLSEN 11

of the Tangut State 3

followed by the Hsi H
Mongol military threat
The Mongol conquest
instance by diplomatic
Kutlukov's paper, "The
describes the military,
rendered the Mongol G
of Qubilai, when the U
between the Yüan dyn
G. V. Melikhov's stud
Mongol Feudalists in
against the Chin and
discusses the role of M
and his rivals, Ariq Wg
down to early Ming ti
Chin, the Mongols org
which is examined by
Korea, 1231-1232."3 7 A
forced the Koreans in
article contains dat
Mongol campaigns do
monograph, Feudal Kor
should also be mention
some detail the serie
expeditions in Korea
adopted by the Yüan e
Following the defea
organized for a major
and political phases of
Svistunova's article, "
Aleksei A. Bokshchanin
of the Countries of S
Mongol drive to the so
1250's to the unsuccess
the author lays great s
wars.

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 12 MONGOLIAN STUDIES

Lastly, the confused history of the ear

conquer Tibet has been analyzed by S. Kucher
and Tibet in the Period of Chinggis Khan and
military, political and cultural events that led
Mongol suzereignty in the 1250 's.
The above-mentioned authors attribute the
Mongol military machine to several key factor
the Mongols were better led than their opp
that, in contrast to the Chinese military lead
lacking a conception of battle, resourceful ta
determination," the Mongol officers "act
adjusting to circumstances."4 2 In the view
second and perhaps even more important facto
the duplicity and cowardliness of the rulin
opposed them. To cite Svistunova again: "On t
[Chinese] city-dwellers, soldiers and officers
irreproachable loyalty to their military duty
inept leadership of the country rendered use
fices."43 Serov explains the lack of resolution
ruling class in this way: "To the extent tha
increasing territory, the people's oppositio
ruling class, fearing popular movements, pre
Mongols."44
In general, then, Soviet historians explain the amazingly rapid
expansion of the Mongol Empire in terms of the nomads' superior military
skills and the disorganization and ineptitude of the opposition. This
explanation of the Mongols' early successes, one shared by many Western
scholars, does not, in my opinion, do justice to the considerable political
skills demonstrated by Chinggis Khan and his successors. Our under-
standing of the Mongol conquests will remain shallow and one-sided until
Mongol political culture is more fully investigated. More needs to be
known, for instance, about the role of the darughas and other officials in
the administration and exploitation of subjugated territories. Other
subjects, such as the ideological system of the Mongols, their diplomatic
techniques and their use of psychological warfare also require further
study.45 Only when these investigations have been undertaken will the
phenomena of the Mongol expansion become comprehensible.46

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 ALLSEN 13

Mongol Society and the C

In addition to examini
China, Iran and Russia, S
the social and economic
Mongol society itself. S
Chinggis Khan and his
Mongolia only crushing b
impoverishment and deat
widely held among Soviet
the internecine warfare,
which accompanied the w
economic and cultural dec
N. Ts. Munkuev has dev
of the nature and extent
owed their feudal master
the Mongol Arats in th
Munkuev catalogs the var
borne by the families o
China. These included, in
on cattle, paid to the cou
of the official relay stati
erished members of the
on the economic life of t
"New Material on the Pos
Fourteenth Centuries."50
one hundred references i
to impoverished Mongo
concludes that the econom
the heavy demands of th
human and material reso
by the conquests in the f
the ubiquitous Muslim m
Another important soci
the growth of urban ce
Causes of the Emergence
and Fourteenth Centuries

