10. The Eight Chestnut Horses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3MSNY7xI
o4
What sounds are emphasized and what do they
represent?
11. Lyrics:
“The sun-shaped manes fly as wings,
The moon-shaped tails wave behind,
The chestnut horses shook the world scene,
And created history on this earth.
The golden hooves beat the soil,
Their strong voices awoke Asia,
Making known the horses’ might,
Earning much fame to our name – my chestnut horses”
… “These chestnut horses are a treasure o us,
A valuable gift of nature. Like a peaceful song
That sounds everywhere, so is the true image of the
Mongolian horse worshipped by my nation.”
12. “Legend has it that he came into the world clutching a large blood clot in his
right wrist, a sure sign that he would grow up and become a great and
successful warrior.”
13. Kublai Khan:
“Though the end of Kublia’s reign was clouded
by military and personal disappointments, his
singular success in reuniting China would alone
have guaranteed his position as one of the
greatest figures in world history.”
15. Kublai’s last conquest
http://mongolschinaandthesilkroad.blogspot.com/search/label/Mongols
“Historians say the first Chinese attempt to invade Japan in 1274 ended in disaster.
Having initially engaged a numerically superior Japanese samurai force at the Battle of
Bun'ei in First Battle of Hakata Bay, the Chinese retreated to their fleet of 300 ships
and some 500 smaller craft after just one day of battle on land. A typhoon destroyed a
third of the fleet that night and the remnants limped back to port in Korea which was
then a vassal state of China.
Seven years later, Kublai Khan amassed an impressive armada of 4,400 ships carrying
40,000 Korean, Mongol and Chinese troops in a bid to finally subjugate Japan. The
Japanese, convinced of a second invasion, had spent the intervening years building
strategic seawalls which made it difficult for the Chinese to land.
Unable to gain a beachhead after initially taking the island of Iki and Tsushima, the
fleet was decimated by a two-day typhoon that hit the Tsushima Straits.
It is believed about 80% of the fleet was destroyed and the Khan's troops either
drowned at sea or slaughtered on the beaches by samurai.”
CNN News (Japan)
Editor's Notes
Yurt: A Yurt is a portable home constructed of a wooden frame, which particularly useful for Mongolian nomads who wandered and traveled from place to place.
Steppe: A wide treeless, open plain. The Mongolian steppe exists between the Siberian forest to the North to the Gobi desert in the south.
“Since the Mongols moved so frequently, they didn’t have one permanent settlement. Instead they lived in tents called “yurts.” Yurts were made of felt (wool) and were easily transportable and strong enough to offer protection from the extreme weather.” p. 163 in AC
T
Khanates are territories acquired by Mongolian conquests. There are 5 major Khanates.
Mongolian songs often praise horses, real or legendary ones. This song praises and refers to the 8 chestnut horses of Chiggis or Genghis Khan.Mongolian music rhythms are often patterned after the rhythm of a running horse. Such rhythms represent one of the major ethnic features of Mongolian music, and can be found throughout this piece. The composer, Se Enkbayar was born in 1956.
