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One of my Chinese class students asked me some questions about Genghis Khan, so I thought it would be good for other Chinese learners to know about this famous Chinese and Mongolian warrior. So, here it is — The great and ruthless Genghis Khan 成吉思汗 Cheng ji si han’s life, stories, and quotes: Chinese text, pinyin, English translation and a classic full length movie.

Section 1: Chinese text and audio recording

[ca_audio url=”http://www.chinesetolearn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Genghis-Khan.mp3″ width=”500″ height=”27″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player”]

成吉思汗是蒙古的开国君主，也是著名的军事统帅。成吉思汗本名叫铁木真，姓孛儿只斤，来自乞颜氏，是蒙古人。 “成吉思” 在蒙古语中是 “大海”的意思，意在颂扬他和海洋一样伟大; 汗在蒙古语中是皇帝的意思。 元代追称他为太祖。成吉思汗生于蒙古贵族世家。约在1170年，他的父亲，也速该，被塔塔儿人毒死，也速该的遗孀，月伦，领着铁木真和他的几个弟弟度过数年艰难生活。成吉思汗少年时期的艰险经历，培养了他坚毅勇敢的素质。蒙古部主死后，蒙古部众大都在札木合控制之下，铁木真因而投靠札木合。后来铁木真笼络人心，招徕人马，最后脱离札木合，建立自己的领域。约在12世纪，铁木真称汗。札木合率领札答阑、泰赤乌等十三部来攻打，铁木真兵分十三翼迎战，因实力不敌而败退，历史称此役为十三翼之战。铁木真在部落争战中善于利用矛盾，纵横捭阖，逐渐摆脱了对王汗的臣属地位。1201～1202年，铁木真和王汗联兵，与札木合作战，大战获胜，札木合投降王汗。不久，铁木真乘王汗不备，奇袭王汗。 1204年，铁木真成为蒙古高原最大的统治者。

成吉思汗统一蒙古各部，攻金灭夏，为元朝的建立奠定了基础。他军事才能卓越，战略上重视联远攻近，力避树敌过多。用兵注重详探敌情、分割包围、远程奇袭、佯退诱敌，历史称他 “深沉有大略，用兵如神”。然而成吉思汗作战方法十分野蛮残酷，他的军队大规模屠杀居民，毁灭城镇田舍，破坏性很大。

Section 2: pinyin and audio recording

[ca_audio url=”http://www.chinesetolearn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Genghis-Khan.mp3″ width=”500″ height=”27″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player”]

chéng jí sī hàn shì méng gǔ de kāi guó jūn zhǔ，yě shì zhù míng de jūn shì tǒng shuài。 chéng jí sī hàn běn míng jiào tiě mù zhēn，xìng bó ér zhǐ jīn， lái zì qǐ yán shì，shì méng gǔ rén。 “chéng jí sī” zài méng gǔ yǔ zhōng shì “ dà hǎi”de yì sī，yì zài sòng yáng tā hé hǎi yáng yī yàng wěi dà, hàn zài méng gǔ yǔ zhōng shì huáng dì de yì sī. yuán dài zhuī chèn tā wéi tài zǔ。 chéng jí sī hàn shēng yú méng gǔ guì zú shì jiā。yuē zài 1170 nián， tā de fù qīn，yě sù gāi，bèi tǎ tǎ ér rén dú sǐ，yě sù gāi de yí shuāng，yuè lún，lǐng zhe tiě mù zhēn hé tā de jǐ gě dì dì dù guò shù nián jiān nán shēng huó。 chéng jí sī hàn shào nián shí qī de jiān xiǎn jīng lì， péi yǎng le tā jiān yì yǒng gǎn de sù zhì。 méng gǔ bù zhǔ sǐ hòu， méng gǔ bù zhòng dà dōu zài zhá mù hé kòng zhì zhī xià，tiě mù zhēn yīn ér tóu kào zhá mù hé。 hòu lái tiě mù zhēn lǒng luò rén xīn， zhāo lái rén mǎ， zuì hòu tuō lí zhá mù hé， jiàn lì zì jǐ de lǐng yù。yuē zài 12 shì jì，tiě mù zhēn chèn hàn。zhá mù hé shuài lǐng zhá dā lán、tài chì wū děng shí sān bù lái gōng dǎ，tiě mù zhēn bīng fēn shí sān yì yíng zhàn，yīn shí lì bù dí ér bài tuì， lì shǐ chēn cǐ yì wéi shí sān yì zhī zhàn。tiě mù zhēn zài bù luò zhēng zhàn zhōng shàn yú lì yòng máo dùn， zòng héng bǎi hé， zhú jiàn bǎi tuō le duì wáng hàn de chén shǔ dì wèi。1201～1202 nián，tiě mù zhēn hé wáng hàn lián bīng，yǔ zhá mù hé zuò zhàn， dà zhàn huò shèng，zhá mù hé tóu xiáng wáng hàn。 bù jiǔ，tiě mù zhēn chéng wáng hàn bù bèi， qí xí wáng hàn。 1204 nián，tiě mù zhēn chéng wéi méng gǔ gāo yuán zuì dà de tǒng zhì zhě。