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 14 MONGOLIAN STUDIES

territories of the Golden Horde and in Mon

opinion, the impetus for the rise of towns in M
in their contacts with sedentary peoples, bu
Mongol society itself. He argues that urbaniz
stages: With the establishment of the Mongol st
administrative system, "the basic mass of the b
around the winter camps of the khans and feu
as a result of imperial orders. Later, foreign mer
craftsmen were imported to serve the need
bureaucrats. This resulted in the "transformation of the administrative

political center into the center of economic life in a given region" (p. 43).
For Egorov, however, the development of towns was not "progressive"
because common herders were untouched by this process and because the
cities died when the empire disintegrated. The growth of towns was not
embedded in the natural economic conditions of steppe life, but in special
conditions of foreign conquest.
Egorov mentions one other type of city which sprang up in
Mongolia- the "colonial city," created by the Mongol khans to exploit the
riches of a particular area. L. R. Kyzlasov discusses one such colony in his
article, "Remains of the Muslim Middle Ages in Tuva,"52 and in greater
detail in Chapter V of his monograph, The History of Tuva in the Middle
Ages.53 In the latter work he argues that natural resources of the area
"permitted the Mongols to create in Tuva a handicraft/agricultural colony
by settling there captured Chinese and other, possibly Jurchen, inhabitants
of North China. Thus, there was created a base for supplying wheat, arms
and tools to the Mongol army, which was undertaking new campaigns of
conquest" (p. 140). The study, based on extensive archeological finds, also
contains interesting details on the military and political history of this
little-known area during the period of the Yüan dynasty.

The Consequences of the Mongol Conquest for China and East Asia

The Soviet assessment of the impact of Mongol rule on the societies

of the subjugated countries, is, as one would expect, uniformly negative:
The Mongol invasions in Asia and Europe brought only devastation,
depopulation and a general decline in economic and cultural life. Nowhere
is this more clearly demonstrated than in the case of the destruction of the

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 ALLSEN 15

Tangut nation, "one of

and his minions."54 E. I
Historical Fate of the T
explains the total disapp
unit in the following m
the general slaughter
Chinggis Khan. Second,
administrators were ab
elements in Tangut so
Mongol nobility, and w
of the Mongol depredat
Tibetan population.
The near neighbors of
much better at the han
Chinggis Khan and his
escape the baneful e
Tikhonov's The Econom
to Fourteenth Centurie
deal of destruction in
agricultural areas into
taxation from the popu
Grand Khans decidedly
feudalists [by] shiftin
population [and by] tra
means of enserfing the
Soviet investigators al
V. Simonovskaia and E
history of Asia, "Chin
Relations,"5 7 finds tha
the agricultural lands of
nobility and the land
Moreover, they see this
decline of internal trad
the relatively positive as
as a period of political u
Although Soviet schol
sive" in any way, there

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 16 MONGOLIAN STUDIE8

Mongol conquest of China was in some way

points to the fact that "since it [the conquest
several decades and was accomplished by degr
for example, as the Mongol conquests of Centr
The Mongol administration of China, par
been studied by N. Ts. Munkuev in a series
"Concerning the Two Tendencies in the Policies
in China in the First Half of the Thirteent
theme that, from its inception, the leadershi
divided into two opposing factions at odd
conquered lands. One group argued for the un
the settled population and the maintenance an
grants (fen-ti ) in North China. Among the adh
according to Munkuev, were Chinggis Khan, G
Mongol nobility and the ortoq merchants. On
party were such individuals as Pieh-te, who put
North China into a pasture by removing or an
peasantry.
The second point of view, advanced by Ogodei and Mongke, with
the support of the defecting Chin bureaucracy, argued for a stronger
centralized state centered around the Grand Khan, and opposed the feudal
tendencies of the Mongol and Turkic nobility. This faction was interested
in the protection of trade and urban life, and in the regular collection of
taxes from the peasantry.60
After defining the political programs and composition of the two
groups, Munkuev traces the changing political fortunes of each during and
immediately after the reign of Ogodei, when the "centralizing" group, led
by Yeh-lü Ch'u-ts'ai, fell from favor.
Munkuev has treated the political career of Yeh'lii Ch'u-ts'ai at
greater length in his book, Chinese Sources on the First Mongol Khans.6 1
In addition to providing an account of the private and public life of Yeh'lii
Ch'u-ts'ai, accompanied by a full translation of his funeral stele and his
biography from the Yiian-shih , this work deals at length with the fiscal and
social reforms of the 1230's in North China, the activities of the ortoq
merchants and the Mongol military strategy in China.
The long-term effects of Mongol economic policies on Chinese
society have been characterized by Munkuev in "On the Question of the

