Khan Man: Field Museum explores myth, reality of the Mongol emperor
BY KARA SPAK STAFF REPORTER | KSPAK@SUNTIMES.COM February 23, 2012 11:46AM
The army of Genghis Khan was well-armored as it conquered four times more land in 25 years than the Roman empire did during its 400 year reign.
Updated: February 23, 2012 8:27PM
He started a rule of law that even he, the 13th century’s most powerful leader, had to abide by.
He created the postal service.
He popularized pants as menswear.
There’s more to the story of bloodthirsty Mongolian warlord Genghis Khan — who once supposedly defined ultimate happiness as “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” — than just the wrath of Khan.
The life and times of the man initially named Temujin are featured in an expansive new Field Museum exhibit opening Feb. 24 and running through Sept. 3.
The largest single empire until the British Empire, at its height Genghis Khan’s Mongol empire stretched across Asia into Eastern Europe.
“Everybody kind of knows he’s this horrible, terrible warlord kind of person,” said Tom Skwerski, the Field’s project manager for exhibitions. “But beyond that I’m not sure many people know the story behind him and the Mongol empire and how extensive it was.”
The Field Museum is the seventh stop for the exhibit, produced by Imagine Exhibitions Inc. Blending a bit of marauding warriors, a look at Mongolian nomadic culture during Genghis Khan’s reign and as it exists today, and the largest single collection of 13th century Mongolian artifacts, museum officials hope visitors walk away with a sense of the sheer vastness of the Mongol empire as well as a more well-rounded look at Genghis Khan.
“He was not only the brutal conqueror that so many see him as, he was also a statesman, leader, inventor and fair ruler,” said Tom Zaller, president and CEO of Imagine Exhibitions Inc, in an e-mail from Shanghai. “He was a genius whose entire story is often not told. We want to show both sides of Genghis Khan.”
After a lifetime of fascination with Genghis Khan, Zaller said he could not turn down the opportunity to pull the show together. Genghis Khan is considered the founding father of Mongolia, and still is revered as almost godlike in Mongolia and some Asian countries, he said.
The Mongolian people were both “excited and appreciative” that the collection was traveling west, he said. Zaller worked with the Mongolian ministry of culture and national military museum, as well as U.S.-based collectors, to pull together the show.
“I hope that people enjoy seeing this beautiful and extensive collection on loan to us from several Mongolian museums and private collectors,” he said.
For those looking for the bloody battlefield aspects of Khan’s story, there are weapons, including swords, bows and arrows, chain mail armor and a full-sized replica of a trebuchet, a catapult that Genghis Khan’s warriors used to hurl large stones at their enemies.
“This exhibition is first and foremost about Genghis Khan, but it’s also about Mongolian culture and the Mongolian people, from 900 years ago and today,” Skwerski said. “As such there are some really great artifacts that really talk to Mongolian culture.”
Chief among these artifacts is a life-size “ger,” or wooden and felt nomadic tent, decorated as an authentic living space with textiles, rugs and home items.
“This life is a difficult one, and when you combine this with the weather conditions in Mongolia it is even more strenuous,” Zaller said of nomadic living. “The people seem so happy to live in such a simple way of life and seem to appreciate the little things. I think we can all learn a lot from living simply.”
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