Where Genghis Khan once tread

Last week I joined a package tour to Nngxia, China which shares a boundary with Inner Mongolia. It was really quite a historical tour with visits to the Western Xia Tombs. the Shuidonggou Civilization and carvings at the Helan Mountain by ancient nomads more than 2000 years ago. The highlight for me was the ride across the Tengger desert to an oasis like pond.

For this tour we had to travel by couch from north to west and then onto the southern region of Ningxia. Sometimes we were on the roads for about 6 hours a day through miles of miles of arid land in the horizon. The local tour guide could not have chosen a better video on the bus to entertain us, Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan's last conquest before his death was the invasion of 西夏, Western Xia. The video was very detailed about his invasions and there were scenes after scenes of battles and hordes and hordes of horses racing across the region stirring up dust storms. Watching the video and looking out of the bus window into the horizon of sand that hanged in the air was kind of surreal. You are on the very grounds where lives were lost and battles won. The story depicted how the women of those days were treated as spoils of battle. Genghis Khan's wife was kidnapped by the Tartars before she was rescued. As a result their firstborn, born 9 months after her rescue, was the victim of  suspected lineage resulting in a lot of pain for himself and his mother (this is true and not fictional). Indeed the story portrayed the physical vulnerability but inner strength of many female characters. Although the subplots were half fictional it is not very far from the reality of those times. Maybe watching the show in that environment created the surreal setting that reminded me that hardship and pain is a fact of life from time immemorial. The resilience of the characters who bore the pain and took things in their stride inspired me.


 It is funny but I always have a penchant for history. History reminds us of how people used to live as compared to how we presently live. We see how things change and why they change. Above all or at least for me it reminds me how people live their lives, be it wisely or not so wisely.