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 ALLSEN 17

Economic Position of
Fourteenth Centuries,"6
the enserfment of the
and developed at greate
of the Socio-Economic
Thirteenth and Fourtee
changing the essential n
the basic old forms of
Mongol feudalists, na
conquered country in th
more favorable conditio
the direct producers-
discuss the governmen
(feudal, office, church,
Duman's article touch
Soviet writing on the Y
the country" (p. 313). U
the growth of slavery i
of Mongol rule; they ma
peculiar cultural and so
a sedentary society such
Another aspect of Mon
land, is treated in Munk
(1279-1368) in China,"6
sale dating from the per
had to obtain the per
administrators and tax o
Finally, S. Kuch era's
Chinese Culture during
the Mongol rulers towa
of the impact of the M
colleagues. He argues th
rule China by themse
cultural tradition in ord
service. In essence, a com
Mongol rulers and their
some aspects of Confuc

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18 MONGOLIAN STUDIES

to extirpate any part of the Chinese cultural

of the neglect of Confucian learning that acco
examination system. Kuchera also cites the
system as an important factor in the rise of p
novels- in the Yiian.

Collapse of the Yiian Dynasty

The series of rebellions which finally topp

1368 are the subject of several studies by
"Chinese Historiography on the Uprising o
(Middle of the Fourteenth Century),"6 7 surv
Nationalist and Communist Chinese writers on
the policies of the Yüan government and the
Chu Yüan-chang. She criticizes the Chines
appearing after 1959, which attempted "to
Mongol rule in China, national [Le., ethnic] co
role and that the rebellion at the end of the
the overthrow of a foreign yoke but a class st
the feudalists, Mongols as well as Chinese" (p.
In another article, "The Struggle of the Ch
Mongol Conquerors in the Middle of the Four
summarizes the events leading to the fall of
out that Chinese Communist historians, by ign
the dynasty and by overemphasizing the clas
have been misled into assuming that all of th
social origins and ideological outlook. Her
Society, "The Pai-lien-chiao in the Fourteen
various rebel movements exhibited clear differ
ideological commitments, despite their nom
sect. For example, in the Yangtze region, Maitr
of worship, while in the Huang-ho area, Ming
of Light, was the major deity.
Borovkova maintains that each rebel gr
individually because, as a result of the differ
conquests of North and South China, political
two areas were distinctive. The political progr
of the individual movements, which were cond

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 ALLSEN 19

between North and Sout

of the 'Red Army9 in Ch
In the North, where
Mongol feudalists was s
rebel group led by Liu
China. Since the Mongol
class character as well. N
were more important th
In Central China, on
Shou-hui and Fang Kuo-
i.e., Chinese feudalists. A
the peasant rebels here.
again different Here, to
anti-Mongol as a result
country for nearly a hu
from Chiang-nan, joined
into an instrument of t
socially radical movemen
destroyed the Yüan dyn
the Ming, the creatio
represented their class in
This interpretation of
only one available in Sov
her monograph, The A
Second Half of the Four
always took a real inter
however, that as Chu Yü
ruling elite, bureaucrats
his followers. Neverthele
retain its popular charac
can be attributed to Ch
socially antagonistic con
create a broad power bas

Conclusion

In order to round ou
comments concerning

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20 MONGOLIAN STUDIES

Soviet Yiian specialists. As regards Chinese sou

surveyed here rely heavily on the dynastic hist
collections of documents such as Yiian tien-ch
Ts. Munkuev72 and L. A. Borovkova,73 who m
kinds of sources such as private historiogr
collections ( wen-chi ). Munkuev has also publ
sources for the history of Mongolia in the M
translation of the Meng-ta Pei-lu (A Com
Mongol-Tatars) of Chao Hung, a Southern Sun
North China in 1221 to talk with Muqali.75
Two further points should be made with r
Soviet Yiian specialists have access to a large n
Eastern and Central Asian sources dealing wit
translations. There are, for instance, tran
Compendium of Rashld ad-Dm and of the
which took note of the Mongols.76 These w
upon by Soviet sinologists for supplementa
China, as well as for comparative purposes.
Second, Soviet archeologists have also made
tion to our knowledge of the Mongol Empire.
by S. V. Kiselev at Qaraqorum have yielded va
economic, social and cultural life of the m
results of this work have been published i
entitled Ancient Mongol Cities ,77 which consi
articles dealing with a wide variety of subject
construction techniques, frescos and the imper
Soviet Yüan specialists have available to the
literature produced by several generations of
on the Mongols in Eastern Europe and the
material is used to good effect in elucidatin
policies in China through comparisons with Ce
Soviet scholars are normally well versed
literature, although there are some surprising
Borovkova, for example, cites Abel- Rem
Yüan-chang, but fails to mention Romeyn T
Origins of the Ming Dynasty€"80 Japanese sch
is not often cited, although there seems to be

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 ALLSEN 21

importance of Japanese
China specialists.
In summary, Soviet sc
Chinese history as a wh
and qualitatively in the
some substantial contri
social and institutional
other hand, have attr
limitation, Western h
ignore the work of th
specialists should beco
Soviet scholarship on
literature in Russian o
D- Khāns of Iran.

NOTES

1. This paper was first presented to the Princeton Yuan Workshop, July 1975; I
would like to thank the participants for their suggestions and criticisms.
2. This periodization of Russian and Soviet scholarship on the Mongol Empire is
based upon A. M. Beletnitsky, "Les Mongols et l'Asie centrale," Cahiers
d'Histoire Mondiale , v. 3, 1960, pp. 606-620. See also N. P. Shastina,
"Mongolie Studies," in Fifty Years of Soviet Oriental Studies , Moscow, 1967,
pp. 3-46.
3. In this connection, it must be remembered that many pre-Revolutionary
Russian scholars were influenced by Marxism. This is especially true of
Yladimirtsov (see above, p. 5) and, to a lesser degree, of Barthold.
4. One possible exception to this statement is the monograph [thesis?] of A.
Petrov, Klassovaia priroda epokhi mongoVskoi dinastii Juan v Kitae [The Class
Nature of the Period of the Mongol Dynasty of the Yuan in China],
Leningrad, 1931. Not available to me.
5. See Gilbert Rozman, "Soviet Reinterpretations of Chinese Social History: The
Search for the Origins of Maoism," Journal of Asian Studies , v. 34, 1974, pp.
49-72. Access to Chinese universities after 1949 provided a further stimulus to
the growth of Soviet sinology.
6. For a brief introduction to this debate, see J. J. Saunders, "Genghis Khan and
the Communists," History Today , v. 20, 1970, pp. 390-396; and Paul Hyer,
"The Re-evaluation of Chinggis Khan: Its Role in the Sino-Soviet Dispute,"
Asian Survey , v. 6, 1966, pp. 696-705.
7. This is the view of Chinese Communist historian Yu Yüan-an, a Mongol by
birth. David M. Farquhar, "Chinese Communist Assessments of a Foreign

