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cover of episode Genghis Khan's Sex Life
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Kate Lister
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Marie Favereau
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Kate Lister: 我对成吉思汗的了解大多来自流行文化,对他的真实生平和12世纪蒙古的社会状况感到好奇。 我很好奇,在12世纪的蒙古草原上,人们的生活是什么样的?游牧生活是怎样的?成吉思汗是如何从一个部落首领成长为建立庞大帝国的统治者的?他真的像传说中那样残暴吗?他与他妻子的关系是怎样的?关于他的性生活和后代的传闻是否属实? Marie Favereau: 我的研究始于我对蒙古帝国的兴趣,当时我发现关于这个帝国的资料非常匮乏。这激发了我深入研究的动力。蒙古帝国并非凭空出现,它建立在之前游牧民族的经验之上,例如突厥和回鹘。蒙古人既是游牧民族,也建造城镇和建筑,他们根据季节变化迁徙,但同时也会修建城市和纪念碑。在12世纪,蒙古由许多部落组成,部落之间既有冲突,也有合作,他们有共同的文化和信仰,但缺乏统一。成吉思汗的出现改变了这一切,他统一了蒙古各部落,建立了强大的帝国。 成吉思汗的本名是铁木真,“成吉思汗”只是一个称号,意为“世界领袖”或“宇宙领袖”。他出身贵族,但幼年经历坎坷,父亲去世后,家族失去权力。他通过政治联姻、外交手段和军事才能逐步壮大实力,最终统一了蒙古。成为首领并非单纯的世袭,也需要通过实力和能力竞争。他与他的第一任妻子孛儿帖的婚姻关系至关重要,孛儿帖不仅为他带来财富,也给予他重要的支持。 关于成吉思汗的残暴,我认为这是一种片面的说法。他并非一味追求杀戮,他的目标是建立帝国,他注重外交和谈判,也会承认自己的错误。他追求的是纳税人,而不是奴隶。关于他的性生活,他确实有多位妻子,但这在当时的游牧社会中并不罕见。关于性侵犯的指控缺乏证据支持。 关于成吉思汗后代的基因研究,其结论存在争议,缺乏确凿的证据。成吉思汗的死因和埋葬地点至今成谜,这使得围绕他的许多传闻难以证实。 Marie Favereau: 我对蒙古帝国的研究始于我对这个鲜为人知的帝国的兴趣。起初,我发现关于蒙古帝国的资料非常匮乏,这反而激起了我的求知欲。通过多年的研究和实地考察,我发现蒙古帝国并非凭空出现,它建立在之前游牧民族的经验之上,例如突厥和回鹘。蒙古人既是游牧民族,也建造城镇和建筑,他们根据季节变化迁徙,但同时也会修建城市和纪念碑。 在12世纪,蒙古由许多部落组成,部落之间既有冲突,也有合作,他们有共同的文化和信仰,但缺乏统一。成吉思汗的出现改变了这一切,他统一了蒙古各部落,建立了强大的帝国。成吉思汗的本名是铁木真,“成吉思汗”只是一个称号,意为“世界领袖”或“宇宙领袖”。他出身贵族,但幼年经历坎坷,父亲去世后,家族失去权力。他通过政治联姻、外交手段和军事才能逐步壮大实力,最终统一了蒙古。成为首领并非单纯的世袭,也需要通过实力和能力竞争。 关于成吉思汗的残暴,我认为这是一种片面的说法。他并非一味追求杀戮,他的目标是建立帝国,他注重外交和谈判,也会承认自己的错误。他追求的是纳税人,而不是奴隶。关于他的性生活,他确实有多位妻子,但这在当时的游牧社会中并不罕见。关于性侵犯的指控缺乏证据支持。 关于成吉思汗后代的基因研究,其结论存在争议,缺乏确凿的证据。成吉思汗的死因和埋葬地点至今成谜,这使得围绕他的许多传闻难以证实。 supporting_evidences Kate Lister: '...But this one family that I've been bunking with seem to absolutely love it. In fact, they all do, so who on earth am I to judge? Not only that, but their son Timurjan seems like quite an ambitious fellow and he's talking about one day uniting the tribes of Mongolia to create one of the most powerful empires in history...' Kate Lister: 'He's spoken of as one of the really big monsters in history. Even his name, Genghis Khan, which isn't actually his birth name, it's a stage name, means universal leader...' Marie Favereau: '...it goes back to when I was a student in history in Paris, I started learning about big empires...And then suddenly I heard about some Mongol empire. It was all new for me...' Marie Favereau: '...the first time we see the name Mongol in the sources, historical sources, is around the 12th century...So basically the Eastern Eurasia, right? So it's north of China and east of Central Asia in this area, very cold, a lot of steppes...' Kate Lister: 'They are on the move. They move with seasons, you know, it makes sense. Weather is bad here, you move there, right? And also you are a big herd...' Kate Lister: 'We know in 12th century there were a lot of fights among smaller groups...They don't fight all the time. They also trade among themselves...' Marie Favereau: 'Well, look, I would say Genghis is correct. But if we want to say Genghis, it's fine too. But Genghis Khan. And Genghis Khan, you know, is a title. It's not his first name, actually...' Kate Lister: '...wildness and savagery and am I right in thinking that George R.R. Martin based the Dothraki off what he thought the Mongol hordes were...' Marie Favereau: '...But you see, blacksmith in this world at that time, it's already an elite title...So he's not coming from anywhere. In the steppe, he's coming from aristocracy...' Kate Lister: 'How did you get to be the chieftain, the king, the ruler in these cultures? Is it an inherited right or is it I'm the strongest, so I win?' Marie Favereau: '...One, his father, before he died, married his son, Timmy Chin, to a young girl...And this girl, Berthe, she's going to be, she's going to really improve supports her fiancé and then husband...' Marie Favereau: '...Well, we think the name was taken around at the end of the 12th century...And he sort of says, this is my title. And we think this title means something like Maybe world or universal leader...' Kate Lister: 'Am I right in thinking that his first wife Borty was kidnapped?' Marie Favereau: 'Absolutely. So kidnapping women is something that happened at that time...' Kate Lister: 'He fell out with his brothers, didn't he? There was a lot of fighting and going to war with his brothers.' Marie Favereau: '...Well, it said in the sources that he killed his half-brother, who was the eldest actually in the family, for fighting over fish...' Kate Lister: 'Now, Genghis Khan is known for a lot of things. He's got a reputation for extreme violence and like bloodthirsty going into battle...' Marie Favereau: '...He's clearly not after blood. When you look at his action, his career, even everything we know from sources, his idea is certainly to build up an empire...' Kate Lister: 'Because if there's someone else that Genghis is known for, it's for being an absolute sex rampaging dirtbag...' Marie Favereau: '...Yeah, this is so interesting. Okay, so yes, he had more than one wife...But only the first one or the primary one. can really provide the hair...' Kate Lister: 'In 2003, there was a study, wasn't there, of Asian men and they found that 8% of all men in Asia descended from one gene source...' Marie Favereau: '...Well, this is very questionable and for a number of reasons, although it's interesting...So anything else is a guess...' Kate Lister: 'So final question then how did Genghis die what what took him out' Marie Favereau: '...we know he died in 1227...So some people say after plague, but we don't know. There were plenty of, disease at that time...'

Deep Dive

Shownotes Transcript

As historical figures go, Genghis Khan has something of a reputation.

Is there any truth to the rumours of him fathering so many children? What was life like in 12th century Mongolia? And how did he create one of histories most noted empires?

Joining Kate today is historian Marie Favereau, author of The Horde: How The Mongols Changed The World), to help us find out.

This episode was edited and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.