chéng jí sī hàn tǒng yī méng gǔ gè bù，gōng jīn miè xià，wèi yuán cháo de jiàn lì diàn dìng le jī chǔ。tā jūn shì cái néng zhuō yuè， zhàn shàng zhòng shì lián yuǎn gōng jìn，lì bì shù dí guò duō。 yòng bīng zhù zhòng xiáng tàn dí qíng、 fēn gē bāo wéi、 yuǎn chéng qí xí、yáng tuì yòu dí， lì shǐ chèn tā “ shēn chén yǒu dà lüè， yòng bīng rú shén”。 rán ér chéng jí sī hàn zuò zhàn fāng fǎ shí fēn yě mán cán kù， tā de jūn duì dà guī mó tú shā jū mín， huǐ miè chéng zhèn tián shè， pò huài xìng hěn dà。

Section 3 Chinese text and English translation

成吉思汗是蒙古的开国君主，也是著名的军事统帅。成吉思汗本名叫铁木真，姓孛儿只斤，来自乞颜氏，是蒙古人。 “成吉思” 在蒙古语中是 “大海”的意思，意在颂扬他和海洋一样伟大; 汗在蒙古语中是皇帝的意思。 元代追称他为太祖。成吉思汗生于蒙古贵族世家。约在1170年，他的父亲，也速该，被塔塔儿人毒死，也速该的遗孀，月伦，领着铁木真和他的几个弟弟度过数年艰难生活。成吉思汗少年时期的艰险经历，培养了他坚毅勇敢的素质。蒙古部主死后，蒙古部众大都在札木合控制之下，铁木真因而投靠札木合。后来铁木真笼络人心，招徕人马，最后脱离札木合，建立自己的领域。约在12世纪，铁木真称汗。札木合率领札答阑、泰赤乌等十三部来攻打，铁木真兵分十三翼迎战，因实力不敌而败退，历史称此役为十三翼之战。铁木真在部落争战中善于利用矛盾，纵横捭阖，逐渐摆脱了对王汗的臣属地位。1201～1202年，铁木真和王汗联兵，与札木合作战，大战获胜，札木合投降王汗。不久，铁木真乘王汗不备，奇袭王汗。 1204年，铁木真成为蒙古高原最大的统治者。

Genghis Khan is the founding monarch of Mongolia as well as a well-known military commander.
Genghis Khan originally named Temujin, surnamed Bèi ér zhǐ jīn , from Qǐ Yán tribe , was a Mongolian. “Genghis” means “big sea” in Mongolian; the name was intended to praise him as great as the ocean; “Khan” means emperor in Mongolian language. Yuan Dynasty honored him with the posthumous title – The Great Ancestor. Genghis Khan was born in a Mongolian noble family. Around 1170, his father, Yě Sù Gāi, was killed by food poisoning by Tǎ Tǎ Ér people. The widow of Yě Sù Gāi, Yuè Lún , led Temujin and his brothers spent several years living in hardships. Genghis Khan’s teenager years’ dangerous and perilous experiences, cultivated his determined and courageous inner qualities. After the King Khan of Mongol passed away, most of Mongolian tribes were under Zhá Mù Hé’s control, Temujin thus sought refuge in Zhá Mù Hé. Later Temujin won over the people, solicited troops, finally separated himself from Zhá Mù Hé and established his own governing area. Around the 12th century, Temujin established himself as king. Zhá Mù Hé led Zhá Dá Lán , Tài Chì Wū etc.; total thirteen tribes came to attack Temujin . Thus, Temujin divided his troops into thirteen wings to meet the enemies head-on, however, he was defeated and retreated because of unmatched strength. In history, this war was called as “The War of Thirteen Wings”. Temujin utilized contradictions, formed alliances and sowed dissensions by maneuvering among various political groupings, and gradually got rid of his vassal status to king Khan. From 1201 to 1202, Temujin and King Khan Joined force to fiercely fight with Zhá Mù Hé and obtained victory. Zhá Mù Hé surrendered to the king Khan. Soon, Temujin took advantaged of King Khan’s short of preparation, surprisingly attacked him. In 1204, Temujin became the biggest ruler of the Mongolian Plateau.

成吉思汗统一蒙古各部，攻金灭夏，为元朝的建立奠定了基础。他军事才能卓越，战略上重视联远攻近，力避树敌过多。用兵注重详探敌情、分割包围、远程奇袭、佯退诱敌，历史称他 “深沉有大略，用兵如神”。然而成吉思汗作战方法十分野蛮残酷，他的军队大规模屠杀居民，毁灭城镇田舍，破坏性很大。

Genghis Khan united each Mongolian tribe, attacked Jīn and wiped out Xià, to build the foundation for the establishment of Yuan Dynasty. His military capacity was excellent. Regarding strategy, he put the emphasis on uniting far away tribes, attacking near ones and avoided to create too many enemies. When employing troops, he focused on comprehensively scouting information in enemy’s camp, isolating and surrounding, raiding from afar, using feigning and retreat to lure enemy. History says that he ” (was) deep and reserved, with big strategy; employing troops like God.” However, the way Genghis battled was very savage and cruel; his troops committed large-scale massacre and ruined cities, towns and farmhouses with great destruction.

Section 4 Genghis Khan 成吉思汗 Cheng ji si han’s life and interesting stories

Genghis Khan, Temujin, was born in northern Mongolia around 1162. It is said that Temujin was born with a blood clot grasped in his fist, according to Mongolian traditional belief, it was a sign indicating that he was destined to become a great leader. Genghis Khan was the third-oldest son of his father Yesügei, a Mongolian major chief, and the oldest son of his mother Hoelun. According to Mongolian Secret History, Temujin was named after a chieftain, Temujin-üge, whom his father had just captured shortly before he was born. According to Persian historian Rashid-al-Din’s Chronicles, Genghis Khan was tall, long-bearded, red-haired, and with green-eyed. It seems very weird to picture a Mongolian man with red hair and green eyes.

When Temujin was 9, his father took him to live with the family of his future bride, Borte. When he was 12, on the return trip home, they encountered members of the rival Tatar tribe, who invited Temujin’s father to a conciliatory meal, and then his father was poisoned and died shortly after. Upon hearing that his father died, Temujin fled back home to claim his position as clan chief. However, his clan refused to recognize the young boy’s leadership. It is said that in an argument during a hunting expedition, Temujin killed his half-brother Bekhter, and later Temujin confirmed his position as head of the family.

Temujin was a very quiet and intelligent man . His mother told him at a very early age about the importance of trust and independence . His mother advised him: “Remember, you have no companions but your shadow.” “Don’t put too much trust in anyone, trust no one but yourself and if you must go your own way then do so.”

At 16, Temujin married Borte. Soon after they got married, his wife was kidnapped by the rival Merkit tribe and was given to a Merkit chieftain as a wife. Later, Temujin was able to rescue her before she gave birth to her first son, Jochi. Though Jochi was not his biological son, Temujhin accepted him as his own. With Borte, Temujin had four sons and many other children with other wives.

At 20, he began building a large army with the intent to destroy other tribes in Northeast Asia and unite them under his ruling. He was successful – the Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire in the world before the British Empire and lasted well after his own death.
It is said that Temujin took good care of his soldiers . With 129,000 Mongol cavalrymen he commanded in wars in foreign countries for more than twenty years, his golden rule was to have mutual loyalty . Temujin once said: “My soldiers are as numerous as forests , and their women could form a large unit within the army . I want to feed them with juicy meat, let them live in beautiful yurts, and let them pasture their livestock on rich soil.” Due to the fairness and generosity he used to treat his troops, he was able to maintain fairly constant numbers of soldiers under his governing.

As for how Temujin died, there are a few different sayings: The first saying is that he got hit by thunder and got killed. The second is he fell from horseback during warring and invasion and it caused serious internal injuries, and died later due to complications of wounds. The third saying is that he invaded Xi Xia, and was castrated and killed on the bed by the Queen of Xi Xia, and it is said that after the killing, the Queen ran out of tent and drowned herself in Yellow River. According to my online research, it seems more logical to assume that he probably died of illness or horseback falling while invading Xi Xia.

After Temujin died, his descendants founded Yuan Dynasty, inherited his spirit and five elements of his art of war — speed, suddenness, ferocity, variety of tactics, and iron discipline, and was able to go on to extend the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by conquering and creating vassal states throughout all of today’s China, Korea, Caucasus region, Central Asia, and substantial portions of modern Eastern Europe and the Middle East .