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 22 MONGOLIAN STUDIES

Conquest Dynasty," in History in Communist

Feuerwerker, Cambridge, Mass., 1968, pp. 175-1
appeared in China Quarterly , v. 30, 1967, pp. 79-9
8. "Lun Ch'eng-chi-ssu han," Li-shih Yen-chiu ,
available in a Russian translation, "0 Chingiskhane
v KNR [Historical Science in the Peoples Republic
Viatkin and N. P. Svistunova, Moscow, 1971, p
translation, see U.S. Department of Commerce, Of
Joint Publications Research Service, "Translatio
Li-shih Yen-chiu (Historical Research), nos. 2, 3
22 March 1963.
9. For more details, see Farquhar, "Chinese Communist Assessments," pp.
184-186.
10. "Chingis-khan," Voprosy istorii [Questions of History] , no. 5, 1962, p. 81.
11. N. la. Merpert, G. T. Pashuto and L. V. Cherepnin, "Chingis-khan i ego
nasledie" [Chinggis Khan and his Legacy], Istoriia SSSR [History of the
USSR], no. 5, 1962, pp. 92-119.
12. "Tataro-mongoPskie zavoevaniia v Azii i Evropě: VstupitePnaia staťia"
[Mongol Conquests in Asia and Europe: An Introductory Article], in
Tataro-mongoly v Azii i Evropě , Moscow, 1970, p. 13. Hereinafter abbrevi-
ated: TMAE.
13. "0 nekotorykh voprosakh istoricheskoi nauki v KNR" [On Some Problems of
Historical Science in the Peoples Republic of China], Voprosy istorii
[Questions of History], no. 10, 1963, pp. 3-20. See also the translation in
Feuerwerker, History , pp. 331-355.
14. R. V. Viatkin, "Istoricheskaia nauka v KNR" [Historical Science in the
Peoples Republic of China], in Istoricheskaia nauka v KNR , Moscow, 1971, p.
3.
15. The only general account of the Mongol rule in East Asia known to me is the
relevant section of Istoriia MongoVskoi Narodnoi Respuhliki , Moscow, 1967.
This work, authored by a committee of scholars from the USSR and the
Mongolian Peoples Republic, surveys the history of the Mongolian plateau
from the prehistoric period to the twentieth century. Since this book is now
available in an English translation, History of the Mongolian Peoples Republic ,
Moscow, 1973, it will not be discussed here.
16. Obshchestvennyi stroi mongolov: MongoVskii kochevoi feodalizm , Leningrad,
1934. French translation by Michel Carso w, Le Regime Social des Mongols: Le
Féodalisme Nomade , Paris, 1948. This work is based on a detailed philological
analysis of the Secret History of the Mongols. For a critical analysis of
Vladimirtsov's views, see Lawrence Kräder, "Feudalism and Tatar Polity of the
Middle Ages," Comparative Studies in Society and History , v. 1, no. 1, 1958,
pp. 76-99; and Owen Lattimore, "The Social History of Mongol Nomadism,"
in Historians of China and Japan , edited by W. G. Beasley and E. G.
Pulleyblank, London, 1961, pp. 328-343.
17. "Opyt periodizatsii istorii feodalizma v Mongolii," in Trudy XXV mezhdu-
narodnogo Kongressa vostokovedov, Moskva, 1960 [Proceedings of the 25th
International Congress of Orientalists, Moscow, 1960], v. 5, Moscow, 1963,
pp. 325-331.
18. "Obrazovania mongoPskogo feodal'nogo gosudarstva i zavoevatel'nye po-

