The Secret History of the Mongols
Some Fresh Revelations
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2813859 |
|---|---|
| Authors | T H Barrett (0000-0002-7381-1387, SOAS University of London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1992 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 115-119 |
| Publication date | 1992-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0041-977X • E-ISSN: 1474-0699 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0041977x00002706 |
| OpenAlex | W2143559975 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
As is well known, the Secret History is the only surviving source on the rise of the Mongol empire produced by the Mongols themselves, yet controversy continues to surround its value, its purpose, even its date. The fullest and earliest attested version of the text does not even survive in the Uyghur script employed by the Mongols, but only in a transcription into Chinese characters, accompanied by Chinese translation; a transposition carried out at an unkown date under circumstances which are not entirely clear. Chinese sources, it is true, have been used to throw a certain amount of light on the transmission of the Secret History, notably in a lengthy and detailed article published forty years ago by William Hung,1 but as the summary by F. W. Cleaves of the problems surrounding this evidence in the introduction to his translation of the Secret History makes abundantly clear,2 much has remained a matter for conjecture
Ancient history · Art · Empire · Genealogy · Literature · Value (mathematics) · Chinese history and philosophy · Computer Science · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Linguistics and Cultural Studies
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |