名人轶事:Who Was the Real Genghis Khan大漠英豪成吉思汗

The name Genghis Khan probably makes many people think of conquering warriors¹

on horseback leaving burning cities and piles of dead bodies behind them.

While there is no doubt that Genghis Khan was the leader of a highly

efficient killing² machine, there was much more to him than military skill. He

was also a talented politician with excellent diplomatic abilities.

In the 1160s, the tribes of the Central Asian steppes were almost constantly

at war with one another. In the middle of the chaos³, one of the tribal⁴

leaders had a son named Temujin. When the boy was nine years old, his father

was poisoned by enemies. The tribe then abandoned the family, leaving them to

survive by eating rats and insects.

Despite his difficult childhood, Temujin grew up strong enough to claim his

hereditary⁵ position as tribal leader. He became adept⁶ at forming alliances,

as well as fighting battles. By 1206, all the Mongol tribes were ready to

recognize him as supreme⁷ leader. They gave him the title Genghis Khan, which

means "emperor of all emperors."

Having united the tribes of Central Asia, Genghis Khan turned his attention

elsewhere. His ambition was world conquest, and he advanced at an astonishing

rate. He invaded northern China and captured Peking, but was unable to subdue⁸

the whole country. Instead, he turned westwards. By the time of his death in

1227, he had created an empire that stretched from the Pacific coast to the

Caspian Sea.

The Mongols were superb horsemen who won their victories with a technique of

pretending to retreat, then launching a surprise attack. Their discipline and

organization made them extremely effective fighters. They were expert archers⁹

and could maintain total control of their horses while keeping both hands

free for fighting.

Genghis Khan's armies were divided into tightly organized units which were

directed by an efficient signaling system using black flags. Their favorite

tactic¹⁰ in open battle involved provoking an attack, and scattering¹¹ as the

enemy came forward. The Mongols would harass¹² the enemy from the sides until

the latter were exhausted¹³, then close in for the kill.

After capturing a city, Mongol armies would test the sincerity¹⁴ of the

inhabitants' surrender. They would pretend to go away, leaving behind a small

number of representatives. If these were killed, the Mongols would return to

murder the entire population. They seldom took prisoners.

Despite his ruthless methods, Genghis Khan was not an impulsive¹⁵ killer¹⁶. He

avoided battle if diplomacy¹⁷ would work, and he was skilled at using spies to

help achieve his aims. He also maintained the tradition of choosing leaders

in a mass meeting, and people under his rule were able to advance by ability

rather than noble birth.

For the citizens of modern-day Mongolia, Genghis Khan is a folk hero and a

symbol of their emerging democracy. A main street in the capital of Ulan

Bator has been named after him, and his image is on a banknote. He even has a

brand of vodka named after him, not an unusual memorial for one of history's

greatest conquerors¹⁸. Perhaps Genghis Khan would appreciate this more than his

traditional reputation as a ruthless killer.

1 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

5 hereditary   

adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的

参考例句：

• The Queen of England is a hereditary ruler.英国女王是世袭的统治者。
• In men,hair loss is hereditary.男性脱发属于遗传。

6 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 subdue   

vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制

参考例句：

• She tried to subdue her anger.她尽力压制自己的怒火。
• He forced himself to subdue and overcome his fears.他强迫自己克制并战胜恐惧心理。

9 archers   

n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The next evening old Mr. Sillerton Jackson came to dine with the Archers. 第二天晚上，西勒顿？杰克逊老先生来和阿切尔家人一起吃饭。 来自辞典例句
• Week of Archer: Double growth for Archers and Marksmen. 射手周：弓箭手与弩手（人类）产量加倍。 来自互联网

10 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

11 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

13 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

14 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

15 impulsive   

adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的

参考例句：

• She is impulsive in her actions.她的行为常出于冲动。
• He was neither an impulsive nor an emotional man,but a very honest and sincere one.他不是个一冲动就鲁莽行事的人，也不多愁善感.他为人十分正直、诚恳。

16 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

17 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

18 conquerors   

征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Danes had selfconfidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual. 这些丹麦人具有征服者的自信，而且他们的安全防卫也是漫不经心的。
• The conquerors believed in crushing the defeated people into submission, knowing that they could not win their loyalty by the victory. 征服者们知道他们的胜利并不能赢得失败者的忠心，于是就认为只有通过武力才能将他们压服。