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 ALLSEN 23

khody," in Istoriia stran

Countries of Asia and A
163-179.
19. See, for example, Merpert, et al , "Chingis-khan," pp. 92-95; and Tikhvinskii,
"Tataro-mongol'skie zavoevaniia," pp. 3, 4.
20. See, for example, N. Išžamc's brief note, "L'État féodal mongol et les
conditions de sa formation," Études Mongoles , v. 5, 1974, pp. 127-130.
21. A recent Soviet discussion of the theory of nomadic feudalism can be found in
G. A. Fedorov-Davydov's excellent monograph, Obshchestvennyi stroi Zolotoi
Ordy [The Social Structure of the Golden Horde], Moscow, 1973, pp. 3-25,
with references to other literature.
22. Maiskii, "Chingis-khan," pp. 74, 75.
23. Merpert, et al , "Chingis-khan," p. 92; Vyatkin and Tikhvinsky, "Some
Questions of Historical Science in the Chinese Peoples Republic," in
Feuerwerker, History , pp. 344-346.
24. "Obrazovanie edinogo mongoFskogo gosudarstva i Chiniskhan," TMAE , pp.
22-45. Although Sandag is a citizen of the Mongolian Peoples Republic, he is
included here because his views are in general accord with those of colleagues
in the USSR. For further data on the MPR's contribution to study of the
Mongol Empire, see Francoise Aubin, "Sinologie Mongole: Etat des études
menées en R. P.M. sur la Chine du Xe au XIVe siècle et les dynasties
barbares," Sung Studies Newsletter , v. 9, 1974, pp. 10-17.
25. On the cultural consequences of the unification of the Mongol tribes see L. V.
Viktorova, "K voprosu o naimanskoi teorii proizkhozhdeniia mongoFskogo
literaturnogo iazyka i pis'mennosti (XII- XIII vv.)" [On the Problem of the
Naiman Origin of the Mongol Literary Language and Writing System
(Twelfth-Thirteenth Centuries)], Uchenye zapiski Leningrad skogo gosudarst-
vennogo universi te ta [Scholarly Communications of the Leningrad State
University], no. 305, seriia vostokoved. nauk, vyp. 12, 1961, pp. 137-155.
26. This argument is advanced in various forms by Zlatkin, Maiskii, Merpert and
Tikhvinskii, all cited above.
27. "Zametki o drevnikh mongolakh," TMAE , pp. 352-381. Munkuev, a citizen of
the USSR, is a Buriat Mongol
28. Poiski vymyshlennogo tsarstva: Legenda o " gosudarstva Presvitera Ioanna''
Moscow, 1970.
29. See, for example, his Drevnie Tiurki [The Ancient Turks], Moscow, 1967.
30. See, for instance, his "Les fluctuations du niveau de la mer Caspienne:
Variations climatique et l'histoire des peuples nomades au sud de la plaine
Russe," Cahiers du Monde Russe et Sovietique, v. 6, 1965, pp. 331-366.
31. Several Western scholars, notably Owen Lattimore and Aurel Stein, have
adopted similar positions. More recently, Gareth Jenkins, "A Note on Climate
Cycles and the Rise of Chinggis Khan," Central Asiatic Journal , v. 18, 1974,
pp. 217-226, has taken up this theme once again.
32. "Tataro-mongol'skie zavoevaniia," p. 6.
33. "Mongolo-tangutskie voiny i gibel gosudarstva Si Sia," TMAE , pp. 46-61.
34. Ocherk istorii tangutskogo gosudarstva , Moscow, 1968, chap. 9, pp. 298-334.
35. "Mongol'skoe gosudarstvo v Vostochnom Turkestane," TMAE> pp. 85-99.
Based on Islamic and Chinese sources.
36. "Ustanovlenie vlasti mongo'skikh feodalov v Severno-vostochnom Kitae,"

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 24 MONGOLIAN STUDIES

TMAE, pp. 62-84. Melikhov specializes in the h

Manchus in the Ming-Ch'ing period.
37. "Pokhod mongolov v Koreiu, 1231-1232 gg.,"
38. FeodaVnaia Koreia v XIII-XIV , Moscow, 1962.
39. "Gibel gosudarstva Iuzhnykh Sunov," TMAE ,
40. "Popytki mongolo-kitaiskogo vtorzheniia v st
TMAE , pp. 294-310. The author has also writt
relations with Southeast Asia.
41. "Mongoly i Tibet při Chingiskhane i ego preemnikakh," TMAE , pp. 255-270.
See also Iuri Rerikh [George Roerich], "Mongolo-Tibetskie otnosheniia v XIII
i XIV vv.," in Filologiia i istoriia mongoVskikh narodov [Philology and History
of the Mongol People], Moscow, 1958, pp. 333-346. The English translation,
"Mongol-Tibetan Relations in the 13th and 14th Centuries," appeared in the
Tibetan Society Bulletin , v. 6, 1973, pp. 40-55.
42. "Gibel gosudarstva," p. 285.
43. Ibid., p. 285.
44. "Pokhod mongolov v Koreiu," p. 1 50.
45. Igor de Rachewiltz's studies, "Personnel and Personalities in North China in
the Early Mongol Period," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the
Orient , v. 9, 1966, pp. 88-144 and "Some Remarks on the Ideological
Foundations of Chingis Khan's Empire," Papers on Far Eastern History , v. 7,
1973, pp. 21-36 are important first efforts, but more work is necessary.
46. Paul Buell of the University of Washington is preparing a dissertation on
Mongol institutional arrangements and administrative techniques, with special
reference to China. I plan to deal with many of these issues in my dissertation
on the centralization of the Mongol Empire during the reign of Mongke.
47. "Tataro-mongoFskie zavoevaniia," p. 12.
48. See, for example, Merpert, et al , "Chingis khan," p. 100.
49. "O formakh ekspluatatsii mongoFskikh aratov v XIII-XIV vekakh," in Trudy
buriatskogo kompleksnogo nauchno-issledovataVskogo instituía [Proceedings
of the Buriat Composite Scientific Investigative Institute], vyp. 16, Ulan Ude,
1965, pp. 68-86.
50. "Novye materialy o polozhenii mongoFskikh aratov v XII- XIV vv.," TMAE ,
pp. 382-418. Henry Serruys has translated some of these references in his
"Chinese in Southern Mongolia during the Sixteenth Century," Monumenta
Serica , v. 18, 1959, pp. 6-8.
51. "Prichiny vozniknoveniia gorodov y mongolov v XII-XIV vv.," Istoriia SSSR
[History of the USSR], no. 4. 1969, pp. 39-49.
52. "Pamiatnik musuFmanskogo srednevekov'ia v Tuva," Sovetskaia arkheologiia
[Soviet Archeology], no. 2, 1963, pp. 203-210.
53. Istoriia Tuvy v srednie veka , Moscow, 1969, pp. 130-171. John W. Dardess has
made use of Kyzlasov's work in his important article, "From Mongol Empire
to Yiian Dynasty: Changing Forms of Imperial Rule in Mongolia and Central
Asia," Monumenta Serica, v. 30, 1972-73, pp. 123, 124.
54. Merpert, et al, "Chingis-khan," p. 96.
55. "Nekotorye suzhdeniia ob istoricheskikh sud'bakh tangutov posle nashestyiia
Chingiskhan," Kratkie soobshcheniia Institūta narodov Azii [Brief Communi-
cations of the Institute of the Peoples of Asia], v. 76, 1965, pp. 154-165.