Section 5 Genghis Khan 成吉思汗 Cheng ji si han’s quotes

[ca_audio url=”http://www.chinesetolearn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Genghis-Khan-quotes.mp3″ width=”500″ height=”27″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player”]

1、知自己之弊病问他人，而知治国之失误向贤者而学之。
zhī zìjǐ zhī bìbìng wèn tārén , ér zhī zhì guó zhī shīwù xiàng xiánzhě ér xué zhī .
In order to know one’s own shortcomings, he/she needs to ask other people; in order to know about the mistakes regarding ruling a nation, he/she needs to learn them from sages.

2、不要以金银珠宝装饰自身，而要以道德才能充实自己。
bù yào yǐ jīnyín zhūbǎo zhuāngshì zìshēn , ér yào yǐ dàodé cáinéng chōngshí zìjǐ .
Do not decorate one’s own body with gold and silver jewelry, but to enrich oneself with virtues and talents.

3、能治家者即能治国，能率领十人作战者可以委付以千人万人，他就率领千人万人作战。
néng zhì jiā zhě jí néng zhìguó, néng shuàilǐng shí rén zuòzhàn zhě kěyǐ wěifù yǐ qiān rén yīwàn rén , tā jiù shuàilǐng qiān rén yīwàn rén zuòzhàn .
Those who can manage a home will be able to govern a nation; those who can command ten people in combat can be entrusted with thousands and ten thousands people, and he will lead thousands and ten thousands people to fight in war.

4、只要你们兄弟互相帮助，彼此坚决支援，你们的敌人再强大也战不胜你们。
zhǐyào nǐmen xiōngdi hùxiāng bāngzhù , bǐcǐ jiānjué zhīyuán , nǐmen de dírén zài qiángdà yě zhàn bùshèng nǐmen .
As long as you brothers, help each other. Firmly support each other, then no matter how strong your enemy is, he or she won’t be able to defeat you.

5、生为金玉之身不为学而治己者，乃枉费一生也；人虽聪明睿智其知识终有枯竭之时，如能勤学不辍尤为聪明。
shēng wèi Jīn Yù zhī shēn bù wéi xué ér zhì jǐ zhě , nǎi wǎng fèi yīshēng yě ；rén suī cōngming ruìzhì qí zhīshi zhōng yǒu kūjiézhī shí , rú néng qínxuébùchuò yóu wèi cōngming
Born with gold and jade body, but he or she doesn’t learn to control himself or herself, then he or she will waste all his or her life; no matter how wise and intelligent a person is, his or her knowledge will eventually exhaust, but if he or she can learn diligently and never stop, then he or she will be smarter.

6、读书的糊涂人终究要超过生来的聪明人。
dúshū de hūtúrén zhōngjiū yào chāoguò shēng lái de cōngmíng rén .
Those confused people who love to read book eventually will surpass those smart people who were born smart.

7、 居民在平时应像牛犊般的驯顺，战时投入战斗应像扑向野禽的饿鹰。
jūmín zài píngshíyīng xiàng Niú Dú bān de xún shùn , zhànshítóurù zhàndòu yīng xiàng pūxiàng yěqín de è yīng .
Residents should be tame like a calf in peacetime; when in wartime engaging in a war, (residents) should be like a hungry eagle pouncing on Wildfowl.

8、说万句空话莫如办一件正事。
shuō yīwàn jù kōnghuà mòrú bàn yī jiàn zhèngshì.
Do one proper thing is better than talk about ten thousand empty words.

9、 我是上帝的惩罚，如果你没有犯下那么多罪孽，上帝不会派我这样的惩罚来处置你。
Wǒ shì Shàngdì de chéngfá , rúguǒ nǐ méiyǒu fàn xià nàme duō zuì niè , Shàngdì bùhuì pài Wǒ zhèyàng de chéngfá lái chǔzhì nǐ .
I am the punishment of God, If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you。

10、It is not sufficient that I suceed – all others must fail.

11、The greatest happiness is to scatter your enemy, to drive him before you, to see his cities reduced to ashes, to see those who love him shrouded in tears, and to gather into your bosom his wives and daughters.

11、If my body dies, let my body die, but do not let my country die.

12、With Heaven’s aid I have conquered for you a huge empire. But my life was too short to achieve the conquest of the world. That task is left for you.

Section 6 A classic full length movie
一代天骄成吉思汗 【经典电影 720HD】 youtube 片长98分钟