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 ALLSEN 25

56. Khoziaistvo i obshch

Moscow-Leningrad, 1966.
57. "Kitai v period slozhiv
Afriki v srednie veka [
Middle Ages], Moscow, 1
58. "Tataro-mongol'skie
59. "O dvukh tendentsiia
pervoi polovině XIII v.
essledo vate Vsk ogo inst
Investigative Institute ],
60. This thesis has been
Ratchnevsky, Un Code d
Chinoises, v. 4), Paris,
kratkoi kharakteristiki
Voprosy istorii [Problem
has been most fully dev
example, his "The Socio-
The Cambridge History of
J. A. Boyle, Cambridge,
61. Kitaiskii istochnik o pe
62. "K voprosu ob ekonom
Kratkie soobshcheniia In
Institute of the Peoples
63. "Nekotorye problém
khanov v Kitae v XIII-XI
64. Other scholars have no
the spread of slavery in
Toba-Reich Nord China
Khokhlov, "ob rabstve
serediny XVIII v.)" [On S
end of the Eighteenth C
Society and Governmen
65. "Zemel'vye akty epo
Kitaia , sbornik sta te i [
Articles], edited by L. I
were originally publishe
79-84.
66. "Problémy preemstven
Rol traditsii v istorii i ku
Culture of China], Mosc
67. "Kitaiskaia istoriograf
in Istoriografiia i istochn
the Soviet Borders: Hist
23-56.
68. "O bor 'be kitaiskogo naroda protiv mongol'skikh zavoevatelei v seredine XIV
v.," TMAE , pp. 419-434.
69. Bailian tsziao' v XIV v.," in Tainye obshchestva v starom Kitae [Secret
Societies in Old China], Moscow, 1970 pp. 28-37.

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 26 MONGOLIAN STUDIES

70. Vosstania * krasnykh voisk9 v Kitae , Moscow, 197

"Gruppirovka Go Tszi-sin i Chzhu Iuan-chzhana n
'Krasnykh voisk' (1352-1356)" [The Faction of
Yiian-chang on the First Stage of the Rebellion of the 'Red Army'
(1352-1356)], Kratkie soobshcheniia Institūta narodov Azii [Brief Communi-
cations of the Institute of the Peoples of Asia], v.66, 1963, pp. 22-37; and
"Vosstania 'krasnykh voisk' i vozvyshenie Chzhu Iuan-chzhana" [The Rebel-
lion of the 'Red Army' and the Promotion of Chu Yiian-chang] , Narody Azii i
Afriki [Peoples of Asia and Africa], no. 2, 1961, pp. 89-103 are incorporated
into this monograph.
71. Agrarnaia politika minskogo praviteVstva vo vtoroi polovině XIV v., Moscow,
1966. See also Borovkova's review of this volume in Sovremennaia istorio -
grafita stran zarubezhnogo vostoka: Oktiabr i natsionaVnogo osvoboditeVnaia
bor'ba [Contemporary Historiography of the Countries of Non-Soviet Asia:
October and the National Liberation Struggle], Moscow, 1969, pp. 206-216,
which concludes that the work "throws more light on the problem of agrarian
legislation at the beginning of the Ming Empire than on agrarian policies" (p.
216).
72. See, for example, Kitaiskii istochnik.
73. "Kitaiskaia istoriografiia," pp. 24-32.
74. "Osnovnyi kitaiskie istochniki po istorii Mongo Iii (XIII-XIV w.)" [Basic
Chinese Sources for the History of Mongolia (13th and 14th Centuries)] in
Sovremennaia istoriografiia stran zarubezhnogo vostoka [Contemporary His-
toriography of the Countries of Non-Soviet Asia], v. 1, Moscow, 1963, pp.
156-194.
75. This work appeared as Men-da bei-lu (Polnoe opisanie mongolo-tartar), v. 26
of the series, Pamiatniki pis9mennosti vostok [Literary Memorials of the
Orient]. See also, "0 'Men-da bei-lu' i 'Khei-da shi-liue'- zapiskakh kitaiskikh
puteshestvennikov XIII v. o drevnikh nomgolakh" [On the 'Meng-ta Pei-lu'
and the 'Hei-ta Shih-liieh'- The Notes of Chinese Travelers of the Thirteenth
Century about the Ancient Mongols] in Iapaniia i Kitai(v chest 70 letiia N. I.
Konrada) [Japan and China (in Honor of the 70th Birthday of N. I. Konrád)] ,
Moscow, 1961, pp. 80-92; and (with Lin/ Kiun-i) "Kratkie svedeniia o
chernykh tatarakh Pen Da-ia i Siui Tina" [Brief Information of the Black
Tatars by P'eng Ta-ya and Hsü T'ing], Problémy vostokovedeniia [Problems of
Oriental Studies], no. 5, 1960, pp. 133-158.
76. For Persian historical sources of the period, see A. K. Arends, "The Study of
Rashīd ad-Din's Jāmi u't-Tawārikh in the Soviet Union," Central Asiatic
Journal , v. 14, 1970, pp. 40-61. The informative correspondence ( Mukātibāt )
of Rashîd ad-Din recently has been rendered into Russian. See Rashid ad-Din,
Perepiska , A. I. F alina, trans., Moscow, 1971. My review of this work appeared
in Iranian Studies , v. 6, 1973, pp. 58-62. Armenian chronicles and documents
of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries are conveniently collected in A. G.
Galstian's Armianskie istochniki o mongolakh [Armenian Sources on the
Mongols], Moscow, 1962.
77. DrevnemongoVskie goroda , Moscow, 1965. For a summary of early Soviet
archeological work in Mongolia, see Dietrich Mania, "Archäologische Studien

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 ALLSEN 27

in der Zentral Mongolei," W

Universität Halle- Wittenb
78. There is also a large body
See, for example, G. A. F
madiev, "Arkheologichesk
Sarai) v 1959-1966 gg. [A
Imperial City (New Sarai
Volga Region in the Mid
Fedorov-Davydov, Kochev
skikh khanov [The Nomads
the Golden Horde], Moscow
A Review of Current Sovie
79. Munkuev's study, "0 d
several Soviet Iranists for c
80. Monumenta Serica , v. 2
81. For a brief survey of
dynasties, see my forthcom
Sung History: A Bibliograp
see my "A Survey of Rec
Studies , v. 1, 1975, pp. 14-

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